Arts of Korea

Jar, Lee In Chin (b.1957) 1993
Bizen-inspired unglazed stoneware

The Arts of Korea are displayed in a new gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I was able to view several of the pieces during one of my visits to the museum. This jar particularly resonated with me. The clay itself is colored during the firing process without the addition of glazes or enamels. Lee In Chin has created a masterpiece where skill and chance combine. This is one of the contemporary ceramic pieces on display in this gallery.

Ceramics gave me my first introduction to Asian culture and aesthetics. I worked with clay while in high school, but I soon became very sensitized to dust and I had to give it up. However, the appeal of the simplicity and the honesty of the materials has stayed with me.  I plan to researchWabi-sabi and use some of its principles in creating my studio work.

Another Asian artisitic form which has interested me for a long time is the scroll painting.

This photo inadequately shows the basic structure of the scroll. The center panel seems to be glued to a fabric backing of patterned squares in subtle colors. I am intrigued with the idea of displaying paintings on canvas or paper in a similar way. I will have to try it out on a small scale! While visiting China several years ago, I bought a small tourist scroll from a kiosk in a market with the Chinese character for luck (or so I was told!!). It would be so convenient to roll up a painting around its dowel rods for transport and not have to deal with stretchers and frames!

Thursday I plan a trip to my alma mater to the library to borrow a stack of books, including haiku poetry and a few books on Asian aesthetics which I didn't have time to peruse before Christmas.

I have been painting a few quick watercolor abstractions. I should have some photos to post tomorrow or Thursday. My roll of 50" Fabriano paper is beckoning! I am going to stretch a piece about 36" x 48" on plywood and see what happens. The freshness of the paper is so clean. Even gesso on canvas doesn't seem to have the same quality.

"This Will Have Been. . .", ICA Boston

On Wednesday, January 16, I went back to the Institute of Contemporary Art and spent several hours contemplating the exhibitions. I borrowed a stool, which was excellent for resting in front of certain works and taking a few notes. Although I had seen This Will Have Been:Art, Love & Politics in the 1980's before the start of the residency, this time I took more notice of individual works.

Necklines, Lorna Simpson  1989
Three gelatin silver prints and two engraved plastic plaques
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

In the first gallery, I was impressed with Necklines.  The use of three unequal panels with three slightly different viewpoints is intriguing. The text panels add another dimension to the work. Having carved and painted panels over the last year and a half, I am interested in different ways  to use them.

To see a much better photo of this work, go to:

http://lsimpsonstudio.com/photographicworks07.html

Said, Gerhard Richter  oil on canvas 1983

Gerhard Richter's Said provides a lesson in brushwork, color and surface texture. Forms and brushstrokes are purposefully delineated, yet chance plays a major role in the final piece. Richter plays with thin and thick paint, squeegee and brush, as well as complementary colors. I was able to observe the paint texture of splatters over the smoother paint which has been dragged to blend it. Richter's abstract paintings have interested me for several years. They seem to evoke landscapes and natural forms without directly portraying them.

Said, detail

Go to the following address on Richter's website for better photos!

http://www.gerhard-richter.com/art/search/detail.php?paintid=6509&artworkID1=paintings&title=said&p=1&sp=32

Preis, Martin Kippenberger oil and acrylic on canvas
Private Collection

This painting by Martin Kippenberger looks like a collage of fabric on canvas, but the forms and textures are made with paint. I was reminded of one of my paintings finished  during my undergrad degree. I made a very small collage and projected it onto a much larger canvas, then painted it realistically. Perhaps I will use collage on several of my present sketches in order to develop departure points for larger paintings.

Untitled, Jack Goldstein, acrylic on canvas 1984
Private Collection

Jack Goldstein's painting Untitled of 1984 appealed to me in its combination of photography and painting. I surmise that he used an airbrush to create the blurred white lines, but the effect is one of moving lights at night captured in a slow exposure on film. The blue smoke seems ready to ominously fill the space. An arc of light suggests a moon or planet. Are we in outer space? I like the ambiguity!

There are other works at the ICA and at the MFA which resonated with me. I will discuss some of them in future posts!

Selected American & Contemporary Art at the MFA

Deadline, Alex Antoniadas & Nico Stone
PVC, plaster, wood, metal, urethane resin, 2011
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

I am interested in Deadline for several reasons. First, the sculptors have used the idea of interruption to create a dramatic contrast between solidity and fragility. The styrofoam cup has seemingly worn a hole through a solid beam. The play of light on the piece is also noteworthy, highlighting the structure and its interruption. Suzanne Gauthier, my mentor during my second semester suggested to me that I consider interruption when using directional strokes going one way in a painting (for instance, the runs and drips in my paintings Abundance  and  Pods.) Interruption is one way to relieve a pattern which can become monotonous, or  can fade from the viewer's attention.

