Buried in a Distant Age

Suspicious patch of dirt upon a green field
What buried mystery might some digging yield?

The music, art, and fashions of bygone days fascinate me, inspiring me to imagine how life might have been in the years, decades, and centuries before my birth. This antique allure also lies at the root of my love for history. So, it is with great enthusiasm that I seek out information on these times past, from the actions of the great leaders of the age to the quotidian lifestyles of the average person.

This process of learning is like solving a mystery, like digging up buried treasure. It brings me stories and images, which, in turn, drive me to continue to seek inspiration among the hidden cultural gems of the past. Yeah, love for knowledge is a thirst that can never be quenched, an itch that can never be scratched. Yet, it is rarely painful, always beckoning and inviting, leaving gifts of insight with each step taken.

Which leads me to today's topic, the birth date of Al Bowlly. By coincidence, I was asked today about the popular music of the 1930s and his songs came straight into my mind. Although relatively obscure now, as are most crooners of the "sweet" style, Bowlly was quite popular in his day. So iconic was his voice that his music is occasionally used to evoke a nostalgic sense of the era, such as in movies like The Shining.

Photograph from The Shining (Overlook Hotel, July 4th Ball, 1921)
On view as part of LACMA's Stanley Kubrick exhibition

Well, let's dig through the years and excavate some fine music from the obscurity of days gone by. It's not forgotten now.

Dancing Ganesh

 Dancing Ganesh, the Lord of Obstacles

Bangladesh, Dinajpur District

11th-12th century

Los Angeles Museum of Art



Starting off my year-long photography project, I figured it would be auspicious to showcase Ganesh, the Lord of Obstacles. I have two reasons for this. First, it stays to the theme set last time, when I featured a few photos of Shiva Nataraja for the New Year, thereby establishing a Hindu spin to the calendar change. Second, since I'm trying to get this blog back into steady production and high quality, it seems only appropriate to honor a being who legend claims can remove difficulties from my path or, alternatively, set obstacles before me that will help me grow as a thinker and writer.

Moreover, although I did not intend for this to be an “Art” blog, featuring artworks has been an essential part of Paideia since I began, nearly two years ago. So, it seems fitting that the first of 365 photo posts features a lovely work from my local museum. Yeah, we'll see plenty of the normal fare, landscapes and still life, scenes from my daily travels.

But, for today, we have Ganesh. And you can't beat a dancing elephant for an interesting way to start a project. ;-)

Splendid and Simple

Detail from Portrait of a Lady in Turkish Fancy Dress (1790) by Jean-Baptiste Greuze


It's been a long while since last we celebrated the birth date of an "old master" type of painter. So, let's take a brief opportunity to appreciate the works of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. He's not the most famous of ancien regime painters, but I like his work nearly just as much as his more famous contemporaries.

And, of course, I'm loco for rococo. ;-)

Rather than focusing on his more popular works, I've posted up some works from the local Los Angeles collections.

Detail from The Laundress (1761) by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

He was born on August 21, 1725. Let's appreciate the conjunction of splendor and "simplicity" within Greuze's aesthetic vision.

Late Afternoon with a Levitated Mass

Levitated Mass (2012) by Micheal Heizer, on display at LACMA

I finally got around to seeing Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass at LACMA. I'm still processing the experience, formulating my thoughts, but my feelings towards the work are generally favorable.

I really liked seeing it in the late afternoon. With the golden light and the long shadows, the walkway trench had a liminal quality. The giant stone marked a transitional point between shadow and light; there was something vaguely cairn-like about it.

Anyways, my opinion is still in flux. I think that I'll need to check it out again to see how the experience holds up. But I figured that I would share a photo with you tonight. ;-)

Enjoy!!!

Sights to Delight

Sculpture of a Feathered Serpent from the Mayan civilization at Chichen Itza, AD 850-1100, on view in LACMA's "Children of the Plumed Serpent" exhibit.

I have been fortunate over the past few weeks in being able to visit various art venues, museums and galleries. Although I plan on writing about a few of them individually, I figured that sharing a few images would make for a fun post.

