Update

Artist Mirna Massengale is coming to class tomorrow. She makes these interesting photos where she stages young people in odd places exhuding a sexy attitude that mixes ghetto, high fashion, and makeup as art.

The power of images

For centuries, there have been tensions between art and morals and politics. It all boils down to how visual we are, how much importance we give to images (think how Semitic religions absolutely forbid idolatry, which is why Islam has no iconography). Artworks belong in the aesthetic realm, that is to say, they deal with matters of taste, rather than matters of fundamental importance in human interactions, like morality. People know that a movie is a movie, but the depiction of certain narratives can stir profound emotions to the point of violent reaction and censorship. Is it Ok to censor (or condemn) images just because they touch "difficult" subjects? Can one conflate artworks with the real thing? On the other hand, is there a limit that an artist should not trespass for fear of hurting individuals or a group? In what follows, I’ll show some images that have stirred a great deal of controversy. I commented most of these artworks in class, except Oldenburg’s "Free Stamp" and Ofili's "Virgin Mary," which was made with elephant dung. Ofili's painting was part of the 1999 Sensation exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and was publicly attacked by Mayor Giuliani, who threatened to withhold $7 million per year from the Brooklyn Museum of Art if it didn't cancel the exhibition. Oldenburg's sculpture is one of the most controversial works of art displayed in the City of Cleveland. Free Stamp is a massive aluminum and steel sculpture with its large red handle sprawling across the lawn and metal base sinking into the ground displaying the word "FREE" in backwards letters to passersby on Lakeside Avenue. Many see it as an eyesore that is inappropriate for a location at the heart of the City’s Civic Center.

"Virgin Mary" -- Chris Ofili

"Free Stamp" -- Oldenburg

"Madame X" -- John Singer Sargent

"The Absinthe Drinker" -- Degas

"Olympia" -- Manet

"Raft of the Medusa" -- Gericault

Gavin Perry

Gavin got lost, but I'm glad he made it in time for his presentation. What are your thoughts?

Update

Tomorrow, Gavin Perry, a well-known Miami artist will talk to our class. I’m still missing some homework handouts and comments on these posts.

Cooper's presentation (2)

It's time to discuss Cooper's presentation. Any comments?

Cooper's presentation

I just got the Ok from Cooper. He will talk to our class this Thursday. A founder of Locust Projects and a well-known Miami artist, Cooper’s works are somewhat cryptic but strong. He’s also a character. I’m sure his presentation will be special. Let’s establish that your projects should be already sketched and since most of it is installation of some sort, let’s discuss presentation issues. My last two posts remain pretty empty. As everything comes back to normal, please, let's exchange some opinions.

Update

Writing this update from a cyber cafe. I hope you're all safe after Wilma's sudden and tempestuous visit. On a different note, Liz Cerejido, a well-known Miami artist and FIU Museum curator was supposed to come this Thursday. It was the third cancellation of a female artist --to have a presentation in our class.

 
 

Oldenburg's "Broche"

George Segal

Picasso's "Guernica"

Hugo Ball in Dada costume

Schwitters' "Merzbau"

Oldenburg "The Store" (1961)

Dieste's Church (Uruguay)

Pantheon (occulus)

Roman Catacombs

Parthenon

Installation art

As per installation art there’s always a relationship between void and mass. Art brings illusion, whether as a flat rectangle -as in painting- or as sculpture. Ancient pyramids are huge geometric solids (there’s no division between Amun and the Pharaoh). Athens’ Parthenon brings forth the idea of order, symmetry and scale in function of the citizen. Fast-forward 500 years to Rome’s Pantheon and we find a redefinition of the private/public in the stability and permanence of the empire. In Romanesque architecture the inside means worship and domesticity, while the outside remains dangerous (thus the fortress). Modern science redefines our relationship with space. With the invention of the elevator, buildings can go up dozens of stories; the car (a little room on wheels) takes our intimate living outside. With quantum mechanics, space becomes non-Euclidean. 20th-century art erases the boundaries between object/subject, inside/outside, private/public with Kurt Schwitters’ Merzbau, Duchamp’s ready-mades, the vast canvases of Pollock, Newman and Still, Frank Stella’s shaped canvases (which broke the hegemony of the rectangle), Sol Lewitt’s wall drawings, Carl Andre’s flat sculptures, Smithson’s earth works, Kaprow’s happenings, Claes Oldenburg’s The Store, and the tableaux of Segal, Kienholz and Tom Wasselmann. Today, buildings look sculptural (Gehry's Guggenheim Museum), while interiors are designed as exteriors (Zaha Hadid).

Dorsch

Any comments on Brook’s presentation last night?

Brook Dorsch this Thursday

I just confirmed Brook Dorsch, director of the Dorsch Gallery (one of Miami's most important venues) will come to talk to the class this Thursday. It should be interesting to have his view point. Bring your questions.

Zhu Ming "Add One Meter To a Mountain"

Zhang Huan "My New York"

William Pope. L. "Wittgenstein and my brother Frank"

Shintaro Miyake "Innocy's House"