Art History Symposium

In and Out of Time

Ruby Chisti Artist Lecture

 

 

 

Location: 1005, Mendocino Hall, April 6^th, 6:30 – 7:30 pm, Sacramento State University

Introduction: Chisti was born and raised in Pakistan

-          Makes narrative sculptures about gender discrimination that stems from a strong sense of being unwanted; horrid childhood memories

-          Chisti has an immense appreciation for repurposing items

-          Internal experiences often influences her work

-          Censorship on media and visual art

    Trying to find the truth about what was happening in Pakistan

Isness and Being: Sculpture

The objective reality in comparison to social beings > internal/ personal prospective

-interested in exploring possibilities of cloth extends the craft and skill of sewing, and puts it in artwork

-The work addresses gender and displacement of the artists past life.

-Clothes / buds – important part of Urban sculpture

- moved to u.s. 2002

 A sketch of a fading memory, 2002: Sculpture

- A reflection of the artists personal life; having issues processing trauma.

Visual Metaphor, Sculpture

Roles of mother/ child reversed

Materials: found sticks artists collected to assimilate the nests of sparrows

Christi is very interested in the uses of the form of birds

uses different sizes twigs

-Guardian Angel – sculpture

Self portrait ; madona and child inspired but actual made from photos of the artist and their mother 

Free Hugs- piece

-San Francisco bart station inspired what does it mean? Why are people hugging each other

-weapon of mass destruction

Lifesize

Materials: pantyhose, polyester, fabrics, and thread (2008) 
Cessation, 2008
Leather, fabric, pantyhose, universal meaning
making man out of women using women’s

material

- Blemishes of time 2009

The idea that You are your own source;  no one is there to help; artist completely depends on self for necessary resources

Gauze & Bandage

The artist created themselves in their work

There is no hero 2009
Done when a female petition was assassinated; this was more of a tribute to her
Fallen figure
Wounded break
Ravens; weakness; present very comforting > prescience to protect the crown

 

Whole Readymade coat 2012
Interested in depicting the absence of the body
Body structure & architecture crumbled
Refugees that felt displaced but strangely at home. 
Art can serve as a catalyst for change

 

Place Displaced, 2010
Artist not going back to their home the horrors of war and displacement
 
Links to personal & political narrative:
Engaging fragility of human existence

 

Cathartic aspect of construction then reconstruction.

Marcel Duchamp - Bampfa

Captivating Movement

Marcel Duchamp Dimensionist Manifesto

Location: BAMPFA Museum, 2155 Center St

 These works were particularly interesting to me because I had no idea Duchamp experimented with movement. Duchamp is most known for his avant-garde work; Fountain, 1917. Below Is a clip of the piece.
" Use of movement in the plane for the creation of forms in space. When set in motion, the disc appears as if it is going to transport the two - dimensional object into a wobbly three - dimensional object into a wobbly three - dimensional cylinder that moves in four - dimensional space time.

https://youtu.be/ifeTaWG5RaI

Crocker Art Museum Visit

Crocker Art Museum Visit 

Art Imitates Life and Life Imitates Art 

Location: Crocker Art Museum 216 O Street
Date: April 16, 2019

 Local visits at the Crocker art museum are always pretty exciting. I found a lot of interest in the artwork  titled; Portait of Simon George II (2007). I had been learning a lot about the work of Kehinde Wiley in my American art class and was fascinated with the way the artist portrayed African American males in a state of power - replacing old history portraits with portraits of empowerment.

Portrait of Simon George II 

Wiley often practices with a technique called; "street casting" he began in Harlem. He asked African American men to pose for portraits inspired by the old masters. This painting pays and homage to the work of Rembrandt titled; Woman with a Pink ; by using a similar pose. The artist is known for subverting traditional representations of masculinity and male beauty, and portrays his subjects as complex individuals.

