There is an exhibition currently being held at the Jewish Museum called “Houdini: Art and Magic.” It’s about (you guessed it), the most famous magician of all time, Houdini. When I first heard of this exhibition, I was curious about what it would consist of. Would they display all of Houdini’s props and reveal the secrets to how he was able to perform such wild stunts and mind-blowing tricks? Out of respect for the artist and his crafts, the boxes and cartons (which obviously contain trick compartments, like all other magicians’ props) are kept shut, so that the audience can still think of the mysterious Houdini with awe and wonder.

An interesting aspect of the exhibit is that it focuses on Houdini’s magic, as well as his personal life and how he was affected by it. His diary, which is also on display, reveals how upset he was with the deaths of his parents, and how he wanted to contact the spirits of them. During a seance in which his mother was contacted, Houdini was very skeptical, because his mother would never have sent a message in English, because she didn’t even speak the language. He hoped that magic was real, as he kept attending seances, but he was also very critical and didn’t just accept the idea of it.

I think it would be really interesting to see this exhibit because it actually explores Houdini as a person instead as opposed to a performer. He was great at his craft, and is considered to be the best magician of all time, but how much do we know about his thoughts and emotions and how they influenced his work?

Houdini: Art and Magic is currently at the Jewish Museum until March 27, 2011.
NY Times Article

As I am now beginning to appreciate artwork more than I used to, I decided to look up artists in New York City for my next blog and the first one I stumbled upon really intrigued me. I’m not really sure what his artwork genre would be classified as, but Jeremy Penn has a lot of pieces on his site that I really liked. It is said that his lust for understanding the mind’s interpretations have been inspiration for his recent work and that he is known for “his use of color, materials, and familiar faces in order to elicit an emotional response”. I can definitely agree with that statement. Before I read the about section on his site, I was thinking to myself that you can really see the emotion he put into some of his paintings.

Penn has had his work exhibited internationally and in particular, in NYC, in the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2009 he was the “Featured Artist” for New York’s first Freedom Week, and in 2010, he was awarded the ADEX Gold Medal, the ASFD’s Pinnacle Award, and the Peace Maker Award for his painting “War Child”, which I’ll post below. If anyone is interested in learning more, here is his site.

“In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/a stately pleasure-dome decree”. This famous opening line of the Coleridge poem that also opened “Citizen Kane” used to be pretty much all I knew about the great Khubilai Khan. Then I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and all that changed. “The World of Khubilai Khan” exhibit was an amazing and comprehensive view of life in China during the Yuan Dynasty. I learned this year in my History and Civilization of Islam class that Mongol Empire brought together formerly isolated cultures under one rule, specifically Chinese and Persian. This is brought to life in the exhibit that features every possible form of art found in archeological digs.

For example, this is a picture of a tombstone written on one side in Arabic and the other side in Chinese.

The religious part of the tombstone is written in Arabic, reflecting the Muslim Mongols living in China. The other side lists official name and ranking of the deceased in Chinese, signifying the specific location and culture of the region. For more interesting information on this piece check out the exhibit website.

I thought that this exhibit was spectacular for two reasons. One was the obvious pairing of history and art, which seems a to reflect a larger curatorial theme in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All throughout the museum there is this sense of art being celebrated for both its aesthetic

and historical significance. Each piece in this exhibit was explained in both its historical and artistic context. The significance of the  specific style of calligraphy piece was described in great detail to ensure the utmost clarity.

This leads to me to the second reason for my deep admiration. I was totally blown about by the deep attention to detail employed by the curator, James Watt (also known as Qu Zhiren). The exhibit is organized into different comprehensive categories. The sections each make up their own room and are then divided by subcategory. The sections are made up of Daily Life, Religious Life, Paintings and Calligraphy, Decorative Arts and Textiles.

The exhibit is running until January 2nd. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in art, history or Eastern culture.

