LAST POST!!!!!

So this is happening right in the nick of time, unless of course this assignment was due last night at midnight...In which case all of my procrastination really really bit me in the ass.  I'm not sure if I should attempt to do something special for this last entry, with only 40 minutes to go I might just hurry.

Ummm, holy crap I just found the perfect ending to a semester long project.  Chemically mutated guinea pigs anyone?!?!

Laurie Hogin, Pharmaceutical Guinea Pigs: Boost Your Metabolism (#5), 2011Oil on panel 6 × 6 in 15.2 × 15.2 cm

 

 

 Laurie Hogin, Love Daisies, 2008 Oil on Panel 22 x 22 in

Pharmaceutical Guinea Pigs: Boost Your Metabolism (#3), 2011 Oil on panel 6 × 6 in

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (Diorama with Rozerem and Black Alligators), 2008

Oil on canvas
60 × 84 in

Okay, what can I say, I love this.  Laurie Hogin has successfully (at least for me) painted, yes, painted wildlife art that is exciting, funny, and is considered by the powers that be, to be Fine Art.  The colors Laurie uses are bright, sickly neons, that seem to vibrate against one another right off the canvas.  the effect is an unnatural, but beautiful, other worldly landscape, where the fauna have mutated into monsters.  Their faces have been grotesquely anthropomorphized to varying degrees and convey emotions such as anger, insanity, pain, anxiety, and disgust.  These animals don't belong on a trapper  keeper.


Laurie's themes and concepts are right up my alley.  I have been wondering about the possibilities of incorporating environmental and conservation messages into art work.  I think Hogin finds a nice balance between a really smart slightly esoteric message, a striking image, and a narrative that sticks with the viewer.  Her work raises issues of consumerism, environmental degradation, and human cruelty to animals.  Her hyper realist style is well suited to the subject as it calls to mind the science and discovery that marked the 17th century.  I think of animal specimens being collected from the jungles and rainforest of exotic lands and cataloged meticulously in the name of science.

Cal Lane

Shovel, 2012

Metal shovel
56 ^1/2 × 8 in
143.5 × 20.3 cm

 

 

Gutter Snipes I, 2011

Aluminum coated steel sewer pipe
72 × 240 × 58 in
182.9 × 609.6 × 147.3 cm

 

 

Pantie Can , 2012

Laser cut Metal Oil Canaster
10 × 8 × 5 in
25.4 × 20.3 × 12.7 cm

 

 

Land Mine, 2011

Steel ammunition box
43 × 72 × 6 in
109.2 × 182.9 × 15.2 cm

 

This Canadian born, one time hair dresser, always found herself thinking in opposites.  She was a tomboy who could hold a welding tool as easily as a pair of hair shears.  Cal Lane's work is a beautiful example of found object art.  She uses found objects that are made of steel, and then carves delicate and lacy patterns into the steel drum, shovel, pipe, dumpster, i-beam, whatever.   Her work is often times about the transformation from a masculine, utilitarian object to something ornate and feminine.

 Despite being turned into lacy, complex, beautiful carvings, there is still something hard, cold, and dangerous about Cal's work.  I know you are not supposed to touch art in a gallery or museum usually, but her work has a unique deterrent-- tetanus!  

My favorite piece of the ones I posted is Gutter Snipes.  I'm a sucker for the large scale piece or the teeny tiny.  this piece has a really unique shape.  I like that she kept the arc of the pipe.  It is a really unusual form.  The detail and craftsmanship that went into the work is insane because of the great size.  Who sees a sewer pipe and thinks of fairies?  Is the gutter snipe a real mythological creature like the Lockness monster or Sasquatch? 

Okay turns out I was a little off...  I thought guttersnipes were fairies, turns out its much more Dickensian than that.

guttersnipe [ˈgʌtəˌsnaɪp]

n

1. a child who spends most of his time in the streets, esp in a slum area

2. a person regarded as having the behaviour, morals, etc., of one brought up in squalor

[originally a name applied to the common snipe (the bird), then to a person who gathered refuse from gutters in city streets]

guttersnipish  adj

Judith Schaechter: Crazy, weird, awesome!

