Tuesday, December 9, 2008
New York Study Tour End
I really enjoyed the New York Study Tour, it was amazing! Previously not knowing that much about art, the tour has opened my eyes to the art world, of which I am grateful for, because now I have an appreciation for art and the knowledge and effort that goes into creating such amazing pieces. The tour also gave me the chance to see and experience New York City of which I have always wanted to do and finally had the chance. Our lecturer, Mark Pennings had a wealth of knowledge to share about the art and the city, which came in handy. I met so many amazing new people, of which I am sure I will keep in contact for time to come. This puts an end to the Study Tour and my trip to the city that never sleeps, an experience I’ll never forget.
Friday 5/12/08
We had a free morning, which we used to catch up on sleep, use the Internet to email family and friends back home and have a late breakfast/lunch. Just after lunch we met at the Hostel, to all catch the subway to Harlem together, as none of us had been there before. When we got there, we went to The Studio Museum in Harlem, one of the few museums purely dedicated to Afro-American artistic practice. The exhibitions currently on were the Birth of the Cool by Barkley L. Hendricks; VideoStudio, an ongoing series of video and time-based art; Collection in Context: Four Decades; and Project Space by Shinique Smith. Hendricks' work was a collection of portraits and landscapes; with the life size portraits blending realism and postmodern elements. My favourite pieces in this exhibition were two paintings called Vertical Hold and Dippy’s Delight, which were basketball related paintings about one of Hendricks favourite pastimes, playing basketball. I also play and coach basketball so had a connection to these pieces, which to describe in the basic geometric form were a circle, square and rectangle. It was through the cultural lens of basketball, that Hendricks looks at colour and geometry through abstraction and minimalism. I also really liked the VideoStudio, which showed short films about 3-4 minutes in length by various artists. In Shinique Smith’s Project Space, I really enjoyed the piece Like it Like That, which was a depiction of an urban street scene created with paper images overlapping graffiti painted on the wall. It was similar to a lot of street art we had seen, but obviously more in depth, with layers of expression which were mesmerising to look at. The museum was only small so it didn’t take too long to get to see everything. This was a positive in that we didn’t miss anything, unlike some of the other museums visited.
After the visit to Harlem we went back to the Hostel to get ready to go out for our end of tour dinner at Arturo’s Restaurant Pizzeria. It was a really nice Italian restaurant and the meals were so big and tasted amazing. We had heaps of fun discussing the tour, what we liked and disliked and the good and bad experiences we had all had. It was really good to just sit back and enjoy a great meal chatting about our experience and a chance to get some last minute group photos.
After the visit to Harlem we went back to the Hostel to get ready to go out for our end of tour dinner at Arturo’s Restaurant Pizzeria. It was a really nice Italian restaurant and the meals were so big and tasted amazing. We had heaps of fun discussing the tour, what we liked and disliked and the good and bad experiences we had all had. It was really good to just sit back and enjoy a great meal chatting about our experience and a chance to get some last minute group photos.
Thursday 4/12/08
We caught the subway all the way to Brooklyn to go to the Brooklyn Museum. There were lots of different exhibitions on different floors while we were there. I really liked The Black List Project by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell. Comprised of photographs, documentary film and a companion book, it displayed famous and successful African Americans like Chris Rock, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Serena Williams. Gilbert and George had an exhibition which was very interesting and different from anything I have seen yet on the tour. My favourite in their collection was probably Balls or The Evening Before The Morning After. Another exhibition was Burning Down the House, building a feminist art collection which had over 50 years of collections of works by artists that have risen above narrow roles imposed on women or challenged the status quo, fighting for equality and justice for all. Out of this exhibition, my favourite piece was by Edwina Sandys called Marriage Bed, which was a full size bed half covered in roses and the other half covered in nails depicting both the good and bad of married life. The Brooklyn Museum also had a contemporary art collection. My favourite collection was the Kehinde Wiley paintings, in particular Go, which was on the ceiling. We had to rush a little bit through the contemporary art section as we were running out of time, so I didn’t get a real good look at all the pieces of work, but all in all an enjoyable experience at the Brooklyn Museum.
