Author Archives: Lauren

Holiday Season

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This is the time of year that every thing starts winding down and moving to a more peaceful time.  The semester is almost over, and soon we will all be separating for a month.  First, I wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this seminar, and I thought it was a great learning experience!  I think we all turned into partial snobs.

But to get to the main point of the post, I wanted to mention a few snobbish things to do while on vacation if anyone is interested in keeping up their noses.  So here are some of the great things to do in this wonderful city come holiday time!

1.  Walk around!  Our city is fantastic, and in the wintertime there are displays everywhere!  Obviously the most well known ones are Times Square, and Rockefeller Center.  Those are great places to start to se the Tree and the various lights in the City Center.  But once you hit the tree on 5th keep walking!  There are the Macy’s and Lord and Taylor Window’s near Herald Square that are great places to go see.

2.  Do something fun!  At the Jewish Museum, there is a Children’s exhibit that allows you to pretend as if you are an archeologist for the day.  You can “find” vessels that relate to the time of the Maccabees that tie in directly with the holiday of Chanukah.  It is a great thing to do around the holidays.  It will be a slightly different experience than seeing the Cone Sister exhibit, but it promises to be more hands on than walking around and staring at the various Matisse and Picasso’s that are on display.

3.  See a show!  As everyone knows, the City is one of the best places to see a show.  But instead of seeing a Broadway show, if you want to maintain your snob status, maybe check out Lincoln Center.  Lincoln Center is beginning it’s annual run of the Nutcracker, which is sure not to disappoint.  It will be simmilar to the Ballet that we saw in the first act of “Fall for Dance.”  Just do not go in to it expecting to hear someone counting to ten in another language.

4.  Visit a Museum! You have your choice of museums in the city as we all know, so try for something out of the ordinary.  From now until April 22nd, the Cloisters is having an exhibition entitled, “The game of Kings: Medieval ivory Chessmen From the Isles of Lewis.” These Chessmen are similar to the pieces used in Harry Potter, and they will not move on their own, but will still amaze you.  Obviously this will be different than any other exhibition that we as a class saw at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I hope some of you take up my suggestions, but more importantly, I hope you have a great vacation doing whatever it is that you all end up doing!

Art FINALLY realizing there has been a recession!

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Look At the New York Times Article, Art Shivers in the Recession!

Finally, it seems as if the art world is realizing there has been a recession in the general world.  It is refreshing to see that the upper crust of society is realizing that something has happened to the rest of the world, and that maybe they should not be buying millions of dollars worth of art.

Unfortunately this is not the case.  In the auction houses, there was not a lack of buyers, but rather a lack of sellers.  Some of the paintings that were sold went for exorbitant amounts because of the lack of competition.  People who own old work masterpieces are unwilling to sell them in this economy.  Instead, the lesser known artists, or second tier old world painters are the ones that were on the auction block in Sotheby and Christie’s auction houses.

Quoting from the article “Such blatant overestimation was not due to some inexplicable hubris on the experts’ part. It merely reflects the desperate efforts made by auction house departmental heads to entice consignors by complying with their every wish, however unrealistic.”

The art world market seems to be shriveling in these tough economic times, but whether this is a good or bad thing is yet to be determined.  If the art world auction markets die down, art will not be circulating and it may be difficult to ever see some of the great works because they will be in a vault in a wealth man’s house.  On the other hand, it may be a wakeup call to the wealthy population that something is happening in the world, and you cannot be a recluse and not help out.

It is a telling sign that people do not want to part with their work.  As we have discussed in class multiple times, Occupy Wall Street and other movements like that are reacting to something.  The wealthy are not as willing to part with their riches and would rather keep them locked up in their vaults.  This may lead to the end of the auction house as we know it.

 

Comedy, Arts, Colbert

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On the night of December 7th, I went to see the Colbert Report. The show was its usual funny self, and Colbert was very funny.  While watching the show, I began to realize the affect that comedy had on the media.  Everything Colbert said was factual, but the spin he put on his jokes made it seem as if our political system is heading down the wrong track.  Most of his jokes centered around the Republican presidential campaign, and it left many in the audience unsure of their support.  It was an interesting experience.

