road trip: the barnes totem

the barnes totem

(bead-blasted steel, 40')

artist: ellsworth kelly

installed in collaboration with tod williams billie tsien architects and landscape architect laurie olin

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photo © anita aguilar

more barnes exterior shots here

spring street spectacle: survival of serena

in petrosino square, at the intersection of lafayette and spring streets

carole a. feuerman's survival of serena, 2012

painted bronze, 36″ x 75″ x 36″

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photos © anita aguilar

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the sculpture will be on view through sept 23, 2012...

link to carole a. feuerman's site here

art seen: dan flavin at the morgan library & museum

dan flavin

untitled (in honor of harold joachim), 3. (1977).

at the morgan library, march 9, 2012

i had the clare eddy thaw gallery --- and this groovy dan flavin scultpure-- all to myself for many minutes on friday night. i was so excited, i took a few photos (and was sharply reprimanded afterwards. though, i didn't know i wasn't allowed).

it's a fun, entrancing piece. the lights seemed to change as i held my gaze -- it was especially true when i watched it through the camera. some colors grew bolder, then the intensity shifted. did it truly change or was it a trick of the eye? i don't know, but i liked it.

the sculpture will likely be up for the duration of the excellent "dan flavin: drawing" exhibition, which runs through july 1.

dan flavin

detail from to those who suffer in the Congo, 1961 (watercolor).

at the morgan library & museum.

richard serra: junction / cycle

junction (2011)

13’ 11/2”x 75’ 1/2" x 49’ 15/16” (4 x 22.9 x 15.2 m), weatherproof steel

cycle (2010)

14’ 1” x 57’ 6' 1/2” x 55’ 8” (4.3 x 17.5 x 17 m), weatherproof steel

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taken october 18, 2011 @ the gagosian gallery

© anita aguilar

paris postcard, day 1: stealth shots, the orsay

when did the orsay outlaw the taking of photos? i don't recall a ban in 2008...

i defied them this time, i just couldn't resist taking a few shots while we took a rest/tried to get our bearings (and second wind):

this one, i had to take because of the christian marclay "clock" exhibit, which will elude me forever, but will continue to inspire...i also wanted to commemorate the time we were there: 6:30pm

i love the toes in this one...

i imagine this is my cousin, jenny, working one of her crafts...

the only downside of a trip to the orsay on this day in may was that many of the best impressionist works were out on loan to the hotel de ville (which we may try to see tomorrow) and major renovation forced the rest of the collection to be re-presented throughout the lower floors.

while the current configuration reinforces the awareness of the orsay's array of heavy hitters--one masterpiece next to another--there is little space in-between for a breath, let alone a deep thought about them...(the mental lingering starts in earnest much later). but the museum remains a must see if you're in paris.

bonus for 2011 travelers: through july 17, there is a major manet retrospective. manet: inventeur du moderne (the man who invented modernity--it sounds better en francais, oui?) is worth the extra euro and a long queue. i liked manet's work before, but i have new appreciation for his mastery of form and style, and some new favorites: the dramatic still life renderings (asparagus) and his more dramatic, photo- journalistic pieces, like the execution of maximilian and the velasquez-like "dead toreador."

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a few au revoirs:

may 19, 2011

all photos © anita aguilar

echo: "what is art?"

"art should be an echo...a feeling of your heart...a mirror, a container of memory."

--jaume plensa, via joel henning/the wsj

newly installed echo, made of fiberglass resin, is 44 ft high...

mr. plensa's echo, in madison square park, looks eerie on a cloudy afternoon...

perhaps i will have a different feeling, when i see it in the full sunshine, and when the park is full of strollers and gazers.

you can see it too, through mid-august.

ornamentum gallery: the (august 2010) collection

"kleine halskraus" - limited edition sculptural necklace by camilla prasch, of denmark.

made of black silicone discs and nylon snaps.

i like this because it looks like a serious little record collection...

the albino version!

also by camilla prasch... "reigen 715 2009"

this necklace is made of paper pricetags, polyester thread

from the felt jewelry collection of karin wagner (switzerland)

also from karin wagner...less "necklace," more "lei." a felted lei...

rolled paper chain...by momoko kumai (japan)

this reminds me of my sister's work...

"by the meter" is an necklace made of meters (presumably) of looped links.

artist: dorothea brill, of germany

necklace (wood, silver, mirror) by pia aleborg (sweden)

artist: pia aleborg

all photos © anita aguilar

storm king, part 9: king's colors

knobs and mistletoe. now that's a party.

left: knobs, 1976. alexander calder. sheet metal, bolts and paint.

right: gui, (mistletoe) 1976. alexander calder. sheet metal, bolts and paint.

five swords, 1976. by alexander calder. sheet metal, bolts and paint.

different angle, different sun.

i love this little mermaid island.

mermaid, 1994. roy lichtenstein. painted carbon fiber & epoxy skin over aluminum & honeycomb core.

foreground: endless column, 1994. tal streeter. steel, painted red.

background: the arch, 1975. alexander calder. steel painted black.

storm king, part 8: working it

as we made our way north to museum hill, a golf cart bounced noisily along the gravelly path, in the opposite direction. it was impossible to miss this woman's amazing head wrap. i started to daydream about wearing one, if it would be cooler. if i would look cooler.

we found out later that she of the big wrap is the artist (and new jersey native) chakaia booker, and she was there to oversee the installation of foci:

she also created a moment in time (2004), which is made of rubber tires, stainless steel, and wood.

i had referred to it as the "s & m piece" (affectionately). not that i have any idea about such things. it just looked from far away like leather...a lot of leather.

i do love the strength that this required, and conveys.

storm king, part 4: great balls of...

welded 12-inch spikes.

how does he make a (literal) ton of nails look so ethereal?

i met john bisbee many years ago at an uptown dive bar when i was a college-age lass. (i knew his brother from school.) our mutual friends, to a man, cautioned that he was very nice but a little bit "mad."

they left out the "genius" part.

his installation, squall, is one of my favorites.

squall was created especially for storm king's 50th anniversary celebration...

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there is a slide show with some really beautiful photos of his work and studio in maine, and an accompanying article.

storm king, part 3: favorite thing

i stalked this from all angles.

what did it remind me of?

viewed from the hill above: a bullet chamber? collection of brass knuckles?

up close, it reminded me of the palisades or some rocky, craggy escarpment out west. it seemed so an "american landscape" i assumed the artist was native american.

but this piece-- for paul, 1990-92/2001--is by german-born artist, ursula von rydingsvard. in an interview for art21, she describes her early childhood in post-ww II refugee camps, and how those experiences influence her woodwork, materials, and technique.

this massive, intricate structure is made of 4' x 4' cedar wood planks, individually cut to varied lengths, then methodically glued and rubbed with graphite.

storm king, part 2: favorite trick

center: suspended, 1977. menashe kadishman.

rear, left: adam, 1970. alexander liberman.

rear, right: tthree-fold manifestation II, 1987. alice aycock.

it makes sense that these cantilevered, steel boxes are hollow, but i was fooled well enough that i didn't dare stand under them...