Art Trip to Philly and NYC!!!

March 25-

I recently had five days on a field trip I coordinated and led with other chaperones to Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore for my high school art students.

The first day was charter bus travel up to Philadelphia ending with a tour at the Magic Gardens on South Street. I visited there for the first time back in the summer and blogged about this more fully before. (See link: <http://plstudioart.blogspot.com/2010/07/magic-garden.html>.

This time though we had a full site tour which allowed us to see parts of this installation and the history of Isaiah Zagar, the artist’s work previously unknown.

Viewing the installation again brought back to mind the work of Julian Schnabel and his crockery paintings. I am interested in exploring some painting with photo- montage on glass that crosses aesthetically between Schnabel’s and Zagar’s work. Photos of our entire trip can be seen at: <https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/NYCBlog#>;

That evening we ate dinner at Pietros Bistro and colleague Jeff Brown, his wife and an artist friend met us. It was good to socialize with them and discuss MFA AIB life, and our current work a little.

March 26-

We had reservations at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to view the Chagall exhibit, Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle, Philadelphia Museum of Art. For a review of this exhibition: <http://calitreview.com/15119>.

Marc Chagall is a huge reference for me, naturally for his work as a painter and with stained glass. I enjoyed the exhibit, but not as much as I expected to. Among all the exhibitions we saw as a group though, this was the most teachable moment for me with my students. The exhibition was in PMA’s Pearlman building and allowed us to move as a smaller group. I was able to talk to the students about some of the pieces. Especially the dry point prints on display, which we are exploring in my Art III/IV classes right now.

After an hour of exploration in the Pearlman building we made our way back to the Main building to view galleries of our choosing from their wonderful collection. Of course my daughter and I made our way to the Modern and Contemporary galleries, making our way through the Impressionists and Expressionists. I took a few moments with Marcel Duchamp and his Large Glass, which resides there reflecting on comments by Harvey Littleton and my 1981 interview with him, as an MA assignment, years ago. Littleton felt Duchamp did not know the technique and had a disdain for this piece. Littleton has been a mentor for me over the years, as both a glass artist and educator. His words to me in that interview were influential, and every time I see Duchamp’s Large Glass, it connotes my conversation with Littleton.

Of course I spent some time with the Abstract Expressionists including Mark Rothko and Lee Krasner. In their Contemporary gallery they had a show, I cannot find literature on entitled, Notation/ Everyday Disturbances, which would have been an excellent field trip for Critical Theory II, as its focus was the ‘archive’. There were some placards up, which referenced Gerhard Richter to the musical compositions of John Cage. I left feeling very motivated and with great desire to return to the studio and art-making. I purchased a book at the PMA gift shop, that was on my research list, but not available in the WFU library, entitled, Six Paintings by Gerhard Richter by Robert Storr.

Following our visit to PMA and a Philly cheesesteak for lunch, we made our way to NYC. Our first night we took in dinner, a Broadway show, and dessert afterwards.

March 27-

In the morning we visited the Museum of Art and Design. There were several wonderful exhibitions circumventing African and African American art. I was elated to find though an exhibition there of Judy Chicago. One series viewed of pieces on her Creation theme and the other on the Holocaust. The tapestries woven by Audrey Cowan are quite beautiful.

I was excited to view firsthand a matriarch of the Feminist Art movement.

In some of the African American themed exhibits, I found two pieces that had reference for me: the work of Fred Wilson, whom was the focus of my Critical Theory II (in course) assignment, to reference an artist who works with ‘the archive’. You can see a reference to this previous assignment at: <http://plstudioart.blogspot.com/2011/01/fred-wilson-artist-and-archive.html>. I about jumped out of my skin to see Wilson’s work with Venetian glass. Of course he is not having to learn the technology, but is working with the Venetian glass artists to conceive and bring his ideas into fruition.

I love that he is using the color and material of black glass to convey the meaning of the word ‘black’ in history, culture, society and literature.

I feel I am trying to connote a similar concept through the flowers of the millefiori in making a feminist statement in my Vitreous Femmage pieces.

I also viewed there a piece by Willie Birch. Birch was an artist in residence here in Winston-Salem, as was Fred Wilson, some years back through SECCA, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. The piece exhibited was a assemblage on a paper mache shirt with the application of objects and glass fragments. Birch is the kind of artist that flows between the contemporary and outsider art circuit, and from high art to low art. I often wonder about him as his studio was in New Orleans, and how the flood disaster affected him and his work.

