Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., Photography | Tags: art, artist, drawing, Fitchburg Art Museum
My big success this week was to meet with Mary Tinti, the Fitchburg Art Museum‘s new curator. I’m NOT kidding. She’s putting together a show of still lifes, and was interested in some of my drawings. NO JOKE. I was so thrilled that she contacted me. She was very generous with her time and feedback. Besides getting to know her, I also really enjoyed hearing about the museum, its collection, and its history. I’m embarrassed to say that I had not ever been to the Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM) before. YIKES. Actually, I don’t think that I had even been to Fitchburg. I know. What’s wrong with me? (Don’t answer that…) Check it out:
This is the main visitor’s entrance of the museum. It was founded in 1925 by Eleanor Norcross, an accomplished artist and educator. The museum has a wonderful and diverse collection…paintings by John Singer Sargent, photographs by Charles Sheeler and Walker Evans, African masks and statues, and a series of Egyptian art and mummies, INCLUDING a mummified crocodile (it’s small…and it kind of looked like something that my son would make, but I digress…)
It looked sort of like THAT, but more shriveled. YIKES. This is the kind of thing that I’d find in the bottom of my son’s backpack…(not a result of my poor housekeeping skills, mind you…) MOVING ON…
This is an addition to the museum, completed in the late 80s by Burr & McCallum Architects. The materials are really nice, and it’s well detailed. Yes, I know. The architect side of my brain has been feeling neglected lately, and it desperately wants attention. (The housewife side of my brain is undeveloped and primitive…BTW). It’s hard to divide my multitude of interests among my limited brain cells. Well, at least I only have one brain to keep track of, although I do feel like THIS guy sometimes…
BRILLIANT! I think this comes with the territory of raising a kid and trying to work from home. (I have Terry Jones’s impatience.) But I digress again…FOCUS!
The current show at FAM is the 78th Annual Regional Exhibition of Art and Craft.
Juan Jose Barbazo-Gubo, Cervus Transformatio, 2011
This gorgeous piece by Juan Jose Barbazo-Gubo won “First Prize” at the show, which was juried by Nina Gara Bozicnik, Assistant Curator, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire. I should have taken a close up photo for you to see the amazing linework, collage, painting and textures in this piece. I even love how the fragile paper is puckered around the image. Beautiful. Barbazo-Gubo is a Somerville resident…next time you see him at Highland Kitchen, tell him that his work is GORGEOUS.
Edward Monovich, Snake In The Grass, 2011
Check out this crazy drawing! Amazing. It’s actually all done on graph paper. So cool! The imagery is both appealing and disturbing. Who is that skunk boy? The drawing actually has the irregular profile that you see. Monovich’s got mad drawing skills, right? Also, he’s another local, and lives in Belmont! So give HIM a big “hello” if you see him at Stone Hearth Pizza in Belmont Center. (Actually, he’s probably too cool to eat there.) I’m not! I like that place, but it’s always packed with screaming kids. I feel that I can complain about that, as I’ve got one at home too. When I go out to dinner, I’m trying to ESCAPE and PRETEND that there is peace and sanity in the world. Hmph.
Lee Su, Twinkle Twinkle Little Hypercube, 2013
Don’t you love this? It’s got an interesting mix of flatness and depth. This somehow looks vintage to me. I love it.
Coelynn McIninch, Castle #9, 2013
Okay. I LOVE THIS TOO. So stunning. I believe that McIninch builds a physical model, and then photographs it and manipulates the photo. PLEASE look at her website. I love her work. This series in particular is gorgeous…and not just because of the architectural content. The images are so ethereal…ghost-like… I love how they are both beautiful and disorienting.
Nora Valdez, Baggage /Bagaje
Nora Valdez was also having a solo show at the museum. Her sculptures were amazing. She also had beautiful drawings.
Nora Valdez, Paper Bags / Bolsitas de Papel, 2009-2011
Crumpled bags carved out of limestone. Look how soft they look! I want those…
There was also a photography show going on:
I know! So much to see! I loved this:
Carl Chiarenza, Triptych: Don Quixote, 153/148/158, 1992
I wish that my photo was better. This was gorgeous. It’s so abstract, and yet the richness of the textures and materials are so incredible. Very beautiful.
I had a chance to wander around the neighborhood of the museum as well…this is what I found:
Hmmm. I’m glad that they labeled that.
This wall was so great! I’m not sure who the artists are…schoolkids? People in the community? Either way, I loved it.
Ah…so my trip to Fitchburg was a treat. In contrast, my main challenge of the week was that my five year old son has been creating “drop-off drama” at camp in the morning. Perhaps he thinks that he’s actually AT a “drama camp?” They do have those, right? He’s been upset when I have to go, but within ten minutes of me having gone…he’s fine (at least this is what I’m TOLD…) SIGH.
I’m wondering if I make a stuffed effigy of myself, complete with crabby face and disheveled hair, would this abate his separation anxiety? He could bring it WITH HIM. Brilliant, right? I can’t decide if I should use a mass of angora yarn to represent my humidity-induced frizzy hair, or perhaps simply an errant dust bunny would do…thoughts? Then again…this “faux mommy” doll may temporarily assuage his need for me (as I have about as much personality as a wad of polyester stuffing), but it will likely lead to odd looks from the other kids and subsequent years of therapy to get over this complex.