 

What struck me the most about the show was the special guest.  The guest was David Hallberg.  He is a ballet dancer who was born in South Dakota, and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona learning ballet.  He has worked for the American Ballet Theater, and is now employed by the Russian Bolshoi Ballet as well.

 

I thought it was interesting to see the synthesis of comedy and art in a new way.  Typically, Colbert’s guests are politicians and people who are typically associated with Hollywood.  David Hallberg does not fit into these two categories.  At the end of the interview, Hallberg performed a piece from the Nutcracker and he was extremely graceful.

 

It was great seeing the ballet dancers on Fall for Dance, but we were up in the audience.  Hallberg was fifteen feet away from me, and so I could see his every move perfectly.  The concentration and effort it takes to dance ballet was not lost on the audience.

 

Watch the clip for the show here. Colbert Report

The Met’s Roman and Greek Works

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After seeing the Dekooning exhibit, I traversed the city and went to the Met.  Since it is one of my favorite buildings in New York, I had to see something there to help me appreciate Dekooning.  After already seeing the Flemish paintings with Frans Halls, and having already visited (and posted) about the modern exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I went for an earlier exhibit.  I chose the Greek and Roman galleries.  These galleriers are some of the most famous galleries in the Museum.

Beginning on the first floor, the first gallery that many people visit is the Greek and Roman Art gallery on the left of the Great Hall entranceway.  This is a fantastic gallery filled with many of the famous statues and artifacts of the ancient Greeks and Romans.  These galleries were underwent renovation that was completed in 2007.  The museum is now able to exhibit almost all of the 5,000 works of art that it has in its collection .  What people do not usually see, are the galleries of the Greek and Roman Art that are off to the sides of the main exhibit.

A few of the famous innovations of the Romans are the four styles of wall painting.  The Museum has an amazing reconstruction of two of the different styles located in galleries 165 and 167.  An example of the second style is a wall painting taken from the Roman villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale.  The walls are decorated so beautifully with rich color and scenery, it is impressive merely in its ability to maintain its vibrancy.  This style of wall painting is the most dramatic and contains a narrative.  The third style, located down the hall from its predecessor, is from the villa of Agrippa Postumus at Boscoreale. This style is famous for its monochrome color and subtle decoration.  Its beauty is in its intricate designs.  After gazing at the many gorgeous Greek gods and goddesses, walk to the wall paintings; you will not be disappointed.

I thought to look at this gallery after the Dekooning exhibit, because most of the western world artwork is based of the Greco-Roman tradition.  I specifically decided to look at the wall paintings because as Shane mentioned, Dekooning designed his paintings for interior design.  It was interesting to see the  ancient style of room decoration.

Dekooning, as abstract as they come!

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Going to see the Dekooning exhibit in the MoMA was amazing.  Going into the MoMA, you know that you are about to see something that has changed the modern art world drastically. And Dekooning certainly did not disappoint.  Going up to the sixth floor, we pass all of the other artists works that either preceded Dekooning, or were effected by his work.  When we finally reached the sixth floor, I was shocked.  Dekooning had the entire floor to himself.  What struck me the most was the amount of paintings that the MoMA displayed.  Thier permanent collection of Dekooning works is enormous.  Because of the sheer volume, the Museum could display a time line of his work.

As we walked in, we saw the earliest of Dekooning’s work.  It was interesting to see his realistic depictions of things because he is so famous for Woman 1 and for being so abstract.  It was nice to see a different style of art from Dekooning.  It was also fascinating to see his transformation.  As we moved throughout the exhibit we saw all the stages the artist went through.  Another one of my favorite sections was the black and white images in second phase of his artistic career.  The paintings were simple but expressed a lot through the stark contrast between black and white.

