The World of Maholey-Nagey at the Guggenheim

 This weekend, I went to the Guggenheim to see Laszlo Maholey-Nagy's work. He uses several mediums to make his art, which shows a progression of his works throughout the course of his artistic career. For his drawing created in 1918 (title unknown), he uses black crayon as pictured …. To make curved and intertwined black lines. This piece, among several others comprised of Maholy-Nagey’s drawings on military-issue postcard, which illustrated his time in World War I. These works were his earliest and demonstrate his lack of formal artistic training as well as his expressive abilities.

            With his painting, “Circle Segments” made in 1921, Maholy-Nagey uses tempera on canvas. However, in the drawing pictured above, Maholy-Nagey uses crayon on paper. Similar to his earliest works, he expresses himself through abstract geometric shapes, as seen in both the drawing and this painting. His artistic progression is evident with his use of paints and color.

            In 1946, Maholey-Nagy made his Plexiglas sculpture, “Leda and the Swan.” With this piece, he is using another medium. Even though Plexiglas is a new medium, Maholey-Nagy still makes his art with geometric shapes.

            Maholey-Nagy believed in the potential of art as a vehicle for social change. A large portion of modern art is conceptual. If you look at my blog on the art in Bryant Park, I discuss the globes. The globes in Bryant Park are conceptual, as they are not literal presentations of the world, but rather reflect the problems of society in an artistic way. In other words, the globe exhibit illuminates the concept of global warming through art. Maholey-Nagy revamps the concept of art itself. He merges art with various innovations, such as his usage of Plexiglas in his sculpture of “Leda and the Swan.” His abstract works have influenced the role of the artist in today’s society.

            Kandinsky and Maholey-Nagy’s pieces relate because of their geometric abstraction. Kandinsky’s painting, “Small Pleasures” (1913) involves abstract depictions of reality. Similarly, Maholey-Nagy uses abstract geometric shapes in his Plexiglas piece, “CH 4” (1941). 

 

I recommend that you go to the Guggenheim to look at the wonderful art of not only Maholey-Nagy and Kandinsky, but also other works in the shows, “But a Storm Is Blowing from Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa” and the work in the Thanhauser Gallery.

Unfinished Art at the Met Breuer

If I were a painter, I would know when a painting is done when the vision in my mind of the person or object matches what I have on paper.

      I feel that all of the pieces in this show belong in the exhibit. El Greco’s painting, “The Vision of Saint John” (ca. 1608-14) seems finished to me, though, evidently, it was not complete to the artist. A painting is finished when the artist feels that it is. It is physically unfinished because it is part of an altarpiece. If I saw the other paintings in the altarpiece, I would deem “The Vision of Saint John” as unfinished by itself. Additionally, this piece was not on the audio tour.

      One piece that was not on the audio tour was Alice Neel’s “James Hunter Black Draftee” (1965). The incomplete quality of this painting gives it more depth and meaning. Neel only colored Hunter’s face and left the outline of his body “unfinished.” When he sat for Alice Neel, James Hunter had recently been drafted for the Vietnam War. When Hunter failed to come back for their second sitting, Neel called the work “unfinished.” This partial work is significant in two ways; Hunter did not return to model for Neel and many soldiers in the Vietnam did not come back home.

      Another piece that was not in the audio tour is Alina Szapocznikow’s sculptures, “Tumors Personified” (1971). Szapocznikow created this piece after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The fragmented heads symbolize how Szapocznikow feels after her diagnosis, broken and shattered.

     

"American Art" Auction at the Swann Gallery

On Thursday, my class, "New York and the Visual Arts'" at Pace University went to the Swann Gallery's "American Art" auction on east 25th street. I have never been to an art auction in my life, so this experience was eye-opening. As we walked into the galley room, we saw several pieces being auctioned on the walls. 

During the auction, the auctioneer showed a piece which started at a certain price. Each bidder had a stick with their identifying number attached. When the auctioneer announced a price the art piece was going for, if the bidder wanted to buy it, he or she would raise their stick.  As long as multiple bidders offered to buy a piece for the auctioned price, the auctioneer would keep increasing the value. At the end of the auction for each piece, each work of art went to the highest bidder. 

Before going to this art auction at the Swann Gallery, I thought the pricing of art was more objective, possibly based on paints and materials. However, I learned that the pricing of art is subjective. Works of art are quantified by the artist who made it and simply, how much voyeurs want the piece.

I found it interesting and confusing how the works of art were priced. For instance, Abraham Walkowitz's "Skyscrapers," a blurry watercolor of the skyscrapers in New York, was $2,000. About fifteen years later, Guy C. Wiggins made a clearer painting, with oil on canvas, "Fifth Avenue Storm," which was $30,000. There is no exact science for the reason people buy a piece of art. It is a subjective practice. What people like today may become a fad tomorrow.

 

While I was browsing through the to-be auctioned works at the Swann Gallery, a few pieces caught my attention. One of those pieces was Frank W. Benson's painting, "Seascape" which was auctioned for $4,000. "Seascape" is watercolor of the sea. Benson uses white, light blues and greens to create the color of the sea, giving the painting a calming effect. Just by looking at this painting, one can imagine themselves with their feet in the sand looking out at the sea, listening to the soothing waves Benson adds white for the sea foam which lies atop the water. He paints the rocks of the sea brown. If you look closely, you can see that the rocks aren't simply just brown, but also purple, blue, and white. The rocks blend with the colors of the sea. Even if I did not see this piece in an art auction, I would have been drawn to it because of my propensity towards water. Additionally, the fact that the piece was estimated to be between $8,000 and $12,000 demonstrates the subjectivity of art.

