Category: Roy Lichtenstein

"Eddie Bruckner's Series Of Pop-Art Paintings" Exhibition At The Attleboro Arts Museum

4/27/2022

"Eddie Bruckner's Series Of Pop-Art Paintings" Exhibition was at The Attleboro Arts Museum in April 2022. It featured 6 of Eddie Bruckner's original pop-art paintings, including 2 never before seen paintings, selected by the museum for a solo exhibition in April 2022. An Opening Reception was held on April 9th at the Museum and some photos from the reception are included below.

Eddie Bruckner was also interviewed by DoubleACS TV News about his artwork and his exhibition at the Museum. Below is the interview:

Eddie Bruckner's Limited Edition Prints and Greeting Cards were sold at the Museum's Gift Shop. The exhibit closes on April 30, 2022.

Photos from the Exhibition and Opening Reception, April 9, 2022.

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The Harvard Art Museums

5/20/2018

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I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, MA. I highly recommend you check it out as they have a wonderful and varied collection of artwork from earliest times to the present.

The Harvard Art Museums are actually comprised of three art collections; The Fogg, the Busch-Reisinger, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. The three were combined in a beautiful space designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The Museum's literature stated that it is their hope that their collections and unique spaces inspire new ways of looking and thinking about art for all visitors.

I started out off the main atrium to explore the European Art of the 19th and 20th Century and the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries.

I came across this painting to the right by Paul Cezanne called, "Study of Trees." It is oil on canvas and is from the early 20th Century. When I think of Cezanne, I often think of impressionism, delightful landscapes, or beautiful bowls of fruit! This painting demonstrated Cezanne's role in connecting 19th Century Impressionism to 20th Century Cubism. I love how the trees are represented here because he was able to depict depth using diagonal shapes and brushstrokes that hint at movement and depth. There are dashed lines that define the tree trunks on both sides of a country road. It's no wonder why Harvard has this painting as part of its collection; Although it's not as well-known as Van Gogh's "Starry Night" or Monet's "Waterlilies," it's one of the most important paintings from this time period and the history of abstract painting.

Pablo Picasso's "Still Life with Inkwell" Oil on Canvas, c. 1911-1912. Picasso applied cubism to the traditional still life.

Pablo Picasso's "The Pomegranate" Oil on Canvas, 1911-1912.

Here is Willem de Kooning's 1937-1938 Oil on Masonite painting titled, "Untitled (The Cow Jumps Over The Moon). I learned that de Kooning was trained as a commercial artist and his artistic styles move back and forth between abstract and figurative methods. This painting below is one of his earlier works, which reminds me of Joan Miro's work to some degree. His later artwork, for which he is more well-known, is more gestural and epitomizes the abstract expressionism movement.

Georgia O'Keefe, "Red and Pink" Oil on Canvas, 1925. Perhaps an abstraction of flower petals.

Vincent Van Gogh's "The Blind Man" Watercolor on paper mounted on canvas, 1903.

Joan Miro in his painting to the right titled, "Mural" made in 1935 plays with the idea of surrealism. Animal-like figures are seen here on an oddly shaped background with areas of pure, flat color.

If you haven't seen my blog on Barcelona Art, there is a ton I included on my visit to the Joan Miro Museum. Click Here to read my blog on Barcelona Art!

You wouldn't know it based on the type of artwork he became famous for, but the painting below is by the artist, Roy Lichtenstein. "The Capture of Roanoke Island" was painted in 1953, well before he developed his pop art comic-book style of art.

I came across several sculptures by the artist David Smith. For those of you who read my blog about the Downtown Art Scene in Los Angeles, I included a David Smith sculpture. You can read it HERE!

I learned that due to a generous donor, the Harvard Art Museums have the largest and most complete collection of David Smith's artwork than any other museum in the world. David Smith lived in Indiana and Vermont and although he began his career as a painter, he created many many sculptures. In the photo to the right, Smith's sculpture, "Flight" that was created in 1951 and depicts birds in flight. What's interesting is his use of both welding steel and casting bronze, and his process to paint the former and patina-ting the latter.

David Smith's "Detroit Queen" Bronze, 1957.

David Smith's "Doorway on Wheels" Steel with Paint, 1960.

Three Untitled works of art by David Smith created in 1959.

David Smith's "Birthday" 1954, "Books and Apple" 1957, and "Bird" 1957. All Sterling Silver.

I stared at this painting below "Grazing Horses IV (The Red Horses), painted in 1911 by Franz Marc for quite a long time. Not because I love horses, but rather it struck me as fascinating. Franz Marc painted horses a lot, and was known for his preoccupation with animals. I learned that this particular painting was actually his first work of art to enter a museum's collection, the same year it was made. What struck me was his use of unnatural colors in a very natural scene. It's hard to see in the photo, but I was intrigued with the use of bright red in only one or two spots on the horses.

Here to the right is one of my favorites... Piet Mondrian's "Composition with Blue, Black, Yellow, and Red," painted in 1922. Many people have commented that much of my own artwork reminds them of Mondrian's artwork. In this blog article from the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, I discuss this in greater length. CLICK HERE to read that blog article!

Claude Monet's "Red Boats, Argenteuil" Oil on Canvas, 1875. This painting is notable because x-rays of this painting show that Monet reworked this painting a few times.

Georges Pierre Seurat, "Seated Figures, Study for A Sunday Afternoon On The Island of La Grande Jatte" Oil on Panel. 1884-1885. This is one of about 30 oil studies made in preparation for his masterpiece.

Henri Matisse, "Geraniums" Oil on Canvas, 1910.

Max Beckman's self-portrait in 1927, "Self-Portrait in Tuxedo" Oil on Canvas.

Gustav Klimt's "Pear Tree, 1903, later reworked by the artist. Interesting to note that Klimt chose to use a square canvas, which at the time was not typically used for landscapes.

In the Foreground, Alexander Calder's "Little Blue Under Red" c. 1950 Painted Steel.

Three Sculptures: "Head of a Woman" by Aristide Maillol; Degas' "Grande Arabesque, Third Time, modeled c 1885-90, cast after 1920; and Charles Despiau's "Seated Man, Statue for the Monument to Emile Mayrisch" c. 1930.

To the Right:
Jackson Pollock's "No. 2" mixed Media on Canvas, 1950.

No 2 is an example of Pollock's fully developed paint-pouring/splatter-painting/dripping techniques.

He put raw, un-stretched canvas on the floor and worked from above, pouring, dripping, flicking, and spraying paint onto the surface of the canvas. The movement shown here is a record of his bodily movements as he produced the painting.

Franz Kline's "High Street" Oil on Canvas, 1950. It's made with House-painters' brushes and inexpensive enamel house-paint.

Mark Rothko's "Untitled" Oil on Canvas, 1947. A precursor to his well-known, iconic style, of two or three tiers of brightly colored rectangles.

Below is Jasper johns' "The Dutch Wives", encaustic on canvas, created in 1975. If you haven't read my blog article on the Jasper johns retrospective exhibition at The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, you can find it HERE.

Josef Albers' work here below shows his thought process of how art is a type of research. With the same format of squares within squares, he tested a vast array of color combinations; He took all this research and theoretical findings to publish his book in 1963, "Interaction of Color," which is an essential resource for art and design students to this day.

Josef Albers: "Homage to the Square: Against Deep Blue" 1955 and "Homage to the Square: Four Greens" 1964. Both Oil on Masonite.

Auguste Rodin's "the Walking Man" Bronze, created around 1899-1900.

Above is Richard Serra's "Untitled (Corner Prop Piece) created in 1969. It's a sculpture comprised of a lead plate and pole and an example of minimalism and the use of industrial materials in fine art. Serra makes use of the room's architecture including the walls and floor, essential to the sculpture.

Claude Monet's "Red Mullets" Oil on Canvas, painted around 1870. I love this painting as it's so different from a typical Monet landscape, or waterlilies painting.

Here are three painting studies by John Singleton Copley, all painted in 1787. I learned that the city of London commissioned the artist to create a large painting commemorating Britain's victory over the Spanish and French at the Siege of Gibraltar in 1782. These portraits are character studies and experiments of his in composition. Looking at this from a contemporary art perspective, I love how the portraits are "unfinished."

Below is a wonderful painting from a German artist that I was unfamiliar with named Corinne Wasmuht. It is titled, "50 U Heinrich-Heine-Str." oil on wood and created in 2009. The painting is a portrayal of Berlin's Heinrich Heine Street subway station and its surrounding neighborhood. It's hard to tell scale from photographs, but this is a huge painting and it's scale immerses the viewer, but the paintings various perspective points and different scales of objects also disorient the viewer. It's really a magnificent painting and I can see why it was gifted to Harvard's Busch-Reisinger Museum.

