Menil Visit.

This was the first time I have ever been to an art museum, very interesting.  I liked it alot, but some of the art work made me realize you can just paint a large canvas one solid color and have one black strip going down the middle, and an art museum will pay you a large sum of money.  Awesome!

 Ancient Figure:

Jug

Greece, Cycladic Islands

Early Cycladic II, 2700-2200 B.C.

Terracotta

Vija Celmins painting:

Vija Celmins

T.V., 1964

Oil on canvas

Non Representational Painting:

Barnet Newman

Now II, 1967

Acrylic on canvas

Art from Southern California:

Lary Bell

Untitled, Ca. 1966

Coated glass and silver plated brass.

Traditional African Mask:

Mali, bamana, and Maninka

Cow Mask (Misikun) 20 century.

Wood

Artwork by Max Ernst:

Max Ernst

Oiseau (Bird), Ca. 1925

Oil on cavas



Writing Assignment:

A. Which was your favorite of the things you saw? Why? Does it use repetition/rhythm? If so what formal elemnts are being repeated?

One of my favorite things I saw during my walk through of the Menil was a surrealism painting done by Yves Tanguy, called Le Ciel Traque (The Hunted Sky).  The color choice and the metallic 3D look grabbed my attention.  Even though the colors were gloomy, it seemed to glow.  It was a very modern painting.  Tanguy used repetition/rhythm throughout this painting by repeating the color, shapes, and textures.

B. What peice in the museum is the most like something you might make yourself, or would like to make?

If I wasn’t going to become a photographer, then I would like to create art like Rene Margritte.  The surrealism paintings drew my attention, and her art looked like something I would create if I could paint.    

C. Get a copy of the handout that goes with the temporary exhibition "Kissed by Angels: A Selection of work from Southern California."  Read the essay about LA's "Cool School."  Choose a work in the show that is not described in the essay, and tell how you think it fits or doesn't fit into the show's theme.  Be sure to include the piece's title, artist and date, and to support your ideas with specific descriptions of works in the show.

The essay about LA’s “Cool School” says that the artists in California are trying to create a different look than what California is perceived to be.  When people think of California they think of Disney Land or Hollywood, and the artists are trying to get away from this.  With their art they are creating a cooler look, less analytical, more subtle, and economical.  In the exhibition “Kissed by Angels,” there was a painting called Aloha Draculas, by Billy Al Bengston 1980.  This painting I think doesn’t fit in with the rest of the art work in the exhibition.  He uses bright reds, yellows, and oranges to paint a sunset.  The rest of the art in there dealt with cool colors and revealed a sense of calm.  

D. Vija Celmins was also working in Los Angeles in the 60's.  Her show is titled "Television and Disaster," and has a markedly different feel from the work in "Kissed By Angels." Get the handout and read the essay that goes with her show.  Compare the two shows: what concerns do these LA artists have in common? Where do they difffer?

  Vija Celmins and the artists in “Kissed By Angles” are similar because they both are trying to use their art to move away from something.  In “Kissed By Angles” the artists are trying to move away from the typical California persona. While Vija Celmins is trying to move away from the diaristic subjectivity and juicy emotive content that had defined the action painting of the New York School.   They are very different also, Vija Celmins depicts real objects, where as the artists in “Kissed By Angles” create more abstract art.