This is pretty cool, creepy...but cool.  I love stained glass as a medium!

Lockdown, 2010

Stained glass lightbox

20 ^1/2 × 31 × 6 in

52.1 × 78.7 × 15.2 cm

You Are Here, 2008

Stained glass lightbox

36 ^1/2 × 25 × 6 in

92.7 × 63.5 × 15.2 cm

The piece above is particularly striking to me.  It is especially the blue of the sky and the celestial bodies that seem to revolve in it that gives the piece a certain magic and attraction.   The piece is representation, stained glass, and depicts a female figure prone on her back gazing up into the top half of the picture plane.  The bottom half of the picture plane appears to be grass or wheat, while the top half is a night sky dotted with stars and planets.  Bold black lines trace the paths of the planets as they possibly turn slowly above the head of the enamored female.   Unlike some of the other pieces this image seems peaceful and happy, rather than lonely or cold and scary.  It makes me think of female curiosity, and the power of female imagination and mind, within the context of the medieval ages its a pretty powerful idea.

 

The Sin Eater, 2009

Stained glass lightbox

25 × 46 ^1/2 × 6 in

63.5 × 118.1 × 15.2 cm

The Minotaur, 2010

Stained glass lightbox

37 × 25 × 6 in

94 × 63.5 × 15.2 cm

Judith's work has a certain medieval aesthetic, but a modern subject matter. As far as her concept or meanings within the work, Judith claims that each piece is formulated as she goes and evolves organically without much preconception.  She no doubt does eventually arrive at a personal meaning for each piece, but ultimately wants the viewer to interpret each piece freely saying, "My interpretations have no more importance than yours.” It sounds as if her process is extremely involved.  Her work is comprise of hundreds of tiny glass times that she individually carves, paints and engraves before compiling them altogether in a mosaic that can be several layers deep.  She then presents the work within a light box, to fully display the detail of paint and carving.  

Judith Joy Ross

I couldn't resist Judith's series taken in Chalfont Pennsylvania.  I guess every now and then you come across a work of art, or works of art that just seem to be made for your personal pleasure.  They speak so much to your life or  past experiences that they make you feel special, or nostalgic, or peaceful, or all three! I felt a little jolt of excitement when I came across this series of photographs.  Like "Hey, that's me!  I've lived that! That's a special experience that I know about!"

Children in Neshaminy Creek, Wildlife Camp, The Aark Foundation Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center, Chalfont, Pennsylvania, 2011 Archival pigment print mounted to board 32 × 39 ^3/4 in

Iliana and Claire, Wildlife Camp, The Aark Foundation Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center, Chalfont, Pennsylvania, 2011 Archival pigment print 30 × 24 in

Corey with Bunny Wildlife Camp, The Aark Foundation Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center, Chalfont, Pennsylvania, 2011 Archival pigment print. 24 x 19 in

No, I have never been to this particular wildlife camp, but as a child I spent a lot of my summers back East in Pennsylvania, or in the "God's country" that is southern Illinois.  I have spent quite a few hours exploring Pennsylvania creek beds.  I know that flat, shaley rock, and I know the little, black, squirming salamanders that those kids are finding.  I know the small town girls who spend their summers barefoot in bathing suits migrating from one swimming pool or pond to the next.  Put a squirming, feral barnyard kitten in place of that bunny, and it might as well be my little cousin on the farm twelve years ago. Oh, how it makes me long for the goodness of childhood, small towns, and deep hardwood forests!  Good on ya Judith Ross for capturing a childhood, a small-town-America ideal, a memory that is slipping, a reality that can never be again.