Following the path we came across Dekooning’s most celebrated work; Woman 1.  If the painting would have been in a regular gallery, we would not have known the different creative styles that Dekooning went through to produce this work.  We can appreciate the different contours and colors that are displayed in the image so much more now that we have seen the rest of his work. I understand now why he is considered one of the masters of abstract expressionism.  Also, I liked that the show did not end with Woman 1.   It is as if saying that Dekooning was still extremely influential and produced many more artistic works of genius.  I loved the last gallery that was his 1980s works.  They reminded me of the black and white ones from the earlier gallery.

All in all, I thought the exhibit was excellently put together, and allowed viewers to see the complete life of Dekooning!

Economic Dialogue

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After our assignment a few weeks ago on Occupy Wall Street, I decided to explore more venues and see what more people had to say about our current crisis.  Today, I attended The Queens College enter for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding’s Economic Dialoge and Action. The event happened during Free Hour, and began with a short video clip from PBS.  The video highlighted the fact that the majority of the country do not know our economic structure.  A man went around with a graph detailing three different economies with the wealthy controlling different percentages of the country’s wealth.  The majority of America thought that America was Sweden’s economy, with the wealthy only controlling %36 of the wealth, as opposed to the wealthy American’s unbelievably high percentage of the wealth distribution.

After the video, the group broke up into smaller discussion groups, and we talked about how the financial crisis affected us and our families and what would we like to to about it.  This was really interesting because it allowed me to see different people’s reactions.  I did not always agree with them, but it was important to hear what they had to say.  I liked the dialogue, and will continue going to the various events hosted by the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding.

This ties in with our continued discussions on Occupy Wall Street.  Sitting in today, I heard real people’s disgust with the government and their stories about family members who lost their jobs.  Many people were saying how they thought the American Dream had died years ago, and that we are in need of a new dream.  It was depressing to hear about people;s lack of faith in the government, but it was comforting to hear about their support of their friends and family.  We are in difficult times, and the one thing I learned from today was that it is important to stick together and discuss the issues.

Lefrak Performance

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Today, I attended the concert in Lefrak Hall.  The concert was The Nota Bene Ensemble performing a a series of works that examined the intersection of Politics and Music. It was an interesting attempt to combine music and poetry in the same space.  The concert was dynamic because of the various interactions with lighting, and the different placements of the various poets and musicians.  The event started with a poem, and then musicians would play a piece that was supposedly related or applied to the poem that was just read.  It was interesting seeing what pieces the musicians and poets thought went together.

My favorite piece that was performed was called Bang a garbage can loudly tonight.  The poem was read very monotonous, but it added ot the effect.  The poem discusses some of the problems with the world today and it focuses on Occupy Wall Street.  The poem says that the world allowed the one percent to make decisions for the ninety nine.  After the poem, the musicians played a piece that was filled with various types of drums.  It was a clear connection between the written wrod and the music.  The poem was my favorite, and so I enjoyed hearing the representation  in music.  It made me imagine someone banging on a garbage can.

This event is different from the previous two concerts I attended in Lefrak Hall.  The first was the concert we attended as a class, and as we all remember, there was one soloist accompanied by an orchestra.  The second event I attended was a much smaller concert, and the performers were not from the college, but rather a troupe that was brought in (there is a post from a few weeks ago that goes more into detail about the second performance).  This was was much more aesthetically appealing because of the different positions of the performers.  It was more engaging to the audience to have the lights switch on the stage.  I enjoyed the contrast between the different performances.

Occupy Wall Street

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On Wednesday, I attended the Homelessness in Focus event in the Patio Room on campus.  The event consisted of two speakers from Picture the Homeless, an organization that draws attention to the homeless community in New York City.  The two speakers are currently homeless, and spoke to us about their experiences from becoming homeless, to their mistreatment by the shelters and the government. Instead of the typical image of a homeless person, these women had previously been government and state employees before becoming homeless.  One woman was a postal worker for over 20 years, while the other was a teacher for 23 years.  Both were forced out of their apartments because of unfortunate incidents with their landlords, and growing medical bills. To visit the Picture the Homeless Website, click here.

