Dancing Dali

One of the great things about Surrealists is their multimedia-style. In addition to Dali, take Svankmajer and his movie on dreams. I think these videos expand their expression to a different dimension.

I really love this particular film by Dali and Disney. These are both the greatest artists and the music, the dance, and of course the animation are just gorgeous. Finding new face to an artist is always exciting (though in research just complicating).

Manet.

Edouard Manet, Peonies in a Vase, 1864

Berthe Morisot, Peonies, 1869

Eva Gonzales, Peonies and a June Bug, 1871

Art reveals a lot without words.

Thoughts on Contemporary Art

My opinion on contemporary art has changed significantly since the the time started studying art history. Contemporary art was what brought me into the world of art, but when I started studying classic art, I just could not accept contemporary art anymore.
Now, it feels different. I look at contemporary art and I enjoy contemplating on it. 

In my opinion, the purpose of contemporary art is to provoke thinking. Contemporary art is hard to understand. What does it represent and what does it tell? Though people seem to accept it the way it is.

Maybe it’s cool to like contemporary art. But I think that people are becoming more independent in the modern society. People earn information on their own; be it from books or from the internet. Any kind of information has become more and more accessible and people in the same region could have very different opinions. Contemporary art brings people together by inspiring questions, then making them want to talk about it. Contemporary art, thus, brings communication.

This is what I mean when I say: “I think art is a great conversation starter.”

Danaes

by Gustav Klimt

by Egon Shiele

Klimt was one of my first crushes of Western art. I instantly fell in love with the Kiss. Strongly influenced by Japanese gold screens, his use of flat surface and lavish gold leaves powerful impression. Naturally, I read a little on Klimt and met Danae. It was just one of his many lush painting, until I saw Danae by Egon Shiele. I had a chance to see it in person at Philadelphia Museum of Art last summer(2013), next to a Klimt painting (not Danae, though). I thought at first, it was another Danae by Klimt, but Shiele’s is influenced by Klimt’s — Klimt’s is a year or so earlier.

The representation of bodies on both paintings are flat, but has some sense of soft flesh that makes them sexually attractive. The facial expressions and the fingers too evoke sensual feelings. 

Prints of Edvard Munch

I have been slacking off after arduous writing assignments, so I’m back on blogging.

So, Munch. Lately, I often come across his painting and prints on the internet, and it turned on my curiosity. To me, Munch was just Scream. That was the one and only Munch to me. But his prints are very interesting.

Check this out: Edvard Munch: Symbolism in Print, MoMA collections.

According to the website, this exhibition was at the North Carolina Museum of Art with the collection at the MoMA. Munch’s art can sometimes be too showy about emotions, as in Scream, but his prints are a bit more subtle but still obviously expressive. It may sound supercilious, but to me, Munch’s art is soul-less. It’s not about agony and suffering. It’s more about hopeless and helpless surrender to life.

But how beautiful surrender can be. When you drop everything and throw your hopes out, the empty world is suddenly beautiful in its own way. That’s how I feel when I see Munch’s art: depression isn’t all that bad.

Alexander Calder

 

Calder PMA

I saw some museum facebooks (above is of Philadelphia Museum of Art) celebrated Calder’s birthday last week and became curious about his work. I’ve known and seen his art on many occasions often at museums, but had never been curious enough to search for his art. I still haven’t read any books or articles about him, but I thought I’d share my thoughts about his art anyways.

I had always thought that his mobiles were just another interior accessory but I’ve been realizing his position within art historical context. As I was web-surfing about modern art — I often do –, I’ve found interesting the similarity between Calder’s mobile (sculpture) and Miro or Chagall.

Miro

 

Chagall

This is probably overstated, but this field was quite new to me, as I am studying Japanese art, and I thought was interesting. A flat circle or geometric shapes connected with a string or a thin line. Chagall maybe a little different but I feel the flat shapes are kind of similar. (Oh how I love not having to state the every detail of artwork to explain what’s similar and what’s not. Blog is amazing.) But most of all, I like the colors he uses. They look so unmixed and innocent. Probably influenced by Matisse? The picture above is one of all white plates (or how should I call them?), but some are colorful and present.

I also like Calder’s string faces. I just learned about his face sculpture today, while watching a documentary on modern art. It’s like 3-D Picasso. I saw the sculptures floating in the air on the video too. I would look at it all day everyday.

Too bad I don’t have any museums with Calder collections nearby. I’d love to see his retrospective. In fact, LACMA’s show is ending tomorrow. If anyone visited, I’d love to know how it was. Please do let me know!

Calder @LACMA