As if seeing Picasso’s exhibition wasn’t enough, my experience at the Pace gallery was taken to a whole new level as I walked up the spiral staircase to the second floor. What I saw immediately intrigued me to explore the pixelated art of Chuck Close. From a distance, the portraits looked like snapshots taken by a digital camera. As I got closer, I realized it was a trick of perception – The images were comprised of mini thumbprint-like paint spots. To make it even more interesting, the spots each had different patterns and colors within them. The grid-like spots made me wonder how the artist plotted the points so perfectly to make the portraits come to life. As I researched the artist, I found it even more incredible that although Close was paralyzed, he continued to paint by using a brush holding device strapped to his wrist and forearm. His punch-card painting technique is inventive and makes his the works enjoyable to study.
The paintings were captivating – each individual square was an art form in itself made of concentric circles and squares. Each of these broken brush strokes were vibrant colors that made intricate designs. The pixels were a psychedelic abstraction. Hundreds of these segments were indiscernible at close range, but made up precise portraits from afar. Examining the art from different angles and distances was like a game of perception – the small pixels were greatly contrasted by the image of a human face visible when taking a few steps back.
The illusion that each individual thumbprint is connected hints at the idea that everything is not always what it seems. If you think you know something, taking a closer look may give you a completely different idea than the one you started with. In this sense, viewing Close’s art made me more attentive as my experience of the art changed just by taking a few steps closer.
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.
Yesterday afternoon I was walking down 59th street when I stumbled upon beautiful, simple, spontaneous art. Outside of what seemed to be an apartment building were two pillars decorated with spray paint. The images were presented so effortlessly, it seemed like a random passerby impulsively decided to spray paint.
However, the two pillars had two different auras. The first to catch my eye was the bright and colorful geometric patterns. The solid colored rectangles contrasted the black graffiti backdrop. The second pillar had a gloomier persona. A red cloud appeared to be swallowing a twisted black figure. Again, a gold geometric pattern contrasted this dark scene.
The images are free to interpretation; in this way, they leave onlookers wondering. I liked how the art seemed so spur-of-the-moment, yet each piece could be analyzed for hours. The art in the streets of New York is easy to miss, but rewarding when noticed and appreciated.
This piece by Claude Monet caught my eye as I was looking through the oil paintings at the Met. I really like the colors – the sea foam green and aqua blue that make up the ocean, then the bright blue sky and its puffy white clouds. Everyone in the scene looks like they’re enjoying life whether they’re taking a leisurely stroll or heading out on a canoe.
This peaceful beach town scene reminds me of my hometown. Nothing beats sitting on the beach watching the tides roll in.
I think it goes without saying I miss summertime at the Jersey Shore!
On the rooftop of the Met earlier that day 
My all time favorite form of art is music, and by living in NYC we experience A LOT of it. From the street performers to the musicians at Madison Square Garden, music is everywhere.
Last night, I saw Grouplove in Central Park. I’ve seen them once before at a music festival in Delaware, but something about the beautiful park with the lit up buildings as the backdrop made the night magical.
The music was awesome, but they were also displaying their art. Singer Hannah Cooper had her art in a pamphlet that was handed out at the entry. Since it was the Honda Civic Tour, they were raffling off a new car painted with Hannah’s art. (See images below!)
Overall, the experience was amazing as I got to listen to great music while viewing cool pictures and drawings.
Here’s a video of their opening song!
Amie Siegel’s Provenance sheds light on the relationship between art and capital. The furniture’s value was determined by the setting. First, in Chandigarh the chair was tattered and unwanted as it sat in different workplaces unnoticed. As the film went on, the furniture was refurbished to a more desirable, profitable form. With this, it could be sold for thousands of dollars at auctions, or sit in lavishing homes as a symbol of the family’s wealth.
The aesthetics used in the film were important in Siegel’s message. The perfectly clear images, as well as the surround sound makes you feel as though you’re part of the journey. To add to this, there wasn’t a typical frame to the film, it was simply projected onto a white wall. This made it more personal, like you were travelling to each stage with the furniture.
Lighting played a key role in Siegel’s film. The lighting was dark in the warehouses of broken chairs to signify worthlessness. On the other hand, the lighting was piercingly bright in the beautiful homes and the attractive yacht. This technique made the furniture more appealing and desirable as its value increased.
The unique form of storytelling backwards served the purpose of tracing the value of the chair from its original decrepit beginnings. In this journey, Siegel captures capitalism in the art market. Showing the furniture in exquisite homes, and then being sold at outlandish prices at auctions demonstrates the materialism in today’s art world.
It was interesting that we saw the film from the ‘end’. In our eyes we saw the chair being constantly upgraded from its original shabby state in the first setting in an orderly fashion. Overall, I found that film as a form of art was more captivating, and the lack of narration made the message mysteriously powerful.
Art is everywhere. It reaches out from formal galleries and museums to the streets of New York. On my way to Wholefoods one afternoon in Union Square Park, I passed by a group of artists. They were in a corner of the park making beautiful music with different instruments. Some had guitars, a tambourine, drums, and others were just singing along or dancing. The scene was a kind of free-for-all. Nothing was planned, and different musicians could chime in randomly. It was awesome to see all different cultures coming together through their passion to make music. What was even more interesting was that they had a mini food station open to the public where people who couldn’t afford a meal could grab a bowl of rice while listening to the music. My experience really put things into perspective and made me appreciate the hidden forms of art found among the bustling streets of New York.
Find additional video here: IMG_7226
The lush beauty of Madison Square Park is the perfect complement to Rachel Feinstein’s simplistic sculptures. Simplicity was the theme I felt from all three sculptures. Straightforward features such as the white color, perfectly cut images, and spontaneous scribbles, made me think that the artist was trying to tell us that beautiful art doesn’t always have to be extravagant. We can find beauty in pieces as straightforward as a floating ship, or a structure on the edge of a cliff that looks like a child had a free-for-all with a pencil.
The theme of simplicity is also symbolized in the artist’s choosing the natural park setting; these ‘cut outs’ that look so simply made remind us that if we don’t pay attention, we may just miss life’s subtle forms of art… Just like if your passing through Madison Square Park and don’t look up from your phone, you might miss the artistic beauty taking place.
Rachel Feinstein also encompasses a theme of contradiction through her sculptures placed around Madison Square Park. The pieces themselves are contradictory to the surrounding area. They appear to be made of cardboard and scribbled on in pencil, something a young child would see in a pop-up storybook. This apparent ‘folly’ is out of place in the heart of a sophisticated financial district. Feinstein’s Flying Ship contradicts the meaning of a sailboat by flying midair through the trees of the park. The ship is incompatible as it floats on air without a sense of water.
Each sculpture looks as if it’s a prop from a theatre’s set. The greenery of the park contrasts with the white powdering of the sculptures. The towering skyscrapers serve as the final backdrop to the setting, while the park’s guests serve as the audience of these theatrical inspired ‘set piece’ sculptures.
The main reason I found this installation so interesting was because at first glance they appeared so simple, but after analyzing their location I found the hidden contradictory message of the folly.
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