 

                                       Disasters of War

                                                    Political Artworks



The Disasters of War by Gottfried Helnwein

This work in the Crocker art museum realty captivated me. At first I thought it was a photograph until I read the medium on the artwork description label. The hyperrealism of this piece really adds to the meaning behind it. This work develops and addresses difficult topics, past or present, political or social. Helnweins emphasis on the child is sincerely rooted in his own deficient childhood which he describes as his gray period. The realistic portrayal of hardship that children face; taking away the innocence really gives the insight of a child's perspective and how they react to the world around them. Children are often portrayed in Helnweins pieces in  a wounded/ damaged sense. In this portrait, a young girl is depicted with an adult military uniform. The weight of the past seemingly rests on her shoulders; her future presumably hangs in the balance. 



Candid of  a Stranger Admiring Art

 

 

U- Create

U- Create 

Sac State  Installation Class Performance 

Location: Downtown Sacramento
Date: April 4th,2019
Venues:
Axis Gallery 625 S Street, 95811
Beatnik Studios: 723 S Street , 95811
Verge Center for the Arts: 625 S Street. 95811

In April I had a chance to attend U - Create hosted by local galleries around town, featuring student artists from Sacramento State. My main motivation to go was the sculpture performance some friends of mine were partaking in for their installation art class. I was not disappointed when I showed up for the installation. The performance was held in the parking lot of Beatnik studios.

Sculpture Installation performance 

The beginning of the performance consisted of the artists gathering around in a circle where each individual artist created their own art piece performance and acted it out. Unfortunately I came a little late to the party; so I only saw the end of the performance. As I approached the crowd I was a bit confused as to what was going on. It was very quiet and the performers were in a circle performing some sort of ritualistic ceremony with this tie dye canopy they created.

Cloth Release 

I was very inspired by all of the uniqueness each person put into their own  station and how it all came together to become something bigger. The installation finale included each artist pulling these cloth pieces down and releasing them one by one into each others arms. Professor Andrew Connely then began to call the audience over and request that everyone grab a piece of cloth and take it with them home. I thought this was such a beautiful idea; sharing an artistic experience with others and then turning that experience itself into art. It seemed that the intent behind their actions became more of the art than the visual aspect and I found that very valuable and enjoyable as a viewer. 

As I walked around grabbing pieces of cloth and making new outfits; I talked to a friend of mine; Heather who had a station in this installation. Each station had a unique theme to it and heathers theme was more mystical and adventurous. I was really drawn to the aura her station emitted, I felt really calm at it. The artist set it up to where they had a box of pieces of paper and each contained songs that meant a lot to her. The viewer would pick a song from the box and the artist would play it for them and listen to it with them and then ask them how it made them feel after. I thought it was a awesome way to connect with people and to hear new music you would not actually listen to if you weren't exposed to it. I also enjoyed the element of surpise and randomness; it felt like Christmas. Shot

Song Choice

out to the Sac State installation class for putting all their hard work and passion into this, it really showed.

Picture With the Artist - Heather 

Selfie Becoming the Art Piece 

BAMPFA - Museum Exhibition Review

Harvey Quaytam 

Location: (BAMPFA)  Museum, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive,

 2155 Center St, Berkeley CA, 94704

BAMPFA entry way - streetview

Date of Visit: January 26^th, 2019

Outside of BAMPFA - Building sideview from street

Against the Static, wall 3 

Picture with Jakes Gray, 1969 Oil on Canvas,  Harvey Quaytam  (wall 4)

            For my exhibition review, I have selected the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, located in Berkeley CA. This is actually my first time going to this museum, so I was not sure what to expect. As I was pulling up to park near the building of the museum, I was greeted by  beautiful polished modern metal architecture on the exterior. On the side of the building projects as seen in  a screen with upcoming film and fine art events that will be featured at the museum. As I entered the museum I was encompassed by a very modern yet comfortable theme. The museum is structured by galleries surrounding the café and a common area where one can just sit and appreciate art. It almost made me not want to leave with such inviting neutral tones reminding me of home. The architecture of the BAMPFA museum tells us that that the museum is very modern and clean with traditional white walls and grey marble floors.