Perhaps I’ll just bribe him with ice cream, instead?
No, that’s not my attempt to create the “faux mommy” doll. This is my son’s piñata from camp! Isn’t it adorable? He whacked it with a wiffle ball bat in order to get the goodies out. On second thought…maybe this IS supposed to be me??? Did my son make this mommy-fetish to seek revenge for my leaving him at camp??? Egads. Now, I’VE got a complex. (Try to act surprised…)
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., Sewing | Tags: art, arts, boston, colored pencil, crafts, Donald Trump, drawing, Machine quilting, quilt
My current excuse for not having seen any new art is that it’s sweltering hot here. I guess it’s going to be 97 deg F tomorrow with tons of humidity.
I know…
It gets hotter in Texas…the Sahara Desert…the surface of the sun, etc. But does it get hotter than the dark interior of my dark blue car???? Nooooo…I think not. I’ve been feeling too lethargic to cook lately, and I’m wondering if there is some way that I can prepare dinner by cooking it IN MY CAR??? Fried eggs on the dashboard? No, those aren’t vegan…damn! Tofu pups instead? What IS seitan anyway? It looks like a wet, sweatsock turned inside out. No? Well, I hope that it doesn’t TASTE like that. Anyhoo…as I can’t afford a real convection oven, or at least one that doesn’t have four wheels and an engine, I was thinking of possibly doing a lasagna. Do you think that it would cook faster in the glove compartment, or on the dash? Tough call.
So, I recently finished a drawing. FINALLY. I’ll show it to you in a minute, but before I do, I had to celebrate it’s completion by making a baby quilt. My FIRST quilt…mind you. Needless to say, the quilt is done, but the sewing machine is in the shop. I think that I scared it half to death with my shoddy sewing skills. The feed dogs won’t go up anymore. I think that they’re either hiding, or on strike.
So, here’s the quilt!
I know. It’s sooooo basic. Hey, at least it’s a friggin’ rectangle. This is machine quilted entirely. I’m much too impatient to even remotely consider hand sewing. Besides…the binding was hand sewn, and I nearly made a pincushion out of my left thumb with my incompetent needle handling (yes, I’ve heard of a thimble). I can’t imagine doing a whole quilt. (Patty, I bask in your quilting glory.) I feel itchy to do another quilt! Is that normal? (Don’t answer that.) Actually, as I am a mosquito and poison ivy magnet, I tend to be itchy in general.
The back:
Super simple!
While I was working away on this thing, my son brought home one of HIS creations from camp. Here it is:
Do you know what that is? No, it’s not vermin. It’s a PET ROCK!!! He proudly told me that it will require no feeding and care. He also explained that after adding the first piece of brown fur, he felt that his rock was cold and needed the black fur as well. It’s like a bad toupee…or if Donald Trump somehow found himself in the story of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Anyway, I love it and think that it’s hilarious. I’m also a sucker for anything with googly eyes.
Speaking of googly eyes, after months of slaving over the minutiae of my drawing, it’s finished.
Nameless Problem #2, Elizabeth Kostojohn, 2013, colored pencil on mylar
Sorry for the glare…photography is not one of my strong suits…
No, I have not gone off the deep end. I’m just expressing my domestic angst. I’ve already started another one in this series, and I am seriously hoping that it does NOT take me months to complete. I’m also hoping that I don’t decide to ever draw Doritos again. Don’t get me wrong…they’re delicious and I love orange, but really…
Okay, I will make a SERIOUS effort to see some art next week. Until then, I’ll just have to wander around the yard in a heat induced stupor. The hydrangeas are about the only things that haven’t completely shriveled up and died in this heat.
Speaking of withering neglect, my son correctly used the word “languish” in a sentence this week. He’s five! Well, he only get’s half credit…as after he commented on how our unused British pound coin will “languish”, he said, “What does ‘languish’ even mean?” What does “languish” mean??? Just look at mommy trying to bake lasagna in the Toyota!!! I’m glad that my culinary failings can prove useful by enriching my son’s developing vocabulary. Next, I’m going to teach him, “exasperate”, “lethargy”, and “ennui…”
Filed under: sculpture | Tags: art, artist, Dan Flavin, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, godzilla, mundane, sculpture, Tony Feher
Well, it’s BALMY in BOSTON. I think that we’re at around 80 deg F and 80% humidity. SOUPY. I feel like I am sticking to everything, and that’s not only a result of my poor housekeeping skills. Has anyone else noticed that it’s difficult to get a dried Rice Krispy off of the floor? Well, I have. Thank god I don’t bother with manicures, or else our floor would be a minefield of dried krispies.
I stopped by the deCordova museum to see the work of Tony Feher. Now, let me just preface this discussion (one sided, of course) by noting that I am not usually very interested in found object sculpture. I know…I’m a philistine. Anyway, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of Feher’s work.
