Chad Robertson at Sixspace

Does your daily routine sometimes leave you feeling drained and lifeless? Do you feel as if you are mindlessly wandering through life and lack a higher purpose? Do you look and act like a zombie in the morning before that first cup of coffee? Does radiation give you a bloodthirsty lust for human flesh?

If so, you might want to visit Sixspace tonight for the opening reception of Chad Robertson's new oil-on-canvas paintings inspired by the films of George A. Romero, the creator of zombie horror film classics such as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

The process of developing Chad Robertson's paintings involve both a video camera and a computer. By video-taping an interview session he conducts with his subjects and then by selecting subtle, nuanced moments from this interaction (brush of a hand, blinking of an eye), he creates the final version in oil-on-canvas via hand. Through his paintings, Robertson constructs an altered-state of reality whereby these specific moments manifested in one person are depicted in everyday environments such as a grocery store or a line. And, just as the paintings strive to show a truer self in their subjects, the process itself, from physical to digital to physical once more, play its part in finding a deeper sense of significance.

Chad Robertson - Rise
Sixspace
May 27 - June 24, 2006
Reception: Saturday, May 27 from 6-9pm

Rauschenberg is here!

The Rauschenberg Combine Exhibit is finally at MOCA! It opened yesterday (5-21-06) and runs through 09.04.06.

Right now, MOCA has the largest collection of Combines by Rauschenberg, 11 in all. Including Untitled (Man with White Shoes), Factum 1, Coca-Cola Plan, and Interview. This current exhibition features more than 70 Combines created between 1954–1964.

I'm going today (depending on the weather and traffic) to see the exhibit and I'd recomend everyone to do the same. Well, maybe not today, but for sure before the show leaves. :)

Address: 250 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

MUSEUM HOURS
Monday11am–5pm
Tuesday and Wednesday CLOSED
Thursday11am–8pm (5–8pm FREE)
Friday11am–5pm
Saturday and Sunday11am–6pm

General Admission: $8
Students with I.D.: $5
Seniors (65+): $5
Children under 12: Free

Moko

I am especailly fascinated with the tattoo art of the Maori from New Zealand. Moko, as it is called, consists of spiral patterns and curving parallel lines tatooed on the faces of Maori men. In American culture, an entire face covered in tattoos seem so peculiar, but in the Maori culture it signifies status. All high ranking Maori are tattooed; those who are not hold no social status. It is also interesting that during the process, an individual could not be sexually intimate nor eat solid foods. The only way a tattoed individual could eat was through a wooden funnel which liquid food could be poured. It must have taken a while for the moko to heal!

Modern Maya Culture

The practice of growing maize by today's Mayan culture is partially the cause of the deforestation of the rainforest. Maya indians live in poverty although they are a richly religious society of people that live off of their farming. This is a problem for the ecology of Mesoamerica. The precious rainforest and the wildlife that lives there are being burned to death in order that the Maya can continue to produce maize.

In Mesoamerican art and culture maize is a symbolically important crop. It is believed that people were made from maize. The Maize God, the first father of this world and a central figure in the Maya creation story, is depicted in a lot of mesoamerican art. Today the importance of maize and the gods are still recognized and worshipped as a life sustaining crop.

The growing of maize in the current manner is a threat to the furture of endangered species and all the rainforest life. NASA satelites have taken pictures of the rainforests burning, so you can see the devastaion. The Mayan farmers use the slash and burn method for preparing their fields and in the process are destroying the rainforest. Ecologists are finding ways that the Mesoamerican farmers can use nitrogen to enrich the fertility of the soil so they do not need to cut down more acres of the forest.

The rainforests are being sacraficed at a fast rate to support the economy of the Central American Mayan tribes. Techniques to stop the deforestation of the rainforst should be more quikly put into practice to stop the devastation and give the tribes an economy supported in another way. There is so much money in the world. The tribes need new ways of supporting their familes and new sources of food beyond their maize crops.

Sarah Gordon

source:
Mesoamerica Burning
By Science @ NASA
Mar 20, 2006, 19:11 PST.

In the eye of the beholder

From The Breeze:

Since the DADA era, a time where artists were revolting against the more traditional art forms, several artists, including those on campus, have followed in their footsteps by creating their own forms of installation art.

"The main point of this artwork is to get it out of the museum and out into the world so people can see them," art professorJan Raithel said. "Even if students who see the art don't call it art, it doesn't matter. The point is just to put out art work that interrupts the viewers day in some positive way."

The two classes that were given the assignment of installation art were Art 8, Contemporary Media, Art and Visual Language, taught by Cynde Miller, and Art 12, Fundamentals of Design in Three Dimensions, taught by Raithel.

Read more...

CAHA Elections

The next Chaffey Art History Association meeting is Thursday, May 18 at 4:00 PM in the Student Activities office.

We will be electing officers for the 2006-2007 academic year.
Please send nominations for officers to ChaffeyAHA@mac.com

This is a great opportunity for all of you art lovers to get some leadership and organization experience. This looks really good on college admission and scholarship applications :)

Following the meeting the Art Department student recognition awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 18 at 5:30 PM at the Wignall Museum (on the patio).

Art-o-mat

I was thinking about some of the works currently on display as part of the 2006 Student Invitational at the Wignall Museum. In particular Alday's approach to distributing his work to the public.

Christopher Alday's readymade inspired projects focus on the seduction of consumption and ownership. He offers tidbits of himself to the viewer to take, enjoy and eventually throw away or forget. Christopher literally excised small pieces of his sketchbooks to create wearable buttons that can be bought by the viewer from an old-fashioned gumball machine. This body of work uncovers Christopher's desire to manipulate, process or transform his environment in little, secret, and personal ways.

This reminded me of Clark Whittington's Art-o-mat.

The year was 1997, the town was Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Whittington was set to have a solo art show at a local cafe, Penny Universitie (now Mary's Of Course Café). This is when Whittington used a recently-banned cigarette machine to create the first Artomat. In June 1997, it was installed, along with 12 of his paintings. The machine sold Whittington's black & white photographs for $1.00 each.

Since that time 82 retired cigarette vending machines have been converted to vend art. The nearest southern California Art-o-mat is located at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Monica Store.

Hmm, Alday is only charging 25 cents for his buttons, looks like he could be asking for more :)

Dora Maar with Cat, $95.2 million

Wednesday Pablo Picasso's painting Dora Maar with Cat sold for 95.2 million dollars at Sotheby's auction house. This came close to breaking the record, which is already held by Picasso. His 1905 Boy with a Pipe remains the most expensive painting sold at auction for 104.2 million dollars in May 2004.

Dora Maar au chat, 1941

Ways to Wear Lipstick

OneLeaf Fine Arts will be holding an exhibition including the
work of several current Chaffey students and alumni.

Artist's Reception
Saturday, May 13, 2006
6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Buffy Cutler
Trisha Gum
Lucinda Luvaas
Jena McRoberts
Melinda Ounanian
Meghan Quinn
Celia Sanchez
Stephanie Schmitz
Brianna Sendziak
Nicole Shibata
Tamsin
Tina Wallin


Show Runs May 13 - June 3, 2006

OneLeaf
153 W. Second St.
Pomona, CA 91766
323-496-1736