Ai Weiwei's "258 Fake" created in 2011 features 12 monitors that show 7,677 photographs taken between 2003 and 2011

Below are some fascinating samples taken from the Forbes Pigment Collection. Edward Forbes was the director of the Harvard Art Museums from 1909 to 1944. During his tenure, he traveled the world, collecting a large number of pigments for the library. Today, the Pigment Collection contains more than 2,500 samples that are beautifully displayed in cabinets on the 4th floor and are used to this day to help identify pigments used in historical artworks.

I came across this wonderful, short video on the Forbes Pigment Collection that was created about 2 years ago. Check it out!

Inventur--Art in Germany, 1943-55

The special exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums was titled, "Inventur--Art in Germany, 1943-55" and focuses on modern-period artists who remained in Germany during World War II and the Holocaust. The exhibit runs through June 3, 2018 on the 3rd Floor of the Museum.

The artwork in the exhibition is in some way, a representation of the individual artist's response to Nazi censure, which prevented artists from exhibiting and/or selling their artwork. I found it fascinating that the exhibition was called Inventur, meaning inventory, because it is a collection of the artist experience for over 50 artists.

With Hitler's rise to power, there was a major government-driven effort to align individuals and organizations with the doctrine of the Nazi State. Many teaching artists lost their jobs. The well-known art school, The Bauhaus School of Art and Design, was closed under Nazi Rule. Artwork that was not approved of by the Nazi State was coined "Degenerate Artwork." If artists chose not to leave Germany or were not permitted to leave Germany, they had no choice but to create art privately.

Hans Uhlmann's "Male Head" Steel sheet, 1942.

Ernst Wilhelm Nay's "Embers" Oil on Canvas, 1951.

Thomas Grochowiak's "Technical District I, Blue" Oil on Canvas, 1951.

Jeanne Mammen's "Falling Facades (Berlin Ruins), oil on cardboard, 1945-1946.

Konrad Klapheck's "Typewriter" Oil on Canvas, 1955.

Fritz Winter's, "Figuration in Front of Blue" Oil on Canvas, 1953.

Willi Baumeister's "Large Montaru" Oil with synthetic resin on board, 1953.

Willi Baumeister's "Growth of the Crystals II" Oil with resin and putty on board, 1947/1952.

For more information about The Harvard Art Museums, please visit their website: www.harvardartmuseums.org. I definitely recommend visiting the Museum as you're in for a wonderful experience!

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Downtown Los Angeles-An Arts Destination

4/3/2018

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It's been many years since I've lived in Los Angeles, but I was amazed on how much has changed over the past 20 years in Los Angeles's Downtown area. I decided to spend the day visiting some of Downtown LA's art museums. I really wanted to see one of LA's newest art museum, The Broad. I also wanted to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art, also located in Downtown LA. What I discovered was that Downtown Los Angeles has become a true Arts Destination in recent years! In this blog, I'll share my thoughts and experiences at these museums as well as some amazing architecture in the area.

Check out some of my other posts about Los Angeles!

The Museum of Contemporary Art is actually comprised of three locations. The first is the MOCA Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood; the second is the MOCA on Grand Avenue; and the newest location is the Geffen Contemporary. There is actually a fourth location in Nevada. Yes! Nevada. The artist, Michael Heizer's artwork titled, "Double Negative" is a work of land art located in the Moapa Valley on Mormon Mesa near Overton, Nevada and was acquired into MOCA's permanent collection in 1985. If the artist's name rings a bell, it's because I recently wrote about his other monumental piece of artwork at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; CLICK HERE TO READ THE BLOG ARTICLE. I should note that time didn't permit me to visit the Pacific Design Center, or the Geffen Contemporary (or visit Nevada), so this post will only include my visit to the MOCA on Grand Avenue. I also visited the Broad Museum (Read On & See Below.) The Geffen Contemporary is just a 15-20 minute walk from MOCA Grand and admission to one museum grants you admission to the other museum.

"Cubi III" by David Smith, Stainless Steel, 1961.

I really like Lee Krasner's artwork on so many levels. I love the emotion, and appreciate the influence Jackson Pollock had on her work, and vice versa. Krasner's oil on canvas painting shown here, "Primeval Resurgence" was on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Grand Avenue. Painted in 1961, it is a wonderful example of abstract expressionism. The painting attempts to define itself through the brushstrokes as a direct expression of the artist's innermost feelings. Similar to Jackson Pollock's techniques of drips and splatters, the paint in "Primeval Resurgence" includes streaks, scribbles, sprayed paint, etc. Also important to note is the large size of the painting, the fact that the paint goes to all edges of the canvas, and the focus is on a singular plane, the flat surface of the painting.

Lee Krasner's "Primeval Resurgence" Oil on Canvas, 1961.

Alberto Giacometti's "Tall Figure II" & "Tall Figure III", both bronze made in 1960.

"Monitor" Oil on Canvas, 1956, by Franz Kline

Franz Kline created gestural compositions, as shown here in these two works of art. These are wonderful examples of the bold, free-form gestures and compositions associated with abstract expressionism. I learned that while these paintings seem very improvised, Kline created these artworks after perfecting dozens of preparatory sketches for each painting.

"Black Iris" Oil on Canvas, 1961, by Franz Kline

"3 Arbes (Chataignier) Empaquets (Projet pour la Fondation Maeght-St. Paul de Vence)" Pencil, Polyethylene, ropes, twine, cardboard, paint, and wax crayon mounted on wood, 1967, by Christo.

"Pepsi-Cola Sign" Muslin soaked in plaster over wire frame, painted with enamel, 1961, by Claes Oldenburg.

"White Cigarette" Oil on Canvas, 1961, by James Rosenquist.

Andy Warhol ranks pretty high up among my favorite artists. Here is "Telephone" painted in 1961; it is Acrylic on Canvas with pencil. I love how it is such a modern take on a very old-fashioned, antique telephone. Below is Warhol's painting, "Flowers" from 1964. He created these flowers using a synthetic polymer and silkscreen inks on canvas. I'm including a close up shot of the edge of the painting because I found it kind of amusing to see the exposed staples used to secure the canvas to the stretcher bars along the side of the canvas. For my artwork, I go to great length to use back-stapled canvas, and pay particular attention to the finished gallery-wrapped edges, making sure they are neat, clean, and professional.

Jim Dine's "Drag - Johnson and Mao", Etching, 1967.

The MOCA on Grand Avenue housed an entire gallery room with Mark Rothko paintings. While I can appreciate Rothko's artwork and acknowledge its importance in art history, his paintings are not my favorite. I do love all the colors, and I also love the shapes, however, there is ambiguity, blurring of lines, that doesn't hit me the right way. Rothko wanted viewers to stand close to his paintings to see the vertically stacked bands of color seem to float upon colored grounds.

I'm a fan of Morris Louis who created many paintings similar to this one shown here titled, "Pillar of Delay" painted in 1961. Louis stained his canvases with thinned-down paint and opted to paint without the use of the traditional brush, palette, and easel. Instead, he used gravity as his instrument to create his masterpieces. He created these striped pictures by pouring streaks of diluted paint fro the top of raw, un-primed canvas to create bands or stripes of color that often overlapped each other. Looking at his artwork, you can almost feel a sense of slow motion.

In the artwork below and the detail to the right, the artist, Joseph Kosuth, used etched aluminum.

Ed Ruscha's "Fountain, Sunset, Hollywood" Acrylic on Canvas, 1999.

This large painting on two panels is by the artist, Njideka Akunyili Crosby. It's called "Garden, Thriving" and was completed in 2016. Her artwork was quite fascinating to see in person and I've included a detailed photograph of the two-panel painting. Originally from Nigeria, the artist layers photographic imagery within the chairs' fabric and the plant leaves. The images are pictures of Nigerian pop stars, models, military dictators, celebrities, and the artist's own personal photographs. To create this artwork, she uses acrylic paint, transfers, colored pencils, and collage on paper. There is so much to see in this painting, you could look at it for 10-20 minutes, or longer!

I should also mention that the mural that is wrapped around the exterior of the museum is by this same artist!

I love Jackson Pollock's work. The exhibit at the MOCA Grand was centered around the conservation process for Pollock's "Number 1, 1949". The painting was donated to the museum in 1989. I learned that over time, the painting's surface has accumulated a layer of dust, dulling the colors, discoloring the raw exposed canvas, and spoiling the unique juxtaposition of matte colors against glossy colors. During the course of the exhibition, a conservator cleans the painting on a regular basis. Although my visit was on a day that the conservator was not there, it was still fascinating to see an exhibition for the public to understand the importance of conservation. On select Thursdays, the conservator leads a Q&A session with the public from 11:30 am-12 pm and 5:30-6 pm.

