Metro Art Access NYC

6/29/15

Today, we visited an old, refurbished Nabisco boxing factory that was converted into an art space. The wooden floors were original to the space, each plank possessing marks from the past to provide a stage for modern art, sculpture, and paintings to set themselves apart not just from each other, but from their surroundings. The space was expansive, the grounds lovely, and the art was fantastic. One of the most emotive pieces was Louise Bourgeois’ Crouching Spider.

     Yes, this piece was emotive, not just because of its complicated twists and turns, but because the sculpture itself was able to interact on a much deeper level with each viewer in its own way. However, my favorite piece was a piece/installation by Joseph Beuys. The installation was comprised of photography, felt, solid metal tiles, and a recreation of a performing arts piece Beuys completed a few year ago. I know this sounds odd, but Beuys used mining lights, sandbags, a hat, and a few other items to recreate a time where Beuys lived in an art space with a wolf for approximately a week. Although the installation was void of a wolf and a person interacting with each other, the stale absence of movement added a tranquil air to the environment.

Beuys also exhibited 35mm photography that played off of the ideas and notions felt in the wolf piece. These photographs were artistic representations of erosion, decay, and time; all concepts that are difficult to capture in a single moment, but Beuys made it happen. Some of the images were obscured by plates of colored glass, some a royal blue color, and others a yellow color. The density of the blue glass as well as the rich color pried at your conscience, demanding an answer of what was being seen.

   
-Rebekkah James 

MoMA PS:1

Although this particular institution was smaller than the rest we’d seen, I felt like this was the most interestingly laid-out museum we visited. This institution had a gallery in its basement, only consisting of a few pieces by unrelated artists. The show-stopper in that space was the gilded boiler. This piece was completed by Saul Melman, and consisted of Melman chiseling out 5,000 pounds of salt block, covering MoMA PS1’s old boiler with gold leaf, and entitled the piece, Central Governor.

     After discussing the piece with museum employees, I discovered that Melman also lived in the space for six months, and despite Melman understanding the proper way to gild a surface, Melman intentionally left the sheet sections visible on the surface of the boiler. Melman didn’t just stop at gilding the boiler itself, but extended the craft to other areas of pipes and sprockets, intentionally leaving some areas entirely alone. This idea also showed Melman’s interest in the world and language of alchemy, calling specific attention to the properties associated with gold and salt.

     The end product is a beautiful depiction of light, and imbues the space with a sense of subdued regality. The limited light that entered the space is reflected off of the boiler and casts itself beautifully onto the opposing surfaces around it, giving a mundane object a subdued glow. This was a great space to simply sit inside of, allowing the glow to envelop you.

6/27

When we were at the Drawing Center, there was an exhibit that spoke to both my interests and my childhood. When my sisters and I were younger, we often read a collection of fairy tales, reading everything from Hans Christen Anderson to Grimm’s Fairy Tales (of course, these ones were later additions to our reading library). Once we arrived, after hearing Melissa’s presentation, we were told to explore. The area where I spent the most of my time was in the Natalie Frank exhibit entitled The Brothers Grimm.  In this particular exhibition, Frank created “ visceral paintings that boldly explore the threshold between figuration and abstraction”.

     In the museum statement about the piece, this excerpt from above segues into the idea that Frank also strove to illustrate the social mores/ sexualization of females in particular within these fairy tales. Using chalk pastel, arches paper, and gouache, Frank transforms select scenes from the retellings of the Grimm’s masterpieces of literature and evokes a sense of movement isolated in one panel. By combining these mediums with her extremely skilled technique, Frank creates an interesting dialogue between viewer and subject.

-Rebekkah James

We visited the Guggenheim museum today. Although the entire exhibition they have on view right now is worth seeing and mentioning, there were a few pieces that caught my attention. On view there is a new piece from Doris Salcedo. Salcedo’s work is controversial in its subject matter, but it all inspires some sort of feeling from the viewer. These pieces functioned extremely well within the confines of the spaces in which they were kept, and flowed very well together.

The piece I kept remembering the most vividly of those by Salcedo was her exhibition entitled Atrabillarios. Constructed from 1992-1997, Salcedo cut into the wall and placed missing person’s shoes into the niches. Using surgical thread, cow bladders, gyproc, and timber, Salcedo and her team create a screen over the niches that conceal just enough to cloud the shoes inside of them.

Salcedo’s pieces all carry with them a theme of loss and allow the viewer to emotionally engage with the pieces in some way.

Although this piece is extremely visceral, I was also enamored by the sculptural work of Pawel Althamer. Even though this work in particular wasn’t my normal taste in art, I still couldn’t pull myself from the piece. Althamer uses plastic, plaster, and paint (among other items) to create sculptures that pay homage to sculptural practices of the old, traditional ways to create artworks. Althamer ran the plastic through extruding machines and in doing so, achieved a look reminiscent of long strips of taffy. This technique combined with traditionally plaster casted faces of his subjects, combine to create pieces that interact with the viewer and the lighting of the space

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-Rebekkah James

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

      

Did you know that the tradition of graffiti goes way back  to Pompeii? To me there is nothing like a little graffiti to energize an urban space. 

It may not always be about expression, but it’s always about being heard. I love that the walls in this city talk! 

–Melissa Hand. 

After having a few days to reflect on my experiences in NY, I still don’t have a concise way of describing them. It was an incredible week and a half of growth and learning. It was good for me to get off of the west coast and experience someplace new. It gave me a nice taste of New York and now next time I go I will have a pretty good grasp on the city and how to get around and what I want to do while I’m there. Seeing the mass amount of art that we did while we were there was amazing but it felt wrong when I had to speed past a piece of art that I wanted to spend time with. I understand that this was the point of the class, to see everything and get a taste of what the NY art world is like, but it wasn’t the type of interaction with art that I normally like to have. That’s not to say that I didn’t absorb anything while viewing them, I guess it just means that I will have to visit again someday! When I first arrived in New York I expected the culture to be noticeably different from the vibes on the west coast. It wasn’t different enough for me though. I don’t know why I expected it to be so much different but it was really just like any other US city except NY is about 4 times bigger then the next closest city. Now I really want to travel somewhere outside of the US because I didn’t really experience that much of a new culture when visiting New York.

The things that I learned and the connections that I made while in NY are invaluable and I will cherish them for the rest of my life.

-Beaudry Allen

Every New Yorker knows, to get a good deal–and a good meal– head to Chinatown. But bring cash– and don’t forget to haggle!    

My husband loves this shirt… Thanks for finding it Julie! Also, note you can get several tees ( sometimes 4 or more ) for $10! 
   
 

  
Also– my son was super excited to see Mom- and get his Statue of Liberty! (Another Chinatown purchase- price tag: $10. Paid: $8.00–no tax in Chinatown!) 

If tacky souvenirs aren’t your thing, you can also get designer (Who’ll know but you?) bags and other goodies (watches, perfume, etc) But be sure to shop around for the best deals! 
–Melissa. 

                    

Abdelkader Benchamma’s in situ drawing in the Drawing Center’s stairwell was everything I expected and more. Representation of Dark Matter was larger than I expected, and more detailed! This has inspired me to incorporate installation into my work. Why work on paper if you work big? Why not just draw right on the wall? Well, Benchamma, I just might start doing exactly that… And to the Drawing Center– I will be back to draw on your walls too, just wait! 

–Melissa Hand.