Category Archives: painting and sculpture

Nail Art is Art too!

I know what everyone (or at least some of you) is thinking: nail art is not art. Well I beg to differ! Every time you see a pretty fresh design on someone’s fingernails, such as daisies, Christmas trees, or even dandelions blowing in the breeze, you just know that that person spent over 3 hours of their life working on it. Well, at least that’s what ends up happening to me about every time I paint my nails and decide to draw designs on them.

nail art 1

 

nail art 2

 

You may be thinking, “oh big deal, you’re just painting like you would on a piece of paper, except you’re doing it on your nail,” but it is not simply that. Painting on a flat surface and a relatively big canvas is loads easier than painting on a curved surface of a less than 1 square centimeter of space. That combined with the long drying time before top coat can be applied makes nail art both an art and a struggle. Whenever you think you are finally done with one nail, the worst thing possible happens and you have to start over because you accidentally scratched your face, and now your beautiful-spent-one-hour-on design is forever ruined, never to be resurrected. In addition, there are times when you are all finished and done with everything, but the final result is disappointing and you are not happy with your work. So, naturally, you erase all your hard work and start over, resisting the urge to rip out your hair. My point is, every time you see a pretty little nail art post on Instagram or whatever social media platform you prefer, click that little like button and share some love, acknowledging the time and nail polish remover spent on said nail art by that very patient and talented nail artist.

nail art 3

Long story short, I am not a professional nail artist, but I do dabble in it myself when I find those extra 5 hours to spare. I am still practicing the art myself, as I am not ambidextrous, so painting with my left hand is always a horror show. Since I am not as artistic as I would like to be, I usually opt for different simple designs and textures for my nails, while other more artsy and steady-handed people might opt for the fantastic and detailed miniature paintings of flowers or penguins on their nails. Whatever it might be, nail art is just as fun to look at as it is to do, and I encourage all the people out there to embrace your nails and have fun! (Just don’t go overboard and get those talon shaped acrylic nails, please?)

–Joanna Huang

Rick and Morty Public Art

photo-35

Recently, on my way home after a long day at school, something caught my eye as I neared the Flatiron Building. It was a spaceship that had seemingly crashed onto the pedestrian plaza, and the engine looked like it was still on fire. The detail on the spaceship was great: the artists behind it had even put chunks of concrete resembling the pebbled floor of the pedestrian plaza all around the sculpture so that it looked realistic. It really surprised me how much attention to detail was put into this promotion: I really thought it was a public art installation before I saw the benches placed next to the spaceship advertising the show.

photo-34

The smoke-spewing, people-confusing thing turned out to be a promotion for a new animated television series, called “Rick and Morty” on adult swim. Although its not the typical thing that would come to mind when one talks about public art, I thought this idea was a very clever way to promote the show and attract people’s attention. This also goes to show how business can work with engineers and artists to create something together that is part art and part marketing strategy.

–Joanna Huang

 

Buddha

Seated Buddha Shakyamuni

I went to the Rubin Museum with my art class last week and we went on a tour that described Buddhist art to us. I want to share the iconography I learned about that is seen in all depictions of Buddha. There is always a top knot which is said to hold his curls and it is called a ushnisha. The gem in between his eyebrows is called an urna and it symbolizes his third eye. The positioning of his fingers and hand convey messages and his hand symbols are called mudras. He has elongated earlobes because he used to be a prince and wear heavy earrings. Lastly, his feet are usually crossed and that is called the lotus position. Now you will be able to spot a Buddha before even reading the title of an artwork!

P.S. Baruch students get free admission into the Rubin Museum and its only 15 minutes away from Baruch.

Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary at MoMA Review

René Magritte’s exhibition titled “The Mystery of the Ordinary” at MoMA was my favorite exhibition of the semester. I’m really intrigued by surrealist painters and their visions. Salvador Dali was one of Magritte’s largest inspiration and this is see in the artwork. The Menaced Assassin shares a common characteristic of Dali’s paintings, which is the melting affect. The dead body on the read sofa, the black jacket on the chair, the spine of the chair, and elongated legs of the man next to the music player all look like they are very heavy and are being pulled down by something unseen.

The Menaced Assassin

My favorite painting in the exhibition was The Lovers. A man and a woman are exchanging a romantic kiss but with white cloth over their heads. This painting reminds me of a forbidden love that has been exposed. I interpreted the painting like this: Maybe these two lovers were being unfaithful or maybe these two lovers couldn’t be together because of their families. Whatever the reason, they weren’t supposed to be together. Someone exposed them and the white clothes remind me of what is put in people’s heads before they are hung. The man and the woman will be killed because of their forbidden love. Even though death awaits them, their love doesn’t stop. They are sharing a kiss as intimate as it would be without a cloth dividing them.