I was browsing a New York Times Article, and it spoke of an artist by the name of Robert Rauscheburg who passed away a few years ago. And the author of this article put the artist in such an amazing light that I was tempted to read on about him. Robert Rauschenburg (1925- 2008) made over 6,000 pieces of artwork from the years 1950- 2007, no two pieces being the same. He slid in and out from different styles, and used different mediums and sources of inspiration to make his art. Not only that, but in the 1980s Rauschenburg created the “Rauschenburg Overseas Cultural Interchange.” He gave grant money and funds so that artists and large scale projects could be able to make art. Robert Rauschenburg believed that “if he, or we, or anyone could just produce enough art, then art and life would be the same thing, and the world would change for the better.”

That’s what captivated me about this article. I’ve heard many philosophies on how life can be improved, ideas that range from genocide to using love as the answer to everything. I’ve never heard a philosophy that states that by making art a prominent aspect of your life, life becomes art, therefore life becomes better. I may not entirely agree with it at this point but it is certainly interesting. And his way of achieving this philosophy through the use of generous grants out of his own pocket seems even more admirable to me.

Not to mention, he would always pull a few strings for the sake of art. He recommended four new artists to the Stable Gallery (new artists were always invited to the show) but after the gallery said no, Rauschenburg gave these artists the chance to display one of their works in his exhibition.

Robert passed away two years ago, and now the Gagosian Gallery is handling his estates. Not to mention, the work that they are displaying of his is also for sale. That is another matter apart from the deceased artist, but I almost wish they put up authentic copies of his work for sale and not the original piece. I think original art should be priceless and for “display only.”

This isn’t a suggested outing, but Robert Rauschenburg definitely sounds like a remarkable artist.

For more information on the exhibition, click here

For the New York Times Article, click here

Okay, so they’re not eyes exactly, but it’s basically as close as you can get.

NYU photography professor Wafaa Bilal has installed a camera in the back of his head. This camera has been programmed to take a picture every minute. Each image will automatically be streamed to a computer database and will be organized into an art project entitled “The 3rd I” to open in Qatar on December 30th.

Don’t believe me? Check out the New York Times article about it here.

I am personally fascinated by this undertaking. I personally would not want a camera fastened to the back of my head, even in the name of art, but I am extremely curious as to what is to become of this professor and his proposed project.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade usually features floats from iconic American cartoons, like SpongeBob SquarePants or Charlie Brown. This year, many of the same familiar characters will still be there, but there will also be two floats that you definitely won’t recognize from Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. The two floats that I’m referring to “do not promote any televsision cartoon shows or breakfast cereals, and are merely ambassador’s of Mr. [Takashi] Murakami’s own playfully esoteric art.” Mr. Murakami is a Japanese pop artist, whose work is being displayed in the parade as a result of Macy’s attempt to display balloons designed by an internationally diverse group of artists. The executive producer of the parade, Robin Hall, believes that “there’s room in this parade- and always believed this – for high art.” Murakami’s two characters that will be floating in the parade are Kaikai and Kiki. Kaikai, a childlike character in a rabbit costume, and Kiki, a character with three eyes and two dangling fangs epitomize Murakami’s artistic style and aesthetic philosophy. What I found particularly interesting, is the way that Murakami describes them: “cute yet fearsome.” Does this remind any of you another Japanese artist’s work? When I read this quote and saw a picture of the Kaikai float, I was immediately reminded of Yoshimoto Nara’s style. As many of us saw last week at the Asia Society Museum and all of us discussed in class, many of Yoshimoto Nara’s character’s can also be described as “cute yet fearsome.” I wonder if these two artists, who are both modern Japanese artists around the same age, have influenced each other’s works in any way.

Compare Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai from above to Yoshimoto Nara’s White Riot below:

Read The New York Times Article

If I had to choose a favorite art gallery in the city it would have to be the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Whitney is the only gallery that I’ve gone to socially and with my parents. The first time I went was with my sister, who was in Macaulay at the time, to see the Biennial. It was amazing. There was tons of work by up-and-coming artists with commentary by students.

The next Biennial is slated for 2012 and there’s a lot of buzz surrounding it. On one hand there’s the new plans to open up a space downtown in the trendy meatpacking district. The anticipation for the new move was celebrated at the Whitney Museum’s annual gala. Chuck Close and Jeff Koons both attended the event. Back in the day, Close’s art hung as part of the Biennial.

