Tag / modern art

by lettersbysoo

Seeing Lee Krasner’s Collage Paintings & Other Works from 1938-1982

A notification from Kasmin Gallery alerted me to an exhibit that I was very excited to see: Lee Krasner: Collage Paintings 1938-1981

Lee Krasner is better known by some as the famed abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock‘s wife.

The exhibition was a tightly curated ensemble of works from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and private collections.

I admit I was initially interested in seeing Krasner’s works as

1. I’ve read about more than experienced her,

2. I was intrigued by her relationship with Jackson Pollock as an artist and as a partner in life

and

3. I was interested in exploring how her works have influenced the style of Jackson Pollock and vice versa.

She is also known for her large canvas and Neo-cubist works, and while the exhibition primarily displays Lee Krasner’s collage paintings, I was able to see one or two paintings that reflected her other “periods” of style:

Both collage and cubist elements

Things to note if you have have the chance to visit Kasmin before it closes

A couple things caught the attention of my friend Georgia and I:

  • The way some had glass/plexi-glass on top and others didn’t. We wondered whether it had something to do with who owned the work that is being displayed; from what I’ve learned so far through self-teaching and asking peers in the art business, owners’ and collectors’ preferences sometimes have a lot of sway in regards to curatorial decisions.

Curious, I went up to the gallery assistant and asked him whether this work belonged to someone else and did not belong to the Pollock-Krasner Foundation

Verdict: It was in fact from the private collection of another!

  • Her changing artistic styles from monochrome to stark color contrasts.
  • Her heavy handed use of various materials; her interesting use of something that looks a lot like blue tape.
  • That she seemed to prefer more jagged, angular shapes vs Pollock’s round style of paint application. We did see some marks reminiscent of Pollock’s trademark shapes and textures in a couple of Lee Krasner’s paintings on display.

Bisous,

Soo

by lettersbysoo

MoMA’s Creativity Lab, Donald Judd, and a Little Tomato Farm Out Front of the Guggenheim

At one point did it enter our heads that we can no longer play with arts and crafts… create.. that art making is an activity best left for kids? Getting back our creativity as adults… waking up dry bones…. a hope I have for the city of New York.

“Make use of the empty space, child”

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“Make use of the empty space, child,” (Donald Judd inspired thoughts in my head)

Always leaving inspired by the rich histories of typography

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by lettersbysoo

David Zwirner Gallery: Endless Enigma: 8 Centuries of Fantastic Art

Chris and I go on a lengthy art gallery hop through Chelsea, and I’d have to say this was our favorite pit-stop: David Zwirner Gallery, a stellar power house.
We had to gulp down our cappuccinos.
So happy to see works I’ve never seen before in person from artist like Max Ernst and Rene Magritte. I have a particular attachment to the Dada and Surrealist movements.

René Magritte

A rather tempered work of Hieronymus Bosch:

Hieronymus Bosch

Siren-like beauties– very much like the Valentino SS 2015 Campaign. I’d say almost identical in interpretation. I’m not sure about the strength of Leonor Fini’s other works, but my goodness, to have this in my home:

Leonor Fini

Things that make my childlike soul go hop!:

Amazing mastery of painting, and the chemistry between the movement of the waves vs. the wood like whorls of the levitating mass:

Max Ernst

The power of women:

The detailing and lifework on this was superior:

Richard Humphry

Birds and wood:

Herri met de Bles

Running until October 27 @ David Zwirner Gallery

by lettersbysoo

Constantin Brancusi,Vanguard Artist

Of Romania, Constantin Brancusi, born in 1876, sculpted, painted, and photographed throughout the duration of his artistic career. He is considered by some as the father of modern sculpture.

Brancusi worked primarily with 4 mediums in his sculpting practice: limestone, casted bronze, wood, and marble to construct highly symbolic forms of the things grounded by reality.

His works are true emblems of visual reduction.

On view at The Museum of Modern Art until February 18, 2019 although you won’t be missing out on much as I believe most if not all the works are part of MoMA’s private collection. 🙂

A bientôt!

by lettersbysoo

Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983

Night So much experimentation and fun in the 70s and 80s, I wish I was a part of it:

 

 

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Customized Matchbooks for Club 57’s 1983 Matchbook Show

 

 

 

Complement these visuals with the 1967 track of ze Vegetables  by The Beach Boys.

PSA*** Let me just say MoMA’s current exhibits are amazing (Specifically, three). This is a good month to go. I won’t spoil it for you, but there are some new, reckoning art for you to see.

Running through April 1 at The Museum of Modern Art.

Complement these visuals with the 1967 track of ze Vegetables  by The Beach Boys.

by lettersbysoo

How To Fall In Love With Art

How long has it been?

Up until college, I had grown up with an appreciation for fine art thanks to my parents, but it was never really something I had sought out on my own.

I knew enough “art” to maintain my sense of weird, self-righteous adolescent pride in being cultured and artsy. My interest was driven by nothing else really of nobler substance.

At 18, I moved to New York for college, and I enrolled in an art crit class on a whim during freshman year: the Art of Now course at New York University.