Ross, Born in Hazletown Pennsylvania in 1946, is known mostly as a portrait photographer.  Her work is appreciated for its emotional acuteness, and it ability to convey the humanity and vulnerability of the subject(s).   Ross is also known for her use of an antiquated 8 x 10 in camera that produces 8 x 10 paper prints. Her resulting work is reminiscent of 20th century photographers.  She has been described as "an exemplar of classic photographic portraiture"  

Haroshi

Here is some interesting assemblage work, from an artist who has mastery craftsmanship.  His material is used skateboards.  I'm not sure if the conceptualization is super strong, but visually they are quite fun!

Moose, 2010

used skateboards

54 ^3/10 × 57 ^1/10 × 43 ^3/10 in

138 × 145 × 110 cm

Screaming Foot, 2010

used skateboards

16 ^7/10 × 4 ^1/2 × 9 ^4/5 in

42.5 × 11.5 × 25 cm

Foot With Invisible Shoe 6, 2012

Used skateboards

23 ^1/2 × 12 × 28 in

59.7 × 30.5 × 71.1 cm

Sk8 Cross Mario

used skateboards

18 ^3/4 × 14 × 3/4 in

47.6 × 35.6 × 1.9 cm

It comes as no surprise that Haroshi is a skate boarder besides being a self taught wood worker.  He hand selects, stacks, paints, and carves each piece of skate board.  His pieces have a striped or layer effect because the skateboards themselves are comprised of fused wood sheets.   My favorite part of his process is that within each 3D sculpture he places a "raw" piece of broken skate board to act as the "soul" of the work.  This practice is inspired by Unkei, a 12th century Buddhist sculptor who would place a crystal within each of his sculptures of Buddha.

Okay, I just watched and read a couple of interviews with Hiroshi, I my first instincts about him were not super far from the truth (although the interview I watched was so informal, I'm not sure it wasn't a Joke).  He is pretty young, Id say late twenties early thirties.  He has that young at heart forever, refuses to take anyone or anything to seriously (even his art concepts ---though there is nothing silly about his execution---adult skateboarder style that we all know so well.  

The conceptualizations behind his work went something like this: "Deluxe is one of the best skateboard companies in the world, why wouldn't I do something with Deluxe.  Pete Ramondetta is one of the best skateboarders on the world.  And If I'm going to do an arm and the middle finger of a guy it only makes sense to do it of someone whose awesome, and I even put his tattoos on the arm. Tommy Guerrero plays guitar, so I made a guitar for Tommy Guerrero."  Okay, so this was said with a translator speaking after Haroshi, so I still don't know if it is a joke, but I don't think it is.  We are talking about a completely unschooled, self-taught artist, so I doubt he has much experience composing artist statements :)    

Günther Uecker

We have looked at a few pieces this past semester that incorporated the use of nails into the art work.  For the most part I liked all of them....I do remember that student's bear however that was pretty awkward.  I think nails are one of those objects that carry a lot of baggage culturally.  The generally denote, pain, torture, etc..  The semiotics of the nail probably derive from the crucifixion of  Christ, but the symbolism of the nail has been perpetuated by horror films, and groups such as Nine Inch Nails; screws, pins, and needles were used in all three of the Quay Brothers films I watched.

Gunther Uecker is know for his use of the nail in Fine Art beginning in the 1950's, and they became his signature medium.  He is well known for undulating reliefs of nails that seem to shimmer across painted canvases like wheat in a field or living polyps on coral.  Rather that giving off a feeling of discomfort or an urge to recoil, I find myself wanting to reach out and touch his nail reliefs and perhaps send a shiver of movement through the collective.

Schrei (Scream), 2012 Nails, white paint with glue on canvas on wood 78 ^3/4 × 63 in

Doppelspirale (Double Spiral), 2012 Nails, white paint with glue,canvas, wood 78 ^3/4 × 59 ^1/8 in

Phantom Weiss I (White Phantom I), 2012 Nails, white paint with glue, canvas, wood 78 ^3/4 × 59 ^1/8 in

Chair II, 1963. Nails on wood, 34-1/4 x 18-1/2 x 17-3/4 inches

Nails on a chair should look like a straight up torture devise, but Gunther's nails look biological and organismal .  I seen a mold, a lichen or a moss creeping down the leg of this chair.  His nail placement resembles a community of organisms.  Still some of his sculptures are very geometric in form.

