I probably have seen a Picasso before, in one of my many museum trips in grade school and since. But ever since our first IDC class, when Professor Eversley stressed that we will get up close with Picasso paintings in our adventures, I’d been thinking about art more and more. So when we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one thing I really looked forward to (more than the Amie Siegal exhibition, in fact) was getting up close with a Picasso.
Pablo Picasso, La Coiffure (1906)
Picasso’s La Coiffure (1906) caught my eye for one particular reason. I read on the little museum label that this painting was the result of four different paintings, layered on top of one another. When I looked further into this, I found out that Picasso had painted three finished paintings in one canvas and then rotated the canvas 180 degrees to get this final look. Frankly, this amazed me because at first glance, one would have no idea that this was the case. I feel like this painting was a reflection of Picasso’s determination to display only the best of his work.
You can read a more in-depth explanation of this painting here.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Visiting Tom Smith’s Heavenly Bodies exhibit at the ROX gallery gave me an insight on the life of an artist and how they work. The first thing that captured my attention was the bright colors in almost all his artwork. The colors he used made his paintings stand out from the white walls, making such a stark contrast as if they were glowing, making the atmosphere of the gallery bright and lively. On each side of the wall, there are different sets of artwork, each with a different style. He explained to us how one set of his artwork led him to create the next, building on each style.
This is my favorite piece from the exhibit:
I love the colors used here, the layered effect, and the splattered paint, which all make it very unique. There are painted strips overlapping each other that made me feel like I was looking through window blinds. Tom Smith explained that he cut similar paintings into tiny strips and glued them all together to create the collage. Even he didn’t know exactly how the painting would turn out! I thought that was interesting because I always thought artists had a clear idea of what they were going to create and how it would turn out.
When I first saw his 3-D works, the effects of the carved wood reminded me of a landscape map and the bright red color he used reminded me of fire. This makes sense since he later said that he worked on it in Iceland, where there are a lot of volcanoes.
I also learned from this experience that artists usually take on another job while they work on their art. This makes sense since it’s hard for emerging artists at first.
In conclusion, I’m really glad I was able to visit this exhibit and see the artist, Tom Smith, and learn from him through his experiences.
When I first walked through the doors of the gallery I felt this wave of serenity despite the exciting colors and odd shapes. The combination of all the colors and the depth of each piece was so captivating. Every piece had its own statement but the collection as a whole made a story.
I love the paintings done by cutting up the strips of paper because not only do the colors and the drawing itself bring out characteristics of their own but the lines give it another level of uniqueness that force viewers do a double take. The lines also give it a feeling of texture and works nicely to emphasize the highlights as well as the shadows. Although the lined paintings seem as if they would be ridged, if you take a good look up close you can see how perfectly placed each individual line is. I really admire these pieces for the dedication it takes for theartist to make them so impeccable.
This is my favorite painting in the “Heavenly Bodies” collection, mostly because it’s the one I feel like I understand best. As Tom was speaking, he explained how the paintings represented our relationship to the heavens and our physical being, hence, “Heavenly Bodies.” In this particular painting, the darker colors are a clear depiction of our worldly nature. The combination of the dark color scheme plus the look of eruption gives it a feeling of excessiveness, seduction and destruction. On the contrary, the heavenly side of the painting has an aura of serenity and an atmospheric effect due of the calming color scheme of purple, blue, green and white worked in with more tender brush strokes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the “Heavenly Bodies” collection at the Rox Gallery and am excited to see future works done by Tom Smith.
Once entering the Rox Gallery in the lower East side, I could not avoid but notice immediately the beautiful, vibrant colors that characterized every single painting of “Heavenly Bodies”. Although at first, I must admit, the abstract nature of Tom Smith’s work made me feel confused and incapable of defining what it is exactly that I am looking at, after a closer observation of the paintings I finally found myself able to identify with their hidden meaning.
Undoubtedly, the usage of radiating, neon colors serves a very specific purpose: to attract the viewers and make them feel as if they are personally experiencing the landscape represented in the painting. As Tom Smith had pointed out during our discussion in the gallery, “the painting is shining a light on you (the viewer)”. As he further explained, the colors are meant to be seen in relationship to what is around them as opposed to when they are isolated. Therefore, the colors that are used in a single painting often contrast with each other to create a sense of depth in a two-dimensional painting. However, while I thought that the paintings themselves represent an infinite world in which the viewer is almost invisible, I thought that their frames in fact made the viewer feel restricted and contained within their borders to some extent.