The two women opened the audiences’ eyes to the money-making schemes that the city’s wealthy officials are perpetrating.  According to the women, and the information that the Picture the Homeless brochures provided, the city pays shelters $3.500 per homeless person per month, while to rent an apartment in the outer boroughs can cost anywhere up to $1,100.  The shelters do not provide comfortable living, and are often times under equipped to handle the amount of people that come to their doors.  If the shelters are receiving that much money per person, the shelters should be able to provide housing and food to everyone who comes to their doors.  According to the presenters, the owners of the shelters are pocketing the money. If the city wanted to be truly economical, they would provide housing to the homeless for the much cheaper rate of $1,100 a month.  The Picture the Homeless people told us that the City’s reasoning for their method is that there is not enough housing in the city.  While this appears to be true, the Picture the Homeless organization are performing investigations and have found hundreds of vacant apartments and lots throughout the city.  For more information, click here to go to the housing campaign website.  The discussed the many issues with homelessness today, and the misconceptions that the majority of the population has today.

You may be wondering how this applies to Occupy Wall Street.  Recently, the Occupy Wall Street Movement was evicted out of Zuccotti Park, and so the occupiers have needed to find other places to sleep.  This situation has left many of the movement feeling as the homeless do every night.  As Seen Here, in the article “Why Homelessness is Becoming an Occupy Wall Street Issue,” the movement has taken on the issues of homelessness because people who have been living on the streets for the past few months realize how terrible it is.  According to the article, it is illegal to perform the basic human function while being homeless.  Police will bother you for sitting, standing, lying down, and sleeping in public areas.  Especially for truly homeless people, they do not have any place to go, and so they live their lives as if they are fugitives in their own country.   Since vacating Zuccott According to the New York City General Assembly, the Occupy Wall Street Declaration one of their points is “They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.”  This falls in suit with what the two homeless women were telling us.  They lost their homes unfairly, and are now living in the shelter system.  The Occupy Wall Street movement is attempting to remedy this issue, among other things.

One of the ways that the movement is attracting attention is through their signs.  As an example of impromptu art, the movement’s visibility has drastically increased with the various signs on display.  Orginially made of cardboard, the signs are now being massed produced and are beginning to have common themes.  As an example I have posted this one to the blog.   The signs express many of the grievances the movement has, and are beginning to be unified under a main theme.  This particular sign, goes hand in hand with Wednesday’s presentation, because many of the homeless people in society are jobless, and they can relate to this image.

Amerigo Trio

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Today, I attended the Amerigo Trio concert in Lefrak Hall.  The trio is made up of Glenn Dicterow, Karen Dreyfus, and Inbal Segev.  The trio is a string trio, with Dicterow on violin, Dreyfus on viola, and Segev on cello.  They were introduced to a warm reception, and it appeared as if they thoroughly enjoyed playing in Lefrak Hall.  All three are famous performers who perform all over the world, and it was nice to see the comfortable demeanor when they came to the college.  The concert was well attended, but most of the audience was from outside the Queens College community.  I think it is nice that the general Queens population can come to Lefrak Hall and listen to great music.

The trio played Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Trio in C minor, Opus 9 No. 3 and his Duo for Viola and Cello “with Eyeglasses obligato”, Jean Sibelius’ String Trio in G minor, and Anton Arnesky’s String Quartet in a minor, Opus 35 for Violin, Viola, and Two Cellos.

My favorite piece was Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Trio in C minor, Opus 9 No. 3.  It was the first piece performed, and it grabbed the audience’s attention.  I loved the harmonization of the three instruments.  I do not have a music background, but found myself thoroughly enjoying the works.

It was different from the performance that the class previously attended in Lefrak Hall.  There was a more intimiate feel because of the amount of people.  Before, we saw the orchestra with a soloist, whereas here, the highlight was the trio with no accompaniment.  Also, there was no conductor as there had been in the past.  It was interesting comparing the two performances.  I honestly do not know which one I preferred more.

