Beverly was visiting Chicago last weekend and got to spend some time at the Art Institute Museum (I am SO JEALOUS that's one of my favorite museums in the entire world). She discovered a wonderful lesser-known Van Gogh painting and has created a new really cool meme about our favorite paintings.

This is the bad part about being an art major: I know a lot about art but I don't know what I like. Because, to me, I can't always just view things as "good" or "bad" I have to analyze the shit out of something then end up having ambiguous feelings about it. This seems to be the dilemma for most Democrats these days - complete overanalysis of a situation instead of towing the knee jerk reactionary party line. May the gods help those who think too much it seems.

So to get this narrowed down a bit I decided to limit myself to my favorite black and white line drawings or etchings. And, not-surprisingly considering my whole obsession with women in art, they're primarily line drawings and etchings of the female form. Not exactly idealized forms, but reflections on how women are seen, by the artist, by society, by themselves. Because that's an issue I've been studying for a very long time.

And I'll try not to write a dissertation on the images, just say what I like about them. So here goes.

So those are a few of my favorite images anyway.

Why do the comments I write on other people's sites always seem far more interesting and well thought-out than those on my own damn site these days?
Exhibit A
Exhibit B

At this point I'm considering copying and pasting my very own comments and posting them here for content. How friggin sad is that?

That said I'm going to attempt to write an interesting, (hopefully) well-written little vignette from my day.

Cody was off work today and we decided to go out to lunch. I'm too embarrassed to tell you where I'll just say it's a seafood restaurant chain that has surprisingly good gumbo. While there he asked me where I bought the gigantic spool of plastic foodwrap that I've had since well before he and I met. He wasn't sure if it was actually the same one.

"Oh, that. I stole it from Judy Chicago in 1994."

Then went on to tell him about a workshop I took with her during a summer term at College of Santa Fe where women basically paid a pretty big sum of money to have the privilege of having the famed feminist artist show up once a day, say mean paranoid things about how we're fighting against her while we really have resentment for men, which occasionally resulted in making the big lesbian biker woman I'd made friends with in class cry, then take credit for all our artwork as a "sponsored group piece" in a gallery show. Made me rethink exactly who's been doing the actual work in her famed art pieces that's for sure.

In retaliation I stole the Sam's club saran wrap from the leftover supplies. And coined the saying "Well she may have had to work hard to get respect in the male-dominated art world but she didn't have to grow a penis of meanness."

He knew about some of it because my self-portrait plaster casts from the show are decidedly in the garage and not hanging in the house like he thinks they should. But he was starting to suspect that I've been having a clandestine affair with the glad wrap man while he's away working nights.

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http://www.tomcruiseisnuts.com/

I don't even want to go into what he said about people who need antidepressants because his statements are just too ridiculous for me to feel justified in acknowledging. He's clearly going through an extreme mid-life crisis of the narcissistic celebrity kind. I just hope that his statements haven't made anyone with any form of depression reconsider getting the help they need. There's enough of a stigma against people with mental illnesses a celebrity anti-spokesperson leading a crusade really isn't necessary.

Oh, I can now say that I've tasted wasabi ginger and black licorice ice creams. And I probably never will again.

That's pretty much what I've been doing. Sitting on the sofa with the dog next to me, her head on my knee while I knitknitknit and watch tv. Haven't been on the computer in three days. And I have a four foot long purple garter stitch scarf so far. In the ugliest tackiest acrylic yarn you've ever seen that came with my learn to knit and crochet kits. It's not easy to find nice yarn at the mega craft stores. It's all gross speckly acrylic stuff in totally uninteresting colors. Now I know.

The other day out of curiosity I looked up "Albuquerque Yarn Store" on google and realized that, hell, we're in New Mexico - of course there's going to be gorgeous wool yarn here - what did I think all those beautiful rugs and blankets were made from? As a matter of fact, I found out that there was a yarn factory right here - and they had an outlet store. They have the most beautiful, vivid colors that really capture the New Mexico palette. And I realized, it would be such a waste to use boring colors and make boring preppie crap. Especially with access to such beautiful yarn. So we went to their outlet store today and I bought some fun new yarns. Can't wait to play with them.