So, I have recently gone viewing in four of the city's cultural centers: the Miracle Mile, Culver City, Bergamot Station, and Long Beach. It's been a great start to the Summer.

Midnight Ride (2006) by Deborah Kupinsky, on view at the Long Beach Museum of Art


Lots on interesting works on display. I'm especially happy to have visited some venues down in Long Beach, an area that I enjoy but rarely visit.

Dancing and Singing for the Muse

SZC Project performs a dance across the LACMA campus as part of the Muse Artwalk events

My friends sometimes ask me, if I have the normal member's free admission to LACMA's galleries, why would I attend the bustle and crowd of the annual Muse Artwalk? The answer is obvious: the performances. Certainly, I can visit the museum whenever I wish. Likewise, I'm no stranger to the Miracle Mile art galleries. But it is a rarity that I can view some engaging modern dance performances.

Moreover, the manner in which the choreography incorporates the unique features of the site absolutely cannot be replicated anywhere else. This makes for a "one time only" experience, an aesthetic moment that is transitory, constrained in time and space. For me, this limitation makes it a precious and much coveted art event.

Yeah, sometimes the throng of visitors might get annoying, especially if they have some rambunctious children with them. However, for the uncommon taste of performance art and dance, I will happily tolerate an occasional screaming babe. ;-)

Invertigo Dance performing in front of Chris Burden's Urban Light (2008)


Now, the hazy and humid heat might present another problem, but, if the performers can endure it, then I can do so as well. After all, it's not me jumping around, kicking and twisting and writhing, upon the hot concrete of the BP Grand Entrance. And that's a very good thing. :-P

A dancer from kDub Dance, constrained within the boundaries delineated by colored tape.


The performances were well worth the effort. I especially enjoyed SZC Project's performance upon the exterior stairway of the Broad Contemporary, but each dance brought something new and engaging. They really inspired me to make more of an effort to attend dance events. Every year, the Artwalk inspires me, but I rarely follow through. This time, I intend to hit at least three shows before next year's event.

Something Else to Throw

No Title: Blue Plastic Plates (1999) by Robert Therrien

Recently, I've fallen significantly behind my "one post per day" schedule.

I really think that I can do better. Last year, I would occasionally get close to a two per day rate of posting. I think my "blogging batteries" have been recharging; I'm ready to pick up the pace again.

But, for tonight, I'm reaching. ;-)

Dreaming as the Days Go By

The Chess Queens (1944) by Muriel Streeter


I recently visited LACMA's exhibit "In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States" which was an eye-opening experience. I found it so profound for two reasons. First, the works on display were exceptionally strong, powerful expressions of surrealist aesthetics.

Second, there were many "forgotten masterpieces" on display, works that should have greater prominence and fame; I'm reasonably learned in art history, but there were many awesome pieces that were unfamiliar to me. I can't help but feel that these artists have been neglected by art historians because of gender bias. The fact that some of them were from Latin America or lived there put a double whammy on them, making them beneath the notice of the male-centric Euro-centric art cognoscenti.

So, kudos to LACMA and the Museo de Arte Moderno for putting this show together. It's about time that these treasures got the appreciation that they deserve.

Detail of Celestial Pablum (1958) by Remedios Varo


Although I found the actual layout to be confusing, the exhibit was segmented along a variety of themes that pervade the works of these artists. From the use of games and chance in composing works to the conceptualization of the Self, the exhibit examined topics both philosophical and technical. Yet, it always presented the subject in a coherent and accessible manner, never drifting off into deep Art Theory or Formal Techniques territories.

Who Cares About a Big Rock?

Site of Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass project, still under construction at LACMA

When Domenico Fontana moved the Vatican Obelisk to St. Peter's Square in 1586, it was considered a technological marvel of the era, the replication of an engineering feat that had not been accomplished since Antiquity. Even centuries later, when Cleopatra's Needle was relocated to London in 1878, moving such monumental stones was still considered an impressive feat, worthy of attention, praise, and great expense.