Three other works by Jackson Pollock from MOCA’s permanent collection, were also on view. These were great examples of the diversity and range of materials Pollock used in his artwork from watercolor to collage.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California
This building is simply spectacular. Frank Ghery is one of my favorite architects and this is a perfect example of why that's the case. (In addition to all the awards he has won for his incredible architectural design). Frank Gehry was asked to devise a new home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Walt Disney Concert Hall opened in 2003. Reflecting Gehry’s longtime passion for sailing, the structure’s exterior features are expanses of stainless steel that hover above Grand Avenue. Frank Gehry has devoted his career to disrupt the very meaning of design within architecture. From the iconic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, and now the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Frank Gehry has proven time and again the beautiful magic of his whimsical, cutting-edge design.

The Broad Museum
My visit to the Broad Museum was absolutely incredible. First the architecture of the building is superb, and second the permanent collection on view was perhaps one of the best collections of representative work from the post-modern and contemporary art periods. And on top of that, there was an incredible in-depth retrospective exhibit of Jasper Johns' artwork. There's so much to include in this blog it is crazy!

The Broad is one of the finest contemporary art museums I have ever visited. Founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, the museum houses more than 2,000 works of art and holds one of the most prominent collections of postwar and contemporary art worldwide.

The Broad's third floor galleries show a rotating selection of artwork and, best of all, it is free! The first floor galleries are for special exhibitions, like the Jasper Johns exhibit "Something Resembling Truth" that runs through May 13, 2018.

So let's talk about the beautifully designed building... It's often called "The Veil and the Vault" because the building has gallery space as well as an extensive storage facility. In contrast with the neighboring Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Broad was designed to be porous and absorptive. There are wonderful olive trees that were planted in the plaza next to the museum.

There were a number of artworks by Jeff Koons at The Broad. "Balloon Dog (Blue)" is perhaps one of his series of works that is most famous. The artwork is made of stainless steel and wights 2,000 pounds. It was created as part of his Celebration Series, a group of paintings and sculptures that memorialize rituals, icons, and images related to birthdays, holidays, and other celebratory parties or occasions.

View of Jeff Joons' "Rabbit" with Balloon Dog and inside view of the architectural framework of the building.

"Michael Jackson and Bubbles" by Jeff Koons, Porcelain, 1988.

"Tulips" by Jeff Koons

The artwork below is by the artist Mark Bradford and is titled, "Yellow Bird", 2012. It is Mixed Media Collage On Canvas. When it comes to his process, it is quite fascinating. Bradford takes papers and layers it down on canvas. He sands it down, revealing various layers. His work frequently looks like a map looking down from above. He tries to give you an idea of a place without telling you specifically where. Bradford represented the United States at the Venice Biennale and worked with women in a Venice prison to help them create products to sell to earn money.

This Silkscreen on Linen is by artist, Christopher Wool. Untitled, 2015.

"Red Room" by Keith Haring. Acrylic on Canvas, 1988.

Another work by Keith Haring. "Untitled, 1984" Acrylic on four Muslin Panels.

Jean-Michel Basquiat uses bold colors and expressive markings to show emotion and energy in his artwork. Many of his paintings are autobiographical. I learned that his painting is supposed to resemble a self-portrait and at the same time, a skull-mask.

"Untitled, 1981" by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Acrylic and Oilstick on Canvas

"Under The Table" by artist Robert Therrien is gigantic replica of his kitchen table. I learned that even the distressed parts of the table and chairs are the same. He is known for using memories from his childhood to create his artwork. Visitors often walk under the table, which conjures memories of what it was like to do so as a child.

Mark Tansey, Wake" 2003, Oil on Canvas.

The artwork below is by artist Takashi Murakami, titled "Hustle 'N' Punch By Kaikai And Kiki".

The artist uses cute characters to express the entire range of possible emotions; almost like a variety of emojis.

Roy Lichtenstein is one of my all-time favorite pop artists. He was one of the founders of Pop Art in the 1960s and used tiny dots in his artwork, similar to the printing style of comic-books. The dots were placed in such a way to create an image, imitating the way comic-books and newspapers were printed.

"Live Ammo (Bang)" 1962, Oil and Magna on Canvas, by Roy Lichtenstein

"Interior With African Mask" by Roy Lichtenstein, Oil and Magna on Canvas, 1991.

"Mirror #1" by Roy Lichtenstein, Oil and Magna on Canvas, 1969

"Reflections on 'Interior with Girl Drawing'," 1990, Oil and Magna on Canvas by Roy Lichtenstein.

In addition to borrowing or seeking inspiration from newspaper ads, commercials, and comic books, Roy Lichtenstein also was inspired by some of his favorite artists like Picasso and Mondrian. See the two images below.

"Non-Objective I" 1964, Oil and Magna on Canvas, by Roy Lichtenstein

"Femme d'Alger" 1963, Oil on Canvas, by Roy Lichtenstein

Here is a sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein, "Goldfish Bowl" created in 1977. It is painted and patinated bronze. On the right is a detailed view, showing that the sculpture is very two-dimensional, despite it looking 3-D.

"Rouen Cathedral, Set 3" 1968-69, Oil and Magna on Five Canvas Panels, by Roy Lichtensttein. These Paintings were inspired by Claude Monet's famous paintings of Rouen Cathedral. Unlike Monet, Lichtenstein did not paint the Cathedrals on-site.

I always love seeing paintings by Chuck Close. Chuck Close is known for his detailed paintings of faces, and later he was known for the deconstruction of that detailed portraiture. He explores portraiture and created this photo-realist painting called "John", painted in 1971-72. I included a detailed shot showing the incredible painting technique.

Robert Rauschenberg, "Untitled" 1963, Oil and Silkscreen on Canvas.

Edward Ruscha, "Norm's La Cienega, on Fire" 1964.

John Baldessari, "Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell" 1966-68, Acrylic on Canvas. John Baldessari never touched this painting, didn't paint it, didn't write the text. Here, it's the role of the artist as the facilitator of the artwork; creating the concept. The humor is that the view is shown the paintings message, but the message is text taken from an art magazine with tips on what art should be.

Another one of my all-time favorite artists is Andy Warhol. A short time after Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, Andy Warhol started to create silkscreen images of Marilyn. I learned that Warhol had recently just learned how to silkscreen, so this was a somewhat new process for him! In the painting above, titled, "Two Marilyns" created in 1962, Warhol captures the terrible fact of Marilyn's death, as if he was reporting the news. With silkscreens, the images deteriorate with each printing, which I believe is symbolic of her presence and then her fading into history with her death. It can also be interpreted as the volatility of fame and celebrity. I'm not sure how many versions of "Two Marilyns" were created, but I learned that the one pictured above from The Broad Museum was the 27th version of the silkscreen created.

Two of Warhol's Cambell's Soup Cans and "Single Elvis" Silkscreen ink and spray paint on linen, 1963.

"Twenty Jackies" Silkscreen Ink on Linen, 1964, by Andy Warhol.

Ellsworth Kelly worked with shapes and solid colors. The painting below, "Green Blue Red" created in 1963, uses colors and shapes to create contrast and bring attention to edges. In the above image on the left, the green rectangle and blue oval are vibrantly displayed against the red background. His composition almost goes against the principal of design of balance. Below, Kelly's oil on canvas painting, "Green Relief with Blue" was completed in 2011. It's actually two conjoined canvases and I've posted the photo of the same painting as seen from different angles. It almost acts like a 2 dimensional painting trying to be a sculpture, with different views from different angles.

Jasper Johns: "Something Resembling Truth"
A Special Exhibition at The Broad (Through May 13, 2018)

While The Broad Museum's main collection has free admission, this special exhibition required a special ticket with a timed entry. The exhibit was one of the best I've ever seen. The exhibit covered over 6 decades of artistic achievement from this iconic American artist. The comprehensive exhibit features more than 120 extraordinary paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures, by Jasper Johns and draws upon works from within The Broad's permanent collection as well as from loans from over 50 international public and private sources.

The imagery he used in his artwork were common items such as American flags, numbers, letters, targets, and light bulbs. Perhaps Johns’ most famous painting, "Flag (1954–55)" and is a fairly accurate representation of the American flag, in encaustic on collaged paper and fabric.

In the 1950s, Jasper Johns' flags, targets, letters, and numbers created a new artistic vocabulary. They were actual things that represented something. If you think about it, you can identify states on his maps, aim something at his targets, and say the "Pledge of Allegiance" to the flag. Jasper Johns was successful at using recognizable signs and symbols to make the familiar unfamiliar.

