Inside Out and Outside In on Nia

I had the opportunity of being a curator. I picked the topic, Inside Out and Outside In. Essentially how others perceive me and then how I perceive myself.  In the beginning I found it difficult to to pick images that i felt identified me and 2 times as hard to find artwork s on ho others identify me. I didn't quite know how others looked at me and I also had to be real with myself. i had to be honest that some of my qualities aren't always "presentable". The first 6 images I used to describe/represent my personality are unique. I didn't pick them because they were pretty. This project was a fun one it required a lot of thinking. The first six artworks describe how i perceive myself and the last 7 artworks are how i feel others perceive me. I took my time so the works are accurate. Here's my project I hope you enjoy.   

A beautiful crown from Central Asia made in the late 19th century early 20th century and a design for a canopy bed made by Charles Hindly and son describes my “princess” like mentality. I didn’t develop this on my own with the help of my dad and older brother who treated me like a princess all my life. I sort of develop this mentality.

      

The picture on the left on the young girl with her mouth open  created in Austrian, Vienna by Jakob Matthias Schmutzer expresses how much I talk and how opinionated I am. While the picture on the right by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout shows how much of a deep thinker I tend to be.

   

The picture above of the school children by Frances Benjamin Johntson shows how much I really love school. I’m really a nerd at heart I like to learn.

The party scene right above or in those times the square dance scene by Debbie Grossman represent my “wild side” I love school but when I need a break I hit up a party.

The picture above is The Jewelry of  Kievan Rus represents how I like jewelry, doesn’t matter whether its costume or expensive.  I like to shop.

                                                       

The picture on the left a 19th century Netsuke Mask of a man with curly hair with his mouth open represents  how sometimes  people take what I say the wrong way. I give off the impression that I’m mean or rude. The Chanel chainsaw on the right by Tom Sachs also represents how “cut throat” I come off when I’m trying to make a point or motivate someone.

                                     

The picture of the clown  by Walt Kuhn shows how sometimes I do clown around but people tend to always think I’m playing  but most of the times I’m being serious.  The two paintings on the left one of the happy face from the roman gallery  and the mad face on the left made in the 19th century represents how my family and friends  say I have “mood swings” . 

The Final  Art work by Carl Sprichon  shows a girl dancing represents how I am just me, no matter how you view me or how I view myself at times in the end I’m me

LES Galleries Field Trip 4

After I finally got the chance to make it down to the Lower East Side and check the galleries out I admittedly felt like a few of the galleries were a little more urban than the galleries in Chelsea. I would think being that it is the "Lower East Side" I've been there just to hang out a few times and its very diverse. People there have a unique sense of style ( not everyone) but most, so I figured the art galleries would pertain to people that consider themselves urban, hip, whatever. Not every gallery was urban, they had fine art galleries just like Chelsea. The difference in my opinion Chelsea had more Fine Art galleries and would be more appealing to people of a older crowd. 2feet12inches art space, DKCT contemporary are two galleries I saw that I can say was Urban and stood out that I don't remember seeing anything similar in the Chelsea Galleries. Some of the galleries were the same because the Lower East Side does have fine art galleries as well. I think the difference in the location as I stated earlier to me it a different vibe in the Chelsea galleries, more of a "high Class" tea sipping, fancy shoes and tie gallery event but the vibe of the Lower East Side is like pair of converse some sweats and a frappe and chill and check out some art. I think for some galleries Chelsea and Lower East Side do carry some of the same collectors but only for a few galleries. Most artist make more then one kind of art work, so maybe LES galleries carries a certain artist fine art collection while Chelsea carries a certain artist Contemporary work.

Public Art Reaction Field Trip 5

Public art is a form of art that is view able for free by the public eye. Graffiti is a form but since graffiti is illegal it is not necessarily consider public"art" even though art is a form of expression and so is graffiti.
  on 125st there are many things for tourist to admire and visit, the Apollo being the greatest tourist attraction but not many people know that tourist also look at the murals. the murals aren't ones you would see walking down 125th st and that is because these murals are painted on the closing gates of the stores. All through up and down the 125st strip there are different murals painted by a man named Franco Gaskin now 82 Gaskin has been painting these murals for years. 
I live right down the block from 125st so I get the the opportunity to walk past these murals all the time and I always wanted to know was it really just young kids and graffiti or did someone actually take the time out to really paint these themselves or was it a group of people that did it. I found out one day in the news that the murals were actually painted by the man i previously mentioned and he just did it. He didn't get paid for it but did become famous for it. I picked out one the frequently see, it's painted mural of a black guy holding three different pictures, one of Martin Luther King, one of Malcolm X  and the last picture is of Barack Obama and it then says "Share the Dream". I think Daskin is trying to be in a way political with this painting by telling people to share the dream of the two men before Obama through Obama. This painting is in the best place right in the middle of Harlem where it is extremely diverse but also full of a lot soul from different African American cultures. People a lot of people walk down the block and can relate to this painting. I personally don't think this painting is detrimental to its surroundings many people from the ones that live in Harlem to tourist like to see this kind of freedom of expression for free without having to always pay money. If this was in a museum or a private place I wouldn't call it freedom of speech. I don't think this would be in a museum because it may be considered as offensive to certain people.    