Green, Orange and Blue Mirror, Justen Ladda
Pigment, varnish and epoxy resin on red cedar wood, 2010
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

This work by Justen Ladda is referred to as an ellipse. I prefer this term to oval, with its Victorian associations. Ladda has used the wood grain superbly, staining the wood with complementary colors in order to dramatize the beauty of the wood's fibrous texture. The high gloss adds to the mystique as it is a finish one does not expect to see on wood. The viewer's reflection is intended to blend with the pattern of the grain, an interesting and varying effect. Perhaps I will return to the wood ellipse at some point myself in a future project.

Circle du Blé, Matta ( Roberto Sebastián Matta Echaurren)
oil on canvas 1953 Museum of Fine Art,s Boston

I recognize the need to vary the mark-making in my work. Matta's painting incorporates a variety of mark-making strokes, while its abstracted shapes suggest figurative references. I also appreciate the softness of some of the painted areas in contrast with lines that seem to be drawn in charcoal or with a fine brush. Peter Rostovsky, my advisor during my second semester, suggested that I look at Matta's work and now I see why!

Floe IV, Helen Frankenthaler acrylic on canvas  1965
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

My advisor, Jan Avgikos, suggested that I look at Helen Frankenthaler's work. I found Floe IV in the American wing and I was able to study its deep color saturation. The accompanying text on the wall proposed that the artist used a brush in places to move the paint around on the raw canvas. It appears to me that Frankenthaler used something to spread the paint as it stained, although the operation looks as if it was completed quickly.

Chamonix, Joan Mitchell oil on canvas c.1962
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

I also looked at Joan Mitchell's Chamonix, particularly the way the paint was applied: thin runs, drips, scumbling, impasto, direct from the tube. The movement and the delicate color relationships fascinate the viewer easily. To see a photo of the entire painting, go to:

http://educators.mfa.org/objects/detail/127412?related_people_text=Joan+Mitchell

In the MFA bookstore, I purchased a book about Joan Mitchell with several essays and color plates from a retrospective, The Paintings of Joan Mitchell, at the Whitney in 2002.

The Postcard Age: Selections from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection

The postcards in this show were fun to look at, but my primary interest was study at the way they were displayed. The panels protruding from the wall at an angle broke up the monotony of the wall and framed six to twelve sample postcards with space around them. Each panel compeled the viewer to move closer. This presentation reminded me somewhat of Gerhard Richter's Atlas project in that his arrangements of texts, sketches and photos changed with the material he was using. If I decide to use an archival format this semester for my work, I want to present it in an exciting way. 

Other works caught my attention at the MFA. Perhaps I will write about some of them in future!

I finished my stay in Boston with several contemplative hours at the Institute for Contemporary Art, the subject of another blog post.

The Painted Surface

While in Boston, I was able to visit the Museum of Fine Arts on three occasions. Jan Avgikos, my faculty advisor, had suggested that I look at Monet's later paintings, which I was happy to do! Keeping in mind my interest in the materiality of the painted surface, I studied several of Monet's paintings with an eye to observing the many layers of paint which seem to be embedded in the image.

The Cathedral at Rouen, detail, Claude Monet 1894
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Monet's colors are so captivating and shimmering that one tends to forget the texture of the brushstrokes. The impasto brushwork adds to the visual blending of hues, and points to the many times the artist added paint before being satisfied that the work was finished. The paintings retain their freshness, in spite of being worked over many times.

Poppy Field in a Hollow Near Giverny, detail, Claude Monet 1885
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

During this visit, I contemplated the entire canvas, then examined sections of the paintings individually.
The MFA Boston website has photos of these works on their website which are much more accurate than my snapshots. View their collection of French paintings and select the paintings you want to see (#328 Rouen, #272 Poppies, #493 Haystack):

http://www.mfa.org/node/4181

Grainstack, (Snow Effect) detail,  Claude Monet 1891
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Looking at Lake Nemi by George Innes 1872, I noted the limited palette used to evoke space and distance between layers of landscape.  (See http://www.mfa.org/node/4626   #25) Here is a very poor snapshot of this work:

I also studied several paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, including Bachanal at the Spring: Souvenir of Marly-le-Roi  1872 for the limited palette and use of transparent darks and impasto whites.

Both artists appear to have used the limited palette demonstrated by Tony Apesos during the AIB residency: white, yellow ochre, indian red and lamp black. I would assume that ultramarine blue played a part in creating soft greens. (See http://www.mfa.org/node/4181 #142)

The Fall of the Rhine at Schaffhausen also captured my attention. Turner created so many effects using a limited palette along with transparency and impasto.Another feature of Turner's work is also the use of a brilliant accent color, in this case vermillion red.  I have been interested in Turner's work since my BFA years, but this time I studied the application of the paint on the canvas.  

(Go to http://www.mfa.org/node/4296 # 19)

Fall of the Rhine at Schaffhausen Joseph Mallord William Turner 1805-06
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Fall of the Rhine at Schauffhausen,  detail

I plan to explore the limited palette more fully this semester, and to use oil paint over acrylic to add subtlety and transparency to my work.

In addition to wandering through the galleries of eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings. I returned to the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art. Continue reading my next post!!