    

Schild (Shield), 2012 Nails, white paint with glue on canvas with wood 43 ^1/4 × 17 ^3/4 in

Despite my own feelings on the work.  It is probably quite clear that the nails that Uecker uses in is work are not meant to represent life, but probably death, torture, and mans propensity to violence.  Uecker was born in east Germany in 1930, and was witness to acts of extreme violence during WWII and the division between East and West Germany.  The violence present in his past influenced his subject matter greatly.  He even created a show comprised of "Devises", as in torture devices, that was titled "Man's Inhumanity".

  

Oh yeah, photography! and Mikhael Subotzky

So, I kinda forgot about photography.  I tend to do that, despite the fact that it seems like it is everyone else's favorite of all the visual arts.  I came across Mikhael's work and immediately appreciated his talents as a photojournalist-style photographer. These images could be right out of National Geographic.  Aside from being visually striking photographs, Subotzky's work tells a pointed story.  His images are filled with the sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes heart warming realism of the human condition.

Oddly enough I don't feel pity for the people in the images (maybe I should). I think it is the way the Mikael takes the images. They are full of truth, undeniable visual complexity and beauty, and humanism.  I think it has something to do with the fact that Mikhael himself tries as best as he can to immerse himself into the environments he chooses to photograph.  Maybe I should be seeing these people lives as something to rectify, but part of me just wants to learn more about what it is to be human, how humans live, can live, what we can endure, what makes us different, what makes us completely the same.  Still I don't know what all I feel when I look at images like this... I feel suddenly very white, very guilty, kinda ashamed of myself....


The Mallies Household, Rustdene Township, Beaufort West 2006. Chromogenic color print, 32 1/4 x 39 3/8" (81.9 x 100 cm). 


In this image, a young female stands half framed in a doorway as older adults flank her on either side.  The focal point of the image is the female in the center of the picture plane.  The light of the sun shines through an unseen window and hits her on the right side of her body, she stands as the tallest human figure in the room.   Smoke from her own, and an unseen person's cigarette drifts through the air catching the sunlight.  The colors in this photograph are deep and gem-like. Green walls contrast beautifully with the orange of the door frame.  On either side of the door frame pictures hang high on the walls.  One is of Jesus and The Sacred Heart. All the surfaces in the room are textured and blotched and peeling with decay and wear. Bottles and ask trays and glasses litter the surfaces in the foreground and background.  It gives the image a depth, and busyness, and anxiety that adds to the narrative of an uncertain, tumultuous life in West Africa.

Residents, Vaalkoppies 2006. Chromogenic color print, 41 9/16 x 50 11/16" (105.6 x 128.7 cm). 

Beaufort West Police Station. 2006. Lightjet C print 126x147cm 

Interesting how he wears his hat.  That style is identical to style that certain youth in America wear their hats. I'm sure it stands for the same confident, swagger that it does here.

Brothers Quay

Finally getting around to doing a post on these two geniuses.  It was pretty intimidating, as you might be able to imagine, to start a post for their work, namely because there is so much that I do not understand about it, that feels strange and uncomfortable,  terrifying in some respects, or that its esoteric themes leave me hopelessly in the dark.  Regardless, I felt compelled to further examine the works of these two. The little snippet that was shown in class peaked my interest in the same perverse way that a crime scene or car crash might.

Street of Crocodiles (excerpt), 1986

 I watched the rest of this and was overwhelmed by the sense of loneliness that evoked by this film.  Everything is alone, compartmentalized,  behind glass, or tied up. The silence and darkness takes on an anxious, almost sinister feeling.  I could not help but recognized the juxtaposition of  soft, naked flesh being prodded and probed and sharp, dirty metals, be is scissors or needles.  The tension between the two images created a sexual tension and violence that was nearly palpable.   

