A Field Trip to the Norton Simon Museum...

Bust of an Old Man with a Fur Cap and Flowing Beard, Nearly Full Face, Eyes Direct, c.1631

The focus of a little visit to the Norton Simon Museum at Pasadena was one certain exhibition, which was called "The Familiar Face: Portrait Prints by Rembrandt." Rembrandt van Rijn was a well known painter for his time in the early 1600s. He was remembered for his various portraits rather than other pieces of art he had done over those years. With that focus, I got a sense of where he is coming from on how he wants to express faces in these portraits and it also reminds me of those master/pupil comparisons. As far as criteria is concerned, these paintings can be methodically judged the way Rosenburg would critque with a slow dissection of the painting itself focusing on the details. These facial portraits feel as perfect as they were in those times as if today's portrait booths are missing the whole point. You get a certain sense of soul when looking at these paintings and you see that these are what people look like in the 1600s. I think it is an accurate representation of the time frame when merchants are running wild in Europe. Even if these people are just sitting there for the portrait, you still get a sense of where they are coming from just by their positions and facial expressions. Of course everyday portraits are just your average "hey let's take a picture together and show it off to others," but back then Rembrandt was able to get within something special for them to feel somewhat alive at one point. I can see why he was such an influential painter for that time setting the bar for artists in those coming years.

Old Man with a Flowing Beard, 1630

Man Wearing a Close Cap: Bust (the Artist's Father?), 1630

Returning to the Art Walk...

I managed to return to the one of the galleries at the Pomona Arts Colony area to take another look of the current displays by Cassandra Tondro and Gabriel Gonzales. I happened to chat up a bit with the director and founder of the OBJCT Gallery, David Shearer, about how he wants his gallery to be different than the rest of the galleries in Pomona. Given the unorthodox style of art the gallery presents compared to something like the DA gallery, it is definitely something else and that's what Shearer kept elaborating on. Since it is called OBJCT Gallery, he wanted actual objects to be the focus rather than just your normal paintings that you use at other art galleries and museums. Objects have their own way of expression of being considered art with the tables that are being at the gallery now as examples. Personally I like how art can be a factor with our normal furniture and I always have a soft spot for unorthodox pieces of furniture that are artistic to the point I would want to have some of them in the future. The tape pieces by Gabriel Gonzales are also another example of how objects can be expressed in a special way. Even though objects are the main attraction, there's still paintings on display as well such as Tondro's paintings I mentioned last post. Shearer felt like having paintings on display at a certain gallery that will correspond to the message the whole gallery is telling and that makes sense to me. With the extra time spent at the OBJCT Gallery, I definitely understand what it takes for art galleries to stand out from everyone else, but that could be a tougher process than I thought it would. The gallery definitely has what it takes to be something special and not just your normal art gallery.

The Art Walk...

For the art walk assignment, I came there a little early to get a start on analyzing the various galleries as I went to three of them the time I was there. I ran into some of the classmates as well as we stare at the various paintings artists have displayed for the night. Turns out it was something better than I thought it would be before coming to this event.

The OBJCT Gallery was small offering the fewest paintings on display for us to look at, but at least there was a different sense of style compared to the other galleries I visited. The standouts to me for this gallery were the "Unfolding/Cosmos/Camellias" paintings by Cassandra Tandro. Right out of the gate, my first impression were that they remind me of those visualizers you see if you ever use Windows Media player and the various effects it shows that are sometimes epileptic. I liked the use of colors and they were meshed together to become that visualizer effect I am reminded of. I am always fascinated of epileptic art pieces whether in still form or in video because seeing colors being mashed of changing entirely over time is something cool to me. Other than those paintings, there are the tape pieces by Gabriel Gonzales that impressed me because all of them were in fact done by tape. It goes to show that any piece of art can be done by materials you do not expect it would be used to build something truly impressive settings that are at times dream-like.

The main gallery was the DA one, which was the biggest one displaying paintings from all spectrums. Whether huge or small, these artists that displayed their works do have a story to tell what they shown. Among the ones shown, Athena H. Hahn's gallery is the one that impressed me the most because of the story it told. From the top is "Balloon," followed by "Candyland," and then "Shoots of Ladders" (above) as it felt like there is somewhat a beginning and an end with what she is trying to say with the paintings. In addition, "Candyland" and "Shoots of Ladders" resemble the board games they are referencing very well from the Candy Land path of various colors to all those bottles and ladders in the other painting. All three paintings also had words in them that didn't distract from the overall painting being clear to see both what they are trying to say. The messages in those paintings do in fact feel like it is a message of inspiration for life. Even though Hahn's gallery might be explaining too much in terms of everything that is going on in those paintings, but I still felt like it was the "hottest" of the whole DA gallery.

The other painting that impressed me with the DA gallery was Leslie A Brown's "Sweets of the Sweet." This one consists of three panels, but they all fit together being thematic with the whole notion of sweets. At first, I was like how all of these elements (below) fit together to become this whole painting? From Michael Jackson, Popsicles flying around, and a table full of tasty desserts, and pieces of clothing, it seems like some bizarre person just decided to combine all these elements to become one and it surprisingly works being appropriate to the title of sweets. I feel like what I got out of the painting is that sweets are more than just junk food and dessert. Our sweets are as equal as our pleasures in life and this painting demonstrates that with everything that is going on.

That is for the standouts of my time at the art walk. The other gallery I went to was the Main Street gallery, which is next door to the DA one as it offered its own sense of style even though it is not as extravagant as the DA gallery. This gallery as a whole felt more relaxed tone wise in which what the artists were showing, but also showcasing different forms of art besides paintings. From photographs of timely settings by Thomas Matranga with "Meteor Crater," "Resting Place," and "Roadtrip," to the usage of watercolor by Sandy Garcia and Arlene A. Moreno, and more. What stood out to me was Tom Oliver's paintings of the various buildings in Pomona. It felt like the city was represented well showing its more than what people set it out to be. The Art Walk in a nutshell was an interesting experience seeing art from a different perspective for the first time in a while with previous experiences at art museums dating back to my childhood days going to those places for educational purposes. Its kind of nice to appreciate art at a mature age taking some time to truly think what these galleries mean and what message they are trying to tell. From a perspective regarding criteria, it would be interesting how to judge them from different approaches. Maybe I considered Rosenburg's style a little bit more here because of the details every art piece is trying to show and then nitpick from there compared to Isenberg. For the time I was there at the art walk, it was definitely a more laid back experience than I first expected it to be. Maybe my expectations were a little crazy expecting some extravagant display of art shows, but it turns out the laid back atmosphere helped out for the best allowing me and others to appreciate what is there more.

Hello and Welcome...

So this is my Philosophy of the Arts blog... so let's talk about some art.

Let's start with some "relishing..." actually this would be the clip I show in class if this counts.

Skip to two minutes into the clip of one of my favorite TV shows now, Top Gear. The best car show around has arguably the best cinematography in television today with amazing scenes, beautiful camera angles, and of course cars. There's just something special about this scene where the guys drive on what they call "the best road in the world" from how it was designed and also a breathtaking spot that any car freak would enjoy. The way this scene was put together is an example of great art and three supercars are there for the ride.