After a quick lunch we jumped on the subway and headed uptown to go to the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Whitney consisted of five floors each with different exhibitions which were all very interesting. On the first floor Corin Hewitt’s Seed Stage exhibition was on display, which was only small but quite fascinating. Hewitt had photographs and an installation using organic and inorganic materials. I guess no one ever told him not to play with his food! On the second floor there were two exhibitions, the first called Progress which bought together works from the Whitney’s permanent collection. My favourite pieces in this were the works by Naum Gabo called Linear Construction in Space and Number 4; and also Nicholas Nixon’s Brown Sisters which consisted on four photographs of the same sisters aging over time. The third floor had William Eggleston’s collection Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008. On this floor we had a group discussion about the works, talking about how the photographs use American vernacular to appeal to the American culture, creating monumental everyday snapshots that are aesthetically pleasing. Level four was probably my favourite, with Alexander Calder’s The Paris Years, which displayed his wire drawings and sculptures/mobiles. They were amazing works of art where you could clearly see the precision in each piece, displaying different shapes and balance between objects all working together to create movement. My favourite piece was Calder’s Circus, which had numerous parts to it, each depicting scenes seen at the circus. The fifth floor was The Whitney Collection and Signs of the Time, which were also really interesting. My favourite pieces on this level were Jasper Johns’ Three Flags, Burgoyne Diller’s Third Theme, and Sol LeWitt’s Scribbles. I really enjoyed going to the Whitney and after an extremely long day headed home on the subway for an early night.
After a quick lunch we jumped on the subway and headed uptown to go to the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Whitney consisted of five floors each with different exhibitions which were all very interesting. On the first floor Corin Hewitt’s Seed Stage exhibition was on display, which was only small but quite fascinating. Hewitt had photographs and an installation using organic and inorganic materials. I guess no one ever told him not to play with his food! On the second floor there were two exhibitions, the first called Progress which bought together works from the Whitney’s permanent collection. My favourite pieces in this were the works by Naum Gabo called Linear Construction in Space and Number 4; and also Nicholas Nixon’s Brown Sisters which consisted on four photographs of the same sisters aging over time. The third floor had William Eggleston’s collection Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008. On this floor we had a group discussion about the works, talking about how the photographs use American vernacular to appeal to the American culture, creating monumental everyday snapshots that are aesthetically pleasing. Level four was probably my favourite, with Alexander Calder’s The Paris Years, which displayed his wire drawings and sculptures/mobiles. They were amazing works of art where you could clearly see the precision in each piece, displaying different shapes and balance between objects all working together to create movement. My favourite piece was Calder’s Circus, which had numerous parts to it, each depicting scenes seen at the circus. The fifth floor was The Whitney Collection and Signs of the Time, which were also really interesting. My favourite pieces on this level were Jasper Johns’ Three Flags, Burgoyne Diller’s Third Theme, and Sol LeWitt’s Scribbles. I really enjoyed going to the Whitney and after an extremely long day headed home on the subway for an early night.
Wednesday 3/12/08
We met as a class to explore galleries in the Lower East Side. Some of the galleries seen were Feature Incorporated, DCKT Contemporary, Lehmann Maupin, Miguel Abreu Gallery, Canada and Participant Inc. I liked Joe Bradley’s Schmagoo Paintings which were at the Canada Gallery. They were drawings on white canvas, where Bradley used his own version of children’s art, like stick figures and simplistic doodling. I found them simple to look at and take in, but complicated to try to work out the meanings of the pieces, of which I could guess/gather were about power or religion. The DCKT Contemporary gallery had an exhibition by Timothy Tompkins, which had paintings where the visual had been distorted in photo-shop then painted in layers of which were distinguishable. I found these pieces unusual and different and can’t really make up my mind on whether I liked them or not. Another gallery I liked was Lehmann Maupin with artist Mr.’s exhibition Nobody Dies, which included photos and a video installation about male fetishes like cuteness and power mixed with violence. Mr. uses teenage Japanese girls in his photographs and video, as the subjects who participate in war-like survival games. It was really bizarre but interesting seeing the way he portrays the girls with a sense of power but still vulnerable by their age.
