Afghanistan: Asian Art Museum

My trip to San Francisco in January brought me to the Asian Art Museum for the Afghanistan exhibit, the last weekend it was open. The exhibition would have been fascinating, if not for the museum's lack of crowd control. The light within the exhibit was low, the walls were painted a dark gray and perhaps is an attempt to recreate the darkened dirt filled atmosphere of the Middle East desert, and the catacombs in which some of these pieces were found. From a distance I saw a great deal of clothing annointed with many coins, which I imagine shone nicely in the desert sun. Beyond that, it was clear that Afghanistan had adopted many influences within their art styles, specifically Greek and Roman.

I spent most of the day being shoved aside by octogenarians so I was unable to get up to where the labeling was, and any discussion of what the pieces were. I did know that this exhibit was removed from the art museum in Kabul after it was bombed. Beyond that, the Asian Art museum has a great collection of other works, mostly Chinese scrollwork and landscape paintings.

Painter Andrew Wyeth Dies

Andrew Wyeth died this week. He left behind a legacy of American Realist paintings. Called the "Painter of People" his mature works were characterized by a subdued color palette, realistic renderings, and the depiction of emotionally charged, symbolic objects and/or people. In part, this amount of emotion in his works was fueled by the tragic death of his father and nephew when they were hit by a train in 1945.
His most famous works included Christina's World, and the Helga pictures. Christina's World depicts a young girl who was a friend of the Wyeth family. She had contracted polio at a young age and was paralyzed from the waist down, yearning for the home in the distance. Painted in 1948, using tempura on wood he created a world for Christina that one could imagine represented the limits of a disability in the American frontiers.

The Helga pictures are even more intriguing in the fact that they are a series of portraits of a neighbor to the Wyeths. Neither Helga's husband nor Wyeth's wife were aware of the painter-model relationship that developed. The Helga pictures are not an obvious psychological study of the subject but more of an extensive study of her physical landscape set within Wyeth's customary landscapes. She is nearly always unsmiling and passive, yet within those deliberate limitations, Wyeth manages to convey subtle qualities of character and mood, as he does in many of his best portraits. This extensive study of one subject studied in differing contexts and emotional states is unique in American art.

An artist shown at the art gallery I work at compares himself to Andrew Wyeth as a realist painter within the surf art genre. Ashton Howard (whom I have mentioned previously)is a fine art artist. His subject matter of choice is the ocean and tropical islands. While less commercial than Christian Riese Larsen painting I find his images to be lacking in the realism that he considers puts on the same tier of Wyeth. The tones and color palettes in his works are moody, rather than muted, and I have yet to see a person in his works at all. While the renderings are realistic- i.e. they resemble waves in nature- the images are highly romanticized tropical images that toe the line between commercial and fine art.

Howard's comparison is a testament to Wyeth's longevity and widespread appeal even in the 21st century world of modern art installations that make no sense.





Disclaimer: I am not Andrew Wyeth nor am I Ashton Howard and all images are used for examples only, no profit is made. All Andrew Wyeth facts from the first paragraph were taken in part from wikipedia.com, citations on the Andrew Wyeth page.

Pacific Surf Gallery

For all intents and purposes I recently acquired an unpaid internship at Pacific Surf Gallery. This is a surf art gallery nestled among a yoga studio, Starbucks, and a small family owned market. The owner is a lifetime surfer named Peter Barker. Peter spent his early years as a ski instructor in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After doing that for a decade and a half, he went on a trip of sorts looking for his own perfect wave. Three years ago he settled in Cardiff by the Sea, CA and purchased a little surf art gallery. The gallery exhibits mostly water and ocean related art. He has wood cuts by the late Pat Tobin, Oil and Acrylic surf artist Ashton Howard, and many others.

My experience has been very limited so far. From an outsider's perspective, working at an art gallery seems glamorous. But there are still mundane tasks such as picture hanging, unloading art shipments, and making labels. But this is the dream, or part of the dream. The experience will prepare me for maybe owning my own gallery someday or for a bigger gallery. My goals as I spend some of my time there will be to learn about the different kinds of prints, and the artists. Being versed and discovering more artists is whats so special about this job and I am hoping to learn as much as I can.

Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota

In the book Memoirs of a Geisha, there is description of the kimono as one of the most important parts of a geisha's persona. Kimono was wearable art, costing thousands of yen, more than one geisha could make. However, a kimono maker would often gift kimono to their "muse" or a wealthy daana would give kimono to their geisha as a symbol of their devotion.

Eastern art in general is produced in a completely different format than western art. First, most western painters work on their paintings and let the works evolve with each brushstroke. Eastern art is so intricately tied to spiritualism and philosophies that each brush stroke is carefully calculated to express that belief. Kimono is no different in this respect. Nature is the most basic expression of spiritualism and perfection beyond what humans can create on their own. So to combine the two, makes Itchiku Kubota a traditional artist.

Kubota revived an ancient technique of making Kimono called tsujigahana. Common in the 15th to 17th centuries, directly translated tsujigahana means "flowers at the crossroads." Specifically, the style is characterized by designs executed in stitch-resist in which areas are outlined in stitches and pulled tight to protect the fabric in the center from dye. He adds embellishments like ink painting, embroidery and gold leaf, replaced by the yuzen technique. The yuzen technique is a pictorial style of rice paste resist dyeing.

At the San Diego Museum of Art, I had the pleasure of viewing part of Kubota's magnum opus, called Symphony of Light. As you walk into the room of kimono, the "story" begins at the left, with autumn scenes. Following the kimono from that point, Kubota's kimono tell the story of coming winter and his masterpieces depict the changing of the seasons as nature is touched with a brush, changing the water to dark blues and purples, the trees to gold. As you walk around the room you can't help but have your breath taken away at the serenity of the scenes. The kimonos themselves shimmer as if dusted by gold.