The Biennial has a tradition of being a haven for emerging artists. While the next one will be taking place in 2012, the buzz has already begun. The New York Times recently published an article about the newly announced curators. I personally can’t wait to use my cultural passport to see the next Biennial, even if it won’t be for another 2 years.

Until recently, I had never heard of the Museum of Arts and Design.  I was just looking around online for some new exhibits and I stumbled upon this museum which is now featuring, since November 17th, an exhibit called The Global Africa Project.

The Global Africa Project explores contemporary African art, design, and crafts, featuring the work of over 100 artists from Africa, Europe, Asia, the US, and the Caribbean.  The exhibit features a broad variety of African arts, such as ceramics, basketry, textiles, jewelry, furniture, fashion, and selective examples of architecture, photography, painting, and sculpture.  Lowery Stokes Sims and Leslie King-Hammond are co-curators of this exhibit.  Their aim was to include a diverse group of creators and expose the various dimensions of the work of African artists and artisans worldwide.  Some themes of the exhibit include, “the phenomenon of intersecting cultures and cultural fusion; the branding and co-opting of cultural references; how art and design is promoted in the international market and the creative global scene; the use of local materials; and the impact of art-making on the economic and social condition of local communities”.

I think that this exhibit would be really interesting to go see.  I like that the exhibit includes a large variety and I find African art to be interesting.  I also think that this exhibit could teach us a bit about African culture.

Check out some pictures from the exhibit 🙂  Here is the site if anybody is interested!

Of all the senses, touch is the most valuable and is the only sense of the five senses which is directly within our control. Yet, we often take for granted how useful and unbelievable our fingertips are. Design artists Barry M. Katz and Branco Lukic have teamed up to pay homage to our fingertips – for being so loyal to us when we need them and for considering their importance in our lives. In Katz’s book called “Nonobject” he addressed this issue saying, “All we can do is point our fingers accusingly at myriad keys and buttons and touch screens, hoping that something will happen. They deserve greater respect than designers have given them.” As for nature, we have also lost touch, for nowadays, all things are created in identical designs, whereas nature has no regularity or congruity. For example, we create all technology to have straight lines, curved edges that are stable objects. Katz elaborates on this point, saying that it does not matter “which can of tennis balls, which pair of jeans, or which holiday cruise you buy off the shelf” – they’re all virtually the same! Designers have been following the dictum of 1896 American architect Louis Sullivan who said “form ever follows function.” Well, according to Katz and Lukic, it’s time to break this notion. The cellular microchip is one example of this, allowing tiny cellular devices, like the BlackBerry, to perform numerous functions from checking fantasy football stats to keeping an organized calendar. Some of Katz and Lukic’s “nonobjects” “evoke the inconsistencies of nature”, for instance, by creating a perfect, “ideal” cellphone that gradually collapses into a crumpled and dented piece of metal. Other “nonobjects” focus on the idea that we abuse our fingertips by jabbing them into things all day long and thus have created a cellphone where one pushes their fingers through holes on the keypads, rather than at them. These nonobjects will most likely never go on sale – rather they are more conceptual objects. However, Dutch designer Hella Jongerius succeeded in mass-maufacturing “humane” designs and is featured in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam through Feb. 13. Her work, titled “Misfit”, is all about humanizing industrial designs. One of her projects includes 300 colored vases, each one of them unique by using “different combinations of more than 200 historic mineral-based paints and modern chemical glazes”. The act of humanizing industrial designs in “Misfit”, along with the “Nonobjects”, helps to restore emotion into our routine ways of life.
article

Get ready for some food for thought! Or not, I suppose. Even though I found this in the New York Times, the exhibition is located at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. What is this exhibition about though? “Art and Appetite” is a display of paintings, photos, and other such images throughout the centuries which depict food as well as a lack of it as well.

There are bright, fun and recent pictures (well compared to the date of the other images, they could be considered recent) which give a fun and whimsical approach towards food. A good example I came across while reading the article was Claes Oldenburg’s “Flying Pizza.” With its bright red colors and pizza slices which seem to magically separate themselves from the pie, this particular picture represents one part of the exhibition.