The Lovers

Another interesting paint was Not to be Reproduced with featured a man looking into a mirror. The mirror give a reflection of the back of his head instead of the front of his head, which is what is supposed to be seen. The mirror gives the proper reflection for the green book in the right corner because the text appears backwards. For some reason this man doesn’t have a face or maybe he just doesn’t want it seen. After all, the title is Not to Be Reproduced for a reason.

Not to Be Reproduced

UPDATE: Beyonce’s video for “Mine” has scenes with lovers coverings their heads with white cloth, like in “The Lovers”. Link for video below.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/videos/id.15063/title.beyonce-f-drake-mine-

Mason Hall

MasonHall-BaruchPerformingArtsCenter-PIC3--small[1]

Ever seen this? Its Mason Hall in our very own Baruch! It’s located on the 23rd St building. I’ve seen it once in my whole life because we had Freshman Orientation there in the beginning of the school year but I haven’t went back since. I loved the intricate detail on the wooden panels surrounding the curtains. I wonder how long it took to build everything! Plus, one can’t simply climb a ladder to create the detail. One has to climb a HUGE ladder to construct each curve. I don’t know if its just me, but I check out a theater’s surroundings before the show starts. The art of the theater and the style in which the stage is in makes the performance even greater. Even though we may not look at the stage beforehand, I feel it is essential to understanding the meaning behind the performance.

A Glimpse at the Originals

For the archive project I was lucky enough to have been given the chance to go and have the interview at a place where Irma Ostroff, an artist, had worked before to create her pieces of art. After the interview was over I got the chance to talk to her more about many of her pieces and to my surprise, she even had some of the original works within the residence. When we walked into the common area I immediately noticed a piece of art hanging on the wall which had a unique style, that was of course the work of Professor Ostroff. It was titled Plan C and was made using a pattern of stamps of varying colors among other techniques all of which contributed to the final product. That’s when I remembered something that Professor Ostroff had told me during the interview where she had said that she made the work because she enjoyed doing so, and she herself knew that it had value. To believe in yourself is something that doesn’t only have to be limited to art; it is something that everyone should strive towards accomplishing and surely will allow you to move forward and aspire toward any ambitions you may have.

OOF

While at the MoMA I stumbled across this one painting titled OOF by Edward Ruscha. It caught my eye immediately, most likely because of the vivid contrasting colors and made me appreciate the painting for what it had done. Initially before having any significant knowledge in regards to art I would have probably looked at the painting and then wondered to myself how it even managed to get in a museum. I mean, all it says is “OOF” and only uses two colors. Now I can see that the painting not only reads “OOF” but also has a way of expressing it. When I look at the painting the description fits rather nicely and because of the way the word is complimented the painting for me is basically an embodiment of the meaning of the word “OOF”. To make a person think like this is what makes art so great. Its more than just surface value, and as long as you’re willing to give it a chance, you can more often than not surprise yourself.

Meditation and Art

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

The House in a Bottle

This week has been particularly rough, I was in the hospital a few days ago doing cat scans, x-rays, EKGs, blood tests – the works. While I was there, I desperately tried to mentally escape, and the television showing some reality program not helping. So I decided to get creative and rely on my imagination. I remembered seeing a public art piece while walking along Chelsea Piers. It was a home inside of a bottle that I was planning on blogging about, so I decided to construct an elaborate plot behind its construction.

Inside of the bottle - toilet is off to the side, television and chair in the distance

Inside of the bottle – toilet is off to the side, television and chair in the distance

Inside of the bottle - sink

Inside of the bottle – sink

Outside of the bottle

Outside of the bottle

To sum up my story: a boy and girl lived next to each other and the girl’s dad made ships in a bottle using “magic” – not allowing anyone to see the process. The boy didn’t believe him so he hid and watched, once he “understood”, he tried it in big scale. The boy brought the girl to his magnificent ship but she disregarded it because she knew only magic could create it, so to prove it worked they tool it for a test run, but they crashed and landed on a deserted island. The boy still remembered how to create the bottle, so he did, and he wanted to use it to get back home, creating livable situations inside. Their life would then become a message in a bottle for everyone to explore and piece together, and when they landed on Chelsea Piers, this became their gift to New York City, for everyone to see.

It’s not the most beautifully constructed story, but it helped me escape and showed me the beauty of art. I must admit, I never saw the purpose of the majority of art, especially as an environmentalist who mainly thought they were wastes of our resources. And while I still do adhere to this principle in many ways, I suppose I can become more tolerable of grandiose art pieces such as these, especially if I begin to think that each art piece helps someone in some shape or form. Behind my environmentalist ways are simply a concern for others to ensuring everyone a healthy and happy life on Earth, and if art can successfully do that for some, as I can now understand, perhaps I can appreciate art that much more.

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/