The trio’s website can be found Here.

 

When Stocks Fall….Buy Art?

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This New York Times this week ran an article detailing Sotheby’s auction this past week.  It begins by talking about this past week, as the stockmarket fell 400 points, Sotheby’s sold a painting done by Clyfford Still and Gerhard Richter for  $315.8 million. This week, the company achieved the company’s third-highest total for a contemporary art sale ever. The piece was estimated at  $270 million. Even in this economy, the painting went for more than $45 million than it was expected to be sold for.   Of the 73 lots for sale at Sotheby’s, 11 went unsold.Another surprise sale was the sale of Clyfford Still’s “1949-A-No. 1,” a canvas of thick, jagged brush strokes in deep reds and blacks.  The painting sold for $61.7 million, instead of the $25 million estimate.

I thought this was an appropriate article to blog about right before we go and visit Occupy Wall Street.  To the general public, spending thousands of dollars on art is not in their annual budget, yet alone spending millions.  I would have to bet that many of the people buying paintings for hundreds of millions of dollars are among the 1% of the population that has amassed so much wealth.  The money that bought the painting that was sold for $315 million, could have been used to support thousands of people for their entire lives.  When so muh money is being spent on art, and not on the general population, people get angry.  This anger is part of what  is what is fueling the Occupy Wall Street movement.  The full article can be found Here.  I am excited to see the Occupy Wall Street Teach In, after reading this article.

Flemish Paintings

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After seeing the Frans Halls Exhibit with the class, I decided to go back and see it for myself when I was at the Museum.  I really liked the way he painted the intricate lace on the bodices of the men and women.  It turns out, I got there too late, and the museum was in the process of dismantling the exhibit.  Instead, I decided to explore the rest of the Flemish works.  I wanted to see where frans Halls fit in in the Dutch art world.  I had been to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which is famous for housing the most impressive collection of Dutch work, and I wanted to see how the Metropolitan Museum of Art compares.  The galleries in the Met that house these works are called the Van Eyck, Memling, and Fifteenth-Century Netherlandish Painting galleries.  As we learned, the Dutch are famous for their intricate and highly detailed artwork.

My favorite of these paintings is what appears to be an unfinished altarpiece, whose painter is unknown. It is possible that the painter is Hugo van der Goes.  It is located in gallery 626.  The history behind this odd work is that the figures of the Virgin and Child and St. John were removed and in their place went Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.  Later on, their images were scratched off, and what remains are the original sketches for the Virgin and Child and St. John.  We see the intricate sketching that went into painting the masterpiece.  This altarpiece is fascinating because it shows the painting methods of the early Flemish masters.

I thought the Met had a great collection of these paintings. I was rather pleased that at the end of my visit that the Museum stands up to its rival in Amsterdam.

Absurdism

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Recently, I read “The Stranger” by Albert Camus.  The novel is considered one of the major accomplishments of the absurd movement and sometimes the existentialists.  .  The movement started with World War Two, and became more popular towards the middle of the century.  “The Stranger” is about a Frenchman living in Algier although he does not appear to fit in to his culture.  The novel opens with the main character, Meursault, stating that his mother died.  He shows no emotion, and goes through the funeral without ay signs of grief.  Then, he moves on with his life and starts a relationship with a woman the following day.  Later on in the novel, Meursault kills a man for no apparent reason.  As he says, he was annoyed by the sun and the heat.

I do not want to ruin the novel for anyone who wishes to read it, as i think it is extremely worthwhile.  I became interested in the absurd movement as soon as we saw “The Bald Soprano.”  When we read it in class, I was annoyed by the apparent randomness and silliness of the play.  After understanding the meaning behind Ionesco’s words, the play became fascinating.  The absurd movement as well.  It is hard to imagine how people were feeling after the war, and the total destruction of millions of people and countries.  This is the expression of the survivors.  It shows the world the psyche of the times, better than movies or photographs.  Through Ionesco, and Camus we see the feelings and emotions that the survivors of the war were feeling.  I think that is an incredible accomplishment for the absurdists.

