So you’re at a gallery—now what? The fact is, nobody knows what art is or why people make it. This is blatantly disturbing. Some say the function of art is to generate conversation—an unpleasant thought. I’m not sure we want to put art in the same category as skin disease and Carl Winslow: things to talk about on the internet.
This is why so many of us have a bad time at galleries: we try to make art Interesting when we should just let it be weird. Art should never be Interesting.
[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns
on May 22, 2013 -
177 comments
One hundred years ago today in 1913, an art exhibition opened in New York City that shocked the country, changed our perception of beauty and had a profound effect on artists and collectors.
The International Exhibition of Modern Art — which came to be known, simply, as the
Armory Show — marked the dawn of Modernism in America.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Feb 19, 2013 -
15 comments
Library Science is an exhibition at New Haven (Connecticut) libraries that contemplates our personal, intellectual and physical relationship to the library as this venerable institution—and the information it contains—is being radically transformed by the digital era. Some examples:
Untitled (Suburban Homes) by Erica Baum,
Hurricanes by Chris Coffin, and
Chinese Library No. 46 by Xiaoze Xie.
posted by carter
on Nov 15, 2011 -
2 comments
Cut & Paste - International exhibition of contemporary collage and assemblage is showing in Stockholm, Sweden (and also, on the interwebs). See it in person now through October 10.
posted by grapefruitmoon
on Sep 29, 2009 -
2 comments
Explore painter
Vincent Van Gogh's "nocturnal interiors and landscapes, which often combine with other longstanding themes of his art -- peasant life, sowers, wheatfields, and the encroachment of modernity on the rural scene." View "paintings, drawings, and letters from all periods of his career, as well as examples of the rich literary sources that influenced his work." Also includes audio commentary.flash.
via [more inside]
posted by hortense
on Nov 13, 2008 -
7 comments
Do Your Strip: A hopeful book and exhibition where 70 artists and illustrators invent a character, provide instructions on how to draw it, then create the first comic adventure. Exhibit-goers would then create additional stories with their favorite characters. All the characters, instructions, and first strips can be seen
here [pdf].
[more inside]
posted by artifarce
on Jun 4, 2008 -
5 comments
The Aphrodite Project :
both an homage to Aphrodite and her prostitute-priestesses as well as a practical tool for the contemporary sex worker. Or, GPS platform shoes for street hos. Check the demo.
posted by Burhanistan
on Aug 18, 2007 -
23 comments
The sketchbooks of
Edward Burne-Jones,
Benjamin Champney,
Henri-Edmond Cross,
Jacques-Louis David,
Paul Feeley,
Jean-Honoré Fragonard,
Sanford Gifford,
George Grosz,
Frederic Leighton, and
John Singer Sargent.
UnderCover, Artists' Sketchbooks exhibition by the
Harvard Art museums [via woolgathering]
posted by bigmusic
on Aug 14, 2006 -
9 comments
The next Turner Prize winners? Art Craziest Nation is a mini-gallery of (in)famous pieces by modern artists, accurately reproduced with Lego by a duo called The Little Artists (John Cake and Darren Neave). The exhibition is at the Walker Art Gallery in
Liverpool until next January. See the Lego version of Damien Hirst's
Shark Tank, Tracey Emin's
Bed, Jeff Koons'
Balls, Andy Warhol's
Money, Salvador Dali's
Lobster Telephone, and
many others. It's all in one single piece, with some of the artists themselves in Lego version - and others whose work is not exhibited, like
Matthew Barney and
Gilbert & George - hanging around sipping their Lego wine (ok, air) from Lego cups (or even
throwing it at the Lego person standing next to them). Liverpool Football Club star
Gerrard also featured in a tribute to the team's victory of this year's European Cup.
posted by funambulist
on Sep 13, 2005 -
10 comments
Black ships and samurai In 1853 four ships under Commodore Perry anchored off the coast of Japan against the wishes of the Japanese. According to historian John Dower, "This initial encounter between the United States and Japan was eye-opening for all concerned, involving a dramatic confrontation between peoples of different racial, cultural, and historical backgrounds. We can literally see this encounter of "East" and "West" unfold through the splendid, yet little known, artwork produced by each side at the time." This beautiful exhibition includes many examples of this artwork, juxtaposing scenes of the encounter from Japanese and American artists' points of view. (Part of MIT's open courseware initiative.)
posted by carter
on Mar 14, 2004 -
18 comments
Johannes Matthaeus Koelz: A Life Divided. An artist who escaped to England from Nazi Germany. From the
exhibition :-
'Koelz, a painter, was living in a small cottage in the Bavarian forest estate of Hohenbrunn. One morning he travelled to nearby Munich on a routine visit to police headquarters to renew his exit visa for a planned trip to Italy.'
'At some point during the following night Koelz instructed a young man from the local woodmill to take his major work - a triptych which had occupied him since the early 1930s and cut it into pieces. He left Hohenbrunn at dawn, arranging for his family to follow ... It was the first stop on a journey that would take them to England. '
'Meanwhile the state police had raided their home and interrogated family members left behind. They were searching for the painter and his triptych, a massive anti-war painting which not only questioned the horrors of war but also the rising power of the Nationalist Socialist Party and by implication, its leader, Adolf Hitler.'
'Thou Shalt Not Kill', Koelz's tryptych.
Timeline
and artworks.
posted by plep
on Dec 12, 2003 -
6 comments
Earth from the Air is a free, open-air exhibition in the gardens of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London. It is a spectacular presentation of large-scale photographs of astonishing natural landscapes. Created by world-famous photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, also refer to the
previous discussion of his work. Every stunning aerial photograph tells a story about our changing planet. Seen together, they are an outstanding visual testimony to the world we live in today. A world with a growing population, shrinking biodiversity, polluted lands and oceans, a changing climate and a shortage of drinking water. A world, nevertheless, of beauty and of wonder. Also in a pioneering project Yann Arthus-Bertrand's unique aerial view of the world can now be seen by
blind and partially sighted visitors.
posted by riffola
on Aug 27, 2003 -
7 comments
The Index of American Design The National Gallery of Art is showing some amazing watercolors commissioned by the Works Progress Administration between 1935 and 1942 to document a uniquely American cultural heritage of primarily traditional folk art (and employ out-of-work artists). I thought the
textile reproductions were particularly stunning in their detailed exactitude (rendering the thread count!) and really put to shame the so-called
trompe l'oeil paintings in the east gallery :D
posted by kliuless
on Dec 4, 2002 -
2 comments
Tales from the Land of Dragons. 100 years of Chinese paintings. From the
overview :- 'In China, painting is one of the "Three Perfections," linked with calligraphy and poetry as the most refined of artistic endeavors. This exhibition ... focuses on the years in which the great traditions of Chinese painting were established, during the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties ... '
posted by plep
on Nov 3, 2002 -
10 comments
Ansel Adams at 100 -- If you liked my
Coltrane link of a few weeks ago, and you are into visual stuff as well, this San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibit site is a real gem. I particularly like the "where to stand, what to keep" "essay" that you get when you click on the "Frozen Lake and Cliffs" image.
posted by fpatrick
on Nov 13, 2001 -
7 comments