Later that afternoon we visited MOMA, and I could have spent hours more there. This is one of the downsides of leading and visiting with a group, that needs to abide by the itinerary set.

My daughter and I visited the contemporary galleries downstairs before going up to see the special exhibitions of the German Expressionists and the Abstract Expressionists. I was pleased to see the prints of William Kentridge and then even more elated to see the collection of prints/ posters of the Guerilla Girls who I had recently included in my Uomini Famosi, and had blogged about.

I also enjoyed seeing for the first time a painting by Agnes Martin. Martin was brought to my attention in one of my critiques last residency in connection with my intuitive abstract paintings. I tried to take a photo, but the whiteness in her painting would not take photographically. I felt there was something very mystical about all that.

I was also able to view a couple of more pieces of Richard Pousette-Dart, one I documented, as it was more relational to my work than the other with more color and texture.

My favorite exhibit of all, I have a love/ hate relationship for, German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse. I am absolutely in love with the German Expressionists, but felt a great disappointment to anger that Gabriele Munter was not included in the exhibit. Ach!!!! This is how I felt! :

<https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/UominiFamosi_VitreousPaintingsonGlass#5587710073538870930

>

I realize that the thesis of the show circumvented the graphic images found in prints and posters, but their were quite a few paintings included by Kandinsky, Jawlensky, Kirschner and others. I was greatly angered as I looked for her name and found a great disappointment in her exclusion, and only subdued when I found the works of Kathe Kollwitz. To actually see Kollwitz’ work was a momentous experience bringing mixed tears of joy and sorrow to my eyes and heart. I purchased the book on the exhibition.

Our time was running out to meet back with the group… we sped through the Abstract Expressionist show and the fiats of the permanent collection.

March 28-

In the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit the Guggenheim. Their special exhibition was, The Great Upheaval: Modern Art through the Permanent Collection. See link: <http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view/the-great-upheaval>. Again I was disappointed to see Gabriele Munter excluded, but included in the text of the exhibition, which was heavily laden with the works of Kandinsky and the German Expressionist movement of Der Blue Reiter. We had almost too much time at the Guggenheim for our group, but this allowed me some time to contemplate in their study/ research library. I spoke with the knowledgeable librarian on site there, and why perhaps Munter was not included. She encouraged me to contact the Development Office with my question. My statement here is equivalent to that of the Guerilla Girls, the story needs to be re-written to include the women that contributed. Two exhibitions at major museums excluded Munter in shows that should have celebrated her work and participation to her male counterparts. My disappointment though in not seeing Munter represented reinforces my concept for my homage(s) to her and the visual canon/ archive I am forming.

I most enjoyed the works of Piet Mondrian in the exhibition, and thought back to the November exhibition of Salvador Dali, at the High Museum of Art, and Dali’s great disdain for Mondrian. See blog link: <http://plstudioart.blogspot.com/2010/11/high-museum-of-art-in-atlanta-two.html>

March 29-

We returned to NC, stopping in Baltimore for lunch. We did not have any time to visit the art museums on our return trip. The trip allowed me the time to read, browse and reflect on the wonderful opportunity to view outstanding works of art and gain more understanding.

Guerilla Girl(s): Vitreous Painting on Glass

Guerilla Girl, Vitreous Painting on glass, 8 x 10”

This past semester I just came to know the Guerilla Girls, a feminist artist group, and their activism for the rights and promotion of women artists.
I have been reading their colloquial text, The Guerrilla Girls Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art (Penguin, 1998), and have learned about numerous women artists to include in the archive I am forming to re-inform the art canon.
I really enjoyed painting a Guerilla Girl for the archive, and plan to include at least one more. It was fun to kind of loosen up with this painting, the imagery allowed me more freedom to just be expressive, than worrying over the resemblance required in the other portraits.
One of my students told me that it was scary to look at. I think that in the end this will add meaning to the archive wall, embedding the question and intent of the collective images.