However, a major portion of this exhibition is dedicated to something more depressing: starvation. This is where the guilt-tripping comes in. The exhibition became public on a day so close to Thanksgiving, so imagine the pang of pain some Connecticuns will feel when stopping to see this exhibition after coming from the turkey market. An interesting concept pointed out which still exists today is the fact that it’s “cheaper to buy empty calories than real food.” For example, in the 1930s, Milk cost 6 cents, while soda cost a penny less. What’s even more interesting was that this was also noted by artists in the 16th century. Pieter van der Heyden’s 1563 pair, “The Fat Kitchen” and “The Thin Kitchen” shows two different dinner situations.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves here:

As you can see, even the people in both images clearly depict the big difference. Skinny, emaciated figures all reaching into one bowl, versus heavier people with piles of meat on top of the table.

I think this especially, should remind us to give lots of thanks as we feast with our families on Thanksgiving. Even if this was in New York, it wouldn’t be an exhibit worth going to, but just knowing about it and seeing these examples with Thanksgiving approaching upon can have a great affect upon our mindset.

Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!

I have always been confused by the fact that many artists and musicians become the most famous after they are dead.  As morbid as that sounds, it is often the truth.  Artists such as Shakespeare, Picasso, and Beethoven were the most well known and appreciated only after they had died.  I mention this because I came across a New York Times article talking about a forgotten cartoonist who has recently been rediscovered.  Denys Wortman, who is no longer alive, contributed six cartoons a week to The New York World from 1924 to 1954.  His drawings portrayed daily life in Gotham, and featured small clips of speech along with the sketches.  These cartoons were adored for their seemingly simple nature, not over the top, and completely natural.  Fellow cartoonist Jules Feiffer said about Wortman’s work, “His work didn’t seem studied. It was as if you were looking out the window — or my window in the Bronx.”

Click here to see a slideshow of some of Wortman’s cartoons!

However in 1958, Wortman passed away from a heart attack, and his work was virtually forgotten.  The types of cartoons changed, and Wortman’s works just disappeared–that is until recently when graphic novelist James Sturm came across some of Wortman’s cartoons.  Sturm, along with Wortman’s only son, set out on a mission to resurrect Wortman’s career.  Just a few days ago at the Museum of the City of New York, a retrospective opened called “Denys Wortman Rediscovered: Drawings for The World-Telegram and Sun, 1930-1953.”  Hopefully, this will encourage others to seek out and resuscitate the artwork and music of others long gone.

You can read the NY Times article here.

So as Alyssa and I were on our way to Iolanthe this afternoon we both remarked on the beautiful subway mosaics. Being the dork that I am, I took out my new camera and snapped some photos. These murals were amazing. Some of them went wall to wall and covered entire passageways in the subway. I wondered, who made these gigantic pieces of art? Who decides what piece gets to go up in which station? I’ll investigate and get back to you. For now, here are some of the pictures I took today:

Canstruction is a really creative way to inspire charity with art.  Canstruction, a non-profit organization, holds competitions in cities where artists use canned food to make large structures.  When the competition is done, all the cans of food go to foodbanks in the city.  Canstruction in New York City is being held in the World Financial Center (near Battery Park).  The participating 25 teams together used an estimated amount of 100,000 cans to create structures located in the first and second level of the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden.  All of these cans will go to City Harvest after the competition is done, to feed the homeless and hungry in New York City.  These structures depict different images, often an image that somehow encourages people to fight against hunger.  Here is an example of one:

“Can Mario 1-Up Hunger” was really cool and clever.  Unfortunately they didn’t have Luigi as well.

I had a lot of fun going around looking for the 25 structures in the World Financial Center.  I really liked how on the poster-boards placed next to each image, the main ingredients were listed.  For Mario, I think the main ingredients were cans of green beans, tomato sauce, refried beans, black beans, sauerkraut, bean salad, and sweet potatoes.  Mario actually has a different colored hat in the back!

Here is Canstruction’s Website
and here is an article about the event.
The show ends on Nov.22, but it would be great if you guys can find time to see it.

I’m not sure whether the artists can only used canned food, but some of them got creative.
Here is one of my favorites, called “A Smart Way to End Hunger”.