So that was my valentine's day present: some beautiful stuff from Fiesta Yarns.

Cody got a few t shirts from thinkgeek. Including this:

And for us both we're getting a water cooler.

Happy V Day. Crafty thirsty nerds of the world unite!

Garbage men in Frankfurt, Germany, think art installation project is refuse and haul it to the dump. Are now being sent to art remedial school.

Apparently the installation materials looked like they were discarded construction materials.

I know the feeling. My poor found art roller disco chicken from my freshman 3d design class met the same fate. It was so cool. Made me think of Picasso's toy car head monkey. My chicken was made out of a portable gas tank, spray bottles, duct tape, toilet brushes, and old thrift store roller skates. This was when a lot of my 'supplies' were purchased at thrift stores or on my parents' Exxon card.

Sculptor makes money by sculpting food

Reminds me of that weird "art for all the senses" idea I had in 92 but never did anything about. It's in a refrigerated room but damn you know that butter smell gets old.

Young Prospective Artist Finds Herself in a 'No Sketch' Zone

A second grader was scolded by a security guard for sketching some of her favorite paintings at a traveling show entitled "School of Paris: Masterpieces from the Baltimore Museum of Art" which included works by Matisse, Picasso, Monet, and Degas. The guard claimed that the artwork was copyright protected.

The museum has since issued an apology and is inviting artists to sketch to their artistic hearts' content as long as they don't get in another viewer's way. Sketching other artists' works is an extremely common practice among all ages of art students and is encouraged and sometimes required in undergraduate and master level classes.

Seems Mr Big Time museum security guard has recently read the infamous failure to copyright is akin to communism interview and thought he was doing his bit to prevent artistic terrorism. (Please note my restraint in making a bad performance art joke at this juncture)

according to a a survey of 500 artists, curators, critics and dealers.

1. R Mutt's Fountain, 1917 - better known as Marcel Duchamp's "readymade" urinal

2. Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907

3. Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych, 1962

4. Picasso's Guernica, 1937

5. Henri Matisse's The Red Studio, 1911

6 Joseph Beuys - I Like America and America Likes Me, 1974 - a performance piece in the top ten? wow.

7 Constantin Brancusi - Endless Column, 1938

8 Jackson Pollock - One: No 31, 1950

9 Donald Judd - 100 untitled works in mill aluminium, 1982-1986

10 Henry Moore Reclining Figure 1929

from the Guardian Unlimited

Imagine you were once really really good at something. You went to school to study it for a long time. You started out thinking you'd never be as good as the others at it but worked your ass off. Seemed like you were living and breathing it. That and a bit of luck and you were doing pretty well for a while.

Then stuff happened and you stopped doing it. Cynicism about the seemingly arbitary prices mixed with the business of starting a life with another person and you just forget to do it. There was a small part of it in your daily life. You thought about it often but you never acted on it. After a while you were afraid you'd never be that good again. Then six years passed.

One thing everyone in my life agrees on is that I should make art again. My mother, sister, husband, best friend, dad. Everyone. They say it in different ways but that's the general consensus. It's been scary to think just how out of practice I would be.

Then I read about this sketchcrawl and thought I should try making art again...

(please look in extended entry) *warning! fairly large images!*

I moved a lot of crap in the back bedroom/studio/repository of office crap to get to my big box of drawing supplies today. (I found a present for you guys too but I'm not posting it until tomorrow) Got a bunch of my old art supplies and sketchbooks and put them in the bathroom. I was terrified and cold and felt dusty and gross after moving around and digging in boxes. The one place I can really relax is in the bathtub. So I made a cup of tea, drew a bath, turned on the overhead heater and got in.

Drawing my feet has always been a comforting thing to me. They're odd organic shapes and are always there. When I first moved to Santa Fe and didn't know a soul on this side of the Mississippi I spent a lot of time in my apartment drawing my feet and listening to KBAC.

The toe ring has been a fun addition.

I kept having to remind myself to draw the lines as I saw them not what I thought the shapes should be. That was the best advice for drawing I've ever heard. From this strange American art teacher who taught a class I took at Uni of New South Wales Art School. Made me stop stressing about drawing the "perfect cup" or making it look photorealistic and just draw the lines.

