Art and Photography Blog

I Like Jasper Johns

I have always been a fan of Jasper Johns. Now there is a show at the Met that I want to see. “Jasper Johns: Gray” runs through May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; (212) 535-7710.  The NYT ran two interesting stories around this show, Jasper Johns Shows His True Color by Roberta Smith, and The Gray Areas of Jasper Johns by Carol Vogel.

The first one said that, “a half century ago his deadpan paintings of flags and targets helped derail second- and third-generation Abstract Expressionism and changed the way we think about art.” I am old enough to remember this and see his work when it was relatively fresh. I liked it more for its style and playfulness, than the message. He said once, “I started drawing when I was 3, and I’ve never stopped.” I also stated when I was three but stopped for thirty years and only started up again two years ago. I guess I should have stuck with it. My first only published drawing occurred when I was 5 and it appeared in Highlights for Children.  The article goes on to review the show

The second article is more personal and talks a bit about his Caribbean house. See what you get if you keep at drawing and you are good.  He does not put uch of his own work there because of the weather. The article mentions that, “in 1988 his painting “False Start” (1959) brought $17 million at an auction at Sotheby’s. In 2006 the Hollywood mogul David Geffen sold “False Start” to the Chicago hedge-fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin for $80 million…False Start” thus holds the title of most expensive painting by a living artist and is a star in the Met’s show.”  I wonder how much of that he got? I guess enough from these works for his house.   However, Jasper adds, “Artists today know more. They are aware of the market more than they once were. There seems to be something in the air that art is commerce itself…I haven’t really been a part of it, although I’m sure in some way I am. It just doesn’t interest me.”  When you are this original and good you can stand above the market, and in fact, make your own market.

Alpinist Film Festival 2008

If you like film and the outdoors here is a great event In 2006 I attended the Alpinist Film Festival in jackson Wyoming. Alpinist is a quarterly publication with great photos devoted to serious mountain climbing. The office is in Jackson, Wyoming. My daughter is the senior editor and I was lucky to visit her on the festival nights. In 2006 we went to the climbing night. There was one film about a trip with Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and friends in the 60s. They drive to the tip of South America to climb Fitz Roy, a very difficult stone tower. Along the way they surfed and skied. It reminded me of the Endless Summer meets Motorcycle Diaries with an emphasis on the former. The most gripping film was Odwurt (retreat in Polish) about a climb out by one man to find rescuers for his injured partner. It was shot in grainy black and white and was intense. I highly recommend going this year.

This year they again focus on snow, surf, and stone, January 17-20. If you go here is a review of Cowboy Dance Bars in Jackson, Wyoming and an Update on Jackson, Wyoming Restaurants. We especially liked the Old Yellowstone Garage.

There is a Jackson Hole Blog that provides daily reporting on conditions, events, and happenings in Jackson. It is sponsored by Jackson Hole central Reservations. The Planet Jackson events site and newspaper also has a Planet Jackson blog.

Photographic Innovation from Central Europe 1918-1945

Between the two world wars, there was a brief flowering of independence in the parts of central Europe not controlled by the Nazis or the Communists Then things got real bad for a long time. The time and place provided us with some of the most innovative photography of the last century according to the organizers of Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945,” at the Guggenheim Museum.  I have always liked Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s work and I hope I can get to New York to see this exhibit before it closes on Jan. 13, 2008. It includes works for many others, less well known. There is an enticing description in the New York Times, Views of Tumult Between Two Wars. It included a slide show of ten images from the exhibit.

There is a sad edge to the show as “many of the images mesmerize as the tips of exotic icebergs — surviving evidence of talent, bodies of work and life stories that may never be fully known.” Watching the recent Ken Burn’s series of World War Two gives another layer of context to the work.

Eliza Stamps has New Work and Upcoming Exhibits

I have written about Eliza Stamps work on this blog before, Eliza Stamps - Abstract and Conceptual Work through Lines. She really pushed the drawing a textile media in new directions that are quite pleasing. There is now new work on her site. I especially liked her drawing “ceaseless” for the playful nature and strong sense of movement. It reminded me a bit of the post-WW1 Russian graphics that have a playful spin on industrial themes but there is more movement in Eliza’s work.