Today, naysayers shout down any enthusiasm for such projects. The engineering and transportation difficulties are deemed unimpressive. The expense is considered frivolous, even when drawn from private funds. The artistry is mocked and the concept dismissed. When enthusiasm is expressed, the critics say it is but empty hype.

Well, I don't know if I'll end up liking Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass, but the concept is intriguing. The history of art is punctuated with megaliths, obelisks, and grand monuments. I see this work as being a part of that historic continuum, another contribution to this ancient genre of creativity.

Detail of the Moving of the Vatican Obelisk (1586) by Domenico Fontana

I reserve judgment of the work until I see the finished product, but I believe the concept is valid. But is it worth the expense and energy and enthusiasm? These are judgments that can only be made after seeing the end results. History has shown that these monumental projects become the focus of pride and articulate the contemporary zeitgeist down to future generations.

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt and the engineers of Renaissance Italy are long gone, but their monumental legacies endure. Is our civilization too small, too feeble, too self-loathing to even attempt such tasks? Perhaps, we find it crass to posture and proclaim, like Ozymandias, "Look on my works, Ye Mighty, and despair!"

Pacific Standard Time: Update #7

Pacific Standard Time Logo

It's been over a month since my last update, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been chasing down PST events. ;-)

We're halfway through the event's run, with many shows closing, but new exhibits opening. I went to give a farewell view to some of my favorite shows, such as the Hammer's Now Dig This! exhibition on LA's African-American art scene. As I was giving a final viewing to some of these artworks, melancholy came over me. So many of these works are hidden away in museum vaults or in private collections, I don't know if or when I'll be able to see them again.

For example, Ed Kienholz's Five Car Stud was created about 40 years ago, but has hardly ever been on view. What are the chances that I'll get to see it again? Likewise, all the lesser known minority artists rarely get shown. I know that one of the purposes behind the PST event is to alter the situation, to reveal the hidden treasures of the early LA art scene, but changing the established bias in the understanding of modern American art is a long-term project.

Although a strong counter-narrative is being proposed, such a fixed "history" is hard to shake, especially as many East Coast experts have so much invested in the current narrative.

Detail of Booster (1967) by Robert Rauschenberg

In any case, it's been fun and enlightening. I finally got to see the show at the Getty, which was awesome! I even got to attend a short talk on George Herms' assemblage piece, The Librarian. At another visit to the Norton Simon Museum, I attended a "spotlight" talk on John Baldessari's Fallen Easel. Likewise, the Hammer featured Maren Hassinger's River. I definitely appreciate these focus talks, brief though they may be, which enable me to benefit from the expertise of the curatorial staff in developing a deeper appreciation of the works under review.

Banality & Kitsch

Italian Woman (1986) by Jeff Koons


Let's wish Jeff Koons a Happy 57th Birthday.

I've put up a few posts over the last year featuring his work. That's not because he's really a favorite of mine, but, rather, because LACMA has an awesome selection of his works. Seriously, as an avid enthusiast of Los Angeles museums, how could I not share with my readers the entertaining works on display in town? After all, somebody Googles up "Balloon Dog" images every week or so. ;-)

A while back, I found Koons' work to be totally devoid of artistic value. Sure, they were entertaining with Pop reference or crass boldness, but, beyond the chuckle or moment of bemusement, there was nothing deeper than a brief sensation. His works were shallow.

St. John the Baptist (1988) by Jeff Koons

I've since changed my opinion. I still find his work to be amazingly shallow, but I think there is artistry in provoking a laugh. It takes a certain type of genius to put a pig and a penguin with St. John the Baptist. Is it kitschy? Yes. But it's also playfully creative, imaginative.

There's a talent in designing the sensational.

Twelve Hundred Toy Cars

Metropolis II by Chris Burden


You can always count of Chris Burden to come up with an interesting concept and a distinct manner in which to express it. His newest work, Metropolis II, which goes on display at LACMA on January 14, is part kinetic sculpture and part performance piece.