WELL…I LOVED IT. LOOK AT THIS:
Mountain Home, Tony Feher, 2004, plastic containers
I know. I KNOW what those are…but I love that they’ve taken on this ethereal form. They look so pure and delicate, and yet solid. It’s a modern Mayan temple in miniature…well, not really. Here is an overview of the main room of his work:
Tony Feher at the deCordova Museum
Each piece is quite simple, typically using only one or two types of objects, but the reconfiguration is fascinating.
Tony Feher, Sharadiant, 2000, mop and broom handles with rope
I love this too. It makes me think of a Dan Flavin piece that’s turned off and seen during the day.
I know…I know…they are NOT even MARGINALLY related. What can I say? These are the associations that I come up with. Speaking of associations…what do you think of this?:
Tony Feher, Come Out And Play Stephen Jay, 2013, painter’s tape
Yes. That’s tape. TAAAAPE. Now THAT made me think of Van Gogh’s Starry Night or wavelite crystals…
Swirly!
I’m sure that you’d rather see more of Feher’s work, rather than my bizarre and boring associations. Fine.
Tony Feher at the deCordova Museum
This is Feher’s installation in that great stairway at the deCordova. This space is pure genius (thanks to William Rawn Associates), as it creates this really unusual installation space. I love seeing what different artists do here. Feher has taken two liter bottles and filled them with colored liquid. It’s often hard to get a good photo of this space, as it’s so narrow. It’s 21st century stained glass, right?
Tony Feher, 8 White Elements, 2001 and Honcho Grid 1, 1999
Yes, you are looking at a tower of styrofoam packaging. I can’t help but think of an architectural model…perhaps for the New Museum in NYC? Hell, Yes! (that expletive relates to the New Museum…I’m not normally so brash.) The grid in the background is made from plastic straws and polyester thread. BRILLIANT!
I love how simple and elemental his pieces are. I love how these mundane objects feel truly transformed through their reconfiguration. He doesn’t cut/break/bend the objects…he just puts them together so that they form a new, single object. There’s such clarity to his work.
Speaking of clarity…oh wait, I never have clarity. Nevermind.
I’ll segue by my household’s own transformation of the mundane into…well, it’s still all mundane. My son is obsessed with Godzilla. A friend of mine is moving to TX, and she let me take some of her boys’ old toys. WELL, we got a small Godzilla set…and the rest is history. Godzilla is the perfect combination of dinorsaur-ish creature PLUS a force of ridiculous destruction/demolition. Greaaaaat.
My son doesn’t seem at all put off by the idea that this is simply a person in a lizard suit lumbering around a model city. Perhaps that’s because he’s used to me lumbering around the living room, stepping on Lego buildings, and growling? I have better skin than Godzilla, thankfully. (Check in with me again if I make it to 90, and I may not be able to say that, though.)
This is a drawing that my son did in homage to the great beast:
Let me describe this for you…the lower left has a monster truck parked next to a skyscraper. The tall thing on the right is Godzilla’s leg, with monster toenail. Yes, he’s SOOO HUGE that he can’t even fit on the page. Priceless.
I’m also hoping that my toenails did not provide inspiration for this drawing…sigh.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., painting, Sewing | Tags: 13 Forest, arlington, art, artist, boston, graduation, Massachusetts, preschool, visual art
So, I recently started exercising. I know. Don’t laugh. I truly forgot what sore muscles feel like. Actually, I forgot what muscles feel like altogether, so the whole thing is pretty shocking, to say the least. I haven’t succumbed to the lure of Ben Gay, though. When I was in high school, the heady aroma of Ben Gay would waft throughout the school in the week of “sports camp” leading up to the start of the Fall season. I’d rather hobble than smell that stuff again. (God forbid you rub your eye with some of that on your hand….YEEOUCH.) In order to nurse myself back to health, I’ve decided to just lie on the couch whilst eating an ice cream sandwich. You know…just like the pros do.
Besides moaning about my aching, yet seemingly nonexistent muscles, I did get out to see some art. This is lucky, as my own artwork continues to plod along at a glacial pace. I didn’t venture far, mind you. My hobbling limited the scope of my search. I decided that I would FINALLY go to 13 Forest Gallery here in Arlington, MA. (It’s kind of ridiculous/embarrassing that I had not been in before.) I met Marc Gurton, the owner, who was super friendly and has selected some really amazing artists to represent. Right now, they have a show titled, “Tangent,” which features the work of Mary O’Malley and Rebecca Roberts. Here are some views of the show:
13 Forest Gallery featuring Mary O’Malley and Rebecca Roberts
And another view:
13 Forest Gallery featuring Mary O’Malley and Rebecca Roberts
O’Malley creates intricate drawings with metallic ink and gouache typically on black paper. They are beautiful. The repetitive and abstract qualities makes me think of Islamic art, while the gilded palette makes me think of an illuminated manuscript. They have an opulent, yet understated quality about them. Very impressive.
Roberts creates gorgeous abstract fabric paintings in a mix of both bold and subtle hues. She not only plays with beautiful color palettes, but the texture of the fabric also varies. My favorite pieces were those with a color field surrounded by an unsymmetrical white background. Two of those pieces are in the photo above on the right side.
