So I might go a little off topic but Michele’s post reminded me of the artist I interviewed, Robin Bachman. In addition to painting deities, Ms. Bachman meditates on her free time. In fact, for her, painting and creating her various artworks serve as a way of meditating and relaxation for her. She sent me an article someone wrote about her after interviewing her about meditation and the influence it has on her artwork. It is really amazing to see how two different things–meditation and art–can come together to create something really beautiful.
Check it out! http://www.yogacitynyc.com/articles/WeeklyDetails/785
Author Archives: Lisa Puran
Pop Art Totem Pole at City Hall Park
One day I went to Pace University to meet up with my boyfriend. I got there a little early so I decided to take a little walk through City Hall Park. While walking, I stumbled upon this humongous sculpture. It looked like a totem pole, but not like the traditional, Native American totem poles. No, this totem pole featured four segments, each segment being a different color. This sculpture is part of a series of artworks featured in the park called Lightness of Being by Gary Webb. However, despite there being other sculptures in the series, this sculpture caught my eye because it reminded me of pop art in a sense with its bright colors. Also, it seems like some of the paint was trying to move away from the totem pole, since some of the paint extends out of the sculpture. Rather than having the paint stay on the artwork, the paint seems to be coming off, which is completely against traditional ways of painting (hence why I thought of pop art!) I looked online and saw that this will be in City Hall Park until December 13th, so if you are interested make sure to check it out before its gone! A, C, J, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5 trains to Fulton Street!
Theresa Bernstein at Baruch’s Sidney Mishkin Gallery
About two weeks ago, my Art History professor, Gail Levin, invited our class to see her exhibition at the Sidney Mishkin Gallery right here at Baruch. Professor Levin’s exhibition featured the works of the late Theresa Bernstein, who was a 20th century American artist, painter, and writer. What I like most about Bernstein’s works of art is the messages she always tries to convey within them. Bernstein is a realist painter, and often depicts many aspects of NYC. Some of the subjects in Bernstein’s paintings are immigrants. She does this to show the hardships immigrants faced at the time–the struggle of coming to America and assimilating into NYC life. Bernstein was also famous for her works that showed everyday life in NYC, such as painting break dancers in Central Park. If you are interested, the exhibition will be open at the Sidney Mishkin Gallery at 135 East 22nd St. until December 11.
http://nml.cuny.edu/theresabernstein/
Artist Interview: Robin Gaynes Bachman
Hey guys! Here is my second digital archive project–an interview with Robin Gaynes Bachman! Ms. Bachman was honestly the sweetest lady I have ever met and I was glad I had the opportunity to interview her. I hope you enjoy!
Hindu Art at the Met!
I absolutely love the Met! Even though I really wanted to go to the Whitney Museum, I was still excited about our spontaneous trip to the Met. My favorite part of the Met would have to be the Asian Art section. The Asian Art section houses art from many parts of Asia, ranging from Eastern Asia (China, Korea, Japan, etc.), to Southern Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.) I love visiting the South Asian part because that is where all of the Hindu art are! I am Hindu and I love learning about my religion. Hinduism is polytheistic religion, meaning that there are many gods. However, my family practices Hinduism by choosing one of the gods as our main “god.” Our god is Vishnu, and ever since I was a little girl, I always had an interest in reading and learning about Vishnu. One of the sculptures I stumbled upon was Standing Vishnu.
Vishnu is one of the major gods in Hinduism. He is often referred to as the “preserver,” since he is known as the one who protects the universe. Vishnu’s depiction in this specific sculpture shows his protective role. For example, one of his arms has the mudra symbol, which is a symbol of protection. By making this gesture with his hand, Vishnu is protecting Hindus from whatever possible evil might threaten them. Also, in his upper hands, Vishnu holds a battle trumpet and a war discus. This implies that Vishnu is part of the military, which further puts emphasis on this notion that Vishnu is the preserver. Vishnu’s expression is one of calmness, which again alludes to his protective nature.
When I go back to the Met, I will try to visit another gallery (probably the Egyptian Art). But I will definitely set aside an entire day when I go back. It is really hard to explore the entire museum in only three hours.
The Essence of NYC
While I was coming home from Times Square, I stumbled upon this in the subway. It was a tiny sculpture behind glass. There were many of its kind but for some reason, this one stood out to me. The sculpture features Lady Liberty singing into a gold microphone next to someone playing a saxophone. She even has musical notes as earrings on. This sculpture is placed here to show the history and common themes associated with NYC. NYC is known as a major cultural capital that is the home to museums and galleries, theaters, and, of course, concert halls. There are many types of music that have originated in the Big Apple, jazz being one of them. Here, we see the saxophone, which is an icon of jazz. This sculpture was strategically played in the Times Square station. Times Square is a major tourist hub that almost always attracts newcomers to the city. People walking through the train station could also stumble upon this and see the symbolism behind this artwork—that NYC is one of the greatest cities in the world in terms of creating and preserving culture.