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About the Guerilla Girls:

Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of radical feminist artists established in New York City in 1985. Known for their posters, books, billboards, appearances and other creative forms of culture jamming, the group aims to expose discrimination and corruption.
Guerrilla Girls invented a unique combination of content, text and snappy graphics that present feminist viewpoints in a humorous manner. They try to draw in viewers with their comic hook, help them to think about the issues, and encourage them to change their minds.
Guerrilla Girls wanted to reclaim the “F word" (feminism). They want people to embrace the tenets of feminism, which include equal opportunity, the end of gender-based discrimination, equal access to education, freedom from sexual exploitation and abuse, reproductive rights education, and human rights for women everywhere.
They are famous for wearing gorilla masks in public and taking the names of deceased female artists as pseudonyms.
Critics say that while the Guerilla Girls claim to work on behalf of marginalized female artists and artists of color within the art world, they actually serve the needs of only a handful of privileged artists. The Guerilla Girls have responded by pointing to women’s groups throughout the world who have supported their work, including women in Brazil, India, Mexico, Europe, Cyprus, Bosnia, and Serbia.
Other critics assert that their activities ignore the larger trend of misogyny and patriarchy in society, focusing too narrowly on the self-interested pursuit of greater marketability and recognition of female artists. In response, the Guerrilla Girls report that a third of their posters and campaigns have addressed larger societal issues including violence against women, racial inequality, war, reproductive choice, and misguided political policies.

For more information on Guerilla Girls visit: http://www.guerillagirls.com/

You can view my forming archive on my Uomini Famosi: Vitreous paintings on glass at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/UominiFamosi_VitreousPaintingsonGlass#

Liza Lou: Vitreous Painting on Glass

Liza Lou, Vitreous Painting on glass, 8 x 10”

I first recall being introduced to Liza Lou in 2001 at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, our local contemporary art museum here in Winston Salem.
Her Kitchen trailer installation was on exhibit. I recall being totally overwhelmed at the intricacy and detail of the installation.
I blogged on Liza Lou last semester when I was working on my murrini portrait of Faith Ringgold, the assemblage took a multitude of murrini beads to complete. The time and technique reminded me of Liza Lou and her many beads and sequins. You may refer to that blog entry at:
http://plstudioart.blogspot.com/2010/10/thinking-of-liza-lou_05.html

Liza Lou: Biography

Liza Lou was born in 1969 in New York City.Lou's work is at first mesmerizing and breathtakingly beautiful, millions of hand-placed glass beads covering surfaces such as appliances, security fences, and barbed wire. It is only when one begins to look more closely at the themes of Lou's work that one understands the seriousness of her subject matter, such as pleasure, pain, vulnerability, captivity, and injustice, both personal and political.In 2002, Lou received the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. It was also during this time that Lou expanded her Los Angeles studio and moved to Durban, South Africa to not only create her most recent series of sculptures and reliefs, but to "find another way of working, one which can make a substantial difference to other people's lives," as Lou describes. Working with 30 Zulu artisans in a non-profit Centre in downtown Durban, Lou continues her efforts to develop an economically sustainable project, while creating truly magnificent and original artworks. Lou has exhibited in numerous museums and galleries around the world, including, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Minneapolis Institute of Arts Minneapolis; Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica; and Smithsonian Institution of American Art, Washington, D.C. The artist currently lives and works in Los Angeles and South Africa.

For more information on Liza Lou, see link: http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-glittering-world-of-liza-lou.html

My forming archive of my Uomini Famosi: Vitreous Paintings on glass may be seen at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/UominiFamosi_VitreousPaintingsonGlass#

Homage to Kollwitz: Stages of Painting

Earlier this afternoon I met with my mentor to review the recent progress of my work.

I spent a good part of the week preparing photographic images for a montage into my Homage to Kollwitz. These images are from a search on poverty and hunger circa WWI & WWII, the Holocaust and Kristalnacht. I clipped each photo out, used a familiar tool to me- the soldering iron to burn the edges of each, then coated each with a gel medium as a first step to their inclusion in this painting.

My mentor encouraged me to document the process, so I am showing here several of the many photos that will be used.

I probably spent over 20 hours so far, just preparing these photos. It seems I have come to the point that all I want to do is make art, paint and do my glass. I have spent late nights up working this week having to force myself to go to bed, so that I can get up and teach the next day.

I am also showing here the current stage completed to the painting, a 1st layer of copper.

You can see the stages of this painting at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/HomageToKollwitzStagesOfPainting#

Marietta Robusti (Tintoretta): Vitreous Painting on Glass

Marietta Robusti (Tintoretta), Vitreous Painting on glass, 8 x 10"

A few weeks ago when I painted Sofonibsa, I had confused Sofonibsa's biography with Marietta's. When I painted Sofonibsa, I thought I was painting Tintoretto's daughter. According to the colloquial text on women artists by the Guerilla Girls, Marietta Robusti, Tintoretto's daughter died giving childbirth at the age of 30, had worked in her father's studio, and after her death his studio floundered.