Fast forward to 2013, when I studied abroad in Shanghai. I decided to take on a heavier workload of art classes and immersed myself in contemporary and Asian art. I don’t remember much of the art I saw in detail, but this period of time would leave an indelible mark on me, and it was a catalyst for my passion.

Hu Jieming, Casual Status, 1992

I returned, enrolled in some more art classes.. a studio class in drawing.

During my time as a student, I had more time in the afternoons and between classes to do other things (doing nothing, meeting friends at cafes or for lunch in the West Village, chilling near fountains – damn life from 18-22 was so sweet) and I began exploring gallery spaces and art exhibitions everywhere! pretty intensely.

A pic I snapped years ago on another trip to Pace Gallery.

I started taking random things at home: scissors, a tableweight, a pepper from the kitchen, a rose and draw.

 

So newly inspired I was by the intricate beauty in all things that held form, line, and shape.

I was falling in love with art then.

I began to accumulate a larger inventory of the things I liked and disliked, formulate stronger opinions backed by a latticework of thoughts and experiences built thanks to the plenitude of art I’ve seen in the years which have since passed post- college.

For example, I prefer minimalism and modernism. I like French impressionism, and abstract expressionism.

For some reason, Surrealism and Dada works get me.

Man Ray, Ingre’s Violin

Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele works are so luscious and rich. Contemporary movements like pop surrealism, otherwise knowns as “Lowbrow” art are so cool.

Mark Ryden, the father of Pop-Surrealism

I don’t find a lot of photography art to be impressive, but I’m okay with that. Installations with various forms of media are sometimes a hit or miss for me. I like contemporary art, but I’m not particularly fond of Jeff Koons (active from 1977 – ) or Damien Hirst (1988 – , or Jean-Michel Basquiat (1976 – ). But I do love me my Toyin Ojih Odutola (2008 – , Osamu Yokonami, and Chad Wys (2011 – ) :

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Toyin Ojih Odutola, Above all else make it look effortless, 2012. Pen ink, marker, and varnish on paper.

Chad Wys, Sculpture with a Spectrum 2, 2014. Collage on paper.

It’s 2018 and I love art more than ever.

I move and live every week, drinking in all the things I see, from the daily visuals of life to the more curated representations of art at institutions.

And the more I do that, the more I understand this:

Art is an instrument that instructs the way we see and live our lives. Our lives, in turn, are ripe, breeding grounds for art: new expressions and new manifestos… and who’s to say that the act of life and breathing aren’t art in themselves.

They are synonymous with one another– and I cannot see the difference.

                                                                                                                                                                                                          (on my best days- taha.)
by lettersbysoo

Art Finds at MoMA

Romanian visual artist Geta Brătescu

American visual artist Joan Jonas‘ riveting 3-D performance

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One of Louise Bourgeois’ smaller arachnoids, perched on the wall:

Part of her exhibition, Louise Bourgeois: An Unfolding Portrait, a showcase of 300 pieces, which is running until January 28, 2018.

 

 

Museum of Modern Art

by lettersbysoo

Italian Artist Gehard Demetz, my modern day Geppetto.

Formally trained in religious sculpture, Italian artist Gehard Demetz has progressed to become one of the most talented artists of our century. He wields his art technique and experience to create works, many with children as subject, that explore the dichotomies and marriages of contradiction… between that which is evocative and whimsical – provocative and contemporary. His sculptures often carry an energy verging on the socio-political.

He relies on mediums like wood and bronze and certainly knows how to make dry wood come alive.

These are my favorite works of Demetz throughout his career as a sculptor:

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Introjection. 2017, Wood

 

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Life Without Christmas. 2017, Wood

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Dirt on my Shoulders. 2016, Wood

 

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Restoring My Blisses. 2015, Wood.

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My Parents’ Stories Sound Different. 2015, Wood.

 

Personally, I would say his best works were made in 2013.

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Stones In My Pocket. 2013, Wood.

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Mom’s hands and daddy’s nose. 2013, wood.

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Complement these visuals with a contemplative rendition of Bach’s Christus, Der Uns Selig Macht, BWV 245, arranged by one of my favorite composers and pianists, Chad Lawson.

by lettersbysoo

A Prelude to Spring: Things I’m Loving

Our climate is in flux, the Great Barrier Reef is at risk (“in danger!” says Karlie), and New York is experiencing a true Four Seasons.

While concerns over climate change is becoming a veritable thing this season, spring to me sometimes just feels like… spring, and I’m left feeling giddy.

For those that are with me! Here’s some beauty to herald in our months of bloom with:

Pierre Yovanovitch, French interior designer:

See this extraordinary armchair complete with varnished oak feet: the Baby Bear Chair:

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Papa Bear and Momma Bear available upon request.

Solid & Striped, the Anne Marie:

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The Elle Top:

Julian Schnabel, Rose Painting:

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Oil, plates, and bondo on wood.

Showing at the Pace Gallery until March 25! 510 W. 25th St., NY, NY, 10001

Franz Kline, American painter and Abstract Expressionist:

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Franz Kline with one of his paintings.

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Laureline, 1956. Gagosian Gallery