Here are some better shots of their work:
Mary O’Malley, Relic #10, Ink and Gouache on Paper, 16″ x 13″
The reflection is obviously not doing the work justice. But you can see the gorgeous palette and beautiful detail.
Rebecca Roberts, Pfeiffer Falls, Sewn Cotton Fabric, 18″ x 20″
This is one where an irregularly shaped field of color sits within a minimal, white background. I love it!
Anyone local to Arlington, MA should stop by to see the show. IN FACT, TONIGHT (June 21) BOTH ARTISTS ARE GOING TO BE SPEAKING AT THE GALLERY. There is a reception from 7-9pm. Go see what they have to say! (And please tell me what they say, as I don’t think that I can make it.)
Today is my son’s LAST DAY at preschool. He has gone to that school since he was four months old. (No joke.) So, we’re taking him out for a “graduation dinner.” to celebrate. This is also to ease the fact that he is NOT happy about leaving. Actually, he’s not happy about change of any sort, unless you mean adding a new toy to his collection. THEN, he embraces change completely and with zeal. Also, he’ll “embrace” the change in my purse, and add it to his ever expanding piggybank if I’m not paying attention. Naturally, if I ask him where the money is from…he’ll tell me that he “found it.” I guess that’s sort of true…
Actually, the whole concept of “truth” still does not register with him. He’s only 5, so I hope that there’s time to learn. Sometimes, he’ll blatantly lie about something. I’ll ask him, “Did you and Grandma get some ice cream today?” His response is an emphatic, “NO!” However, when I say that I’m going to call Grandma just to check, he changes his response to, “Wellllll, at least I don’t THINK that I had any ice cream…I don’t reaaaally remember.” He even scratches his chin quizzically for effect.
Hmmm.
I’m hoping that this does not indicate some future life of crime for him, but just a phase of development that he hasn’t quite reached yet…kind of like facial hair. Now, if the facial hair comes in BEFORE his understanding of “the truth”, THEN I will be concerned. Actually, there’s probably some correlation between the onset of facial hair and a regressive trend to actually forget what it means to tell the truth. Like, “No Mom, I didn’t take your ironing board and use it as a skateboard ramp. I don’t know where those wheel marks came from.”
HMMMMM.
I’ve decided to stop worrying about all of that now and just go ice my sore muscles with another ice cream sandwich…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., painting | Tags: abstract, Adria Arch, art, Art Complex Museum, artist, flowers, painting
Is it Friday already? How did this happen?
Well, this is the FIRST week in a month that I’ve actually gotten a chance to DRAW. I almost forgot which end of the pencil to use! Just kidding…luckily, my friend got me a deranged pencil sharpener to help me out:
Yes. There it is. (except that mine is black.) Did I mention that the cat meows when you use it??? SICK. Actually, having this thing around pretty much ensures that all of my pencils will remain dull. I’m also keeping it away from my five-year-old, who will want some kind of explanation that I cannot possibly give him without him needing years of therapy, which I don’t want to start him on until he’s at least eight. I think that my friend would have preferred to have given me this in person, as my horrified reaction is really the priceless part of the gift. Thanks, TB. I’m going to have nightmares tonight…
Besides eating my weight in chocolate chip cookies this week, I also went to the The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury to see the work of my advisor, Adria Arch.
So exciting!!!! She has her work in the main room of the Art Complex. Her work is large and has a lot of impact, so it’s great to see it with the space that it needs.
The show is titled, “Iconic.” She plays with the subconscious markings of other people and magnifies and intensifies them into monumental glyphs. The forms, compositions and colors are very compelling. I can’t help but wonder who made each of these marks? I love the mysterious quality of them.
Adria Arch, I Love You More, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 96″ x 96″
In her words, “These elements, spattered across and extending beyond the picture plane, bring to mind galaxies and explosions of energy. The compositions suggest randomness, belying an intentional painting process in which I project and then paint enlarged pencil lines onto canvas, wood panel, or walls. My practice grows out of the tradition of mark-making. I am drawn to the expressiveness found in unselfconscious pencil doodles – some I find and some I elicit from other people. The eccentric lines derived from these marginal marks are, for me, metaphors for boundless physical energy: floating, spinning, and falling through space.” So fascinating! Please go and see this show. It’s up from May 36 – August 18.
While I wish that I had a modicum of physical energy, I have managed to do SOME productive things this past month.
Look what I grew! Actually, I should say…”Look what I didn’t kill!” Yes…that’s an ORCHID. The flowers fell off a couple weeks after I bought it, which made me sad as I thought that was the kiss of death. BUT NO! I discovered that if you WATER it…more flowers will grow. Imagine that! I am convinced that plants hate me, so I am happy that this one didn’t get the memo. My other plants are probably blowing it raspberries in their own plant-like way.
Speaking of blowing raspberries, my son is back at school this week. SANITY. He was NOT happy about that, but I felt that I should not mislead him by thinking that school is “optional.” He says that he is besides himself with boredom. I nod.