Having studied in Venice as a young artist, one summer, I became well acquainted with Tintoretto and have lauded his painting as my favorite among those of the Venetian Renaissance. His work I have stated numerous times in the past has influenced my own work. Now finding his daughter worked in his studio and that his studio floundered after her death, it makes me question how many of his works were done by her hand. And it makes me wonder, the aesthetics of what resonates for me in those paintings were done by Tintorett'a', not Tintorett'o'.

Biography- Marietta Robusti, 1554-1590

Marietta Robusti Tintoretto, also known as La Tinotoretta, from Venice was apprenticed to her father, the painter Jacobo Rubusti, known as Tintoretto. She was also a musician. Marietta Robusti was known as La Tintoretta, a play on her father's name. She died at 30 in childbirth.

Marietta Robusti Tintoretto (also known as La Tintoretto) was born in 1560 in Venice. Her father was a famous Venetian artist who ran the Tintoretto studios. Marietta was the favorite of seven children. Her father was very attached to her and took her everywhere with him. To ensure that she received a proper artistic education Jacopo Tintoretto dressed young Marietta in boys clothing so that she would be allowed access into her father's work area. Jacopo trained his daughter in his own artistic style. By the time she was a teenager their respective works were almost indistinguishable from each other. Marietta was also a trained singer and harpsichord player, having been privately tutored by Neapolitan Giulio Zacchino. She often played and sang for her father while he worked.
By the 1580's Marietta's portraits were in high demand. She was propositioned by Emperor Maximilian, Phillip II of Spain and Archduke Ferdinand to paint for their courts. Had she accepted their offers Marietta would have become quite famous, and would most likely be known by the greater population in this day and time. But, her father insisted that she stayed home with him, to work in his studio, and remain by his side. Since women were allowed little social freedom in the 1500's Marietta had little choice but to concede to her father's demands.
Marietta, though painting in her father's studio for 15 years, regardless of her immense popularity and numerous commissions, was subject to the whims of her father, who refused to part with her, and was never allowed to expand her career as an artist. Jacopo relied so deeply on his daughter that he did not even permit her to marry until she was nearly thirty years old.
In 1590 Marietta married Jacopo d' Augusta, a jeweler, who agreed to not to move Marietta from her father's home. Four years later Marietta died during child birth. Her father never recovered from her loss.
There are only two surviving works by Marietta. One is Portrait of an Old Man With Boy, which until 1920 had been attributed to her father. The other, more controversial work, is Portrait of a woman with a little dog, which until recently had been attributed to El Greco. Considering how popular the works of Marietta were at the time of their creation, and the shear number of commissions she received it is entirely likely that most of her paintings have been attributed to either her father or other male painters of the day.

Unfortunately, miss attribution of works by women was a common phenomenon. Since women received little in the way of recognition or compensation for their work even the most talented of them often vanished into obscurity. Their lives and achievements were quickly forgotten by their male counterparts in the art world. Often women faced discrimination by other artists, and their work received little in the way of praise merely because of their sex. Because of this there are many women artists who we know virtually nothing about. Except for the most bare boned facts about their existence there are no records or writings to tell us of their contributions. Most of their works have not survived the passage of time or have been credited to other artists.

For more information on Marietta Robusti, see link: http://www.theflorentine.it/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=4824

See the archive of my Uomini Famosi/ Vitreous paintings on glass at: https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/UominiFamosi_VitreousPaintingsonGlass#

Progress on Paintings: Homages to Munter and Kollwitz

I have worked on two of my Homage paintings to Munter and Kollwitz. Above are some details. You can see the stages of these paintings at:

Munter- Oil on canvas, 4 x 6'

https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/MunterHomageStagesOfPainting#

At the outset of the day I thought I would be layering another silver, but used an iridescent white and loved the warmth it added to the painting. So I have decided this will be my last layer of paint. I will allow it to dry and then draw with layers of graphite.

Kollwitz- Oil on linen, 4 x 6'

https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/HomageToKollwitzStagesOfPainting#

I find the colors very garish, but I am wanting this painting to have a haunting effect with layering of photo transfer collage into the painted surfaces with images from the Holocaust, poverty and hunger circa World War II.