When I reflect on some of my own artwork, I too employ these same principals. Here is some of my artwork that also make you look closely at something you already know.

"American Flag" Acrylic on Canvas by Eddie Bruckner

"AABCDEEF" Acrylic on Canvas by Eddie Bruckner

"10,9,8,7,6" Acrylic on Canvas by Eddie Bruckner

"5,4,3,2,1" Acrylic on Canvas by Eddie Bruckner

The American Flad is a geometric composition that has a strong sentimental and patriotic value in society. Jasper Johns' flags ofent trick the eye, or blur the lines between perception, reality, and illusion.

"Two Flags," 1959, Acrylic on Canvas, by Jasper Johns

Detail of "Two Flags," 1959, Acrylic on Canvas, by Jasper Johns

"Three Flags," 1958, Encaustic on Canvas, by Jasper Johns. (On loan from The Whitney Museum of American Art). Shows how the size of objects impacts perception.

"White Flag," 1960, Oil and Newspaper over Lithograph, by Jasper Johns

I absolutely love this painting shown here below. The flags here are presented so that the viewer can experience an optical illusion. If you stare at the white dot for several seconds and then stare at the black dot on the gray flag below, you will experience an amazing illusion. The green, black, and orange colors generate their complementary colors of red, white, and blue in your eyes. Try it yourself! It works from the photograph here too!

"Flags," 1965, Oil on Canvas with Object, by Jasper Johns.

"Gray Alphabets," 1956, Encaustic and Collage on Canvas, by Jasper Johns

"Numbers" 1960-71, Ten Lithographs reworked with acrylic paint and oil paint, fabric, paper collage, and felt pen, by Jasper Johns

"Target" 1961, Encaustic and Collage on Canvas, by Jasper Johns

Detail of "Target" 1961, Encaustic and Collage on Canvas, by Jasper Johns

"Map" 1962-63, Encaustic and Collage on Canvas, by Jasper Johns. He used brushmarks to render the map of the United States of America, complete with abstract drips, scrapes, gestures, and a stenciled label for each state.

"Numbers" 2007 (Cast 2008), Aluminum, by Jasper Johns. This is a full-scale replica of the work that was commissioned for the NY State Theater at Lincoln Center in 1964. Below are detailed shots.

"Star" 1954, Encaustic and Collage on Canvas with Glass and Painted Wood, by Jasper Johns

"False Start" 1959, Oil on Canvas, by Jasper Johns. This painting demonstrates the shift from a more constrained approach to artwork, to a more open and gestural approach. He uses stencils (like in my paintings above!).

"Between The Clock And The Bed" 1981, Oil on Three Canvas Panels, by Jasper Johns

LEFT: "Corpse and Mirror II" 1974-75, Oil and Sand on Canvas, by Jasper Johns; and RIGHT: "Dancers on a Plane" 1980, Oil on Canvas with Painted Bronze Frame, by Jasper Johns. Detail is to the Right.

Jasper Johns began to incorporate objects and tools used in his artwork directly into the artwork's creation. Things like paintbrushes, color charts, and rulers. In the painting below, the "R" of "Red" is a neon light and wooden letters protrude outward from the canvas.

"Field Painting" 1963-64, Oil on Canvas with Objects, by Jasper Johns. Detailed, Side view is shown on the right.

"Bridge," 1997, Oil on Canvas with Objects, by Jasper Johns.

I highly recommend you to experience the Jasper John Exhibit if you can!

Also on the first floor was a very unique art installation by artist, Yayoi Kusama, titled "Infinity Mirrored Room--The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away." It is a mirror-lined room that includes LED lights that reflect endlessly in the mirrored space. It doesn't sound like much, but it is quite amazing to see. You need a separate timed ticket, which is free, and only one person can enter the room at a time for a duration of 45 seconds.

As you can see, the Broad Museum is quite an amazing experience. I highly recommend you visit The Broad in Los Angeles and experience the art scene in Downtown LA. For more information about The Broad, please visit their website: www.thebroad.org

Check out some of my other posts about Los Angeles!

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The Los Angeles County Museum Of Art-LACMA

4/1/2018

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The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA, is the largest art museum in the Western United States. LACMA boasts a permanent collection of over 130,000 pieces of art. There are various buildings to explore as well as outdoor areas with sculpture. It is located adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits, so you can perhaps schedule a visit to both for the same day. It's also a block away from the Peterson Automotive Museum.

At the time of my visit, a number of exhibitions were turning over, so I was only able to see a small sampling of what LACMA has to offer. For visitors information, please check their website: www.lacma.org/.

Here's a photo of me at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in front of Chris Burden's sculpture, "Urban Light" installed in 2008. Burden restored over 200 cast-iron streetlamps to create this work of art. Burden was fascinated with urban life and how streetlamps are one of the fundamental building blocks of an urban metropolis. I found it interesting that the streetlamps were recently converted to LEDs, reducing the installations's annual energy consumption by 90%. The conversion to LEDs was funded by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation this year. Chris Burden was commissioned by Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum to create a similarly themed sculpture. You can see it by CLICKING HERE in an older blog article about the Rose Art Museum.

Chis Burden's "Metropolis II" depicts an urban landscape. Burden created "Metropolis I" seven years before "Metropolis II". The earlier work featured eighty Hot Wheels cars zooming around a model city. This work is much larger and includes 1,100 custom designed cars, 18 highways, and a vast array of buildings and structures. The artwork runs on select days and times, so plan ahead!

Jeff Koon's, "Balloon Monkey (Orange)", Mirror-Polished Stainless Steel with Transparent Color Coating, 2006-13. This is one of five unique versions.

Richard Serra's "Band" is a massive sculpture that fills a huge exhibition hall from top to bottom, from front to back. The sculpture took two and a half years to develop. Made from over 200 tons of steel, it measures 12 feet high and over 70 feet in length.

Below are two views of the same sculpture, titled "Phoenix" by Alexander Liberman, created in 1974-75. I love how a different view of this sculpture creates an entirely new image, a new feeling, a new perspective.

"Levitated Mass" (Shown below) was conceived by artist, Michael Heizer, in 1969, but only realized in 2012. "Levitated Mass" is a 456-foot-long concrete pathway, over which sits a 340-ton granite boulder. As you walk down the pathway, it descends to fifteen feet in depth, directly underneath the massive boulder before ascending back up.

Below are two views of the same Alexander Calder sculpture created in 1964 titled, "Three Quintains (Hello Girls)." It is made from sheet metal and paint with motor. To me, it appeared to be moved by the wind, but apparently it has a motor that moves the mobile sculpture.

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Barcelona Art

4/18/2017

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The art of Barcelona is in one word, spectacular. I can't recall ever being on a 10 day vacation with every single day including fascinating art museums, unique architecture, and breathtaking public art. With so much art to talk about in this blog article, I've structured it into 3 parts.

Part 1: Barcelona Architecture

One cannot talk about Barcelona's architecture without mentioning Antoni Gaudi. Part of the Modernista movement of the late 19th Century, Antoni Gaudi is Barcelona's most famous architect. Almost anywhere you look in Barcelona, Gaudi had some part in its creation, from the houses, apartment buildings, churches, sidewalks, parks, and even the city benches lining the streets. In Modernism, nature was a huge element present in decorative motifs as well as present in the actual architectural structure of Gaudi's buildings. Below are some of Gaudi's masterpieces, but there are dozens of others throughout Barcelona to visit and experience.

Casa Batllo
I really enjoyed seeing Casa Batllo, which is situated on a main street in the heart of Barcelona. Mosaic is everywhere. The Chimneys of the building are works of art. The roof is representational of a dragon's back. The exterior facade demonstrates Gaudi's expert use of texture and color. Below are some photos of the exterior of the building as well as the interior. The sidewalk tiles as shown in the photos below line the streets and feature an underwater, marine-life motif.

Sagrada Familia
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia is innovative and highly symbolic. The architect's objective was to explain the teachings of the Church through sculpture and architecture. Following Gaudi's death, work on the Sagrada Familia continues to be carried out by collaborating architects and artists. The project is expected to be complete by 2026, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

The stained glass windows were perhaps one of the most beautiful aspects of the Sagrada Familia. The colors were so vivid and bright.

Gaudi designed this streetlamp along with a few similar ones that are located throughout Barcelona.

Park Guell
Park Guell is another one of Gaudi's masterpieces. It was build between 1900 and 1914. It was opened as a public park where Gaudi let his imagination run wild with his incredible use of mosaics throughout the park. Below are some photos of Park Guell. The mosaic work is unbelievable and reminds me very much of the mosaic illusion that I paint in many of my own paintings.