Welcome to reality, kid!
This is what he would prefer to do all day, rather than “boring” activities, like making bumble bees out of construction paper. (can crafts EVER be boring????) He told me that this is a hotel. Perhaps my son will become the next Donald Trump? As his mother, though, I would not allow him to have the Donald’s hair, though. In reviewing his design, I feel that the penthouse unit has a catacomb-like quality to it. Thoughts? Perhaps a skylight would help? Maybe he’s catching onto the micro hotel thing in Japan?:
There must not be a word for, “claustrophobia” in Japanese. Those wouldn’t work in the States anyway, as they’d each need to be the size of a shipping container to work with our girth.
Speaking of…I’m going to go and look for more cookies. Let me know if you need me to sharpen any pencils for you.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, cape cod, drawing, New York City, pirate booty
So, yet again, I have done NO new artwork. I did, however, eat two bowls of Pirate’s Booty just a minute ago…does that count for anything? Seeing as my latest body of work involves drawing food, I’m just going to chalk up this indulgence to professional R&D.
Sound convincing? Should I run for Congress? Perhaps…but only if I could attend all sessions wearing my fuzzy, mint green bathrobe carrying my half-eaten bag of Pirate’s Booty under my arm. I’ll be representin’ the moms out there…I MAY even brush my hair…
I did attend the reception for the National Prize Show at the Cambridge Art Association.
I ran into some friends unexpectedly, which was great. My cousin and his friend also came, which was wonderful as well, AND greatly added to the evening. My work ended up in a corner of the room:
There it is! Actually, there’s my husband! Poor guy. Little does he realize his portrait is hanging up in Cambridge. He may not be able to handle the fame of people coming up to him on the T saying…”Hey! You’re the guy in the drawing who mysteriously has no hand! What’s up with that???” He can just nod and mumble something about his crazy wife as he tries to hide under his Kindle.
Sometimes, my posts aspire to be “marginally intellectual,” or at least NOT ridiculous. But…as a result of my son’s continued absence from preschool…any remaining braincells that I might have had to create a “marginally intellectual” thought have shriveled up and are now forgotten…much like the errant Cheerio that rolls itself off the dining room table from my son’s cereal bowl and ends up underneath the radiator. (Just wondering…do I need a third bowl of Pirate’s Booty? Thoughts????)
I was digging that pen and pencil drawing of a grasshopper on the right, in spite of my bug phobia.
During this past week, as well as getting nothing done, I stumbled upon the work of Joan Linder online. Check it out:
She recently had a show at Mixed Greens in NYC. I WISH that I had seen it. Her show was titled, “Sink.” She has numerous drawings of her kitchen sink/countertop that are mesmerizing to me. Some of the drawings are realistic, and they almost have a “family portrait” feel to them. They are long, colorful and detailed…and they make me feel as if the viewer has interrupted a private party amongst the artist’s kitchen items and food. The black and white drawings look gorgeous. I love the look of the drawing and the entire theme. The multicolored line drawings have a very frenetic feel. I almost relate to the faucet in the center…it’s trapped and trying to deal with the culinary fracas. Amazing! Did anyone out there see the show? If so, let me know what you think. I would love to see her work in person.
It makes me wish that I could make something amazing from my lowly kitchen sink. (Yes, I’ve heard of Bon Ami…thankyouverymuch.) I’m going to hold off on posting a photo of my own kitchen sink …lest I get arrested by the housefrau police. They have spies everywhere. I think that I can pretty convincingly plead ignorance.
I’m just like that, except that my dress is red, not blue. I’m also right handed.
This past weekend, we went to the Cape…
AAAAHHHHHH. Now, I know it’s not the Caribbean (unless we took a wrong turn after Albuquerque), but it still has a zen effect on my psyche. I am lulled by the sparkling waves…the noisy seagulls…and my son asking repeatedly when we can see his friend who lives nearby.
Have you noticed that eating soft serve ice cream seems to have a zen effect similar to being at the beach? I have. Or, perhaps it’s just the beach and ice cream combo that work together so well? Beach + ice cream = zen. As opposed to: 5 year old boy + 5 year old boy = NOT zen.
I find that sprinkles are helpful too…especially when applied topically to my temples during one of my son’s raucous playdates…
(FYI…they’re also easier to pick off the floor than shriveled Cheerios…)
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, Cocoapuffs, drawing, Family, housewife, Lego Ninjago, parenting, peeps, St. Botolph Club
Yes, I am still here…although my focus on art has taken a serious hiatus. I recently stopped sending my son to the preschool that he has been attending, for reasons that I will not bore you with. In a nutshell: I have no regular childcare now. SAVE ME. My mom has been exceedingly helpful by coming to watch my son while I attempt to run errands, like picking up six of my drawings from the framer, or having a series of stressful portfolio reviews. I am CLEARLY not cut out to be a 24 hr.-a-day-stay-at-home-mom. You know those blogs where all of the photos are dreamy and misty, and where the author is a stay-at-home-mom who makes muffins from scratch with wild blueberries that she just picked whilst her brood of delightful children invent delightful games with rocks and sticks?