She also has some new shows: “Intertwine” at Sam Quinn Gallery in Philadelphia in February 2008 and “Serial Mediations” at NurtureArt in Brooklyn in March 2008. I encourage you to go see her work in person.

Drawing and Painting - Monet

There was a great exhibit at the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA, The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. I was unable to get there but I did order the catalog. As the museum site writes, “This book is the first to focus on Monet’s pastels, drawings, and sketchbooks, offering a revolutionary new interpretation of the artist’s life and work. 

Monet has long been seen as an anti-draftsman, an artist who painted his subjects directly and whose rarely seen graphic works were marginal to his artistic process. In an effort to develop his public image, Monet denied the role of drawing in his working method. In actuality, Monet began his career as a caricaturist and as a teenager developed a passion for drawing that was never extinguished. He went on to master the medium of pastel and included seven in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.” 


The book arrived and it is wonderful. Written by  By James A. Ganz and Richard Kendall, the book is full of illustrations and explores the relationship of his drawing and painting. You can even see sketches of his haystacks. There is work about Honfleur, a place in Normandy I recently visited and put photos elsewhere on this blog. I highly recommend this book.

This is something I have been exploring. Here is a comparison of a drawing and a subsequent painting completed a bit afterwards.   

Sketched at Sea - Peabody Essex Museum

Here is a nice little show than runs through January 6, 2008 at the Peabody Essex Museum. In the days before photography many more people took sketch books on trips. This show provides books from artists, navigators, and travelers. As the site says: "Sketched at Sea features never before seen works from the Peabody Essex Museum’s maritime collection—a selection of more than 60 marine sketchbooks, drawings, paintings, and other works from the mid-18th to early-20th centuries. While the men and women who created these works came from a variety of backgrounds—travelers, mariners, and professional artists—they all shared in the experience of using the sea as a source of inspiration."   I have a watercolor of the harbor at Acapulco, Mexico done in the 18th century by a British naval artist done in this tradition. It was part of navy intelligence of foreign harbors. Here is an example from the exhibit by Ross Turner. It made me want to do more sketching on trips instead of simply taking photos.

North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival

Here is an interesting local event for New Englanders, The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival. There is music, too. It is next weekend, Spet. 15 - 16. I might see you there.

Il Lee: Ballpoint Drawings

Here is someone who is pushing a common medium to its limits. Il Lee: Ballpoint Drawings is on exhibitt at the Queens Museum of Art until September 30. The museum site writes, "Il Lee (b. 1952), a Korean-born artist living and working in Brooklyn since 1977. Using disposable ballpoint pens, Lee creates dramatic ink fields on surfaces of canvas and paper. For this exhibition, he will present a selection of large format blue and black ink drawings, including early experimental studies and an impressive fifty-foot installation—his largest work to date. Among other recent and historical artistic influences, Lee is largely inspired by Minimalism and the Asian practice of Sumukhwa (ink and wash painting). By combining an inclination toward austerely controlled forms with the distinctive fluidity of ink, he melds Eastern and Western cultural aesthetics into abstractions that are contemporary, yet firmly rooted in tradition."

There is a nice review in the New Yorik Times, To See the World in Ballpoint Pen. I hope to get down to see it. I have been experimenting in ink drainwgs but focusing on realism so far.

Cambridge Art Association Summer Sale

The Cambridge Art Association is holding its annual Summer Sale with all works $300 or less. It runs July 13 through September 4 at the University Place Gallery in the lobby of University Place, 124 Mt. Auburn St. Cambridge MA 02138 hours: Monday through Friday 9am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. I have four works in this show. They are the painting, Still Life with Apples, and three drawings, Mr. Dog (Bela), Morning (the drawing of the bed on the right side), and Sunday Morning (the drawing of the couch on the right). I have seen the show and there are some great values for the money with the $300 price limit.

Cambridge Art Association New Member’s Show

The Cambridge Art Association is holding a New Member’s Show at the Kathryn Schultz Gallery, July 13-28, 2007. The gallery is located at 25 Lowell St. Cambridge MA. hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 5PM, tel: 617.876.0246. I have a painting in the show, Still Life of Potatoes and Onions. I have seen the other works and recommend it.