Painting By Franco Gaskin. 

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/murals-painted-in-grittier-days-are-fading-from-125th-street/

Illustrate A Story, Project 3

I listened to a few story on storycorps and a lot of them were interesting but this one in particular struck me. The story is of a man named Wil Smith and his daughter. This is not just a regular father and daughter story, this is a story of how a man can over come obstacles and take care of his child just like a women can. Even though Wil was up in age he still managed to take care of a daughter and graduate college. Seeing people overcome obstacles is a beautiful thing.

In this collage I tried to incorporate the main aspects of the story which were his daughter and basketball. As well as the most important thing which was him graduating college and his daughter rooting for him.  

The Story.

http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/wil-smith-and-his-daughter-olivia/

  

Chelsea Galleriss Reaction Field Trip 5

If I was an Art Collector I would collect art work from Greg Lamarche exclusively his “Timeless” edition. This exhibition has 45 works of art all together. Most of these art works look like collages and graffiti but what stuck out to me was a few of them had a message. The message was in the title for example 

"Risk is Everything" Hand painted wood assemblage.

This particular art work would be the main attraction of the show. The title for one struck me because it can mean a number of things positive or negative. I took it to mean something positive, for examples don’t be afraid to take the risk if you want to pursue a goal. The outcome may be greater than the risk. These works of art are definitely a good investment. It is something to look at. I wouldn’t keep it in Storage I would display it. 

Since I am an "Art Collector" there are also certain collections i wouldn't display or invest in because i wouldn't want it to take up room in my storage. There is a collection by Jackie Gendel titled "Comedy of Matters". To start most of the works art pleasing to look at and I'm not sure what the title has to do with any of the paintings/drawings. For instance 

"Jackie Gendel Couple"

Ink on Paper

This drawing is the worst one out of the bunch. It just isn't appealing and I'm not sure how it could be appealing to anyone else. "Comedy of Manners" I Can see the comedy in the pictures because they are horrible but am i suppose to have manners and not laugh? Not sure. For those few reasons I would not make an investment it would definitely sit in storage if I did.

 

Design in our lives field trip 2

I recently made another trip to the MoMA. This trip was on different floors, the 3rd floor which was full of architecture and design and then the 6th floor which was century of  CHILD GROWING BY DESIGN. Each floors were different then the floors i visited on my first trip. these two floors were more modern to the twentieth century if you ask me.  At the MoMA this time i had to find two things in which i found "highly functional" and two thing in which i found "low functionality". Some what difficult but here are my results. 

LOW FUNCTIONALITY  

Designs for an Over populated world; Foragers 2009 Dunne Raby,Fiona Raby, Anthony Dunne

To me this seems to low functionality. Low functionality meaning something that cannot be of much use to you or to anybody else. serving a purpose to someone or something and being able to to be used. to me this is low functional because how can one use this? this is merely a matter of the mind not something that can be physically used and if you didn't read the title you wouldn't even be sure of what this means.

This to me is low functional but only because it is not functional to me per say. I mean maybe a kid would find this to be of "high function" if they knew what it meant but it cant be f any use to me its annoying.

HIGH FUNCTIONALITY  

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky 

Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, 1926–27. Installation view of Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen.

This is what you can say as "highly functional" meaning something of great use or purpose to ones life or everyday doings. no other then the kitchen where you eat cook dinner for family, friends and even a significant other. You need food to survive so of course you need a kitchen to survive.

Another item in the museum in which I found highly functional. Its a car seat, a safety measure for children and if the car seat is secure and put in right then it can save a child life but if its put in wrong then it may be death tramental to the child's life. For most parents this is a great invention and helps make driving easier and simpler and safe. 

Field Trip 1 Museum of Modern Art Summary

My first field trip to the MoMA was more exciting then I thought it would be. My first thought was that I was going to be in a museum full of old timers looking at from B.C (before Christ) that made "Modern". I was way off with that idea. I found art that was interesting and appealing to not only me but to some of my classmates. I also found some art that I found controversial if that is even the right word to use. Professor Ari told my class that we had to find three paintings that spoke and identified with us is three different ways. First a piece of artwork  that we could identify with personally, next a piece of artwork that identified us culturally and last a piece of artwork that we could identify with historically. 
    To find a work of art to identify with me personally was a little more difficult then I thought. I ended up going with a work of art published by Galerie Michael Werner titled "Dieu (God)" it is a felt-tip pen and ink stamped mirror. Yes a mirror. A mirror is a perfect way to identify ones self. Not only because I can see myself. Its a reflection of what I see, of how i look at myself way past my facial features. That could of been what the artist was thinking when they stamped the mirror. Looking into it tell me what you really see. do you see your present self, or a future you or maybe even a version of you from the past. While looking in the mirror i cans see all of that. That is why i chose this work of art to identify with personally.