The Epic of Gilgamesh, or This Unnameable Little Broom 

(aka Little Songs of the Chief Officer of Hunar Louse), 1985

I really liked this little film.  It had the same lonely, sadness that the Crocodile film exhibited, as well as the  overt sexual violence, but in addition this film made me think of insanity, irrationality, narcissism, and cruelty.  Gilgamesh was one creepy little trike ridding mother.  The brothers film digresses quite a bit from the Epic of Gilgamesh.  I would be really interested in reading the Mesopotamian  epic.

The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer, 1984

The two identical twins at work in their younger days

The Brothers have become two of the most influential stop-motion film animators.  They are American born, but now reside and work in England.  Originally the brothers began as illustrators before they began designing their elaborate and dark sets, and grotesquely flawed puppets they use in their films. They are also responsible for the set design in the films, operas, and ballets of many others.   The brothers work is often times inspired by works of literature and poetry that they then liberally adapt to suit their own trademark aesthetic. 

Five Artists and the Body

Rebecca Horn:

Still from performance of Körperfächer, 1972

Rebecca Horn has been building her collection of work since the 1970's.  It seems that no media has ever been off limits for her and she has worked in film, sculptures, spacial installations, drawings, photographs, and performance.  Her work often is exploring the kinetics of the human body and later the kinetics of objects in space.  Her most recent works are dealing with light, mirror reflection and music. Her sculptures have been comprised of violins, suitcases, batons, ladders, pianos, feather fans, metronomes, small metal hammers, black water basins, spiral drawing machines and huge funnels.  Oddly, I do not like the work of Rebecca Horn.  I kinda think that's a good thing in a way because I don't think that just because someone is a famous artist that they should be appreciated by me all the time.  I do think I should take the time to understand why in particular I'm not a huge fan.  I hope that its not because I'm just not smart enough to get what she is doing....but I kinda have the feeling that's it.   I will say that I really liked her piano piece that we saw in the video though.




Jana Sterbak:

Remote Control, 1989

Sterbak is primarily known for art dealing with conceptions of the body, and often times specifically the female body.  Much of her work has a dark, sardonic, feminist commentary running strongly throughout.  She is originally from Prague and moved to Canada with her parents in the late 1960's.  And began her art career in the late 70's and 80's.  Her work often had to deal with restraint, or control, as in the example image above, where Sterbak herself hung helpless in a steel cage (in the form of a hoop skirt) while viewers were invited to move her around the gallery via remote control.  Another of her most famous pieces--made even more famous now that it was donned by Lady Gaga--is Vanitas; Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic (1987) in which a lithe model wore a dress comprised entirely of rotting flank steak.

I have to admit it, I love feminist art.  You would think that it would get old after awhile, and that people would say all we have to say, but all you have to do is turn on an NFL Cowboys game, or a NBC televised beauty contest to see that there is still a relevancy to feminist art in today's society.





Rachel Whiteread:

Untitled (Grey), 2006  mixed media

Whiteread's work is often times dealing with how humans and other elements act on objects over a period of time.  She is interested in the marks and memories that are left behind on objects by some outside matter.  In the picture posted above for example, the element that would have effected the tub could have been water, or even bodies.  Many of her other works include casts of the inside of houses or other structures where memories and movements can be recorded through her castings.   Her work often deals with the technical, and logistical challenge of transforming liquid matter in to something solid.

I personally love Rachel's work.  Her architectural pieces are awe inspiring, and utterly striking.  Her smaller works evoke delight in a way that only something truly novel can.  It is always a pleasure to find a new way to look at things, especially in a world that sometimes becomes much too comfortable, expected, or mundane.




