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