“Anselm Kiefer: Next Year in Jerusalem” is a new exhibition currently at the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea. It’s special because it is Kiefer’s first exhibition in New York in eight years. The New York Times said Kiefer’s pieces “blend painting, sculpture and set design; incorporate elements of filmmaking, performance and photography; and marshal the forces of history, literature and religious thought.” I think this makes the exhibition very interesting, because you can explore a theme through the use of different art mediums. Although a gallery with only paintings can also be very profound and moving, I think “Next Year in Jerusalem” can attract a wider audience because it has more variety, and everyone can find a style of art that they like.

Another interesting thing about the exhibition and about Anselm Kiefer himself is that he was born in the last few weeks of World War II, and so his art deals with human suffering and devastation in order to reflect that time period. Some of the pieces are the fuselage or engine of a vintage airplane, a thorn bush with flames, and a wedding dress covered in shards of glass. Kiefer’s paintings also carry a heavy and gloomy mood, with the use of dark paints. Even “Cetus,” a painting of an enormous mountain landscape and a field of dead stalks, brings up the image of death and war.

“Anselm Kiefer: Next Year in Jerusalem” is at the Gagosian Gallery until December 18th.
New York Times Article
Slideshow

If it wasn’t for this article , I probably would not have known that the man who designed the interior of one of the most popular stores in SoHo, Uniqlo, was Masamichi Katayama. I remember the first time I walked into this store was because I was drawn in by the modern and unique showcase in the middle of the store that I saw outside as I was walking pass during my frequent shopping trips on Broadway.

After reading this article and seeing the work he has done, I realized that Mr. Katayama is now my most favorite interior designer. He has truly made building and stores an amazing sight to see. What made me like his work the most is the modern feel I get when looking at his works, which kind of exemplifies the change in appearance of our society compared to even a decade ago. For popular brand name stores, customers can now appreciate the brand’s facility along with the fashion itself. because of Katayama. His other impressive works include the design of a “Nike” store in Japan, “Godiva” in the Harajuku district, and most of the “A Bathing Ape” stores. The most unique aspect of the “Godiva” building he designed is the ceiling made to look like melting chocolate.

Katayama’s work is very creative as he plays on the factor of relating the design of the building to the type of store he is designing. What struck me the most in the article was when he said, “I would like to create a building that includes every possible facility such as a hospital, a school, a hotel, retail stores…To create a town within a building.” Now, that would definitely be a sight to see.

One of his newest projects will be debuting soon in Midtown Manhattan when the new Uniqlo branch opens up on Fifth Avenue. I can not wait to visit that venue, ready to see what he has “in store” for us. (Like my play on words?) This will be his fourth conribution to the Uniqlo stores, his other two designs are located in London and Paris branches.

Anselm Kiefer, a German painter and sculptor has opened his first exhibition at Gagosian Gallery, New York since eight years. After reading the article , Kiefer’s work really impressed me, visually and intellectually with the messages he attempts to portray. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The materials stem from nature, industrial, and man-made.

His works are characterised by a dull/musty, nearly depressive, destructive style and are often done in large scale formats. In most of his works, the use of photography as an output surface is prevalent and earth and other raw materials of nature are often incorporated. It is also characteristic of his work to find signatures and/or names of people of historical importance, legendary figures or places particularly pregnant with history. All of these are encoded signals through which Kiefer seeks to process the past; this has resulted in his work being linked with a style called “New Symbolism.”

This exhibit really exemplifies a slightly different side of him through his new work of blend painting, sculpture and set design. Kiefer also incorporate elements of film-making, performance and photography, and marshal the forces of history, literature and religious thought. Although, he still keeps his original flavor intact by leaving the element of addressing controversial issues in recent history like the Holocaust. He was born in the last weeks of World War II, and the human cost and devastation of that conflict remain the spine and the hook of his art. For example, one of his works displayed in the exhibition is called “Occupations”, which signifies his expanded ambition, and a determination that we not miss the point and never forget what happened about six decades ago.

For all you science people out there, the American Museum of Natural History has an exhibit for you.  This exhibit, “Brain: The Inside Story” opens tomorrow.  This particular exhibit is described as more of an show.  There are pieces of artwork as well as larger displays and more interactive parts to keep everyone interested and involved.