Out of the three different sections of the gallery, I particularly enjoyed looking at the three dimensional paintings that Smith had created during his trip to Iceland. When I first looked at them (specifically the one below), it seemed clear to me that the work is meant to represent a sort of destruction in the form of fire and rocks. In my view, the 3D effect made these themes stand out even more because it awakened not only my sense of sight, but also my sense of touch. Although I did not actually touch the painting, I found it fascinating that just by looking at this particular work, I was able to almost feel the texture and the heat resulting from the radiating red color and the little wooden pieces glued together.
After looking individually at every work, I was able to recognize numerous themes that demonstrate landscape, such as fire, water, nature and sky. Coming to this conclusion, I realized that these themes established the foundation for the name “heavenly bodies”; while all these forms of different landscapes are meant to represent ‘heaven’, the viewers and the different perspectives that they hold represent the ‘bodies’.
After visiting the Rox Gallery and seeing Heavenly Bodies, I have truly learned to appreciate the value of abstract art. I am confident that Tom Smith’s career is awaiting great success!
Marcel Dzama’s Une Danse des Bouffons, is a film that can be described as a “Dadaist Love Story.” It is currently part of an exhibit at the David Zwirner gallery along with related two and three dimensional work.
These works deal with many themes, among them “death.” Inside, I gravitated toward the long piece in the back of the room and, honestly, in the first couple of minutes this theme did not really stand out. It looked more like a circus; it was as if the people in the piece were in costume and doing all sorts of acrobatic acts.
Once I looked closer, I began to see the men with guns and the people surrendering. There is also a man holding a presumably dead man. I continued to walk around and look at the other pieces with this idea in mind. I then saw another piece:
Just some chess pieces, a chess board, and a beheaded human, head rolled away, but still close to the body. And another two fitting pieces:
Exploring death in art (or in anything for that matter) always puzzled me. Death is confusing, frightening, and eerie. I always approach the subject by, well, avoiding it altogether. I suppress any kinds of thoughts relating to it because it’s simply overwhelming. Many use the same approach as me. So, I admire artists like Marcel Dzama. To create works of art that have this kind of idea in them must mean the artist dwelled on it. They must have contemplated for hours on end in the preliminary process. Then they must have dealt with the idea while physically creating the projects. Just having the works in an exhibit continue to remind the artist of this theme. How do they do it!?
As I continued to contemplate this throughout the exhibit, I thought I stumbled upon a possible answer. Besides art being a way to cope with this difficult concept, there is also the idea that death makes way for the new. There must be death for birth to occur.
From the moment I entered the Rox Gallery, my experience surpassed any other excursion we’ve been on so far. The vibrant colors demanded attention and brought a feeling of excitement to the viewers. Looking closer at the works, I found something even more interesting than vibrancy – each piece had multiple shapes and textures, bringing about a collage-like result. This made the pieces even more entertaining, because we were able to imagine all the effort that went into creating the variety of surfaces and space.
These different dimensions, layers, and exquisite colors brought on a futuristic atmosphere in the gallery. The colors alone made me feel like I was in a glow in the dark mini golf course as they radiated off each surface. Because of this, the handmade art brought about a paradoxical appearance of digital art. This intention of the artist reflects the norm of today’s society, as we spend most of our days entranced in the screens of our cellphones, tablets, and computers. In fact, some of the frames were so square and small that I couldn’t help but feel that I was looking at an Instagram post. These futuristic and current day aspects of the exhibition made it that much more relatable and exciting to view.
The exhibition as a whole conveyed the evolution of process. On one wall, there were ‘basic’ paintings with different brushstrokes, colors, and shapes. On the opposite wall, there were striped paintings that added another layer to the painted surface with glued on strips of painting. Finally, the most elaborate sculptures on display included three dimensional wood cuttings. This evolution can be seen not only on a broad level (in the gallery as a whole) but on the small scale of a single painting. As the artist stated, this evolution is all about discovery, the idea that the mystery product would come as a surprising result of an intricate and spontaneous process.
The spontaneous energy of the artist can be felt just by walking through the gallery, making this experience both captivating and exhilarating.
Going into the Rox Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to see Tom Smith’s Heavenly Bodies, the first thing that caught my attention about the gallery was the bold contrast between the plain, white walls and the pulsating colors of every painting. Like the Rox Gallery, most art galleries have white walls to create a sense of cleanliness and to direct the focus of the viewer to the painting. However, this effect is even more so for Heavenly Bodies as each painting is glowing with an abundance of bright colors that immediately strike the viewer as he/she comes into the room.