Although there were a variety of interesting works within the museum’s collection, I have chosen to focus on Harvey Quaytyam’s series, Against the Static.  These paintings are most famous for the exploration of shape including; drawing, texture, geometric patterns and tentative color application. Qaytman’s works often depict a variety of experimentation with formalism and materiality. This exhibition serves as a complex narrative of Quaytman’s work from the 1960s to the late 1990s.  The artist is said to be influenced by Willem de Kooning and Arshile Gorky. The artists intent on the character and shape of brushstrokes eventually led to a development of style in the 1960s  that combined minimalist abstraction with an interest in gesture – in color and movement. Within his later works as Quaytman progressed as an artist he strove to keep the eye active across the canvas by implementing distinct lines and crosses within his artwork. Such line work can be seen in his 1997 painting titled, The Illusionist. Created with synthetic polymer on canvas, this work plays with symmetry and asymmetry and the contrasting effects the heavy reds and harsh whites carry. Within this exhibition the work shares the same wall space as another work of Quaytman’s titled, Redwing. Placed together these pieces interact with each other as one through the use of color – despite being two distinctly separate pieces.

What I found most intriguing in the artist’s collection of work featured at the museum was the negative space employed in almost all of the works creating a sense of movement with lines in space. I was really drawn to how satisfying the simplicity of Quatyam’s artwork. The concept  of less is more allows the piece to really activate the space that it is in. The way each piece was carefully placed to give the work its own platform to be observed really added to the effect of the pieces. What is most interesting to me about this artist is the way they transform the canvas into almost a sculptural element and then they paint off of that. Overall this was a very fulfilling museum visit and I had a pleasant first time. I recommend anyone who has not been to BAMPFA, in Berkeley to go and enjoy this wonderful artistic environment.

The Illusionist, 1997, Synthetic Polymer on Canvas (wall 1)

Against the Static series wall 2 

Contemporary Art Vs. Modern Art

Contemporary Art Vs. Modern Art

How to tell the difference

If you find yourself struggling to determine the difference between Contemporary and Modern art, here is a more simple  explanation.

Yayoi Kusamas Infinity Mirror Room

Traveling Through the Infinite

Infinity Mirrored Room- The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, 2013 

Current Location of Installation: The BROAD Museum, Los Angeles California, 221 S Grand Avenue, 90012 

Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirror Rooms 

Artist: Yayoi Kusama, Japanese Contemporary Artist

Over the summer, I had the privilege of visiting the BROAD museum, located in Los Angeles, California. There they have a featured exhibit of Yayoi Kusamas Infinity mirror room installations. In order to actually see this exhibit since It is an intricate installation, it has to be seen by reservations only. I remember checking into the exhibit extremely excited to see and experience Kusamas art with my own eyes. It was five hour wait to get into the exhibit but the wait was very much worth it. I recently watched a documentary on Kusama and her art was very new but exciting to me. I was almost surprised that I did not know of her sooner. As you walk into this room as the viewer you are completely immersed in what feels like an outer body, otherworldly experience. This work really made it feel as if you were suspended somewhere in space in a world where time did not exist and it just continued on for infinity. The way the lights were placed and the layout of the mirrors really helped convey the mood of endlessness. I was in this exhibit with my aunt and my cousin whom do not know much about art but appreciate art with me. My aunt exclaimed how it made her feel very dizzy and uneasy. The Infinity Mirror room also had the affect on me but I found it very breathtaking and captivating. The minute I walked in tears filled my eyes at what I was experiencing. I remember not being able to speak from being in so much awe. I was really drawn to the colors of the vibrant lights. Kusamas art and overall intent with her art is most effective because the use of repetition that tricks the eye into thinking her world is an endless mass of lights going on for infinity.