Fun Home: A Musical
Last night, we went to see Fun Home at the Public Theater. I, as well as everyone else, was initially skeptical, given that the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel was turned into a musical. How could Fun Home, a novel with a somber and depressing tone possibly be turned into a jolly, cheerful musical? After watching the play, I realized that not only did the producers of the musical find the perfect balance between the two, but also created a new rendition of the story that touched all of our hearts just like Bechdel’s graphic novel.
The play opened up with a woman in the background standing by a desk, presumably writing or drawing. In the foreground, “Small Alison” starts singing onstage, asking “Daddy” to play airplane. This first scene without a doubt mirrors the first scene in the graphic novel, when Alison and Bruce played airplane. We realize that the woman in the background is Alison when she grew older. She is in the process of writing her graphic novel, the same novel for which this play is based off of. All throughout the play, older Alison remains, observing the scenes and trying to craft her novel every time she said “Caption.” In the play, we are able to see Alison when she was younger, from when she would ask her Daddy to play airplane, to when she would make advertisements for the Bechdel Fun Home with her brothers, to seeing her father sneak out, etc. We see Alison in her college years, where she has this adorable awkwardness about her when she is in the process of finding herself and when she forms a relationship with Joan, who seems absolutely perfect for Alison. We see Alison during childhood and in her adolescent/young adult years. And of course, we see Bruce, who seems to put on a good image that he has the perfect family. However, we see that behind closed doors, Bruce is actually having affairs with other men behind his wife’s back and through older Alison’s reflection. We are able to see all of the hints Bruce dropped that Alison failed to pick up on until her mom broke the news to her when she was away at college. Older Alison is remembering all of this so that she can incorporate it into her autobiography.
However, what I truly liked about the play was that Older Alison did not always play the part of the mundane narrator who did not take part of the action in the play. We see that towards the end, Older Alison is trying to figure out why her father never confessed to her that he was gay. She is still baffled by the fact that he suddenly died, or possibly killed herself. Perhaps the most powerful scene was when Older Alison was in the car with her father and she sings the song about “telephone poles and black wires.” She is waiting for her father to confess about what she already knows. We see that these questions still haunt her to this day, which, personally to me, was not as clear in the novel. The play was able to take the story from Bechdel’s graphic novel and present it in a new light. Personally, it was a different rendition from the novel, a rendition that I completely enjoyed. My only criticism was that I felt that the play was a little too positive, especially given the tone of the graphic novel. But the play, nonetheless, was amazing and could, hopefully, find its way to Broadway.
Digital Archive Project: Pop Art
Hey guys! Here’s my first digital archive project on Pop Art. Enjoy!
Stages of Leaves
“Delusions” at the Rox Gallery was definitely a different experience from the other exhibitions we went to. However, I really liked this gallery because all of the pieces together were different from what we normally saw. In fact, this gallery featured pop art and surrealism, two types of art that, together, are pretty amazing. However, the one piece of art, or rather four pieces, that interested me were located downstairs. You all probably saw the pictures of the leaves downstairs. For some reason, I was just engrossed in those images. At first, I thought, “These are photos of the same leaf, only with different colors. What is so great about it?” But then, it hit me that these photos were not the same leaves in different colors. No, in fact, these photos were showing the stages of the leaves. First a leaf in spring is a bright green. Then as summer ends and autumn comes around, the leaf turns red, orange, and eventually the leaves become multicolored. Eventually the leaves start falling from trees and the trees become bare, with no leaves. This leads to the last picture, the picture of the black leaf. When the leaf hits the floor, it degrades and loses its color. The cycle then repeats again when the weather changes from winter to spring. These photos caught my eye because it reminded me of the circle of life. A leaf is “born” in spring and has a green color; it “grows up” during autumn and becomes multicolored. The leaf goes through a lot of color changes. Finally it withers and “dies” in winter. Something as simple as leaves can be used to show how despite everything coming to an end, there are also new beginnings. Besides, since we are in the season of autumn (though it does not feel like autumn haha), we should appreciate all autumn has to offer, which includes nature and the different colors of the leaves because in about a couple of months, they will all be gone.
Nighthawks
While walking to Baruch one morning, I saw this on the side of the Flatiron. I instantly recognized it as the first painting my art history professor gave us a lecture about. The painting features three people sitting at a café. One person is sitting apart from the others, completely engrossed in thought. The other two, a man and a woman, are sitting together but do not appear to be speaking to one another. My professor mentioned the painting was meant to depict loneliness. However, my professor did not mention to us that this was on the side of the Flatiron, a place that is usually busy and full of life. Why, then, is a painting depicting loneliness right in the heart of the city? Personally, I feel that it was put there to show that everything is not as it seems. People could be happy and full of life around other people but inside, they might be alone. Or maybe it is because of dimensions and overall shape of the flatiron mimic the shape of the diner in the painting. Or maybe simply because it is such a famous painting.
What do you guys think?
P.S. Sorry if it’s not clear. I tried to get the photo as best as I could!
