Posts on Art

 Many of the posts from the first year of blogging were about art -- Japanese block prints, David X, Andy Goldsworth were some common ones.  

General

"Bettina Grossman" (November 24, 2021) For much of the 1950s and ’60s, Ms. Grossman worked as an artist in Europe. But after a series of career disappointments, she isolated herself as a permanent resident at the Chelsea for a half-century, fiercely guarding both her privacy and the trove of art she had produced in her prime in New York and Europe.

"The Tiniest Change Makes the Biggest Difference" (October 18, 2021) is a New Yorker Cover Story feature on a simple cartoon by Christof Niemann of central park in fall make with very few pixels.

"A Minuteness of Observation" (September 29, 2021) is about Charles Bell, an illustrator whose focus was the specific detail of how emotion affects the body... he illustrated, with medical precision, rage and fear, etc.  I found this in Richardson's bio of Emerson.

"Captive Audience" (September 29, 2021) is the New Yorker's Cover Story feature on Tom Gauld's cartoon/image of a city skyrise with silhouette's in the windows.  Everyone is watching a man throw a ball to a dog.

"Simultaneous Situation" (September 6, 2021) is the New Yorker Cover Story feature on Tom Gauld's cartoon/image of a NYC park with though bubbles of what every person and animal wants to eat.

 "David Hockney's Joiners" (September 2, 2021) includes several of David Hockney's photo collages/montages.  But it also has some nice description of why he choose this format -- to make the photos seem more like real life (not like a paralyzed cyclops) and to invite further looking.

"Memorializing Destruction" (July 18, 2021) relates to artists' efforts at memorializing things that are gone without a trace... people, books.  (see also Maya Lin's Ghost Forest)

"Fotoclubismo" (May 29, 2021) is about this Brazilian group of amateur modernist photographers.

"Eric Carle Meets Mr. Rogers" (May 26, 2021) is just a link to a video from Mr. Rogers' show where he is instructed by Carle in his signature technique of painting tissue paper as raw materials for his illustrations.

"Tree Alphabet" (May 19, 2021)

"Hockney Pages Through a Sketchbook" (June 15, 2021) is a video where Hockney wordlessly pages through one of his 2019 sketchbooks -- everything catches his eye.

"Maya Lin's Ghost Forest" (May 17, 2021) is about Lin's exhibition of dead trees and the related website that she made that "seems like a companion piece to The Sixth Extinction."  She raises the question: "How do I make you see what is missing?"

"Copyright Fair Use" (April 7, 2021) is about how Andy Warhol reused a Prince image from a photographer.  Recently, this has been considered not fair use.  Link to interesting NYT article. 

"COVID year collage" (March 25, 2021) is about an Evanston artist who made a collage each day.

"Response to and Exploration of" (March 11, 2021) is about an art project that reflects (in art) on one topic for a number of days.  It references Nina Katchadourian's gallery show responding to a a shipwreck.

"Robert Longo Magellan Project" (March 9, 2021)  From 1995 to 1996 he worked on his Magellan project, 366 drawings (one per day) that formed an archive of the artist's life and surrounding cultural images.

"David Hockney Road Trips with Audio" (March 8, 2021)  a cool David Hockney project (maybe an "artwork,") involves making a soundtrack (mostly Wagner) that is cued to a precise driving route through foothills and mountains and timed to start to watch the sun set over the ocean from a specific place.

"All the Gifts Given to Me" (March 6, 2021) is an art exhibition/book that's a photo of every gift ever given to the artist.   The Selected Gifts” (1974-present), which is a photo installation that I made by going through my life and pulling all of the gifts given to me.

"Chris Ware's Collages" (February 23, 2021) is a small collection of artist Chris Ware's distinctive cartoony collage, starting with a NYer cover of different-sized rectangular boxes all containing different "scenes from New York" -- buildings, people, flowers. 

"Andy Goldsworthy - Walking Through Hedges" (February 9, 2021) is a longer quotation from Goldsworthy about a current project.  He talks about "walking on the path" or "walking through hedges" and The point of my art is that I learn through what I'm making.  I go to nature not to impose things upon it but to feed from it to try to understand what is going on.

"Season of Icicles" (February 8, 2021) is a couple images from Andy Goldsworthy about his icicle sculpture and my reflection on the polar vortex and seeing beautiful ice formations everywhere.  

"David Hockney's 220 Pandemic Paintings" (December 19, 2020) is about Hockney's lock-down in France and how he goes out every day to do a new painting.... 220 and counting.  It's about tracing seasons and noticing things that are right in front of you.

"Hamish Fulton" (December 15, 2020) is an artist who goes on long walks then does artworks related to the walks.... he concerned with being outside and journeying... a cousin to Andy Goldsworthy?

"Mail Art" (November 12, 2020) is about an art exhibit about this group of artists that send art in the mail/ on envelopes, or as a kind of take on subscription services (sock of the month club).  All of it pretty tongue in cheek.

"On 'Small Fish'" (October 28, 2020) is a New Yorker cartoon by Jeremy Nguyen that shows a food chain - small fish to bigger fish to 6-pack plastic to plastic bag (with a smiley face).  I note that it's a funny comment on the fish food chain, but also is about what's behind our own destruction.  Also makes me think that I'm just waiting for each bigger trouble to eat me.

"Christian Liaigre Tables" (September 23, 2020) are images of these cool solid-wood, geometric, raw wood coffee tables 

Woodblock Prints

"Hasui Kawase" (July 15, 2021) is about this artist and references Brain Pickings.

"Koson Ohara" (April 18, 2021) is about this woodblock printer.  Irises.  

"Kokai Kobayashi" (April 17, 2021) is about this woodblock printer.  

"Birds and Flowers of Four Seasons" (March 17, 2021) is about woodblock prints from Jippo Araki. 

"Seiju Omoda" (March 15, 2021) includes images from this artist.

"Hoitsu Sakai" (February 26, 2021) includes many images from this artist.