replications of famous monuments, constructed of rawhide dog chews
angel wax figure
GI-Joe flavored excrements
Tuesday, October 14th
Today, Deb and I had to lead the group out to the Saatchi Gallery, a Chinese modern art gallery, because Diane had to stay home with Mya since she was sick. We ran into many obstacles in this task- just another day in the craziness of London. Apparently some crazy person ran onto the tracks of the tube, so the line we needed was cancelled for a while. We ended up waiting for about 20 minutes before figuring this out, and then took the tube to another stop, and transferred to two different busses in order to make it to our location. An hour and a half later, we made it to the gallery, and it was definitely worth the wait.
I learned quite a bit on this visit. I was fascinated by some of the concepts behind the work. Conceptual process is something that I am fascinated with in seeing others work, and it also helps me to see this in order to come up with new ideas for my own work. I really enjoy seeing the theory and ideas that goes into other’s work to find inspiration for my own… although some of it really is pretty daring and out there… Sometimes I think I am too ‘normal’ for the art world.
The first item to note is the painting style of two artists in particular: Zhang Xiaogang and Shi Xinning. These artists had a series of portraiture that made me very happy, and quite inspired. Xiaogang’s smoothness and intensity absolutely fascinated me and I took lots of pictures in order to examine and study it further and to use as a reference for my work in the future. Xinning had more of a textured, impressionistic feel which I would like to convey and explore as well. I love painting portraits, so hopefully this will help me to further develop this skill.
There were several wax figures that rather captivated me: one, a shaman sprawled across the floor, licking the ground, and the other, some sort of dead angelic figure lying on the ground as well. The detail was incredible, the hair, the veins, toe and fingernails, skin- they looked disturbingly real. The shaman is supposed to represent the internalizing of knowledge and a religious communion with place/person/or thing. The angel is supposed to have plummeted to the ground, a crash-landed reject from above. He is stripped of his halo, and suggests a sinner’s mischief, the fate of public display, and the wrath of God with a cruel sense of humor. Although pretty strong and controversial I am sure, I found the piece fascinating.
I also enjoyed the absolutely stereotypical absurdity of modern art. Among my favorite were the stuffed donkey carcass climbing a building, pitchforks though the heads of a bunch of roman busts, and a giant blob of feces with GI-Joes climbing out of it.
Continuing on with ideas for personal work, I also saw some really nice textured works, in addition to some great color usage and design ideas. A particular artist had some great ideas for washes and layered work as well.
The last item I would like to note about this gallery was the exhibit on the lower floor. Again, the wax figures- these ones made me particularly happy. When you walk into the room there is a balcony, with the exhibit below. In mechanical wheelchairs, moving all around at a slow pace, are wax figures, with a ‘strikingly similar resemblance’ to powerful world political leaders. The artist depicts these figures as old and senile, drooling, and sleeping awkwardly in their chairs. The concept of their wheelchairs on a collision course is obviously a parallel for the idea of international conflict. It was rather funny watching the attendant have to go and separate a few of the chairs when they got piled up.
Cody and I left the gallery and went back for lunch. After that, Michelle and I took a walk in Regents Park and collected some rose petals. We met a nice lady named Marie who was sitting and watching the birds on a park bench. She was a very sweet lady, and gave us tips on other nice gardens in the area. We talked with her for probably 15-20 minutes before heading on our way. In wandering though new rose gardens that I hadn’t explored in my other ventures into the park, I came across some ‘Harkness roses.’ I knew there were such things, but was still surprised to find them here. Harkness Roses in London’s royal gardens = awesome!
I came back for the evening and continued to plan our trip to Switzerland with Cody, but in the end we decided not to go. We left from that to go to the worst play I have ever seen in my life. Usually I am the absolute optimist, but the production of ‘Fat Pig’ left me wanting to leave at intermission. I probably would have if I didn’t think it were disrespectful to the performers and the appreciation for the work they had put into it. However, I thought the acting was terrible, stage direction was not all that great, and the plot itself could have been MUCH better. I don’t think anyone liked it… How did it get such good reviews? I have no idea. Oh well, next week is West Side Story. That should be good.
