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Posts from the ‘Art’ Category

Jan 17

Cristo's Gates, New York City 2005, image 1
9 Comments

The Gates in Central Park 2005

Cristo's Gates, New York City 2005, image 2

As the East Coast prepares for a very cool spell this weekend, I thought I’d dig up some bright and joyous winter pictures.  “The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979–2005” by Christo and Jeanne-Claude was erected in Central Park for two weeks in February 2005.  Given my love of contemporary art and temporary installations, it was a given that I would make an art pilgrimage* to see The Gates in real life.  And it was so worth it!  The dramatic orange structures really popped against the frosty ground, bare trees and grey city.  The heavy canvas flags whipped and snapped in the wind but from a distance appeared to floated and swung peacefully as they wound down the park trails. Read more

Jan 15

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Curators Have All the Fun: San Diego’s “Behold, America!” Exhibit

How would you arrange pieces in an art gallery? Should paintings be placed in groups by artistic movement? Does it makes more sense to see everything in chronological order?  Should geographic differences and temporal differences rigidly divide works?

Time period, artistic movement, and geography are often used to organize a museum.  Imagine how many times you’ve entered into the first room of “old” art and then walk forward in time through each successive room.  Changing this classic approach, San Diego’s three major art museums put together something a little different which I thought made for a really incredible show.  They’ve combined works from their very unique collections into thematically based exhibits broadly entitled “Behold, America!” on display until Feb 12, 2013.

Behold, America! San Diego exhibit banner Read more

Dec 7

2 Comments

A Space for All: Engineering Contemporary Art on Fuerteventura

Chillida Cavern, Mount Tindaya, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Mock up drawing of Eduardo Chillida’s Cavern on Mount Tindaya, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Image: Arup)

Sunlight will slowly drift over the seamless stone walls, encompassing visitors in a silent shine to humanity.  This cavernous space was the vision of Basque artist Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002).  The actualization of his monumental work of art has been fraught with environmental, historical preservation and construction concerns.  Today things are back on track and the Chilida Tindaya cavern is poised to be one of the most impressive achievements of contemporary art.

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Nov 10

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Art Institute of Chicago Ancient Greek & Roman Wing Reopens – Nov 11

On November 11th, the Art Institute of Chicago opens its Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art.  I have to give the AIC a lot of credit for the best museum construction sign ever!  I saw this while visiting in August:

Art Institute of Chicago Greek and Roman wing closure sign

Greek art, get it?

Anyways, these galleries sit awkwardly in the hallway to the Chagall windows making it a difficult space for a curator to work with.  The remodeling construction this summer consisted of numerous, single item sized, free standing display cases.  From the few mockup images I’ve seen, the galleries will be a lot less crowded and more focused.  (Click here for a panorama of one of the former Roman galleries).  I presume fewer items will be displayed making for a more focused collection.  If anyone stops soon, I’d appreciate a report back on the new space!

Nov 5

4 Comments

ArtSmart Roundtable – Types of Self Portraits

Norman Rockwell Triple Self Portrait 1960

Norman Rockwell, “Triple Self Portrait”, 1960 (Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA)

It’s the beginning of November and time for the monthly ArtSmart Roundtable in which several art history-loving travelers post on a theme.  You can see links at the bottom to the other posts in the group.  I’ve always loved portraiture, but for November’s ArtSmart Roundtable on art genre’s, I am going to focus on a special kind of portrait – the self-portrait.

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