Boom Boom Room
As a result, the vibrant colors are a central importance to Heavenly Bodies. Take for example the painting to the right Boom Boom Room. In this art piece (one of my favorite), we see an assortment of light and dark neon-shaded colors such as green, blue, purple. yellow, etc. that are exuberant and work together to form an abstract, three dimensional-looking image. Although ideas about what the painting actually portrays differs from perspective to perspective, the vibrant colors of the painting nevertheless instill in the viewer a sense of joyfulness and enthusiasm. This sense of joy and enthusiasm, according to a discussion with Tom Smith, are meant to reflect the ideas of heaven and utopia, places people often envision and associate with happiness.
Strobe
Another interesting aspect of Heavenly Bodies is how digital each painting looks. From afar, the paintings look like they were made by computer. However up close, one can tell that the paintings were hand-made with physical objects such as wood, glue, and paint. As a result, Smith creates a paradox in which a hand-made painting looks digital, which blurs the line between what is digital and what is physical. Heavenly Bodies illustrates and reflects how art in modern day society is slowly becoming more and more digitize, moving away from conventional means of producing art.
Overall, Tom Smith’s Heavenly Bodies offers a refreshing take on art; its highly vibrant colors in conjunction with its digital appearance presented an art style that I found unique and enjoyable to look at.
More information about Tom Smith, Heavenly Bodies, and his other works can be found at: http://www.tomsmithart.com/works/
“Perfect Door/ Perfect Odor/Perfect Rodo” Bruce Nauman (American, born 1941)
Upon my recent visit to the MoMa i was struck mostly by art work, which provided insight into the flow and order of events. Moreover, I understood the focal point to the piece was the letter “D” which moved along the words. Through this movement the other letters followed suit and moved as well to create an entirely new meaning. I took away the message that even when something small changes it can actually have a larger effect on something else entirely. At a time when we are all worrying about of first college exams, I think this can relate to a lot of us in that all the little things like homework and participation will come to play a big factor in inflating our grades even when exams look hopeless.
After having spent a day trying to come to terms with what I watched in “Une Danse des Bouffons” by Marcel Dzama, I have come to only one conclusion- Marcel Dzama must have had a lot of bad experiences growing up. The 35 minute black and white clip is supposed to be a story that weaves together “good versus evil, death and rebirth, love and lost love, multiple identities and doppelgängers, false prophets, the corruption of power, and tensions between reality and fiction” (Jones, 1). However, taken at face value, the film tells the story of a freaky trickster forcing a woman watch her loved one recite haunting codes (only after reading the press release did I realize they were chess moves), the Joker beheading a horse, a clown blowing off the Joker’s head, the clown reattaching the horse’s head to the Joker’s body, and finally a man coming out of horse-Joker’s giant, full upper-torso vagina.
It was the craziest, most traumatic, terrifying thing that I’ve ever watched, yet by the end I was completely mesmerized.
The film had a strange, hypnotic effect, beginning with the woman being forced to watch her man say chess codes and die. It reminded me of a brainwashing tactic used in a Communist, or dictatorial regime: beat the man to death, then force him to say certain things. It was certainly an interesting experience, and helped me understand the plight of people living in countries where things like this were practiced.
The dancers and masks, however, were too unsettling. Their bizarre and seemingly heartless actions reminded me of the story of clowns being serial killers. The main man, who bore a striking resemblance to the Joker, didn’t help- the Joker from Batman was known for being insane and whimsical, but Dzama’s Joker went further-he was more sadistic and gruesome, and his henchmen more terrifying. The Joker character added to the spooky and tense scene, and made the scene much more disturbing.
The finale, however, was what scarred me for life. The resurrected Joker with the beheaded horse’s head unzipped his shirt to reveal a gigantic vagina that spanned the entire length of his body. Then, slowly and disgustingly, out came the man at the beginning of the video, nearly dead from the arrow wound he sustained at the hands of the trickster. At this point, I looked away, unable to watch the horror in its entirety. However, I also became fascinated by Dzama- he had no limits; no social boundaries confined his work. He was unafraid to display such graphic images- from the brainwashing, to the beheading to the “birth”-that normally people would condemn. I interpreted his work less as a story that combined many themes together, and more as a film that pushed the limits of what society would view as acceptable to watch. It was this aspect of the film that mesmerized me, although one run-through of “Une Danse des Bouffons” is enough to satisfy (or scar) me for a lifetime.
Jones, Branwen. “Marcel Dzama Une Danse Des Bouffons (A Jester’s Dance).” Une Danse Des Bouffons (A Jester’s Dance) » David Zwirner. N.p., 9 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
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