Essentially, it is a huge toy car track set within a toy cityscape, wherein the buildings are made of Lego pieces, wooden blocks, and assorted other play pieces. Likewise, there are toy trains that run throughout the setting. Being quite familiar with the efforts involved in designing toy environments, I totally believe reports that it took over four years to construct. It is a massive and complex effort.

There are eighteen railroads in this design. There are twelve hundred custom-built toy cars. Over the course of an hour, one hundred thousand cars make their way over the course of Metropolis II's roadways.

Metropolis II by Chris Burden with cars in motion

It is an awesome sight to behold.

Colorful Lyricism

Helen Frankenthaler's Adriatic (1968) at the Norton Simon Museum's Surface Truths exhibit


I've been feeling a bit down over the past few days, since hearing of the death of Helen Frankenthaler, one of my favorite American abstract painters. Earlier this year, I had the good fortune to view her painting, Adriatic, on numerous occasions as part of my regular visits to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. I would sit down and let my mind drift into the orange clouds of the surface, following the subtle yet precise flows of color. It was always a rich aesthetic experience.

It pains me that this woman who has brought such beauty into my life has left this world.

I went over to LACMA to view her painting, Winter Hunt, to pay my respects. I prefer Adriatic, but I haven't had time to head over to the Huntington Museum, where I think it currently on view.

Detail of Winter Hunt (1958) by Helen Frankenthaler

Although it doesn't have the tranquility of Adriatic, this painting has her characteristic color play and lyrical compositional style. There's an authentic ferocity to the image, a serene savagery.

En Plein Air

Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning (1891) by Claude Monet, Getty Museum


Yeah, I know that we've been hitting the art topics with high frequency this last weekend. There are many wonderful people to discuss today, but I couldn't ignore Claude Monet, born on this date in 1840.

My feelings about Monet are complex, but all highly positive. Perhaps, the most important way in which he has influenced the development of my own personal aesthetic base is in the "plein air" technique. The concept behind "en plein air" is to work quickly on a piece, assessing the subject's salient features, composing the aesthetic structure, and expressing the authentic experience. By practicing this method, both in pictorial and verbal styles, I feel that my skill as both an artist and a critic of art has been enhanced.

As regards Impressionism, I have a deep love for this style. Fortunately, the local museums have wonderful examples on display, even a few Monet's. It is always a thrill to visit these "old friends" that I've been admiring for over three decades. Maybe I'll finally pay that visit to the Getty that I've been planning for a few weeks now. ;-)

The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil (1881) by Claude Monet, Norton Simon Museum

In any case, let's take a moment to reflect on how amazing human beings are that we could produce an artist like Claude Monet.

The Age of Bronze

Monument to Honore de Balzac, first modelled 1897, cast in 1967 (9/12) by Auguste Rodin


Auguste Rodin was born on this day in 1840.

Los Angeles is lucky enough to house two significant collections of Rodin's sculptures: LACMA's Cantor Garden and the Norton Simon Museum. Additionally, Stanford University up in the Silicon Valley houses a superb collection that is well worth a long drive (or quick flight) and overnighting the weekend.

I'm so familiar with his works that I sometimes overlook them, passing them by without so much as a glace. The Thinker at the Norton Simon rarely receives a visit from me anymore. So, it's important to remember how awesome these works are.

The Thinker (1880, 11/12) by Auguste Rodin

Let's take a look at a few classic Rodin's and renew our appreciation for his genius.

Seven Views of Balloon Dog (Blue)

Balloon Dog (Blue) (1994-200) by Jeff Koons

In my previous post, I discussed how I selected photographs of roses so as to drive viewers to read the poem that I had selected for Friday Flowers. Among my flower posts, the Rose get the most page views. However, in the back of my mind, I thought about Balloon Dog.

People are always doing searches for Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog. In my stats, it seems to pop up a few times a week. The funny thing is that I haven't actually made a post about it, only various works of art around it. But even with just cameo appearances, it puts up numbers that none of my flower posts can match, not even roses.