This is not one of those blogs.
I feel that having a child is one of the universe’s ways of telling us that we have stuff we need to work on…and it’s only by being confronted with such issues as a parent, that we will ever attempt to work on those things we need to. Am I being too vague? Okay. Basically, I have a very short fuse and an excess of buttons that are easily pressed. My son, whom I love dearly, has been, besides “my little love”, the one impetus for me to excruciatingly stretch my fuse and reduce the tsunami normally unleashed when my buttons are pushed.
Sigh. I love him, AND he can seriously drive me cuckoo for Cocoapuffs.
Yes, my eyeballs explode just like that.
My mother and I recently took him to the MFA to see the samurai exhibit. Great idea, right? Aren’t I “Mom of The Year”? Hmm. The universe told me “no,” as I hopelessly overestimated my own brilliance and the attention span of my five-year-old…
Seriously. What is not to love, right? The helmets especially were…AMAZING. It’s hard to believe that anyone wore these, as they are so fantastic, intricate, and other-worldly. I especially liked the room where several were set up to be “on horseback.” In spite of the similarities between his Lego “Ninjago” figures and these REAL suits of armor, my son gave up halfway through the exhibit and wanted to leave.
SERIOUSLY. Is there ANY comparison? Sheesh. Maybe if they could have had someone walking around in a samurai outfit…kind of like a “Late Edo period Chuck E. Cheese”, the show would have been a bigger hit with my son?
No? I’m not sure what would have scared him more…a masked samurai walking around or that big rodent? The kid in this photo doesn’t look too sure either…
Besides being a well intentioned yet hopelessly idealistic parent these past few weeks, I also attended the reception of one of the group shows that I am in. It was the “New Talent / New England” juried show at the St. Botolph Club in Boston. Nice!
Thank you to Kyla P., Karen S., Karina C., Marcus S., and Charlie S. for coming to see it! I really appreciate it. I also appreciated being able to go out and have a good laugh with friends, as that doesn’t happen often enough, IMHO. My friend, Kyla, brought me something that evening that she had been meaning to give me for weeks:
Really?
I don’t remember anyone saying ANYTHING in my professional development class about bringing stuffed animals to show openings…do I really need to be holding a deranged stuffed Peep while I am trying to carry on an intelligent conversation and look remotely professional?
Of course I did. Kyla, thank you for coming to the reception AND for reminding me why we are friends in the first place.
Now, if I can just hold onto this thing for a few days before my son absorbs it into his growing harem of freakish toys…
Is that selfish of me? I’ll just go look up this kind of “typical parenting dilemma” in my growing pile of parenting books…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: arts, Barry McGee, boston, Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, Os Gêmeos
I went downtown this week.
Lots of people were milling around the site of the bombing on Boylston Street. There was actually a small crowd of cops and individuals with prosthetic legs, possibly veterans?, chatting and talking to people who stopped by to visit the site. I know that it would be bad for business…but I almost wish that this spot could stay boarded up like this. It won’t, though, and I know that it shouldn’t. But a statue or a plaque in this location to mark the significance is so much less powerful than seeing the boarded up storefronts. The grim blankness of the closed windows is mirrored in the faces of those who stop and stare. There was also something poignant about people both walking past, a sign of the return to normalcy, and people standing in reverential silence. Everyone here is still obsessed with the event and the victims.
Eventually, I headed down to South Boston to check out what’s up at the ICA. I used to work in South Boston, so it was nice to be back there.
I used to work on that street! Looks the same as I remember. Other parts in the area look MUCH different:
Mural by Os Gemeos
LOVE IT! This work has been somewhat controversial. Some people found it to be disturbing, but I think it’s a fascinating mural on an irregularly shaped building facade. This used to be a plain, flat, gray metal facade. But, now LOOK! He’s just hanging out like everyone else on the lawn! I like the ambiguity of his expression and partially hidden face. He’s SO big and obtrusive, and yet he appears to be trying to almost hide and make himself small and unnoticed. FASCINATING. I’m glad that I finally got to see this in person. Here’s what else I saw right near him:
Brilliant! There is a little grouping of food trucks right across from him…and I loved the local “flavah” of this one. As much as I love the Boston accent, I get worried when I hear my son say words in a slightly Boston way. I’ve had to explain to him that “hair” is a single syllable word. It’s “hair”, not “HAY-ER.” I wasn’t born in Massachusetts, so I’d feel like a fraud if my son sounded like a local. I should have bought one of the cookies to really get a sense of the flavor, right??? I wonder if they sell the raw dough? I would happily have gnawed on a blob of dough whilst sunning myself on the lawn in front of the enormous, reclining “dude”.
Edouard Manet, Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe
Not to be confused with this reclining nude. See how far we’ve come in art? Now, instead of a nude female having lunch with a couple of clothed men on a lawn, we have a larger than life oddball peering at us from beneath the sweatshirt he’s wrapped around his head!