Seminar

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Last night, I saw Seminar:  a new Broadway production starring Alan Rickman (aka Professor Snape).  The production was written by Theresa Rebeck and directed by Sam Gold.  The production is still in previews, so last night was one of the first shows that an audience has seen.  It opened to the public on October 27th and is being performed at the Golden Theather.

Alan Rickman stars as an acclaimed, eccentric, sometimes damaging fiction editor, who was hired by four aspiring writers to critique their work.  Each of the writers react differently to Alan Rickman’s harsh criticism. Some of writers nowadays resent the criticism, while others take Rickman’s advice to heart.  The audience sees the difficulties that modern writers need to overcome in order to publish.

In terms of setting, the play reminded me of the Bald Soprano by Ionesco.  The play takes place in an apartment on the West Side.  It is not meant to be an action packed play.  The play centers around their meetings, and their conversation.  It also reminded me about the Bald Soprano because of the emphasis on language.  Whereas the Bald Soprano turned language into absurd, Seminar emphasized the importance of language.

As the perfect ending to a great night, I met Alan Rickman outside the theater and he signed the playbill.  Everyone should see Seminar if you enjoy Broadway. Here is the Link

Picture of Dorian Gray and Don Giovanni

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The Picture of Dorian Gray, is my favorite novel of all time.  Oscar Wilde single handedly changed my view of the world.  The novel describes the life of a handsome young man, Dorian Gray, who lives his life selfishly and hedonistically with no regard for conventional morality.  Dorian curses a portrait of himself because it would never portray the burdens of time and offers his soul if the portrait could age instead of him.  Miraculously, his wish comes to fruition and he is able to keep his Adonis-like looks, while his portrait, which is his conscience, wizens both as a result of the passage of time and the heinous behaviors in which Dorian engages.  In essence, Dorian is provided a front row seat to view his conscience.  After committing many unspeakable horrors, Dorian shows no remorse and continues to flourish.  Finally, Dorian can no longer bear to see what his portrait has become and tries to destroy the picture.  I will not tell you what happens, because I highly recommend that everyone read this novel.

This novel is a reminder of the depths that people reach when they shed their moral compass, and that is the reason this novel changed my view of the world.  What is unique about Dorian Gray is that his conscience is physically detached from his body.

I thought of Dorian Gray when we began discussing Don Giovanni.  Don Giovanni and Dorian Gray have similar characteristics.  Both take what they want with no regard for other people or things.  In addition, it appears as if Don Giovanni has no conscience, or at least does not listen to it.  I do not know what happens with Don Giovanni (I want to be surprised when we go see it), but if it is anything like the novel, he will have to wrestle with himself over the awful acts he has committed.  I am excited to see Don Giovanni after comparing the two characters.

The Met’s Secret Hideaway…

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This past Sunday I went to visit one of my favorite sections of the Met:  The contemporary art galleries all the way in the back corner. This is the Gallery 915, which houses paintings and sculptures from the 1970s until the present.  This is a gallery that unless you have been told about it, or stumbled upon it, is easy to miss.  I advise you to make your way in front of “Mark,” a photorealist work done by Chuck Close.  This image is so realistic that it appears as if it is merely a photograph.  In reality, it is acrylic on canvas, done to appear as if it is a photograph. Mark’s glasses reflect the flash from the camera so as to enhance the photorealist effect.  The painting is super-realistic, to the point of showing every flaw in Mark’s face.

The first time I visited the gallery I was annoyed because I had just made my way past a room filled with Mark Rothko’s work, and I was frustrated by the typical argument about what is art.  Then, I came into the room and saw Mark, and became even more frustrated because it appears as if it is a picture.  Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a photorealist work and that the apparent photograph is indeed a painting.  This painting should not be missed when going to the Contemporary Art galleries.

This reminded me about our class discussion on art, and what constitutes art these days.  Chuck Close is a reminder that not all contemporary art is conceptual, and that artists have incredible talent, even in the modern world.