La Pedrera
La Pedrera is also known as Casa Mila. It was completed in 1912 as an apartment building. There are curved walls that seemingly defy the laws of gravity. The rooftop is amazing at night and includes all of Gaudi's architectural trademarks. Bricks in the attic create arched ceilings and are uniquely used using the log side of the brick, which also features the brick-maker's fingerprints. There are terrific wrought iron balconies and exquisite ceramic mosaics. I highly recommend visiting La Pedrera by booking a night tour, which includes a full tour of the building and a surreal visual light display on the rooftop under the stars, followed by a champagne toast and cookies!

Although my time in Barcelona didn't permit me to visit the Palau Guell, I should mention that it is an excellent example of one of Antonio Gaudi's early architectural masterpieces. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a magnificent example of domestic architecture in the context of Art Nouveau and one of the first important commissions Gaudi received at the start of his career. It is located just steps away from La Rambla, not far from La Boqueria.

Part 2: Barcelona's Art Museums and Fine Art

A Guide to Visiting Barcelona's Museums:
If you plan to visit Barcelona, I highly recommend purchasing the Barcelona Museum Pass, also known as an art passport from ArtTicket BCN, which will give you access to six Barcelona museums, including the ability to skip the lines. The Passport give you access to the Picasso Museum (Museu Picasso), the Joan Miro Museum (Fundacio Joan Miro), the National Museum of Art of Catalunya (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), the Antoni Tapies Museum (Fundacio Antoni Tapies), the CCCB, and the MACBA. I purchased the passport online (for 30 Euros), and simply showed the ticket to the first museum I visited to receive the passport. The passport is stamped upon entry at each museum. To learn more about the ArtTicket BCN, check out their website: http://articketbcn.org/en/barcelona-museum-pass. I should also mention that it is very important to check the hours of each of the museums as they vary significantly. Most museums, with a few exceptions, are closed on Mondays. Also, all city museums are free at last one afternoon per month, so be sure to check the websites in advance for hours and special exhibition dates.

If you're interested in contemporary art, check out this website that provides a network devoted to contemporary art in Barcelona: http://www.artbarcelona.es/circuit/en/.

Picasso Museum in Barcelona
The Museu Picasso of Barcelona is a wonderful center documenting Pablo Picasso's early years of apprenticeship. With over 4,000 works of art in its permanent collection, you'll see why this museum is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Barcelona.

The Picasso Museum highlights the artist’s relationship with the city of Barcelona. I learned that Pablo Picasso's father was a teacher at the San Telmo Fine Art and Crafts School. and had an important influence on Picasso's future career as an artist, who demonstrated a strong interest in art from a very young age. There are some drawings and small panels in oil that give an idea of his efforts to give his own creativity free rein and explore new techniques by taking in his immediate environment.

In Barcelona, Pablo Picasso continued his art education at the La Llotja Fine Art School. The photos here show his artwork featuring Barceloneta Beach and two ports. After taking these photos, I learned that photos were not allowed, so unfortunately, I do not have photos showing the rest of the museum. This Picasso museum focused on his earlier works, and very few on display were "well-known Picasso masterpieces." The museum highlighted Picasso's creative process of some of his work of his Blue Period. Some of the highlights of the museum included Las Meninas Series. This was a series of paintings based on the Velazquez painting Las Meninas.

For more information, please visit www.museupicasso.bcn.cat.

Fundacio Joan Miro
The Joan Miro Museum (Fundacio Joan Miro) is located in the Montjuic area of Barcelona and houses the work of Joan Miro as well as temporary exhibitions of 20th and 21st Century art. The collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings displayed at the museum is one of the most comprehensive collections representing every stage of Miro's career as an artist. There are paintings related to Surrealism and works based on the Spanish Civil War. Miro's work on large canvases in the late 1970s onward demonstrate his use of large color fields and painting with free gesture.

For more information, please visit www.fmirobcn.org.

Alexander Calder donated the Font de Mercuri (The Mercury Fountain) to the museum to symbolize his friendship with Miro.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) holds one of the most important medieval art collections in the world. The museum is housed in the spectacular Palau Nacional building that provides an incredible view of the city and the Magic Fountain. Be sure to see the Font Magica (The Magic Fountain) in action in the evenings with a spectacular music and light show!

Contemporary Art Museum
I enjoyed my visit to the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). There was an exhibit from the Catalan artist Antoni Miralda, called "Miralda Madeinusa," which reconstructs some of the important installations from the 1970s, during his stay in the United States. His work, "Breadline" from 1977 was recreated to show a wall of colored bread that was originally displayed at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston in 1977. The exhibit brought attention to the food lines during the Great Depression. I've included some photos of the installation below.

For more information, please visit www.macba.cat.

Fundacion Fran Daurel
Located within Poblo Espanyol is the Fundacion Fran Daurel, a small but wonderful museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. The museum was created in 2001 by the art collector, Francisco Daurella. The museum was created to share his private art collection with the public. Photography was not allowed within the museum, but wonderful works from Dali, Picasso, Miro, and more were on exhibit! Although I didn't have time to explore, there is also a sculpture garden adjacent to the museum. Although the museum is free to enter, there is an entrance fee to Poble Espanyol. Poble Espanyol is a Spanish village attraction that recreates the streets of various geographic regions of Spain. Its storefronts house local artisans, craftspeople, and a very fun-to-watch glass blowing workshop.

Jose-Luis Pascual

Totem, by Jose-Luis Pascual

Glass Blowing Artisans at Poble Espanyol

Museums Further Afield from Barcelona:
In the town of Girona, I visited the Museum of Jewish History. The goal of the Museum is to preserve the history of the Jewish communities of Catalunya. Art at this museum included various Jewish ritual objects. Be sure to visit if you are in Girona, which is not far from Figueres, where the Dali Museum is located.

Teatre-Museu Dali: Salvadore Dali Museum
Figueres is situated in the north of Catalunya and its history is closely linked to Salvadore Dali. Salvador Dali was born in Figueres in 1904. The Teatre-Museu Dali (Theater Museum) is simply amazing! The Museum itself is the largest surrealistic object in the world.

The Teatre-Museu Dali is home to a considerable amount of the artist's work including impressionism, futurism, cubism, and surrealism. His artwork and the building itself are almost combined together. In an annex of the Teatre-Museu Dali is the Dali Joies exhibition, displaying a collection of jewelry made from gold and precious gems designed by Salvadore Dali between 1941 and 1970. Each piece is unique and characterizes the artist;s entire work: hearts, eyes, lips, animal and plant forms, religious symbols, etc. Below is a photo of one of his jewels of an eye.

Driving about a half hour away from Figueres to the beach village of Cadaques, you can visit Dali's summer home, Casa-Museu Salvador Dali.

For more information, please visit www.salvador-dali.org.

On of my favorite pieces was this one below entitled, "Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at a distance of 20 meters is transformed into the portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko).” Gala was his wife and muse for many years.

The exterior of the museum is a work of art as well. Statues with loaves of bread on their heads. Inside the museum in the open air courtyard is a spectacular and wild work of art called, "Rainy Taxi". If you put a Euro in the slot located at the base of the artwork, it will rain inside the taxi, and an umbrella will open up on top of the artwork!

Montserrat Museum
If you travel to the town of Montserrat, be sure to visit the Montserrat Museum (Museu de Montserrat). The museum is located in the square in front of the monastery. The museum has a permanent collection of over 1,300 works of art. I was really impressed with the diversity of their collection, including modern paintings and sculptures (Picasso, Dali, Monet, Rusinol, Mir, etc.), antique oil paintings (Caravaggio, El Greco, etc.), archeological antiquities from Egypt and the Middle East, and so much more!

The museum includes paintings by Old Masters with works from the 13th Century to the 18th Century. The largest section of the museum is devoted to works from the 19th and 20th Centuries and includes a wonderful selection of Catalan painting and sculpture of the Modern period. I was very impressed with their collection of paintings by the great masters of French and international impressionism (Degas, Sisley, Monet, Pisarro, Sargent, etc.). Picasso and Dali, avant-garde artists are also well represented!

Santiago Rusinol

Joaquim Mir

Miquel Villa

Salvadore Dali, Composition With Three Figures, Neocubist Academy, 1926

Sean Scully

Part 3: Barcelona's Public Art

The streets of Barcelona are filled with art by world renowned artists. Below are just a few of these that I came across on my artistic journey.

The sculpture "Barcino." Barcino is the Roman name of Barcelona. The sculpture is by Joan Brossa, located in the Plaza Nova de Barcelona, opposite the Palau Episcopal.