I have referenced Kollwitz' lithograph, Pieta, in this painting, otherwise entitled Woman with a Dead Child.

Elizabeth Catlett: Vitreous Painting on glass

Elizabeth Catlett, Vitreous Painting on glass, 8 x 10"

Well this is the 2nd attempt to complete Elizabeth Catlett. Working to complete my first piece, the panel slipped from my hand and crashed to the floor into a million pieces. Alas, the fragility of glass and the reminder of its susceptibility to its demise. Working with glass has its frusrations! I am pleased with the outcome and wish I had documentation of the first piece as a comparision.

On my museum visit venture to Charlotte on Saturday, I obtained a new book on women artists: 50 Women Artists You Should Know. So it is my new read on my growing list. It is kind of intriguing to compare my list of 50 women artists to the ones entered in this new text.

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Elizabeth Catlett biography
1915-

Acclaimed printer maker and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett was born on April 15, 1915 in Washington, D.C. Growing up with grandparents who had been slaves, she was very aware of the injustices against black women. She attended Lucretia Mott Elementary School, Dunbar High School and then Howard University School of Art where she graduated cum laude in 1936 She was denied admittance to the Carnegie Institute because she was African American. After she became the first student to earn an MFA degree in sculpture from the University of Iowa in 1940 she studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago, and later in New York, she studied lithography at the Art Students League. She also spent 1943 studying with sculptor Ossip Zadkine in New York. Catlett next became the promotion director of the George Washington Carver School in Harlem, where she taught with Ernie Chrichlow and Charles White. In 1946, Catlett accepted an invitation to work in MexicoCity's Taller de Grafica Popular, a collective graphic arts and mural workshop. There she cultivated the theme for her work, the African American woman. In 1947 she produced her first major show "I am a Negro Woman," a series of sculptures, prints, and paintings through a Julius Rosenwald Foundation Fellowship, which toured black women's colleges in the South. That same year, she married Mexican painter Francisco Mora. A lively community of artists surrounded her and Mora, including Rivera and his wife, Frida Kahlo. From 1958 through 1976 she directed the sculpture department at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. In 1993, Catlett received her first New York City exhibition since 1971, and in 1998 the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, New York honored her with a fifty year retrospective. Her paintings and sculptures are in the collections of New York City's Metropolitan Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Her works often focus on mother and child themes, as well as sculptures of famous African Americans.

For more information on Elizabeth Catlett visit: http://rogallery.com/Catlett_Elizabeth/catlett_bio.htm

See my archive of my Uomini Famosi at: https://picasaweb.google.com/113967877601706753492/UominiFamosi_VitreousPaintingsonGlass##

Visit to Charlotte: Two Museums

Alfred ManessierDans la flamme qui consumme, 1957

My daughter and I headed to Charlotte today to check out the new Modern art museum there, the Bechtler. The museum primarily shares the family's collection of modern art pieces of some pretty notable artists such as Giacometti, Warhol, Calder and Rouault. My favorite part of my visit today at the Bechtler was for the primary motivation of the visit, to view the paintings and lithographs of Alfred Menessiar, within their current exhibition, the School of Paris at http://www.bechtler.org/School-of-paris#/introduction. I learned more about his work and life today. Not too many times have art pieces ever made me weep, but Menessiar's did. Perhaps the chord of painting to stained glass is something I have been searching for, for actually my whole adult life, and in combination with that to his spirituality which provides strong connections, the work just consumed me. I also learned about another artist in this same exhibition that also worked in stained glass, Gustave Singier.

Of course I enjoyed other works in the Bechtler collection from Sol LeWitt, to Giacometti to Warhol. It was well worth the travel on this rainy day to get to see these works.

Right next door is the Mint Museum of Art Uptown which houses fine art works on one floor and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design on another. I enjoyed getting to see some glass works and a ceramic exhibition on view from the United Kingdom.

I was pleased to see a stained glass work in their collection by Judith Schaechter, entitled Hemophilia. With so many sculptural works of glass being part of their collection, it was encouraging to see Judith's work in another museum.

The day continued to raise those questions that ever linger about art versus craft and what defines each. And it seems the more I investigate within the studio and academically, the less I am able to define these things myself. But it provides good fuel for my next paper that will explore these three artists viewed today: Menessiar, Singier, and Schaechter, as well as others.