65th Scripps College Ceramic Annual

I recently visited the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery to view their 65th Ceramics Annual. I expected to just see some pots and maybe some globs of clay representing some abstract form of modern art, but was surprised to see much of the artwork on display used clay as a medium to send messages of historical context. If history is not a motivating factor to get up and see it for yourself, the curator's statement by Adam Davis describes the show by "confronting issues of gender, race, sexuality and the environment."

An exhibit by Katherine L. Ross, Tzetzegov Erasures, 2008 uses porcelain, thermochronic coating, heat pads and photography to depict her research and family connection to the Stalin-era of the USSR. Porcelain plates show quotes from the 1930s interrogation of Tzetzegov Mikhail Petrovich and his role in crimes against humanity, which he was sentenced to death by a firing squad, but was later exonerated posthumously.

Another exhibit from Christy Gast, Lady Presidential Candidates Commemorative Plates, 2004/2008, features 18 hand-painted ceramic plates honoring women who have been presidential candidates during the history of the United States. The most recent of course, Hillary Rodham Clinton, but the viewer may be surprised to see historical females as well, such as Charlene Mitchell, a third party candidate of the election of 1968, representing the Communist Party USA.

But if history bores you, and "some abstract form of modern art" is what interests you... no need to worry, they've got some of that, too! The 65th Scripps College Ceramic Annual is FREE to the public and is on display until April 5th, 2009.

Heaven to Hell vs La Pieta

I recently came across this David LaChapelle photo (see above) from his "Heaven to Hell" collection, and realized not only was I looking at an image of Courtney Love (and what I believe is meant to be the late Kurt Cobain), but a depiction of Michelangelo's "La Pieta". 

My first reaction was that LaChappelle wanted to express the intense mourning felt from "La Pieta" but in modern terms, which would apply to Cobain's tragic death and the devastation placed upon Love. Michelangelo's piece is of Mary holding the dead body of her son, Jesus; LaChappelle opted for the same emotion, but with husband and wife. 

LaChappelle was obviously not trying to be subtle with his photography, seeing as there are more than enough biblical references scattered about the background as well as in the focal point of this photo to possibly relate the audience to the familiar characters. "Cobain" carries crucifixion wounds as well as track marks (a reminder of his debilitating drug use); he is also wearing a pair of boxers that have been either trimmed or cut to resemble the simple dressing that Jesus was wearing as he was being crucified. Love is wearing a dress much like that of Mary, and it is blue, the trademark color of the Virgin. The lighting that was used even gives the central characters a sort of "halo". Then there are the background objects like the bible on the floor, the candles, the fish (which is really one of those annoying singing wall fish) and the word "faith" mixed with the bottles of alcohol and the crushed gurney. 

The entire composition of this piece speaks so loudly, one can hardly catch every bit of it with just a glance. I don't take this photo to be sacrilegious or offensive, but simply a different way to relate a past image of pain with a more recent topic. LaChappelle succeeds in putting his own pop culture twist on one of history's most magnificent works of art. 

More on Shepard Fairey "Hope" Poster

To expand upon the previous post about the Shepard Fairey "Hope" poster, I wanted to share a review by Peter Schjeldahl in The New Yorker of Fairey's first retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

Here is a taste:

... with the A.P. seeking compensation for copyright infringement, the artist has sued for a judicial ruling of fair use. This audacious counterattack aside, the general issue is an old story of our litigious republic. Appropriative artists, including David Salle, Jeff Koons, and Richard Prince, have been sued at intervals since Campbell’s soup went after Warhol, in 1962 (but then thought better of it).

As an art maven, I’m for granting artists blanket liberty to play with any existing image. I also realize that it is not going to happen, and I’m bored by the kerfuffle’s rote recurrence, with its all but scripted lines for plaintiff and defendant alike. It is of a piece with Fairey’s energetic but unoriginal enterprise involving a repertoire of well-worn provocations—imitations of Soviet agitprop on shopping bags designed for Saks, to cite one example. Warhol sublimely commodified images of Mao and the hammer and sickle four decades ago, in keeping with an ambition—to infuse subjects and tones of common culture with powers of high art—that has not grown old. Warhol’s revelatory games with the cognitive dissonance between art and commerce have galvanized artists in every generation since. But you can stretch a frisson just so many times before it goes limp. Like the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who included a Louis Vuitton boutique in his Los Angeles retrospective, Fairey reverses a revolution achieved by Warhol, along with Roy Lichtenstein. He embraces a trend in what the critic Dave Hickey has called “pop masquerading as art, as opposed to art masquerading as pop.”

NYLON MAGAZINE

If you aren't familiar with this magazine, get familiar with it! This magazine not only displays new fashions in urban clothing but also has great articles on music and best of all, artists and their work. Every magazine has an article on either new and upcoming artists or those who have been around though you haven't yet heard of. If you guys are thinking that a girl's magazine is not for you,not to worry. Nylon also has a magazine for you! www.nylonguysmag.com Check it out! You can find it at some grocery stores and book stores carry it in their magazine section too. It's great if you want to look up some new artwork and exhibits. 

Hope

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GO SEE ART!

Received the following suggestions from Rebecca Trawick, Director of the Wignall Museum:

There are a number of really interesting, inspiring, smart exhibitions near us that you should all see.

In Claremont, see:
Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Ceramic Annual, Jan. 24 – April 5, 2009 – very interesting use of ceramics and mixed media. Some interesting installation strategies were employed as well.

Montgomery Gallery, Pomona College, Suddenly Where We Live Now, Jan. 24 – April 12, 2009 – again, interesting installation strategies were employed.

Claremont Museum of Art – their exhibitions The Passerby Museum just closed, but I thought it would be of special interest to you. Google it to see if you can find some images. I’m sure they’ll have a new exhibition opening soon as well and everything I’ve seen there has been excellent. Check them out if you haven’t already.

Pitzer College, Lenzer Art Gallery – William Ransom, Jan. 29 – March 27, 2009. He creates meticulously crafted large-scale sculpture using recycled and found wood. Any of you doing installation or sculptural work would be interested in this.

In Riverside:
Saturday night I attended the receptions at UCR/Sweeney Art Gallery and their next-door neighbor, CMP (Contemp Museum of Photography), downtown Riverside. You should check out Kyungmi Shin’s installation at UCR/Sweeney (up through March 28). So should those of you interested in using video. And those of you using sound and/or video should all check out Mediated at the CMP, also up through April 4.

Lastly, Riverside Art Museum – Jeff Soto’s exhibition through February 21. He has a book signing and slide show THIS THURSDAY night from 7:30-9pm at the Riverside Art Museum (RAM). I highly encourage you to attend – you can see an artist who is young talk about his work. Also, the exhibition/installation is incredible.

Why stimulus spending should go to public art

Ben Adler at The Atlantic:

In their search to find programs upon which to rest the complaint that the stimulus bill is too generous, some conservatives have seized upon one of their favorite whipping boys: the arts. "Even [House Republicans] can't quite believe it... $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts," declared Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana).

Pence intended to be ironic about the NEA's role as an engine of economic activity. But he could have been sincere, since his comments were right on the money. Arts are actually a great form of economic investment, particularly public art, and they should be amply funded in the stimulus package. Every year nonprofit arts organizations generate $166.2 billion in economic activity, support 5.7 million jobs, and send almost $30 billion back to government, according to Americans for the Arts. There is hardly a person more likely to go out and spend her stimulus check than a starving artist.

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