In the article, the exhibit appears to be somewhat of a letdown from an artistic standpoint. It is very educational, the main focus of the exhibit being on brain topography. It teaches about language, reason, and memory; the arrangement of the brain according to evolutionary archaeology; and electrical impulses through the brain, just to name a few.

The curators of the exhibit include a team of researchers and specialists in neuroscience. The team is led by Rob DeSalle, who worked along with Joy Hirsch and Margaret Zellner. The time and effort they put into gathering information and artists for the exhibit is evident by the variety of artists they have used as a part of the show. I’m sure the exhibit would definitely teach me some things about the brain in a more creative way, but if I was looking for more of an art show, it would not satisfy my desire.

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Many people confirm this idea, since art welcomes various interpretations; with a motley range of perspectives, a simple image can be analyzed in many different ways. However, when art is used as propaganda, rather than for the sake of existing solely as creative expression, perhaps it speaks more than a thousand words.

Walk down any street in New York City. How many people do you pass by smoking a cigarette? These toxic fumes dominate the street life of this area, as well as in other countless cities throughout the world. Federal drug regulators are well-aware of this issue, and have announced 36 new warning labels to be placed on the products. These images, intended to cover half of the packaging, will display the graphic and unsettling consequences of tobacco use. Since the Food and Drug Administration does not have the authority to fully ban the product, they must dominate regulation instead.

Although the United States was the first to apply textual health warnings to tobacco products (i.e., “Surgeon General’s Warning”), more and more countries plan to take a similar course of action by adopting the images. In fact, the pictorial warnings will be a requirement in the United States by October 22nd, 2012. Dr. Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the Center for Tocacco Products in the FDA, states: “Sometimes images that are not as graphic may be more powerful in terms of changing behaviors.” From what we have observed in modern art, this is a very true statement. The pieces that we have seen at the MOMA, for example, were not very complicated externally, but certainly had an intricate and underlying message. Again, images speak louder than text.

This idea is not particularly original. Artwork has been created as propaganda in the past as well, intending to display a particular message for a wide audience. However, it does come across as shocking, since the visual images are being superimposed on the product directly. The stimulation of thought is what is important in this case. What do you think about this proposal? Do you think the FDA has the right to place these warnings on products, or does this violate freedom of speech? Do you think the art will be successful in getting its point across?

Additional ideas spurred from the idea mentioned in the article can be viewed here.

As we all know, Seminar 1 explores the Arts in New York City, hence its namesake. However, how often to do we encounter an arts event in Manhattan featuring art on, well, Manhattan? That’s were Herbert Katzman comes in. A Chicago native, Katzman moved to New York City and fell in love with it, even embracing his surroundings as his muse. Known for his abstract expressionism, Katzman’s pieces feature scenes of New York, especially its bridges, skyline, and landmarks. Although the New York art scene moved to a more contemporary wave, Katzman kept true to his style. Why follow trends when one can master an art? The blend of colors and movement clearly show that Katzman perfected his style. Glorious Sky: Herbert Katzman’s New York features more than 80 works, both paintings and works on paper, and is showing at the Museum of the City of New York through February 21.

Source

How would you like to walk around with a camera implanted in the back of your head? You don’t have to, but it’s exactly what Wafaa Bilal, an assistant professor of photography at New York University, is doing. In a few weeks, Bilal will undergo surgery to install a camera in his head, which will then take pictures at one minute intervals. The images will be streamed to a computer database and then appear in different sequences, some in real time, on monitors in an exhibition space at the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha between December and May. The work is called “The 3rd I” and the idea behind it is to “comment on the inaccessibility of time, and the inability to capture memory and experience.”

This project is very controversial, as it questions the privacy of Bilal’s students. And although he has volunteered to wear a cap while on campus, NYU officials don’t want the cameras on at all while Bilal is on campus. Bilal is known for his controversial work, including “Virtual Jihadi,” in 2007, where he hacked a video game to upload an avatar of himself hunting President George W. Bush.

I think this is a really interesting project. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and Youtube make it easy to share personal information, photos, and videos instantly. An exhibit like this can really shed light on society’s obsession with constantly being connected to technology, where the boundaries of privacy are almost nonexistent.

NY TImes Blurb

Full Wall Street Journal article