A mural by Picasso located in the Plaza Nova de Barcelona.

Beautiful sculpture located right on the beach in Barceloneta

Roy Lichtenstein's Head of Barcelona, (El Cap de Barcelona), 1991–1992

This mosaic, "Mosaic del Pla de l'Os" (1976) is an incredible piece of public art located on La Rambla at the Mercat de la Boqueria. The artist intended it to welcome travelers arriving by sea. Another piece of his public art is located at the Barcelona airport, intended to welcome people arriving to the city by air. I love Miro's use of abstract shapes and primary colors.

In Parc de Joan Miro, you can find the incredible, monumental sculpture "Dona i Ocell" (Woman and Bird) that is over 70 feet high in concrete and mosaic. This was the artist's last public work created between 1981-1983. This was intended to welcome people to Barcelona traveling by land. The photo shown here was taken at night. At the time of my visit, the entire park was under construction and the sculpture was obscured by construction vehicles and fencing.

PS: If you liked this article, you might like these other articles on my artistic travels:
Los Angeles, California
New York City
New York City Street Art
Napa Valley, California
Park City, Utah
Caribbean Art

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New York City Street Art

1/11/2017

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Recently, while visiting New York City, I went on a free walking tour of Manhattan’s Street Art in the Lower East Side, Little Italy, NoLita, SoHo, and NoHo. This entire area is filled with wonderful street art! SoHo (or the area South of Houston St.) is known to be one of New York’s first permit Joint Live-Work Quarters for artists and the area was deemed a Landmark in 1973. It was a wonderful tour. I saw some incredible art and learned so much about the history of the street art in this area as well as of many famous and not-yet-famous artists.

Free Tours By Foot also has a few other art walking tours including a Bushwick Graffiti and Street Art Tour in Brooklyn, an Astoria Street Mural Walk, as well as a Williamsburg Street Art Tour. Although the tour is free, the tour guides area terrific and it’s customary to pay what you think the tour is worth at the end of the tour.

For more information about this tour, please visit: http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours/walking-tours/manhattan-street-art-tour/

The area of SoHo in Lower Manhattan was started as a result of imminent domain. Artists squatted in the old, run-down buildings in SoHo. It was the artists who made SoHo great. After the artists came, DJs arrived, parties took place, and the changing culture in the 1980s and the burgeoning fashion scene helped shape SoHo into what it is today.

Graffiti is about messages. A lot of street art I saw used cognitive dissonance to make a statement. Cognitive dissonance is when the artist challenges you to think about something. The artist makes you wonder what their message is all about. The artist, Kai, uses this technique in “Save Urself”. Whereas, on the other end of the spectrum, the art used in advertising and marketing ads, the message needs to be crystal clear. I learned about the term “Artivism,” meaning Art-Activism. Using a social, environmental, or political message in street art. Kai uses Artivism. One of his works is near 52 Spring St. called “Save Urself.” I learned that this is a mold that is made and is just slapped on with adhesive on a brick wall. Check out his website: http://kaiart.com/. Here are some other images of Kai's other artwork that I came across on the tour and later throughout the day! If you look at each piece closely, and give it some thought, you will discover his very clear message about society in general.

Some of the art was political in nature, like this one. But there is street art that is done with the building-owner’s permission. Another unique part of street art is the language used. People would describe how their fellow street artist friends create their art fast, incognito, and without being discovered. They’d say “You Bomb it.”, “You'd hit it.”, or “You'd strike it.” A lot of the street art was created somewhere else and then put up in a matter of seconds with adhesive, or wheat paste. Artists would also have “Style Wars”; Who can do this the biggest, the best, etc. Some artists get permission to post their art, while others do not. I learned that the artist who created "Man on Floor" was arrested for creating this. Many artists are looking to have freedom of expression.

Along with Graffitti and Street Art comes some really cool language and special terms.

“Ad Busting,” “Brandalism” (Brand-Vandalism), and Culturejamming are all fascinating terms describing some of the street art.

Another fascinating part of Street Art is called “Sticker Tagging” where artists create stickers and place them around the neighborhood.

The artist named, “Crisp” created these Brandalism street art images. Starbucks vs. Foldgers. McDonald's vs. KFC. His website is: http://www.crispstreetart.com/

There were dozens of murals that I saw on my walking tour. It was very cool to see murals that were inspired by famous artists like Roy Lichtenstein. [see the first photo above!]. The Lichtenstein inspired mural was created by the artist, “DFACE.” http://www.dface.co.uk/ Other artists also create homages or tributes to famous artists through their artwork on the walls.

Space Invader is the name of a NYC Street Artist and if you check out his website, you’ll get a fascinating look into the world of Street Art: Why and how the art is made, where it’s made and where you can find his work all over the world. Below are two examples of his artwork, which are pixelated versions of things. Check out: http://www.space-invaders.com/home/.

Shepard Fairey’s large OBEY mural below. Fairey is also known to have done the famous Obama Hope election poster of President Barack Obama. To learn more about Shepard Fairey, check out his website: https://obeygiant.com/.

What’s known as the “Keith Haring Wall”, was later turned into the Houston Bowery Foundation in the 1990s, with developer Tony Goldman involved in developing SoHo. Keith Haring made the wall infamous by painting an original mural as a gift to the community in the late 1970's. With ownership of the wall, the Goldman family felt a sense of responsibility to bring art and beauty to the public on a grand scale. On a rolling basis, the wall continues to feature the work of established and emerging street artists. The mural located in that spot during my visit was from the artist, Logan Hicks. It was a huge mural created using stencils, with 6 layers of cutouts. I learned it took 2 weeks to do the painting onsite with about 600 hours of preparation. Check out his website: http://workhorsevisuals.com/new

“Audrey on Mulberry” (Audrew Hepburn) by Tristan Eaton was commissioned by an organization called the LISA Project [see below for more info on the Lisa Project]. Check out Triston Eaton's website: http://tristaneaton.com/

The Vandal was painted by the artist, Nick Walker. http://www.theartofnickwalker.com/ This mural is part of his number series. The British artist, Nick Walker, was one of the first of the British graffiti artists. He’s a stencil artist who uses the free-ness of graffiti coupled with beautiful and intricate stenciling. Here is a photo of the mural as well as a photo showing the detail.

The artist, “Jerk Face” was in progress on this Where's Waldo mural. http://www.jerkfacenyc.com/

The artist named “WhIsBe” creates images of gummy bears and now sells prints of his work. I learned that the price of his prints started around $100 and now are being sold for around $500. Check out: http://www.whisbeworldwide.com/

Many artists look to create art at a location what they legally have permission to paint. Little Italy has a nonprofit Street Art Association called The LISA Project. The LISA project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that brings together a diverse group of street artists to Little Italy creating Manhattan's first and only mural district. For more information as well as links to many of NYC Street Artists, please visit: http://www.lisaprojectnyc.org/. Centre-fuge transforms construction-sites, transitional spaces, and structures in under-appreciated neighborhoods into outdoor gallery spaces in New York City and also in Miami. First Street Green Art Park: Since 2008, First Street Green has converted a derelict building lot at 33 E. 1st Street in Manhattan into an open art space.

To learn more, I highly encourage you to take the Free Manhattan Street Art Walking Tour By Foot. It was a fantastic way to spend 2 hours in New York City. As I walked the streets later that day, at nearly every corner and also in-between, I found new artwork, and began to see more street art of some of my favorite street artists.

As an artist myself, it's fascinating to experience this type of art and understand its context in the New York Art Scene and on the World Art Scene. Many of these artists have made a name for themselves, been invited to participate in Museum shows, secured gallery representation, and/or have become successful in the art world. The Piano I created this past summer gave me a sense of putting art out in the public realm for all to see and experience. Walking through this area reinvigorated me and I hope to find public art projects to be involved with in the future.

In addition to the tour, you can learn more about NYC Street Art at the website: Streetsmartguide.org or http://www.3rdculturecreative.com/. The 3rd Culture Creative also has a great list of bios on many of the street artists: http://www.3rdculturecreative.com/art-street-artists-bios.html.

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Visiting Two Great Art Institutions in Greater Boston

6/16/2016

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This past week I had the pleasure of visiting two of my favorite Art Museums in the Boston area. What I love about art museums is the special combination of new temporary exhibitions and spectacular permanent collections.