Caroline Broadhead:

Double dress tulle, pencil

Caroline Broad head does some beautiful work.  It is highly feminine, and often has to do with clothing, fashion or adorning the body in some new and unusual way.  Her work seems to often have diaphanous and ethereal qualities, often reminding me of shadows, memories, or spirits.  Her work in textiles and jewelry is well recognized and has been successful at walking the line between craft and fine art.

A statement:
"My work has evolved in a journey outwards from the body. Starting with the most intimate of design objects, jewellery, I made pieces to be worn next to the body, to be handled and changed by the handling. This led to using clothing forms, objects that followed or deviated from the human form, and which acted as metaphor for a person. At the same time, I started to work with choreographers, making garments and sets for dance. Some of these have been made by taking references from the historic buildings they were performed in. Later, the inclusion and control of shadows put the emphasis on a less substantial element. More recently, I have been constructing and manipulating spaces, exploring light and shade, and considering ways in which an audience moves through and experiences those spaces."


Nick Cave:

Soundsuit

What can I say, Nick caves stuff is so amazingly fun.  There is such a difference between his work and that of all the artist I have listed previously.  The other work is so powerful and so serious, in contrast to the lighthearted, whimsy that Nick Cave produces.  His work is truly about the celebration of the body, where as I feel like the other works I've viewed from other artists are pointing out the limitations, or at least the actual possibilities of the body.  Nick Cave completely transforms the body and allows it to do much more than is traditionally conceived of.   He encourages the fantastical, the whimsical and the imagination.  His sound suits are often about celebration and dance, from the French tradition of Mardi Gras and Carnival to the traditions of African Tribal dances and costume.

Rob Pruit

eww I found an artist to kinda hate.  Rob Pruit.  He's kinda like the Andy Warhol of now.  I think he basically obnoxious.  It seems like most of his work is poking fun at people or stealing from people.  Which is fine, but believe me, it just so easy, I find it hard to appreciate it as anything but a cop out.  I somehow find his work a little too self-gratifying and self-indulgent.



“Pattern and Degradation,” installation view with tire sculptures, 2010



Exquisite Self-Portrait: Father Martian, 2010.



 Copulating Pandas, 2010


His art work is described as hilarious, tongue-in-cheek, adolescent, and I totally see the adolescence in the work.  Its the fucking pandas that scream 16 year old boy for me.  Cant you just see the image on thousands t-shirts across America, donned by PAC-Sun shopping teenagers.




 

Feels Like Love 2010, 16.72" x 11.44"

This is about the crappiest picture ever, Its blurry as all hell, ill-composed, and to top it all off, he opened the picture file up in Paint and added a conversation bubble to the puppies mouth.  However, I still think its adorable because this is what my dog looked like when she was a puppy, and if I had three hundred dollars to burn, and had a bunch of friends who would be impressed that I had a Rob Pruit hanging on my wall, I would consider buying it.  But I don't have either, thank god.

Henri Rousseau

Taking it back about a century to look at the work of Henri Rousseau.  I don't have many art history classes under my belt.  Actually just two classes, and one of those was medieval architecture, so basically cathedrals. I'm actually really excited to start familiarizing myself with past influential artists like Henry Rousseau.


Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!) 1891, Oil on Canvas 161.9 x 129.8 cm




The Dream
1910 (160 Kb); Oil on canvas, 6' 8 1/2" x 9' 9 1/2"; The Museum of Modern Art, New York




The Sleeping Gypsy
1897 (70 Kb); Oil on canvas, 129.5 x 200.7 cm (51" x 6'7"); The Museum of Modern Art, New York

I can see why Rousseau was criticized for his work in the early 1900's, his work is highly stylized, naive, flat, primitive.  However, he despite the criticism his work began to be recognized for its technical complexity,  and I'm sure the subject of his exotic tropical themes were very popular at the turn of the century in France--which despite what I would have believed, he never left at any point in his life.  Over the years Rousseau has come to be considered a self taught artistic genius.  Fun Fact:  His work was the inspiration for the Madagascar films.