Photo Credits: www.publicdelivery.org

  Graffiti is an example where works of art are determined differently than artworks inside formal art institutions.  Voyeurs will either look at graffiti as beautiful street art or an act of defacement. Keith Haring, for instance, a renowned street artist, was arrested several times by the New York police in the 1980s. However, he was also commissioned to do public art installations. Therefore, it is impossible to be objective when looking at and assessing the value of an art piece.

If you want to look at beautiful works of art, purchase them, or both, I suggest you attend an art auction.

The Galleries of Chelsea

This week, with my class, New York and the Visual Arts at Pace University, I went to various art galleries in the Chelsea area. The exhibits include photographs, paintings, sculptures, as well as live art installations. Each exhibition is so creative and unique, some that I have never seen anything like before.

 

 In the Yossi Milo Gallery, the first of several that we went to has intriguing photos. One of my favorites is a picture of doves flying against a black background with an overhead light. It is from a series of photos called, “Until the Kingdom Comes.” The photographer captures a beautiful moment of the several birds flying from various angles.

We went to the Luhrig Augustine Gallery, whose exhibit, “The Marionette Maker” by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller stands out to me. This work is a caravan with miniature electronic dolls on a string surrounding a sleeping woman inside of it.  The moving dolls drew me to the exhibit. I thought the doll playing guitar was quite entertaining. After focusing on the dolls for a bit, I looked more closely and saw a woman laying down sleeping with the toys surrounding her. The artist inventively builds this piece to perhaps bring to life a dream the woman was having. I felt this piece was the most creative of all the works we saw that day.

The photograph of the doves could be in the same exhibit as "The Marionette Maker." Both works have ethereal and dreamlike aspects. Each one represents a form of transcendence. The doves fly beyond the realm of earth and when the woman dreams, she also transcends earthly bounds.

Photo credits: www.gladstonegallery.com

My least favorite are pieces at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery titled “Today You Will Be In Paradise” by Anish Kapoor. These works looked like a scene in a horror film. Some who are fans of horror and seeing bloody remains will appreciate this work as fascinating. However, for people who are squeamish like me, it is not all that pleasing. The structure resembles what seems like the human intestinal tract. The artist puts each sculpture of the gore on the walls of the gallery. On one wall stuck to the carnage is a piece of log human hair, which appeared to belong to a girl killed in the massacre that the artist brought to life on the walls.

Overall, I found each exhibit unique and captivating. I would recommend browsing through all of the galleries in Chelsea, especially the Yossi Milo Gallery and the Luhrig Augustine Gallery.

Art in Battery Park

My favorite exhibit at Battery Park is the art-installation “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet” that includes 12 globes, each five feet in diameter. Cool Globes Inc. sponsors this exhibition. In 2007, Wendy Abrams, a Chicago environmentalist founded the exhibit. The exhibition raises awareness for the problem of climate change. The message of this exhibit caters to young adults and over.  Through this installation, in unique and artful ways, artists present solutions to climate change with intricately decorated globes.

One of my favorite globes is the turquoise one with the spikes. I value it not only as a piece about our ecosystem, but also as a work of art. The artist uses a beautiful palette to make the globe. Though the majority of the globe is turquoise, in the right corner, a part of it is red, possibly indicating that some of the world is overheating. In this way, this globe as well as the other ones in this exhibit, is stressing that voyeurs of this display take action against global warming.

The globe with red water and green land also has an artistic appeal. The use of letters and numbers causes viewers to think and question the significance of the design. My interpretation is that the numbers are degrees in Celsius and signify the dangers of climate change. The letters seem to say “look,” emphasizing that people realize the threat of global warming. Artistically, the globe, how the artist blended the colors and designed the letters, attracts my eye. An interesting fact about this globe, made by artist Ellen Gradman, is that it is constructed out of 100 pounds of junk mail. The title of this globe is "Stop Unsolicited Mail." 

The globe I find least attractive is the metallic blue one with countries on the left colored in red, white, and blue. Unlike the other globes in the exhibition, this one is the most simplistic and least complex because of its almost exact reproduction of the actual globe. Other globes have more imaginative images and structures.  However, most of the globes are intricate and have a meaningful message.

Boomboxes at Marcus Garvey Park

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit at Marcus Garvey Park. There are so many intriguing and beautiful pieces. Out of all the artwork, Bayete Ross Smith’s exhibition, “Got the Power: Bomboxes” stands out to me the most. Smith is a modern multi-media artist, filmmaker, and educator. In this exhibit, he t connects several boomboxes together to make one unique sculpture of boombox stereos.  I have never seen a piece like this before. “Got the Power: Boomboxes” resonates with me because when I was a child, I used boomboxes similar to those in the exhibit to listen to music. Though most people do not use boombox speakers anymore, this piece possibly represents memories of the past for the artist as well as viewers of this exhibition. For children coming to this exhibit, who live in a digital age of handheld devices, they may not connect to this piece. However, they could still have an appreciation for this sculpture.

My least favorite piece was a colorful totem by artist, Mira Gandy. Though I have some appreciation for other artwork she has created, this particular one did not catch my eye. The narrow canvas does not allow park goers to deeply engage with the piece. In contrast, pieces like the horizontal “Lotus” by Naomi Lawrence draws in viewers with its wideness and bright colors. Perhaps, if Gandy made this piece larger and horizontal, voyeurs would attend to it with more engagement.