The Rose Art Museum
The first museum I’ll write about is the Rose Art Museum, located in Waltham, Massachusetts. On a personal note, the Rose Art Museum is special to me because it is part of Brandeis University, my alma mater. As part of my art education at Brandeis university, I had the unique opportunity to tour the Rose’s amazing permanent collection—however, not exhibited on the walls of the museum, but rather in the museum’s storage vault. In the mid-1990s, I saw incredible works from the collection from Roy Lichtenstein to Andy Warhol to Willem de Kooning to Jasper Johns. With over 8,000 works of art, mostly from American Artists from the 1960s and 1970s, the Rose Art Museum is one of the leading art museums in the world. Use the following link to see the digital collection: http://rosecollection.brandeis.edu/

This week the Rose Art Museum was exhibiting a temporary retrospective exhibit on the artist Rosalyn Drexler. The exhibit, “Rosalyn Drexler: Who does She Think She Is?” recently closed, but I believe it is traveling to other museums in the coming months.

It was very exciting to look at the career of an artist from the 1960s; Drexler’s work was really relevant at that time in history. She was part of the pop art movement, knew Andy Warhol, and although her work is really relevant, for various reasons, she wasn’t a central figure in the art world at that time. Walking around the museum and looking at her artwork was really fascinating. The themes of the show explored issues of love and violence and her interest in pop media, film posters, magazines, etc. There were also depictions of violence towards women, which she picked out from the images in the mass media and used them as her subject matter. She’s telling us that this is what is in our mass media and we should be thinking about it. Some of her artwork feels very “Hollywood.”

The one thing that was very exciting to see in her artwork is how you get to understand and experience her creative process. For example, Andy Warhol literally took images from mass media, made a screen print of it and used it as his own on his canvas. And pop artist Roy Lichtenstein often took an image, typically from a cartoon or comic book, and projected it on his canvas and then hand painted what it looked like. Rosalyn Drexler would do something in between, where she would find an image from the mass media and she would use a mimeograph machine (an early photocopier) to enlarge it and paste those enlargements directly on the canvas and painting right over it. On a number of the paintings, if you looked closely, you could see this collage'd element. She is using found material directly on the works. The exhibit also featured from the original source material of the mass media materials she used for her artwork.

Also on permanent view just outside the museum is Chris Burden’s “Light of Reason” sculpture shown here, which was specifically commissioned for the Rose Art Museum and Brandeis University. I had the pleasure of attending the dedication ceremony in 2014. A similar work of his also featuring found Los Angeles street lamps can be seen at the entrance of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
http://www.brandeis.edu/rose/

It was wonderful to see this retrospective exhibit. Seeing all of an artist’s work together sheds new light on how significant her work was at the time.

I also enjoyed a new permanent exhibit that was commissioned from the artist Mark Dion. He turned a small space in the museum into an exhibit called “The Undisciplined Collector” and is staged as if it were a collector’s home office from 1961, the year of the Rose Art Museum’s founding. The furniture is from that era and a record player was even playing in the background. Works from the Rose’s permanent collection from 1961 were hanging on the wall. In the drawers were prints and photographs from early exhibitions at the Rose. It just opened this past fall and the room will remain on permanent view.

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The following day I had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, which houses one of the world’s best and diverse collections of fine art including contemporary art, art of Asia, Oceana, Africa, Europe the Americas, art of the ancient world, and jewelry, musical instruments, prints, drawings, and photographs. Although I didn’t get to see everything in the museum, I was able to see some of my favorite works of art again as well as see some new things and very cool new temporary exhibits.

And while I’m more of a contemporary and modern art kind of guy, I was particularly impressed with the story behind a 13-foot-tall statue of a classical sculpture of Juno. The Roman marble lady is the largest Classical sculpture in any museum in the United States. But perhaps even more fascinating was where the statue was found; It was found in the backyard of a Brookline, Massachusetts home (a suburb of Boston). The statue that is dated to about the year 1633 was purchased at the end of the 19th Century in Rome and brought to Brookline, Massachusetts to be placed as part of a formal garden.

I also encountered an amazing Vincent Van Gogh painting, called “Ravine,” painted in 1889, one year before his passing in 1890. The painting, pictured here along with a close up, is amazing! From afar, the colors blend together to form a visual picture of a spectacular and breathtaking ravine in France, near the town of Saint Remy. But as you draw closer to the painting, you see individual brushstrokes, globs of paint on top of paint, on top of even more paint. The texture and thickness is very cool. And yet, up close, you can’t even tell what the painting’s subject is at all. Up close, it simply looks like brushstrokes of color in a random, haphazard fashion. So what I love about this painting, is that the beauty of this painting is its uniqueness, partly because of this magical illusion; that when seeing the painting up close, we’re being tricked to think these brushstrokes don’t have meaning, when in fact they most certainly do.

Two works that I loved seeing were Frank Stella’s 1966 painting, “Cinema de Pepsi” and Ellsworth Kelly’s 1968 huge, uniquely shaped painting, “Blue Green Yellow Orange Red”. These two artists used color in fascinating ways, which I really love and admire.

Another American artist, named Spencer Finch, exhibited a spectacular work of art using florescent light fixtures and filters to create his 2014 work entitled, “Shield of Achilles (Dawn, Troy, 10/27/02). Finch’s work observes colors of a given landscape at a precise day and time; This work is arranged in the shape of a shield, inspired by Homer’s Illiad.

The Danish artist, Jeppe Hein’s work entitled “PLEASE…” is a neon light installation from 2008. Hein is fascinated with the relationship between the viewer and his artwork and the art really isn’t complete without the viewer’s participation. I really can relate with Jeppe Hein and his work because some of my artwork also has a similar element to it. My paintings entitled “Close Your Eyes” and “You Have To Read This” come to mind when thinking about Hein’s work. With “Close Your Eyes” I’m trying to convey to viewers a bit of edginess or something to make you think twice about what you are seeing. I really enjoy the irony of creating art that is visual, and then the message of the painting instructs you not to look at it. “Close Your Eyes” was selected in the prestigious Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts Annual Juried Art Exhibit a few years ago. The six works of art are pictured here. http://www.jeppehein.net/

Throughout the museum (and around the Museum and even in Faneuil Hall in Boston) is the Megacities Asia exhibit, which runs until July 17, 2016. Megacities are cities with populations of more than ten million. These megacities are increasing in numbers and changes the lives of so many people. I was really impressed with the works of the artists Ai Weiwei and Choi Jeong Hwa. Choi Jeong Hwa’s “Breathing Flower” located just outside the museum was very moving. http://aiweiwei.com/
http://choijeonghwa.com/

And lastly, the temporary exhibit called “#techstyle” was really quite amazing to see. It’s on view through July 10, 2016, so be sure to get to the MFA soon! The exhibit shows how emerging technologies are shaping fashion design now and in the future. The exhibit highlighted 3d printed shoes (shown here), electronics, lights, lasers, etc. Here is a photo of a dress made with a programmable LED display with changing patterns and colors.

For more information, go to www.mfa.org

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Art in New York City: The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Chelsea Arts District

5/7/2016

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I recently returned from a quick 2-day trip to New York City. The first day was primarily focused on a new movie I am working on (currently looking for investors for the film) called “Dan & Carla.” We had a spectacular table reading of the script with the actors along with a number of friends and interested parties of the film. After the reading, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Jack Pierson, a longtime family friend of the film’s director. Jack Pierson is an incredible artist who works with a variety of different mediums, including sculpture, photography, video, and is best known for his word signage installations. His artwork is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, just to name a few. (See below for more about his two incredible pieces that were on view at the Whitney Museum.)

Here’s some information about the film for those interested: It is a modern-day romantic comedy about two young NYC lovebirds who try to salvage their troubled relationship: Dan & Carla, two lovers from opposite sides of the subway tracks, are forced to confront the issues of romance, commitment, betrayal and sexual (dis)orientation.”
For more information:
www.Facebook.com/danandcarlathemovie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4324704/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

There is SO MUCH ART in New York City! There were three pieces of public art that I had the pleasure of seeing on this trip. Here is a photo of Robert Indiana’s HOPE Sculpture located on the corner of 7th Avenue and 53rd Street. A couple months ago, I wrote in my blog about Robert Indian’s LOVE Sculpture in Scottsdale, Arizona. This HOPE Sculpture is also only a few short blocks away from the LOVE Sculpture in New York City 55th and Avenue of the Americas/6th Ave. I’ve learned that each year on the artist’s birthday, September 13, Robert Indiana HOPE sculptures will be installed and displayed in locations throughout the world. The HOPE sculptures celebrate the message of hope and fulfill the artist’s vision of a more promising future for us all.

Another public sculpture, located just outside of Penn Station and Madison Square Garden (7th Avenue and 33rd St.) is Roy Lichtenstein’s “Brushstroke Group.”