I actually find Rouseau's work so charming.  There is such a romance to the scene he painted.  It is not only a trip onto a tropical jungle, but a trip back in time.   Its as much as an immersion into another world as reading a novel.   Because of the way he painted its as if even the foliage can become a charters in his slightly magical world.  I am a sucker for inane detail, an especially for things that are half hidden and lurking in paintings.  The painting does take on an interactive game like quality at that point.  It is playful, and mysterious and therefor draws the viewer right into the picture plane.   I would like to make paintings that act in a similar fashion to Rousseau's.  And I'm not too embarrassed to admit that I'm still a sucker for "wildlife art".  Just need to find a way to keep it interesting and unexpected.
  
 

  

Polly Apfelbaum

So I've been really into the idea of working with textiles lately.  The tactile and sensual appeal of a cloth is so intriguing.  The textural possibilities of the material allow the view to engage a second or third sense...even if they are not literally allowed to touch.

I came across Poly Apfelbaum's work and immediately was drawn to her velvet horizontal floor sculptures, or as she terms them, "fallen sculptures".


Blossom 2000. Synthetic velvet and fabric dye, approximately 18' (548.6 cm) in diameter.

The sculpture was inspired by the "Powerpuff Girls" cartoon, and the read-headed, pink-eyed leader of the trio called Blossom. 





Funkytown 2012 Dye, synthetic fabric 324'x177'





Las Vegas 2009 cut sequined fabric



I'll talk about the first piece, since I somehow like it best. The colors in the velvet are spectacular!  What looks to be hundreds of sheets of velvet are arranged in a circular pattern on the museum floor.  The pieces of fabric are overlapping, forming a kind of chain mail effect.  Each next layer of builds upon the first and shifts into the next color family.  The center of the circle is yellow and it shifts to red, pink, purple, blue, etc.  at first I thought the piece would be stitched together, but now as I look at it I'm not so sure that it is a sculpture made up of many individual pieces that are arranged by poly upon arrival to the space.

The piece is about a cartoon and girl power, but I really see a grandmother afghan or even a doily.  Either way I think it is one of those visually striking pieces that does not rely too heavily on conceptualization to make it interesting.


Here is Poly's artist statement that helps to understand her work:

Polly Apfelbaum's work operates most poignantly in its overt physicality, excessive beauty and hyper-sensuality, as well as through the manner in which it evokes emotional sensation. Her work is also strongly influenced by fashion colors and design, in the sense that they are unnatural, man-made and synthetic. It is at once trippy and hallucinogenic, with its strong sense of spectacle and explosion, and yet strangely hypnotic and calming with the central force pulling the viewer into a rainbow of saturated color. Apfelbaum describes her work as, "...hybrid works, poised between painting and sculpture; works not so much attempting to invent new categories but working promiscuously and improperly -poaching - in fields seemingly already well defined."

The late Ken Price

This guys stuff is pretty funky, but I really like it.  Its gross and cute at the same time. It can look like any number of things, its like an ink blot test that sets you up for failure. I love the way he painted each sculpture in a way that is reminiscent of quarts and stone, and incredibly detailed.  These pieces are non-representational, organic, whimsical, and silly.  I can imagine each piece having its own personality: sensuous, lazy, goofy, motherly, shy, etc. (maybe the classic 1990's film "Flubber" is influencing my perception). 

Ken Price began making art for quite some time, since the late 1950's in fact.  He recently passed away and his art has been mentioned recently in all of the big art publications. And for good reason other than his passing.  Just looking at his work you can see that it was truly something unique, playful, and important to modern sculpture.




Go-No-Go, 2006
Fired and painted clay
20 1/2" h. x 25" x 14"
Matthew Marks Gallery

Slenderella

Ken Price (American, 1935–2012) 2003. Synthetic polymer paint on fired clay, 21 x 12 3/4 x 13"




Sheree, 2007
Fired and painted clay
10" h. x 11 1/2" x 7"