After lunch we went to the New Museum of Contemporary Art which had two exhibitions Live Forever by Elizabeth Peyton and To Be Someone by Mary Heilmann. I really enjoyed the Elizabeth Peyton exhibition, the paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints were amazing. All her art pieces were portraits of historical figures, artistic contemporaries, self portraits and of friends. My favourite was probably a picture using coloured pencil on paper called Green Nick. The Mary Heilmann exhibition were paintings based on American culture; Heilmann used paint like it was clay and her paintings were rough and raw revealing the process of the paintings. My favourites in this exhibition were The Third Man and Neo Noir which hung next to each other and were very similar. In both you could see there were layers of different colours with black being the top in both, making you think of the paintings as real paintings and not of the subjects paintings often portray. After a long day in the Lower East Side we went back to the Hostel for free pizza for dinner and to watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting on tv.
After lunch we went to the New Museum of Contemporary Art which had two exhibitions Live Forever by Elizabeth Peyton and To Be Someone by Mary Heilmann. I really enjoyed the Elizabeth Peyton exhibition, the paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints were amazing. All her art pieces were portraits of historical figures, artistic contemporaries, self portraits and of friends. My favourite was probably a picture using coloured pencil on paper called Green Nick. The Mary Heilmann exhibition were paintings based on American culture; Heilmann used paint like it was clay and her paintings were rough and raw revealing the process of the paintings. My favourites in this exhibition were The Third Man and Neo Noir which hung next to each other and were very similar. In both you could see there were layers of different colours with black being the top in both, making you think of the paintings as real paintings and not of the subjects paintings often portray. After a long day in the Lower East Side we went back to the Hostel for free pizza for dinner and to watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting on tv.
Tuesday 2/12/08
We headed to the Murray Guy gallery for an artist talk with Matthew Buckingham. We started by watching a video art piece by Buckingham called Amos Fortune Road which he made in 1996. It was a really interesting piece, telling a story of discovery without audio, written text appeared on the screen with the visuals. The film questioned ideas about our problematic relations with the past and history, when things transition from the past into history. It was strange because the subject matter of the film is not one of which I would normally relate to, however the piece seemed to pull the viewer in, wanting to continue to discover more. In a sense, identifying with the character of which I didn’t have an obvious connection. With no voice to connect with, the audience creates their own for the film. I found the driving scenes in the film reminded me of when I drive familiar roads; my mind goes into a sense of imagination and thinking, like there is a space of reflection between places. Buckingham spoke really well, and I really enjoyed his talk.
After a quick lunch we caught the subway uptown to go to the Metropolitan Museum. It was enormous! So big in fact, that unfortunately I didn’t have time to see everything. I did get to see the Greek and Roman art, Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Modern Art, the Drawing, Prints and Photography section and the European Paintings, all of which were amazing. The Greek and Roman, and Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas were fascinating, with artefacts, sculptures and jewels there was so much to take in. My favourite was the Modern Art section; one piece called Dancer – Airplane Propeller – Sea by Gino Severini was oil on canvas and he used the most amazing colours. Another amazing use of colour with oil on canvas I found mesmerising was Spectrum V by Ellsworth Kelly. Other pieces I liked included Zhang Huan’s Going to Work, which was made from ash on linen and Elizabeth Murray’s Terrifying Terrain, which was oil on shaped canvases. The Met was a fantastic experience and if I have time I will definitely be going back there to check out the exhibitions I missed.