Kubota passed away in the early 2000s, but his works live on in a gallery in Japan thats almost a work of art in itself.

In addition of the SDMA exhibit, a smaller exhibit is on display at the Timken at Balboa Park.

The Getty Museum

Someone, who shall remain nameless, asked me what else there is besides a temporary exhibit at the Getty. What I love about the museum are several things. The view for one is amazing. The gardens are beautiful, reminiscent of the gardens at the Huntington Library. But within their permanent collection are some gems.

As a kid, it was the Impressionists like Monet and Van Gogh who inspired me to paint and draw. The Getty has a couple of Monets and Van Goghs, and while they may not be Starry Night by Van Gogh or Monet's Water Lilies, I like these pieces just as much.

Within the collection Van Gogh's Irises look as if they are waving in the wind. His heavy handed brushstrokes added a level of movement to the canvas that you don't see in the post-post modern art world of unintelligible found object sculptures and installation pieces.

Perhaps my love of sailing and the sea cloud my judgment a bit but Monet's painting called Sunset is such a romanticized scene of sailboats through the sea-mist as an orange sun sinks below the water line. I can almost hear the water lapping the the hull of the sailboats in Santa Cruz when I look at it.

In my French Painting class with Donna at UCSC, an artist we studied in detail really caught my eye. David (pronounced Dav-eed) was a prolific history painter. History painting was the biggest division of the Paris Expositions that were held at the Louvre when it was used as an artists' academy in the 18th Century. The genre of history painting is fascinating, as it is the depiction of a moment in history or mythology. History paintings were extremely large scale and grand. David excelled within this genre winning the grand prize at least once that I know of. The Getty has a David. It is my favorite painting in the entire museum.

This piece is called the Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis. Telemachus is the son of Odysseus. Eucharis was a wood nymph and the consort of Telemachus. At the time of the Odyssey, Telemachus was at home with his mother. A goddess comes down to tell him to go search for his father, who at the time was trapped on an island with the Cyclops. David chose this moment of farewell and depicted it with a tenderness that you can feel from looking at the image.

Within the frame are two figures, our lovers. They are young, as you can tell from the ruddiness of the cheeks. Eucharis rests her head on Telemachus as he looks into the distance. The colors are remarkably intense, much like the bright acidic colors of Michelangelo, who was much earlier than David. Their figures are soft with youth, skin tones and cloth are true to life. You feel the tenderness of the farewell. I can sit and stare at it for hours, feeling that moment of goodbye.

Go see it and tell me what you think.

Bernini's Portrait Busts

So the show at the Getty was on Bernini's Portrait Busts. One of the big characterstics of the baroque was the importance of showing people as living entities. With the Renaissance, the figures of David by Michelangelo and others were frozen, with more of a focus on classicism and perfecting the form. Baroque embraces the classic form but adds a level of drama and expression to the faces that make them come alive. I loved Bernini's sculptures because he used different colored marbles rather than only Carrara (the white marble of the Renaissance). It created dimension where there might otherwise not be.

His series' of busts were of notable figures within the papal court mostly, with other powerful characters rounding out his portfolio. What was so groundbreaking were his uses of the sculpture tools to score and treat the marble to add a hint of a beard, or to imply thinning hair. in contrast, he also used drills to create elaborate coiffures and intricate lace designs. What I found interesting as I walked through the busts, was that he created irises for the eyes, rather than leaving them blank as the Renaissance masters did. This makes the faces of his subjects come alive, as if they might talk to you as you walked by.

I got chills as I walked up to the bust of Constanza Bonarelli. She was a consort of Bernini's. Her hair is coming loose, her eyes wide open, her lips parted as if she was out of breath. This treatment of her portrait bust implied sensuality and a sexual connection between the sculptor and the sitter. we studied this bust for a week in Soussloff's Bernini seminar and it was amazing to see it in person after all the discussion.

In all, the exhibit was very well put together. I was surprised at how many pieces they had managed to borrow from other major museums around the world. It just speaks to the Getty Museum's clout in the art world. I am so glad I was able to see it.

Bernini

I am in my hometown tonight, on the eve of my father's birthday. My father and mother and I celebrated by meeting at The Foundry on Melrose Ave, and caught Louis and Keely: Live at the Sahara. On my to meet them, as I drove up Santa Monica Blvd, I noticed banners for a Bernini exhibit at the Getty Museum. Now, who is Bernini?

GianLorenzo Bernini was an Italian Baroque artist whose strength lie in his skills as a sculptor. The period of the Baroque followed on the heels of the Renaissance. While the Renaissance was about nature, and its perfections- the Baroque period moved away from classicism and into its own genre. What made a piece Baroque is its depcition of a "transitory moment." For example, in the story of Apollo and Daphne, Daphne was a virgin who caught the eye of Apollo and many other suitors who would have her. So she devised a plan. No one was as fleet of foot as Daphne when she ran through the woods. She challenged her would be suitors to a race. The man who would catch her could claim her.

Apollo was no mere mortal, he was a god from Olympus and as he pursued her, she knew that she would lose. She called out to Poseidon, the god of the ocean and trees, to save her- and keep her honor pure. In response, as Apollo gained, Daphne was transformed into the laurel tree. Consumed with regret, Apollo made a crown of her leaves. Which is why the laurel was used in the Olympic games. Bernini's sculpture of this moment is depicted in Apollo and Daphne.

He chose to depict the moment of Daphne's transformation- a perfect example of this transitory moment.

I took a class on Bernini at UCSC from the nation's leading scholar. Cathy Soussloff made her name in the art history community with her identification of a sculpture by Bernini at a college in the midwest. I am curious to see if she was called upon to help curate this exhibit. A review will be forthcoming....