I love the ICA. I don’t always remotely grasp the content of the work, but I still love going. Right now, they have the work of Barry McGee up. He’s a painter / graffiti artist from San Francisco. His work is amazing and I bask in his artistic brilliance. The show is incredible, with works of a stunning variety of scale, color, and medium. I love the dark humor throughout his work. He had written his name, “McGee” on a wall with what looked like wishbones from chickens. I wish that I’d taken a picture of it. Brilliant.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
That is so amazing. EACH DRAWING that makes up this piece is amazing. This faux living room wall with an amorphous “growth” of these drawings was phenomenal. I don’t want to gush, but I will. GO SEE THIS NOW. I LOVE how this is so compelling from far away AND up close. Look:
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Look at all of these amazing sketches, collages, drawings, photos, etc.!!! Each one is a fantastic and bizarre little world to get lost in. Stunning.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Again, SO amazing. A wall of whiskey (??) bottles hung by wire in a giant cluster. Who is this population of disturbing men??? On the surface, each face is different…but they all share a common core and they are all empty and “hanging by a thread.” Again, it’s compelling from a distance AND from up close:
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Don’t you love the limited color palette and vintage look to the style of illustration? I love their neat, shiny hair and unnerving expressions.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Okay. THESE drawings were INCREDIBLE. They are ballpoint pen on paper. Each “face” appears almost as a mask made from shiny human hair and like a collection of strange tribal fetishes. These may have been the most mind-blowing drawings for me. They are disturbing…beautiful…strange…and done with a BALLPOINT PEN. I could have spent the day pouring over each one. Together, especially in that mass, they are imposing. While they are mask-like, the eyes are not vacant but staring back at you…tiny deities from a mysterious religion.
Please go see this show. Call me, and we’ll go together so that I GUSH over everything with you as my unwilling audience. Sound good? Okay, it’s open at 10 tomorrow…see you then.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
LOOK. AT. THIS. These are little patterned color swatches that FILL THE WALL and are configured in a unique way each time they are installed. I desperately wanted to touch them, but I didn’t. I would never do something like that, but I can admit that I WANTED to. Again, I could have pulled up a chair and basically sat all day staring at this. Is the breadth of his talent not mind-blowing????? I have to end this commentary soon, as I’m running out of superlatives.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
The bulging wall behind was incredible. This tower of TVs fit so perfectly with the context of the show. I am so glad that this show has an extensive range of his work. I would love each piece individually…but the entire show makes you dizzy and awestruck. Next time I’ll get myself a blob of that cookie dough, bring a lawnchair, and sit myself down in front of this totem of TVs for the afternoon. The staff will love me. (Maybe if I share my cookie dough they actually will love me? Maybe not? What would Barry do???)
Strangely enough, I came home to find my son creating something that felt similar:
Okay. Not quite. I know that some kids build with Lego, but this is what my son was up to. Somehow though…this multicolored blob of Lego on the rug struck me as fitting in with my Barry McGee afternoon. (I hope that he wouldn’t be offended for me to say that.) Actually, the fact that he’s being written about in this blog is probably offensive enough to him. Hmm. If he writes me to complain, I’ll be sympathetic. I might even put down my blob of cookie dough to give him my full attention as I read his enraged comments about my misguided analysis of his work. I flatter myself to think that he would contact me. If he does contact me, I’ll remind him that I LOVE his work and that I did NOT touch any of it, never mind get cookie dough on it…
Maybe I’ll hold off on telling him, “I’m your number one fan…”
Okay, I’m going to stop wearing my hair like that…IMMEDIATELY. I’m also going to end the post here because I’m starting to freak myself out…
Oh. My. God.
What a week this has been. It began on Monday with the explosion of two, homemade bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon…three people killed and many others horribly maimed…a young police officer shot on Thursday…and it ended last evening with the capture of the second suspect who had been hiding in someone’s backyard in Watertown.
In spite of the fact that the second terrorist is still alive, nothing he can say will somehow “clear things up” about why all of this happened. It was senseless, calculated, and evil. Those dead are gone forever, and those who lost limbs will never recover them.
I can’t believe how recently the nation was sickened by the shootings at Newtown. And yet…here we are again, with more senseless killing of innocent people. I know that this happens all over the world. I don’t mean to imply that these events are somehow more horrific than events that have occurred anywhere else. Personally, however, these last two tragedies were very close to home…both to my childhood home in the case of Newtown, and my to current one in the case of this Boston/Cambridge/Watertown nightmare. I know that it shouldn’t make a difference to the horror of it all, but it does…only in that I’m filled with more disbelief.
.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
– John Donne
I’ll post about art next week.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: 80's, art, artist, artwork, colored pencil, drawing, Gastroesophageal reflux disease, Jelly shoes, Lisa Sigal, neon
I know that I normally post on Fridays…but seeing as I missed last week and I’m wanting to get this published, I’m doing it TODAY. CARPE DIEM.
So, tomorrow night…I’m going to an 80’s prom. No, I’m not kidding. This is the brainchild of a friend, who feels that we need to revisit this era on Friday. In all honesty, my fashion sense is probably stuck in the 80’s, so I should have no problem with an outfit. Did hot pink ever go out of style???? If so…WHO CARES??? It’s one of my favorite colors. I’ve been scrounging around my closet to come up with some kind of 80’s outfit:
WHOA.
