Tesserae and I are both on a bit of a break during the summer months. For the first time in a very long time I am not teaching courses over the summer in order to focus my efforts on my research. I'm taking a couple of weeks off to travel through parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras to visit Maya archaeological sites. For the remainder of the summer I'll be completing some much needed writing. See you in the fall. -John
James Owen
National Geographic News
May 29, 2008
Stonehenge stood as giant tombstones to the dead for centuries, new radiocarbon dating suggests.
The site appears to have been intended as a cemetery from the very start, around 5,000 years ago—centuries before the giant sandstone blocks were erected—the new study says.
Sad news.
Prolific and influential American artist Robert Rauschenberg died Monday, May 12th at the age of 82.
A painter, photographer, printmaker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and, in later years, even a composer, Mr. Rauschenberg defied the traditional idea that an artist stick to one medium or style. He pushed, prodded and sometimes reconceived all the mediums in which he worked.
Building on the legacies of Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell and others, he helped obscure the lines between painting and sculpture, painting and photography, photography and printmaking, sculpture and photography, sculpture and dance, sculpture and technology, technology and performance art — not to mention between art and life.
Mr. Rauschenberg was also instrumental in pushing American art onward from Abstract Expressionism, the dominant movement when he emerged, during the early 1950s. He became a transformative link between artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and those who came next, artists identified with Pop, Conceptualism, Happenings, Process Art and other new kinds of art in which he played a signal role.
No American artist, Jasper Johns once said, invented more than Mr. Rauschenberg. Mr. Johns, John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Mr. Rauschenberg, without sharing exactly the same point of view, collectively defined this new era of experimentation in American culture.
Graffiti has been a symbol of urban cities across the United States for over three decades now. The work has always been shunned down as vandalism, or just meaningless junk put on walls by gang members; but if you actually take a long hard look at what most of these individuals do, you would appreciate this amazing art form. Ok, yes, there are those bad apples who mark things up just because, or do it for street gang purposes, but there are hosts of individuals who have a passion for the artistic manner of graffiti. The colors, lines and compositions in these works are amazing. These people are using paint, many times out of a spray can, and applying it to large unpredictable canvasses. That is not by any means easy. It takes skill and hardwork to do one of these extrodanary pieces that range from simple dimension letters that have very impressive color schemes, techniques and mixes, to extremely intricate three-dimensional figures that impress and drop the jaws of the most conservative art critics.
THERE IS THE MOST INTERESTING EXHIBIT AT BOWERS MUSEUM OF CULTURAL ART IN SANTA ANA!!! The Terracotta Army meaning "soldier and horse funerary statues" is an eclectic group of statues ranging from warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians created in 210 BCE. These statues that were made to serve and protect the first Chinese emperor Shi Huang Di of the Quinn empire in his after-life were only recently discovered in 1974 by a group of local farmers who were looking for a water hole around Mt.Li in China (interesting enough the material used for the sculptures was gathered from the same area).
According to some historians it is believed over 700,000 government laborers and craftsman were used to create the sculptures, neo-acropolis, and burial (which has been excavated but unopened). The life-size sculptures which vary in size, hairstyle, and armor according to rank were put together with an incredibly advanced "production line" system that assembled the separate pieces including hands, torso, face, and feet into one mold. The sculpture are within four different pits that were constructed with solid dirt and concrete!
The best thing about this Terracotta army, we Chaffey students don't have to go to China to view the sculptures because the Santa Ana Bowers museum will be having them on display
I read a very interesting article in the Los Angeles Times on a San Quentin State Prison convict turned artist in the 1950's. In 1953 Alberto Santos was incarcerated in San Quentin, during this time an opportunity for inmates to submit mural sketches to cover the cafeteria's wall was administered. Santos submitted his sketches, won the contest, and was commissioned to paint the mural.
The area where the mural was to be painted was originally only one side of the cafeteria but soon after the warden saw his work, he ordered Santos to paint all three side of the room. The 12 by 100 foot mural Santos created is a chronological time line of California history. Depictions of the State's history in a Diego Rivera and Expressionism style includes images of the golden state bridge, Groucho Marx, WWII bombers, and Fransiscan missonaries.
The mural which was done with a sienna raw oil paint in the color red was completed in a two year span and still remains today. Recently Santos was recognized as the artist after years of the murals anomynity. After Santos was recognized as the painter of the mural his paintings which once sold for 50 cents at a garage sell are going for more than 2000 dollars. Sadly this documented history of San Quentin prison and American cultures have endured defacing from younger inmates who have entered the prison and don't feel a connection to the murals, although for decades the mural was highly protected.
QUINTON BEMILLER paintings
MERIEL STERN installation/sculpture
Opening Reception Sat. May 10, 6p-8p
LouWe Gallery, 306 Hawthorne St.
South Pasadena, CA 91030
626 799 5551
Gallery Hours: Thurs., Fri., Sat. 3p-6p;
Sun., 2p-5p; and by appointment.
Please stop by if you can!
Quinton teaches art and art history courses at Chaffey College.