After a quick lunch we caught the subway uptown to go to the Metropolitan Museum. It was enormous! So big in fact, that unfortunately I didn’t have time to see everything. I did get to see the Greek and Roman art, Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Modern Art, the Drawing, Prints and Photography section and the European Paintings, all of which were amazing. The Greek and Roman, and Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas were fascinating, with artefacts, sculptures and jewels there was so much to take in. My favourite was the Modern Art section; one piece called Dancer – Airplane Propeller – Sea by Gino Severini was oil on canvas and he used the most amazing colours. Another amazing use of colour with oil on canvas I found mesmerising was Spectrum V by Ellsworth Kelly. Other pieces I liked included Zhang Huan’s Going to Work, which was made from ash on linen and Elizabeth Murray’s Terrifying Terrain, which was oil on shaped canvases. The Met was a fantastic experience and if I have time I will definitely be going back there to check out the exhibitions I missed.
Monday 1/12/08
We were up early to meet at 9am at Grand Central station. This was my first real look at Grand Central and it was huge, a sight in itself. We all jumped on a train heading to Beacon to visit DIA: Beacon museum. The train ride took around about an hour and a quarter, but I hardly noticed, sleeping most of the trip. Once there, we went into the museum, and the space was amazing. DIA: Beacon holds a collection of contemporary art, housed in an old biscuit factory; a lot of the works were large scale pieces. A few favourites were the LeWitt, Heizer and Serra. Sol LeWitt’s Drawing Series was one of the best collections I have seen yet. It is a series of large scale wall drawings of lines, grids, patterns and diagrams using simple colours of red, blue, yellow and black, the drawings take your breath away. You can actually see and understand the amount of time, calculation and precision that has gone into these pieces, they were unbelievable. Michael Heizer’s North East South West was a large scale installation of four shaped holes in the floor, of which the bottom was unable to be seen. The installation was barricaded off so you couldn’t get too close, however you could gather the depth of the holes which were amazing to look at and take in.
My other favourite was Richard Serra’s monumental installation of five large iron pieces nearly as tall as the roof, bent in circular shapes. Two had a gap so people could enter into the centre of the pieces and the other three also allowed you to enter but you had to follow it round, like a kind of maze to the centre. Each presented a different bodily experience and physical impact. They were so big it made you feel small and insignificant. When entering, they created a sense of journey and exploration as you couldn’t see what was ahead and to find out, you had to keep walking into the unknown creating a sense of anticipation. They created a sense of never ending, bringing the sense of risk to the table when entering, as you were not sure when you would reach the middle. The work is monumental in both the artist’s capacity and in an engineering sense with the creation of such work. After we jumped back on the train for the long trip home, I was pretty tired so slept for a short while again.
My other favourite was Richard Serra’s monumental installation of five large iron pieces nearly as tall as the roof, bent in circular shapes. Two had a gap so people could enter into the centre of the pieces and the other three also allowed you to enter but you had to follow it round, like a kind of maze to the centre. Each presented a different bodily experience and physical impact. They were so big it made you feel small and insignificant. When entering, they created a sense of journey and exploration as you couldn’t see what was ahead and to find out, you had to keep walking into the unknown creating a sense of anticipation. They created a sense of never ending, bringing the sense of risk to the table when entering, as you were not sure when you would reach the middle. The work is monumental in both the artist’s capacity and in an engineering sense with the creation of such work. After we jumped back on the train for the long trip home, I was pretty tired so slept for a short while again.
Sunday 30/11/08
We had another slow morning, sleeping in and taking our time getting ready. We didn’t end up leaving the Hostel til just after lunch. We went to Times Square to check out pricing of tickets for Broadway shows but when we got there, there was a really short line for half price tickets. We spontaneously ended up getting tickets for Mama Mia, for the 3pm show. So all excited, I went to my first Broadway show. It was amazing!!! I really enjoyed it and we were singing songs from the show on the subway ride home in the evening. It was a nice and relaxing day to end the weekend.
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