Next piece of art is an art work I can say historically i can identify with.  It is a painting by Jasper Johns. A painting of an american flag and ever since 9/11 to be an American a naturally born American citizen has been more then an honor and has so much more of a meaning. Gives you a since of pride, for some it may resemble a sense of defeat but to all its an united nation not easily broken but bruised. This painting really stuck out to me thought about all the lives lost and the lives changed since then. Even the way the nation has changed due to a historical moment. The american flag painting my Jasper John i can relate to Historically.

The last piece of art is an art work by Wifredo Lam titled "The Jungle". I didn't intentionally pick this piece of art work for its name and before i even read the description i thought the figures resembled Africans in a field. I thought this due to the way the noses were formed and it looked like they were wearing mask and had tribal marks. I can culturally relate because i am African American and back in the days it was stated that all African Americans had large noses. This is a good painting the colors i like it sets my mood for a calm yet anxious mood with the way the faces look in painting this is my favorite out of all three.

   This Trip to the MoMA was good one. Saw alot of different wart works that confused me and intrigued me. Since we are going again this week Im hoping to see other art works that i can look at and make my own story behind it before even reading the description. In my mind that is how you make art fun. You create a story tell a peer and see if they see what you see or if they have their own story behind it and then you go and see what the artist story is to see if its similar or different.  each of my art works are different none of them use the same items to make nor do they have the same meaning. i can identify with each of my art works easily and comfortably. 

My Future Life Collage

This collage explains how I want things to be in my life. It starts from prom night, which was a beautiful night for me. I wish all my night could end ow my prom night did. then in the left hand corner is beach picture with the sign bahamas at the top. That is because once i graduate college I would like to treat myself to a vacation to the bahamas. Notice I said once I graduate notice the stack of books and graduation cap on top of the picture. Then the three different cps stating peace,love and happiness id how i try and view thing in life in order to not get upset. There is also a picture of a lady getting a massage and that symbolizes my career as a physical therapist. she also has a drink, just something to calm her down. Last is my dream car a Range Rover, I would also hope to teat myself to that car once i graduate. If I am able to do that i would be estatic just like the happy face inside the car. :) Finally the background is where i grew up right down the block in Harlem,New York. :D 

Good Art Vs Bad Art

As Professor Ari stated everyone does have their own opinion of good art and their own opinion of bad art. Since this is my blog I'm here to discuss my personal opinion of what good art maybe vs what bad art maybe.

Good Art- In my opinion good art is something that someone has put their time,effort and emotion in something that was some what well thought out. When i say "some what" I say this because sometimes ideas pop into peoples head and its like BING !  I have an idea, an inspiration and urge to draw, to paint to use a colored pencil or a marker and people just draw what comes to mind and for some that is beauty that is good art and i agree. Good art is something that YOU  THINK IS BEAUTIFUL. If you can look at a certain object or picture and find the beauty then its good art. Everything is mainly based on opinion anyways right? "Good Artist" are "Good Artist" based on what OTHER people thought. Someone thought Donatello was good artist and that was based off of opinion. It Also depends on the time period. The time period of The Mona Lisa somebody thought that picture was "Good Art" and when I look at that picture today i see a regular lady not much beauty barely grinning but yet and still people find the  BEAUTY and consider that good art. See where I'm going with this. While i can look at a picture with just blotches and color splats and see the beauty and think its good art.    

GOOD ART IN MY EYES AND BEAUTY   

IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.

       BAD ART- Even though beauty is in the eye of the beholder so is stupidity. Now just because you can find the beauty in something doesn't make it art. Even if you use paint and colored pencils and painted it in front of a famous artist. Something have to logical beautiful BUT logical. Like someone drawing a picture of someone else drawing can be beautiful with a purpose but someone drawing a picture of a picture of a ball next to trash can is pretty pointless. Now that I think about it I am contradicting myself because in my paragraph above i said what ever YOU THINK IS BEAUTIFUL. So maybe there isn't anyone that can flat out say what "Bad Art" is. Only in my opinion the art shouldn't be completely worthless or pointless. How about maybe more then just you and your dog can see the beauty in what ever it is you drew or sketched. Take a little more thought or effort into it before calling it art.

"BAD ART"