Today, Deb and I had to lead the group out to the Saatchi Gallery, a Chinese modern art gallery, because Diane had to stay home with Mya since she was sick. We ran into many obstacles in this task- just another day in the craziness of London. Apparently some crazy person ran onto the tracks of the tube, so the line we needed was cancelled for a while. We ended up waiting for about 20 minutes before figuring this out, and then took the tube to another stop, and transferred to two different busses in order to make it to our location. An hour and a half later, we made it to the gallery, and it was definitely worth the wait.
I learned quite a bit on this visit. I was fascinated by some of the concepts behind the work. Conceptual process is something that I am fascinated with in seeing others work, and it also helps me to see this in order to come up with new ideas for my own work. I really enjoy seeing the theory and ideas that goes into other’s work to find inspiration for my own… although some of it really is pretty daring and out there… Sometimes I think I am too ‘normal’ for the art world.
The first item to note is the painting style of two artists in particular: Zhang Xiaogang and Shi Xinning. These artists had a series of portraiture that made me very happy, and quite inspired. Xiaogang’s smoothness and intensity absolutely fascinated me and I took lots of pictures in order to examine and study it further and to use as a reference for my work in the future. Xinning had more of a textured, impressionistic feel which I would like to convey and explore as well. I love painting portraits, so hopefully this will help me to further develop this skill.
There were several wax figures that rather captivated me: one, a shaman sprawled across the floor, licking the ground, and the other, some sort of dead angelic figure lying on the ground as well. The detail was incredible, the hair, the veins, toe and fingernails, skin- they looked disturbingly real. The shaman is supposed to represent the internalizing of knowledge and a religious communion with place/person/or thing. The angel is supposed to have plummeted to the ground, a crash-landed reject from above. He is stripped of his halo, and suggests a sinner’s mischief, the fate of public display, and the wrath of God with a cruel sense of humor. Although pretty strong and controversial I am sure, I found the piece fascinating.
I also enjoyed the absolutely stereotypical absurdity of modern art. Among my favorite were the stuffed donkey carcass climbing a building, pitchforks though the heads of a bunch of roman busts, and a giant blob of feces with GI-Joes climbing out of it.
Continuing on with ideas for personal work, I also saw some really nice textured works, in addition to some great color usage and design ideas. A particular artist had some great ideas for washes and layered work as well.
The last item I would like to note about this gallery was the exhibit on the lower floor. Again, the wax figures- these ones made me particularly happy. When you walk into the room there is a balcony, with the exhibit below. In mechanical wheelchairs, moving all around at a slow pace, are wax figures, with a ‘strikingly similar resemblance’ to powerful world political leaders. The artist depicts these figures as old and senile, drooling, and sleeping awkwardly in their chairs. The concept of their wheelchairs on a collision course is obviously a parallel for the idea of international conflict. It was rather funny watching the attendant have to go and separate a few of the chairs when they got piled up.
Cody and I left the gallery and went back for lunch. After that, Michelle and I took a walk in Regents Park and collected some rose petals. We met a nice lady named Marie who was sitting and watching the birds on a park bench. She was a very sweet lady, and gave us tips on other nice gardens in the area. We talked with her for probably 15-20 minutes before heading on our way. In wandering though new rose gardens that I hadn’t explored in my other ventures into the park, I came across some ‘Harkness roses.’ I knew there were such things, but was still surprised to find them here. Harkness Roses in London’s royal gardens = awesome!
I came back for the evening and continued to plan our trip to Switzerland with Cody, but in the end we decided not to go. We left from that to go to the worst play I have ever seen in my life. Usually I am the absolute optimist, but the production of ‘Fat Pig’ left me wanting to leave at intermission. I probably would have if I didn’t think it were disrespectful to the performers and the appreciation for the work they had put into it. However, I thought the acting was terrible, stage direction was not all that great, and the plot itself could have been MUCH better. I don’t think anyone liked it… How did it get such good reviews? I have no idea. Oh well, next week is West Side Story. That should be good.
Here is a video of the 'Old Persons Home' World Leaders Piece by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu... Absolutely hilarious if you ask me!
No comments:
Post a Comment