So, for all you Balloon Dog image pilgrims, here are some views of Balloon Dog (Blue) on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in the Jane and Marc Nathanson Gallery on the third floor of the Broad Contemporary Building. If you're looking for Balloon Dog (Yellow), sorry but I don't live in New York City. ;-)

Balloon Dog (Blue) by Jeff Koons

It's a cool sculpture for certain.

Forms of the Future Cast in Concrete

Pacific Life Building (1972) in Newport Beach, designed by William Pereira


Last week, we looked at some paintings of the Theme Building at LAX. This brought to my mind other buildings that the architect, William Pereira, has created across the Southland.

Over the course of the last month, I've come across a few of Pereira's works. None are as awesome as the Theme Building, but they are classics of mid-century modernism, embodying a futuristic aesthetic, stretching up into the sky like science fiction ziggurats. The Pacific Life Building, which is across the street from the Orange County Museum of Art, is one of my favorites, as its inverted pyramidal form seems to defy gravity.

Of course, buildings rarely remain unaltered in Los Angeles. This is the situation with two of the structures in today's post.

Ahmanson Building at the LA County Museum of Art (1965) 


When the LACMA campus was originally designed by William Pereira, the buildings were intended to loom over a series of reflecting pools, like rising islands of art. Although decades of renovation and expansion have built over the pools, the upward, vertical sense of emergence is still perceptible in the lines of the Ahmanson Building.

Pacific Standard Time: Weekly Update #2

Pacific Standard Time Logo


When you head over to the Pacific Standard Time website to look at the exhibitions participating in this massive event, it looks like an impressive number, spanning a wide variety of topics and styles, but you don't realize its truly colossal scope and size until you actually attempt to make a comprehensive viewing, hitting gallery after gallery and museum upon museum, immersing your mind in a flood of art and craft, concept and design, creative visions speaking anew from decades past.

It's exhausting, but totally rewarding.

Having now visited ten venues, I've seen a significant percentage of the exhibitions currently on view. Although I hope to write up my PST experience in blog posts, it's not likely that I will be able to give a comprehensive report on each show that I've visited. So, if you have any questions about a specific event, feel free to ask me by leaving a comment on this post. I'll try to provide a prompt and full answer.

Here are the shows that I've attended this week:

A+D Architecture and Design Museum:

Eames Designs: The Guest-Host Relationship

Craft and Folk Art Museum

The Alchemy of June Schwarcz: Enamel Vessels from the Forrest L. Merrill Collection

Golden State of Craft: California 1960-1985

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Asco: Elite of the Obscure, A Retrospective

California Design, 1930-1965, "Living in a Modern Way"

Edward Kienholz: Five Car Stud 1969-1972, Revisited


Maria Nordman Filmroom: Smoke 1967-Present

Mural Remix: Sandra de la Loza

LA><ART

John Outterbridge: The Rag Factory

I reviewed this show in "Torn and Tattered"

Santa Monica Museum of Art

Beatrice Wood: Career Woman - Drawings, Painting, Vessels, and Objects









Enjoy!!!

(Milestone note: I have now posted at least once a day for 100 days.)

Tiger, Boar, Monkey, and Frog

Netsuke: Tiger by Matsushita Otoman


Just a quick post today. I've been meaning to write about the excellent collection of netsuke at LACMA for the past few weeks, but time slips away. And I've been writing a whole lot about LACMA over the past month, what with the Tim Burton exhibit, the Ai Weiwei Zodiac Heads, and the Jeff Koons sculptures. I kind of feel bad spamming the museum photos.

But I'm pressed for time today and the netsuke deserves some blog love. ;-)

So, here are a few of my favorites on display from the Bushell Collection at LACMA's Japanese Pavillion.

Netsuke: Wild Boar Rooting



On the Surface of an Egg Shell

Reflection on the surface of Jeff Koons' Cracked Egg (Red) at LACMA


It's a holiday weekend, which means that posting will be sparse until Tuesday. Have a great weekend!!!



The Jane and Marc Nathanson Gallery at LACMA featuring Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog and Cracked Egg (Red).

 Enjoy!!!