And the last public art sculpture that I got to see was Elmgreen & Dragset’s “Van Gogh’s Ear” located in Rockefeller Center. It’s basically a huge swimming pool stood upright. I really liked how misplaced it looked, especially in such a dense area, with a huge amount of foot-traffic, in contrast to a large swimming pool, typically seen in a less congested area. This is a temporary installation, so be sure to see it before June 3rd!

I started the second day of my trip at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The new Whitney’s architecture is spectacular inside and out. And the artwork within the walls of the Whitney is very special.

On the Sixth and Seventh Floors of the museum, I experienced the exhibit, "Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney's Collection." It made me rethink my own internal definition of the word "Portrait." The exhibit demonstrated the way portraiture has changed from the early 1900s to present day. When you think about it, the whole concept of portraiture has changed over time. The painting of portraits was once reserved for the elite, and those who could afford such a luxury, yet with the rise of photography, everything has changed. With the iPhone and other smartphones and with the influence of social media, the "selfie" is almost a new form of portraiture. Whatever the form, portraits get to the very essence of who we are as people and our place in the world.

I was pleasantly surprised to see some incredible works that I've never seen before from well-known artists. For example, a self-portrait from Edward Hopper shown here. One of the most striking pieces was Jasper Johns' "Racing Thoughts" pictured here. It approaches the idea of portrait, juxtaposing a portrait of his longtime dealer (made to appear as a puzzle), various objects, and a reproduction of the Mona Lisa (perhaps the most famous portrait ever created). It's quite a beautiful piece of art, using encaustic, screen printing, wax crayons on canvas, creating the illusion that it was created on wood board.

Another favorite artist of mine, Alexander Calder, who is well-known for his beautiful mobiles had a wonderful take on the concept of portraiture. Calder's piece at the Whitney shown here (three views) is quite incredible. The piece is called "Varèse" created circa 1930. I love how he uses his own unique style of portraiture using wire suspended from the ceiling.

Chuck Close, is very well known for his huge, floor to ceiling, portraits best viewed first from afar, and then up close (excuse the pun). This is his work titled "Lyle" and I've included a few views for you to see the genius behind his artwork.

And Jack Pierson, who I had the pleasure of meeting the night before, had two of his many works that are part of the Whitney's permanent collection, on display. One a self-portrait, "Self Portrait #4", 2003, and the other called, "Jerry in the Dressing Room", 1993.

I also saw some impressive works of art from some artists that I haven't been exposed to before. The painting shown here is one from the artist, Howard Kanovitz, called "New Yorkers 1". It's a very large painting and I found it to be very striking. I especially liked seeing the use of pencil within the painting as shown in this close-up photo.

There is a beautiful outdoor space with stairs leading to other levels and views of the surrounding cityscape and the new, NYC treasure, the High Line. If you plan to visit the Whitney Museum, you could also walk on the High Line either before or after what is sure to be an incredible art experience at the Whitney!

After the Whitney, I visited the Chelsea Market where I stumbled across a wonderful ID Pop Shop that featured apparel, accessories, Jewelry, and art. www.Idpopshop.com

I then proceeded on my quest to visit some of the Chelsea galleries that feature modern and contemporary art. Some galleries were focused on established artists and artists who are well-known to the general populace and others showcased emerging artists. I walked my feet off and ended up visiting about two dozen difference art galleries in Chelsea. I'll share some of my favorites here:

One of the galleries that I really enjoyed visiting in Chelsea was Jim Kempner Fine Art. http://jimkempnerfineart.com/ It was at this gallery that I was introduced to an artist named Greg Parker. His artwork features a unique process that results in an unbelievably cool work of art. He starts with a wood panel that is covered with up to 20 layers of polished gesso, thin layers of powdered pigment and graphite that is applied in progressive steps within mathematical systems. Kind of looks like metal or wood but the end result is a subdued reflective surface that is solid at nature.

At the Bryce Wolkowitz gallery, http://brycewolkowitz.com located at 505 W. 24th St., I saw a truly unique exhibit of multimedia sculptures and video installations from the artist, Yorgo Alexopoulos, I have learned that he films the 4K video, makes use of a translucent LCD video screens, robots, 3-D printers, motorized dollies, and multiple cameras simultaneously shooting time lapse photography. The piece that I found most compelling was one titled "First Time On The Moon,” which is comprised of the digital animation on a high definition translucent LCD display, aluminum and patina steel, glass, and custom electronics. The subject matter is the moon with the earth hovering in the distance in space.

The Berry Campbell Gallery www.berrycampbell.com presented the work of the artist Stanley Boxer, a Massachusetts born artist known for his thickly painted abstract works of art.

I visited the new Lisson Gallery at 504 W. 24th St. lissongallery.com It was a brand-new exhibit that opened just this past week, featuring the artwork of Carmen Herrera. I learned that she has been painting for almost 80 years in her Manhattan studio. She's perhaps the oldest living artist I've seen on my venture; she will celebrate her 101st birthday later this month and will be honored with a survey exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in September 2016. The exhibit at the Lisson Gallery represents a new body of work produced in the last two years. The paintings exhibited were primarily acrylic on large-scale canvases. They almost had an Ellsworth Kelly kind of feel to them, in terms of the colors used in a very minimalist way.

At 138 10th Ave., I visited Lori Bookstein Fine Art. www.loribooksteinfineart.com There were a few artists represented in this gallery exhibit, but one stuck out to me, an artist named Diana Horowitz. The exhibition featured a series of small paintings depicting the landscape of and around Lake Como, Italy. She painted on en plain air and each of the small 5" x 7" or smaller canvases had subdued tones and colors capturing the light across the landscapes.

One of the most unusual, yet fascinating exhibits that I saw was at the Lions Wier Gallery at 542 W. 24th St. www.lyonswiergallery.com The gallery featured the pop artist, Jae Yong Kim in the exhibit titled "Pop Goes The Donut". The walls of the gallery were lined with ceramic, glazed donuts, many featuring Swarovski crystals, gold, and other mixed media.

At the Cheim & Read Gallery, a brand new exhibit features the work of Spanish artist, Juan Uslé. Jack Pierson has shown his work at this gallery in the past. Many of the works were in excess of 9 feet in height. I learned that the short, broad brushstrokes comprising the bands in his paintings are based on the artist's pulse, similar to a cardiogram. www.cheimread.com

The Agora Gallery at 530 W. 25th St. focuses on emerging artists, and I recommend checking this gallery out for emerging talent! www.Agora-Gallery.com

The Rush Arts Gallery (Rush Philanthropic Foundation www.rushphilanthropic.org) at 520 W. 26th St. featured an exhibit called “Medium: Black.” The Rush Philanthropic Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1995 by media mogul Russell Simmons and his brothers and is committed to bettering the lives of under-served city youth through exposure to the arts and to provide professional support for emerging artists and curators. The group show featured artists that all use the color black. One of the pieces of artwork that I found most fascinating in this gallery was the work of Charlotte Becket who used a motor within the artwork, giving the artwork almost an organic or living feeling to it.

The Tagliatella Galleries featured some originals and prints from some of the more well-known contemporary artists like Alex Katz, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Mr. Brainwash, Bansky, Kaws, Damian Hirst, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, etc. http://www.taglialatellagalleries.com/

Another well-known and established gallery, The Pace Gallery, featured David Hockney prints entitled, “The Yosemite Suite”. http://www.pacegallery.com/ The Robert Miller Gallery on 26th St featured the work of Lee Krasner. http://www.robertmillergallery.com/ And the Mitchell-Innes and Nash Gallery featured the incredible work of Tom Wesselmann. http://www.miandn.com/

Before heading back to Boston, my final stop was the Fashion Institute of Technology where I was able to see a wonderful exhibit on the history of denim. When you think about fashion, denim is one of the many materials out there that really stands out and has lasted for hundreds of years. Denim may even be the most popular fabric in the world today. The exhibit entitled: “Denim: Fashion’s Frontier” showed the evolution of denim. The exhibit takes you from the very earliest use of denim all the way to present day, highlighting the milestones denim has had impacting the fashion world. In its last days, this exhibit will be followed by an exhibit on May 20th, entitled “Uniformity,” which will explore the history behind a variety of uniforms (military, work, school, and sports), considering both their social role and their influence on high fashion. The Museum at FIT is located at 7th Avenue at 27th St. http://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and my reflections on the art I've seen. Please check out the websites of these galleries for more information and for current exhibition dates!

PS: If you liked this article, you might like these other articles on my artistic travels:
Kennebunkport, Maine
Los Angeles, California
New York City
New York City Street Art
Napa Valley, California
Park City, Utah
Barcelona, Spain
Caribbean Art

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Eddie Bruckner Fine Art