On Tuesday, we’ll go downtown to see see the “Delusions” exhibition at the Rox Gallery. Please explore the website so that you’ll be prepared for the exhibition, and when you meet artist, Tom Smith, and curator, Lauren Xandra, you’ll have questions.
Daily Archives: September 25, 2013
Irving Penn– Turkey Head
This picture really bothers me. In the gallery, the words, “Extreme Beauty, New York, L’Oreal, Vogue, 1986-2007” were next to this picture. I literally stared at this picture for ten minutes on my laptop, zoomed in and out, but I found it so hard to see what Irving Penn was trying to portray as “extreme beauty.” Here is a picture of a dead turkey’s head. Instead of seeing beauty, I find the head to be very creepy. The picture shows many intricate details; you can see the hairs, the beak, the beady eye, and the bumpy skin texture so clearly. What also prevented me the most from seeing any beauty here is the expression of the turkey. The beady eye makes it look as if it was very cautious and angry. I have recently been researching on L’Oreal for a paper, and they emphasize on encouraging people to embrace their “unique beauty.” Even though I really don’t like this picture, I think Irving Penn is trying to make us realize that everyone and everything has a unique, beautiful feature. I still find it hard to see, but I think part of the beauty is the small details that you can see so clearly. And since the background is white, the details of the texture and the color of the head pops out even more; you can see clearly the different shades on the head and the neck. For me, this picture also challenges me and makes me feel slightly guilty; I feel that L’Oreal might have used this picture because it wants to challenge its readers to embrace the unique beauty of the people and things we see around us, no matter how hard it is for us to see.
This is my opinion of what Penn was trying to portray as beauty in this picture. What do you guys think ?
Art is Everywhere!
One of the best parts about our walks to visit artists and galleries close to campus, is the public art. Public art not only enhances streetscapes, it also tranforms communities. At the Highline, we saw the ways in which its public art helps develop local business, improve property value, and inspire new ways to think about the value of art. The Madison Park installation, “Ideas in Stone” by Giuseppe Panone, integrates natural and human-made materials so that commuters can take a moment to contemplate the City’s relationship to nature. And Micheal Shvo’s surreal “Sheep Station,” with Francois-Xavier Lalanne’s sheep sculptures “grazing” in a former Getty gas station, helps us remember why NYC is the world’s art capital. Here are some of the installations we saw today. What are your impressions of the public art you see around the city?
