Saturday, May 8, 2010

Observations from the Gallery 5.8

Yesterday Chloe and I had a chance to attend a show at the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea. The show, ‘Claude Monet: Late Work’, is a stunning display of 27 Monets dating from 1904 till 1922. A few I had seen before but most I had not including several of his ‘Water Lilly’ paintings that I had never seen and instantly fell in love with. Monet painted over 200 of his 'Nympheas' in the later years of his life. Ill be lucky if i paint 200 of anything in my whole life! So if anybody happens to be in the area it’s worth a look. Maybe while you are there you could order me a copy of the show book, please? Save it for my birthday if you must.

"The instantaneity of Monet, far from being passive, requires an unusual power of generalization, of abstraction… Monet declares: here is nature, not as you or I habitually see it, but as you are able to see it, not in this or that particular effect but in others like it. The vision I propose to you is superior; my painting will change your reality." Michel Butor, 1962, from the show press release.

Last night also marked the opening of the new Richard Galpin installation, ‘Viewing Station’, at High Line Park. So i guess I am going to have to get up the High Line sometime too. This would be an awesome time of year to take some pics there.

'A new interactive public art exhibit that offers abstracted views of buildings and streetscapes adjacent to the High Line. Viewing Station invites park visitors to peek into a view finder that aligns with a screen cut with geometric shapes. The resulting view emphasizes neighboring buildings' texture and color.’ from the High Line blog.

And finally, just hours after the Times Square bomb scare, firefighters and the NYPD bomb squad rushed to a storefront on Broadway after getting calls from people who thought they saw a bomb inside the window. What they found was an art display that included a fog machine, a fake time bomb and vials of liquid, turned out to be perfume, that looked like pipe bombs. The piece was created by artist Lisa Kirk, and the perfume is called 'Revolution,' which is meant to smell like smoke, gasoline, tear gas, and burnt rubber. Yummy, I can't wait to get some of that and go out dancing.

Think people, Think!

tuneage, Green Day - Last Of The American Girls

2 comments:

  1. I love Monet's work. I have seen at least a dozen of his paintings in galleries across the country. His ability to abstract light the way he did is still amazing to me. As an art student for, ehem.... 7 years I studied a lot of different styles. But to this day I still adore his work as new and freshly as I did the first time I saw it.

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  2. I know I know. early on he used mostly dark colors but later moved to lighter shades and pastels. those 'Nympheas' paintings were just stunning. i never really looked hard at his work, i seem to be drawn to van gogh, but i might have to go back.

    as for 7 years of study, well, i feel your pain

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