Pixar Exhibit and Newly Renovated Oakland Museum of California

Oakland Museum of California


Pixar Exhibit Poster

Last Thursday, I visited Oakland Museum of California, which had just undergone a renovation. The special exhibit is Pixar - 25 Years Animation exhibit, which has traveled the world and now came back home to the East Bay. It was educational and fun exhibit. Pixar's talents were truly amazing. Unavoidably, this kind show will have some dull part but mostly amusing. I am inclined to seek out copies of Finding Nemo and An Insect's Life and that is a proof that I was quite taken in by the exhibit.  The exhibit runs from July 31, 2010 through January 9, 2011.

 I also took time to visit the permanent collections of Oakland Museum of California.  The museum has three parts - History, Nature and Art. There are many interesting installations around the building, starting with Ruth Asawa's 1974 untitled piece, which greeted visitors at the entrance.  There are also many interesting viewed from windows inside the museum:


Untitled, 1974, Ruth Asawa, Bronze wire and copper pipe







The collections in the art galleries are arranged thematically.  It will be a nightmare for visitor to museums in much grander size but for this one, it worked just fine.



In order to keep my thoughts more organized, I decide to present artworks I enjoy in chronological order, rather than following their leads.

There are many paintings by "California" school, particularly by Richard Diebenkorn.  But the collections went back to late 19th century and till current time. It also contain some graphic arts and photographies:


Still Life, 1891, Oil on Canvas, Emil Carlsen


Nocturnal Street Scene, Early 20th Century, Oil on Canvas, Charles Rollo Peters


Reflection, 1904, Oil on Canvas, Gottardo Piazzoni


Youth, c. 1917, Oil on Canvas, Arthur F. Matthews


Boat and Yellow Hill, c. 1920s, Oil on Canvas, Selden Connor Gile


Untitled, 1947, Oil on Canvas, Mark Rothko


Untitled, 1949, Oil on Canvas, Edward Corbett


The Illustrated History of the Universe, 1955, Oil on Masonite, Jay DeFeo


Figure, c. 1956-57, Oil on Canvas, Bruce McGaw


Figure in Landscape, c. 1957, Elmer Bischoff


Women in Landscape, 1958, Oil on Canvas, David Park


Spring Nude, 1962, Oil on Canvas, Nathan Oliveira


Berkeley No. 20, 1954, Oil on Canvas, Richard Diebenkorn


Figure on a Porch, 1959, Oil on Canvas, Richard Diebenkorn


Seated Nude - Arm on Knee, 1962,Oil on Canvas, Richard Diebenkorn


Ocean Park No. 107, 1978, Oil on Canvas, Richard Diebenkorn


Invented Landscape, 1966, Acrylic on Paper, Richard Diebenkorn


#4, 1978, Aquatint, Etching, and Drypoint, Richard Diebenkorn


Upper Sacramento Vally, 1985, Type-C Color Pint, Reagan Louie


Free State, 1994, Acrylic on Canvas, David Simpson

Away from two-dimensional works, I group them into Ceramics, Decorative Works and Sculptures, Installations and Videos.

Ceramics:


Plate, 1962, Glazed Clay, Peter Voulkos, Oakland Museum of California


Electrical Insulator, 1900-1975, Glazed Ceramic (Hollow)

Sculptures and Installations:


Black Figure Stele, 1975, Stoneware with Polychrome Stains, Stephen de Staebler


Never-Ending Screen, 1974, Aluminum, Claire Falkenstein







Amiyose III, 1965, Monofilament, Dye, and Fiber, Kay Seklmachi


Untitled, c, 1959-60, Copper Tube, Wood, Nail, Burlap, and Fiberglass, Seymour Locks


Left wall: Point of Touch: Bathsheba, 1995, Linen, Ryon, Oil Paint, ad Dye, Lia Cook // Backwall: How to Charter a Coarse, 1971, Mixed Media, William T. Wiley


Installation at the front: How to Charter a Coarse, 1971, Mixed Media, William T. Wiley // Painting at the back: Stree, 1961, Oil on Canvas, Richard Diebenkorn


Aristotle's Cage, 1983-92, Mixed media installation, Michael C. McMillen


Untitled, 1967, Coated Glass, Plexiglass, and Metal Stripping, Larry Bell


Just a Matter of Time, 1990, Mixed Media, Paul Kos and Untitled, 1967, Coated Glass, Plexiglass, and Metal Stripping, Larry Bell


Just a Matter of Time, 1990, Mixed Media, Paul Kos, Oakland Museum of California


Just a Matter of Time, 1990, Mixed Media, Paul Kos and "Yard of Earth", a simple ecological system, Oakland Museum of California

Video:

Color Combination, 2000, Color DVD with Sound, Kota Ezawa

Decorative art and historical artifacts:








Franc Pierce Hammon Memorial Windows, 1925, Leaded Stained Glass, Arthur F. Matthews

Then, a little bit of history: 


An Artist's Studio, Early 20th Century Style


Curatorial Departments, 19th century natural scientist bureau


Curatorial Departments, 1976 history department office


Curatorial Departments, present-day contemporary art


View of San Francisco, 1853, Unknown, Six whole plate daguerreotypes in vintage frame


Looking down to the history gallery - California's Gold Rush era


Looking down to the history gallery - California in the decades after World War II