Cylinders are perfect introductions to drawing. A lot of intro classes involve gessoed milk bottles so the student can get used to showing light's effect on the fairly simple volume and shape.

There was a perfect still life at the foot of the tub just for me - a bottle of shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap, and the new shower curtain. I think I got a little carried away with trying out all my colored pencils and pastels again but I've always enjoyed using colors to express light. The perspective is a bit off but I don't think it's too bad considering that it's been six years.

I started to draw Phunq. Who really is that regal-looking when he sits on the countertop enjoying the heat lamp. But he saw me looking at him and that meant he had to jump down and come over so he could get pets.

I can tell I've got a long way to go to have the confidence in my pencil strokes again. To get back to the days when I could emulate Picasso using four lines to perfectly capture the shape of a model's butt.

I got a bit lazy. And the dog kept barking. Which woke Cody up. Who had to navigate the complete mess I'd made moving stuff getting to my supplies so he could answer the door. Afterwards he saw the stack of sketchbooks and art supplies on the closed toilet seat and he knew just how important a moment this was. He just smiled and raised his eyebrows basically asking, "So are you ok?" And I said "This is just terrifying." And being a writer who hasn't written he knew just what I meant.

I hope you like them but I want you to know that I didn't do this for you. I did it for me.

Noelle is 41% Sketchy

So I decided to cheer myself up by going out in the sunshine to play with the dog in the backyard. I took the el cheapo twenty dollar digital camera with me. But two months seems to be its limit. When I downloaded the newest pictures they were mostly fuzzy gross messes. But then I started looking closer to see if any had a salvagable image I could just crop. Then I noticed that some came out looking like really cool collages.

And in the spirit of Toy Camera.com I decided to embrace the flaws and just enjoy art for art's sake.

This is interesting..

Rosemarie Fiore rides the whirligig and plays pinball - and turns the experience into art. Cool.

Pop art, motion theory, spirography, and amusement park pop psychology.

Rosemarie Fiore
Documentation of the artist playing pinball and creating a painting
Evel Knievel pinball maching, oil on vellum
2001

and I can't resist quoting this-

Reuters

He was one of the photographers that made small moments in everyday life into stunning artwork. And he used a small 35 mm Leica using a standard lens and usually no flash. He portrayed his juman subjects with honesty while not only maintaining their dignity but somehow showing a beauty we may not have seen otherwise.

He travelled extensively and his photographs capturing the different cultures were published in Life, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and later several books. His portraits of his contemporaries in arts and entertainment as well as politics have become in many cases the definitive image we have of the artists. He witnessed invasions, civil war, communist occupation, imprisonment by the Nazis, eventual escape and the liberation of his home country. And never lost his sense of wonder of the 'decisive moment'.

An extraordinary man.

Times Dispatch
NY Times
Washington Post
The Age
The Economist
CNN
NPR

His Work-
About.com

Portraits by Cartier-Bresson
A Retrospective of his work at Magnum Photos
Cartier-Bresson

Collaboration between Andrew Dunbar (photographer) and Anthony Chiappin (painter) and a bunch of nekkid people.

Judge upholds artist's right to use Barbie in his art
login- egeltje
pword- hedgehog

Jonathan Zittrain, a professor at Harvard Law School who specializes in Internet and copyright law, said, "It's enough to give corporations with brands they want to protect and expand pause to consider whether to simply reflexively unleash the hounds the minute they see somebody doing something that relates to their brand of which they don't approve."

Other barbie artists

other action figure art

No I'm not talking about the Cronenberg movie or Precious Moments collectibles but more about the kind of art you can't stand to see but at the same time can't look away.

It's a long story what I was researching but I just ran across this site displaying work that combines taxidermy with sculpture. Seriously. Don't go there unless you want to be very frightened of fellow man. A case of curiosities - fine art taxidermy & assemblage.

I remember back in 97 when Spy Magazine had a cover story called "Buy this magazine or the dog is art" - a play on the old National Lampoon cover and the trend of grotesque art that was going around - paintings in or of menstrual blood, the piss christ series, that kind of thing.

I really didn't find that art disturbing. But the kitty flowers definitely give me the heebie jeebies.