Midway Contemporary

"Secret Life of Objects"

Midway Contemporary was an exciting experience. It was filled with such random art. Some pieces were easy to relate to and others made me raise my eyebrow in confusion. I liked almost all of the work but picking one that I negatively responded to was quite easy. In the first room there was a piece that I believe was called "Untitled" by Nate Hylden (Sorry for the poor quality of the photo). It was acrylic on aluminum. Usually I look at this type of work and I really like it. I like the dripping of paint and the "careless" nature of the work. But there was something different about this one. It was dizzying. It looked as if it had been screened on or too layered and was a little blurry. I felt like I was trying to look at something interesting but someone kept holding something up to my face and obstructing the view. In fact, while I looked at this painting I felt like I was wearing glasses with the wrong prescription. I believe that if it had been clearer it would have been more effective. But perhaps the artist used the obstructive view to mean something. Perhaps I missed that point...


Things that came to mind while viewing "Untitled": Mass confusion, obsctructed views, listening to Nirvana , accidents happen, bad ruckus







The peice that I was positively drawn to was called "Lonesome Boogie Rattler" by Cameron Jamie. I loved it! It was ink on paper on board. I love works that are inky & drippy and generally messy. I felt that this peice had a lot of motion through out it. The artist used all sorts of curves and weights to give character to the work. I could even make out a story. What drew me in to this piece was the fact that looking from far away it just looked like lots of ink; as if someone had spilled their ink well. But when you got closer you saw the finer details, the smudges and lines were no mistake.



Things that came to mind while viewing "Lonesome Boogie Rattler": lines in motion, "visceral", agony and/or ecstasy, listening to a Kinks song, definite, Edgar Allen Poe, good ruckus







Ultimately, Midway was great and I would like to go back soon to visit their library and rummage through what they've got more thoroughly.


- m

DELETE?!

HA HA HA. I love this piece. But imagine if it had been made a decade ago. Would it have been as effective? Nooooooo.

Installation Piece- A trip to the MIA

The Period Rooms at the Minneapolis Institute of Art are an interesting gateway into the past. The Northumberland Room, for example, is an uptight sitting room filled with knickknacks and material objects that make up the owners possessions; chairs bought out of necessity, gifts received out of thoughtfulness, and portraits painted to show the grandeur of the family name. Chairs are placed puzzlingly far away from each. Portraits paint a picture of a rigid and uptight lifestyle. It’s as if everything in the Northumberland Room is for show. There is nothing comfortable about this room. You get no emotion from it except an inexplicable sadness. You might wonder how anyone could stand living in such a lackluster place. It is a room that exemplifies the time but favors material objects more than anything else. One is left to wonder about the feelings behind the material objects. Did the chair mean anything to them? Is it comfortable? Have the books on the shelves been read? What do you do in a room like this but sit and stare?

(Photo is of the Northumberland Room)

It’s an interesting shift, then, to look at “The Studio” by Larry Rivers. This modern painting is vibrant and full of life. It shows the lapsing of time and the emotions that come with it. Four figures are shown and each one is copied and replaced on top of itself in a slightly different position. There are facial expressions, movement of limbs, and shapes that give the painting an emotive quality. It is extremely expressive. In line with the theory of Modernism, this piece puts a spotlight on the why’s and how’s of life at the time. It confronts social problems (there is an image of a black woman holding a sign that says “liberty”) and focuses on a room that is not filled with material possessions but instead with a lifetime worth of emotive and self-made work.


(Photo is of a portion of "The Studio" by Larry Rivers)



I would love to create an installation peice that takes the Northumberland Room but adds elements from "The Studio" to it, as well. I would rearrange the chairs in strange ways. One chair might be placed on top of the other. Or, two identical chairs could be cut and and fused together to give the idea that over time the chair has been moved just a little. The art on the walls would be much the same but I would take the elegant paintings, copy the person depicted, and place it on top of the image only moved slightly. I might place the teacups on the table but set them up in a way that someone would look at it and ask, "Why would you use it like that?" I would like to fuse the Northumberland Room and The Studio together because they are two very different rooms and yet they both show important aspects of a persons life (i.e. things that belong to them and define the time). I think that with the two fused together you'll get a really interesting perspective.

- m

Postmodern Standpoint

Keith William’s “Figure Ground Teapots” are currently on display at the Concordia University Art Gallery. These pieces of art are reminiscent of ancient pottery because of their simple design and rich color. However, the thing that separates these pieces of art from ancient pottery is the exaggeration of their porportions. They are both tall, thin, teapots that seem to be slightly twisted out of proportion. They almost look like they are melting. This design reminds me of the work of a postmodern artist mentioned in our book named Sherrie Levine. She took works of art that were already created by other artists and added her own spin to them. The pots that I viewed seemed as if they followed that same design. They could be ancient pottery but there are details on them that are too new. Keith William’s may have borrowed techniques from early potters but it is clear that he has added his own style to them.

2:13 PM

Welcome to my blog! It was created on 9/10/09 in the CVA library.

- m