National Gallery of Art, East Building

Today, I visited the East Building of the NGA. I have been there several times when we last lived in the area, but much of what I saw was new or was seen with new eyes. I will write another post about the Ballet Russes exhibit that you have seen advertised on the sides of buses if you live around here, but this post is going to be about just a few pieces that captured my attention in this home for modern art designed by I.M. Pei.

I visited the gallery today to hear a fellow artist give a tour, but arrived late (long story) and only caught the last Nan Morrison's insights. That's okay; I enjoyed seeing her and hearing about the gestural side of abstract expressionism and its other branch, the Color Field movement. I am familiar with these areas of art, but I always pick up on something new. Today I learned about the Rothko Chapel in Houson, Texas. It has also been a very long time since I thought about the shift of the global art world from Paris to NYC. I enjoy looking at something I've just accepted for a long time with fresh eyes. It brought to mind this magazine cover:

After the tour ended, I continued to explore. I had more questions than answers about most things and took many notes about artists to explore further and pieces that I needed more insight on than just the artist, title and date on the wall. That is what follows...

I spent quite a bit of time looking at Glenn Ligon's piece shown below.

I had no idea the context. The museum has the original artwork on display and the printed copy complete with artist's proof marks. As a printmaker, I looked them over carefully, but was no less confused. Once home on my computer, I discovered that this phrase was a common one from the civil rights era. I found an article by BVA very helpful in explaining the piece. I do think it speaks to all of humanity and exemplifies the need to be heard by all in society.

A piece by Byron Kim also perplexed me. Synecdoche looked "interesting" and I was convinced immediately that there was a concept behind it other than a bunch of painted wooden rectangles.

The placard next to it had a diagram of the squares, each containing a name. No lightbulbs illuminated. I felt a little stupid to learn that each was painted to represent the skin color of the person whose name was in the rectangle. I should have been able to figure that out (or should have rented the audiotour).

I was happy to rediscover Robert Delaunay today, too. I remember his work from school, but had forgotten his name and spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with it a few months back while writing my artist statement a few months ago. I occasionally hear comparisons between our work.

My BAR Tower 2012

His Eiffel Tower 1926

I also enjoyed being reacquainted with Lyonel Feininger;

I've always liked his work. Modigliani and Giacometti always bring me joy as well.

Get over there and see everything. The East Building is scheduled to be closed for renovation beginning in January 2014. Time is of the essence. Besides, how can you resist the sparkly and bouncy moving walkway that takes you under the road between the East and West Buildings? They had better be keeping that!

Days Like These

I had a phone call last week about a monoprint that sold a few weeks prior (shown above). I told the caller that I still have the printing plate and can try to closely replicate it.

Yesterday morning, I found the plate (and a few others that I had not seen in a while). After coffee with a friend, I left the house. About a mile down the road I realized that I left the house without the print that I was using to reference the colors she said were "too dark" in another version of the artwork, but decided not to go back for it. Then, I noticed that I had only 50 miles left on my tank of gas. The studio is only 11 miles away, but I knew that I would be returning in 5 o'clock traffic, so I detoured over to the cheapest gas station in our area and filled up. After that, I decided that I should just drive the extra 1 1/2 miles back to the house and get the print for reference.

Thirty minutes later, I'm at the studio. I take my stuff upstairs. It is busy. People politely make a place for me to work. I get out the paper and put it in to soak. I take out my inks and prepare them for the "a la poupee" process used to make this print. I look for the plate. It isn't in the stack. I go to my car. It is not there. Argh!!!

I take out the arrow prints and get to work on those. I had fun. I like the results and will post them soon.

I will go back today and print "Faces on Parade." (I already put the plate in the car.)

A Good Narrative

This past weekend, I participated in an artshow. On Sunday, just after I arrived, a couple came in. I could tell that the wife was interested in one of my framed collage pieces. It was hanging way up high. It was difficult to see any detail. After they moved along to another part of the show, I took it down and moved it to better spot. A few minutes later, the couple was standing across the room, again viewing the piece from far away. I went up to speak to them.

The wife was a retired English teacher and she asked me what the piece was "about."

I replied, "Well....do you remember last year when the moon was really close to the earth and they called it the Mega Moon? This piece is meant to capture the feeling I had taking pictures that night."  

The husband said, "So, it's more about the moon than the bird?" 

I said, "Well, my collage pieces are more about composition and juxtaposition than an underlying story, per se." 

Then the wife said, "From this distance, I see a white path, but it is blocked with that obstacle. I think it would be a great conversation starter to see what different people see when they look at it." 

I said, "I have never viewed it from this distance; it does read completely differently." 

The husband said, "Now, she is finding meanings in it that you didn't even intend."

(I don't think anything is wrong with that. I think it happens in art, literature and music all the time. In fact, I enjoy having a chuckle when people see really "deep" symbolism where the creator likely didn't intend to convey it.)

I don't think either of them liked my answers. The husband didn't even care for the piece visually, but the wife prevailed and they purchased it.

Do you remember the writing prompts in late elementary when you would draw a card from a box and write a story from one of the choices provided there? I felt like that is what they wanted from me and I could have done it....but, I'm not really one of "those" artists. I like to explore subjects that mean something to me, play with techniques and color. I try to make my art compositional sound and to draw the eye around the piece in an interesting way. I wonder if two years of classroom critique in college where I had to verbalize the meaning of every piece of art has made me unwilling to really explore what each piece means to me or if after the fact I should contemplate writing out a narrative of some sort to display with the piece. I think in the absence of getting to meet the artist, the more information they can get about a work of art, the better.

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