No thank you. This is what I have to aspire to for this event?????? Egads. Does anyone else have the sudden sensation of acid reflux?
Or is that just from the ice cream sandwich I decided to have for breakfast?
(KIDDING! I’m testing to see if you’re still paying attention. No? Oh well…)
One thing that I DO love from the 80’s is jelly shoes. I am sad to say that I don’t own a pair of jelly shoes anymore.
Mine were pink, of course. There is an urban legend that if you stand on a hot sidewalk for too long, they’ll melt. Pshaw.
Besides wasting time planning for this 80s outfit, I also went to check out what’s at the galleries in the South End. I know that you’re relieved to hear that this post is moving on to more compelling topics than acid green and/or acid reflux…
Lisa Sigal at Samson Gallery, Boston
This is the work of Lisa Sigal at Samson. Okay. Let me just say that I LOVED all of her work. Her pieces for this show were sooo fascinating. In the piece above, she has a digital print of what appears to be housing. I believe that she also paints on this print. In front of the print, leaning on the wall, is a typical window screen that she has also painted. Her sense of color is amazing, and I love the mix of pattern, flatness, layering, depth, and translucency. So inventive! I really could have stared at these all day. (Maybe it’s just the architect in me? Who knows…)
Robert Richfield at Gallery Kayafas, Boston
Robert Richfield has photographed eclectic, exotic, and intimate Mexican burial sites. I loved the intense colors and exuberance in spite of the morose subject matter. The photos are surreal, and you really forget what it is that you are looking at as your eyes take in the explosive colors and the dizzying array of objects. They are very beautiful in their composition and content.
Laurie Alpert at Bromfield Gallery, Boston
Laurie Alpert has a great show at Bromfield Gallery. Her show it titled, “Milori Blue,” and is based on a series of photos that she took of her studio floor. I love how inventive her printmaking is. The rich, saturated blues are inky (for lack of a better word) and deep. These images are both abstract and intimate. This photo really doesn’t do her work justice, so you’ll have to see if for yourself. I was obviously drawn to the mylar, as that’s what I use for my drawings.
I also had a great time chatting with Lesley Cohen, who is an artist at Bromfield, and was “on duty” at the gallery. We talked about drawing, why we draw what we do, how we got to were we were, etc. She is a LOVELY person…warm, creative and engaging. She is having a show in June, so I’ll be sure to stop by and see it.
Ann Pibal at Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston
This is the work of Ann Pibal at Steven Zevitas Gallery. I love the sparseness of her work. There is so much space, and the elements are always balanced, albeit asymmetrical. I’m not sure why I keep thinking that her work is very minimal? Perhaps it’s the clarity of each piece, or the “quiet” world that they seem to create? Really impressive. Go see! Now!
Karen Meninno at Kingston Gallery, Boston
Karen is a sculptor, but she has created these astounding wallpaper designs that hang floor to ceiling. This one was one of my favorites. See the detail here:
Karen Meninno at Kingston Gallery, Boston
Her work was filled with jewel tones and rich materials. Her sculptures (which were present as manipulated images) are almost like artifacts of some forgotten dynasty. I wonder how different the images are from the sculptures that they are created from? I wonder how Meninno feels about this transformation that she’s made? The nice thing about these images and the wallpaper is that she almost creates a environment which the viewer is immersed in, as opposed to an object that the viewer looks at. Please go see her work…amazing!!!
I am intrigued by her image manipulation, as I have been doing some similar things in my own work. I am embarking on a new series generated by my existence as a housefrau/parent/chef/chauffeur/family cruise director:
Elizabeth Kostojohn, Nameless Problem #1, 2013, colored pencil on mylar
Perhaps I should have cropped the image? Anyway, I’ve started making these compositions…AND I’m starting to work in color. You’re looking at pickles, ham slices, raw chicken legs, a can of chickpeas, and ketchup. Comments? Questions? I don’t really have a working artist statement yet…so you’ll just have to wonder. I know that my family does…
My son is obsessed with drawing, much like his mommy. I love all of his creations. He tends to draw lots of dinosaurs, as he’s five and that’s just what five year olds are into:
Okay. I love this. He wanted to show an ENORMOUS sauropod dinosaur towering above a T.Rex. I love that it is so big that the neck disappears and reappears at the edge of the paper to show how HUGE it is. He even drew a tiny person for scale. DON’T YOU LOVE IT??? Or, is this a picture that only a mother could love? The T.Rex looks as if it is pouncing on the person, and the whateverasaurus looks like it’s going to stomp on both of them. Brilliant! I wish that he hadn’t drawn on the back, as it distracts from the awesomeness of this drawing. Just my two cents…
Well, wish me luck with my 80’s prom. We’re going out to dinner beforehand, so I’ve got to go out in “public” with my bizarre, fluorescent ensemble of coolness. Should be…interesting?
I’ll let you know how many sad looks I get from people who see my appearance as a pitiful and creepy “time capsule” that should be put back underground…STAT!
slightly wonky 