Monday, December 29, 2014

"The Political Line" - Keith Haring Exhibition at De Young Museum


DSCN9630 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Last Saturday, I visited De Young Museum in San Francisco to see the special exhibit "Keith Haring The Political Line", which was my first encounter with this iconic artist, who was mostly active in the 1980s.

DSCN9779 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Without direct experience of living through the traumatic periods in the aftermath of Vietnam War and the rampage of AIDS in the US, I sometime had hard time to connect to Keith Haring's works, and the impact of his works were less palpable, though I readily acknowledge his importance and influence in the art world.  That said, in some of his works, I felt some eerie resonances, such as the Untitled from 1981 below, which could be easily depicting the national shame of Guantánamo:

DSCN9626 _ Untitled, 1981, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1981

Despite the cultural distance from his more pop-influenced works, I did feel his works engaging and several of them quite visually beautiful. Below are those works left strongest impressions on me:

DSCN9610 _ Untitled, 1981, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1981

DSCN9608 _ Everybody Knows Where Meat Comes from, it Comes from the Store, 1978, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Everybody Knows Where Meat Comes from, it Comes from the Store, 1978

DSCN9613 _ Untitled, 1978, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1978

DSCN9661 _ Untitled, 1985, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1985

DSCN9650 _ Untitled, 1983 (with Kermit Oswald), Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1983 (with Kermit Oswald)

DSCN9690 _ Walking in the Rain, 1980, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Walking in the Rain, 1980

DSCN9624 _ Untitled, 1982, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1982

DSCN9658 _ Untitled, 1985, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1985

DSCN9659 _ Untitled (Apartheid), 1984, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9684 _ Untitled, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled (Apartheid), 1984, & Untitled

DSCN9686 _ A Pile of Crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1986, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9689 _ Silence=Death, 1988, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
A Pile of Crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1986, & Silence=Death, 1988

DSCN9687 _ The Last Rainforest, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
The Last Rainforest

DSCN9670 _ Sarcophagus, 1983, (with LA II (Angel Ortiz), Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Sarcophagus, 1983, (with LA II (Angel Ortiz)

DSCN9657 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9653 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9668 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9680m _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9699 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9646 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9644 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9641 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9701 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Outside the exhibition hall, one could see the motif of his work in the gift shop, and on a vintage car:

DSCN9703 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9705 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9709 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Modernism from the National Gallery of Art in De Young Museum, San Francisco
- Venetian Masterpieces from Vienna at De Young Museum
- Last Call - "The Girl With A Pearl Earring" in De Young Museum, San Francisco
- Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris - De Young Museum, San Francisco
- Post-Impressionism Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay, De Young Museum, San Francisco 2010-11
- My Favorite De Young Museum Collections
- Another Look at De Young Museum in San Francisco

Monday, December 22, 2014

Berkeley Art Museum Closed Its Bancroft Way Site

Yesterday, Berkeley Art Museum / Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) closed its facility at Bancroft Way due to earthquake safety concerns, before it relocates to its exciting new facility at Center and Oxford Streets, currently under construction.

Yesterday, BAM staged a full day celebration; at 4 pm, I stopped by to say final farewell to the uncompromising site, and saw performance by artist Dohee Lee and her team, a performance of Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes led by Sarah Cahill, and participated the festive procession to the site of BAM/PFA’s future home, under construction at Center and Oxford Streets.

Below are several video segments I took during those events, including brief speeches by University of Berkeley, California's chancellor Nicholas Dirks, and the Museum director Lawrence Rider, who led the process to the new beginning.













Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Farewell, Berkeley Art Museum (BAM) at Bancroft Way
- BAM/PFA New Building Topping Out Celebration
- In Berkeley Art Museum, California
- Lovely Sight at Berkeley Art Museum (BAM)
- Casualty of the Economy - Berkeley Art Museum's new building by Toyo Ito
- Changes Exhibition Opened at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley
- Free Speech Movement 50th Anniversary (FSM 50) Rally at UC Berkeley
- California Memorial Stadium of UC Berkeley
- Waterfall in Berkeley

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Farewell, Berkeley Art Museum (BAM) at Bancroft Way

Berkeley Art Museum / Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) is about to close its facility at Bancroft Way due to earthquake safety concerns, before it relocates to its exciting new facility at Center and Oxford Streets, currently under construction.

The Bancroft Way building, over the years, has won my affection and it is very hard for me to bid farewell to this forbidding yet fascinating fortress, and I have visited it a couple times recently before its imminent closure on 22 December 2014. Here are some impressions of the Museum building, soon to become memories.

Stern Exterior
DSCN8676 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8665 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8673 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8669 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8666 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8670 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014

Fanciful Interior
DSCN8662 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8661 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8655 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8656 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8654 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8653 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8660 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8659 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8658 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8611 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8609 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8609 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8598 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8602 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8590 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8589 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014

Intricate Ceiling
DSCN8604 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8600 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8650 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8641 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 
2014 DSCN8640 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8625 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8622 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8621 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8620 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8619 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8615 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8649 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014

Space for Art
DSCN8594 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8622 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8642 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8593 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8591 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8599 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 
DSCN8612 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8576 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8583 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8582 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8581 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8577 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8574 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014

Tangible Art
DSCN8605 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8585 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8636 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 
DSCN8628 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8634 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8633 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8623 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8632 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8629 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8631 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014

Community Involvement
DSCN8587 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8586 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8578 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8647 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8646 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8645 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8643 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8618 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8616 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8613 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8606 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8607 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8575 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014

Engagement and Education
DSCN8639 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8637 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8627 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8626 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8624 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8638 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014
DSCN8657 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014

And finally here is the model of the highly anticipated new facility designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, set to open in early 2016

DSCN8663 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014 DSCN8664 _ Berkeley Art Museum, December 2014


Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Berkeley Art Museum Closed Its Bancroft Way Site
- BAM/PFA New Building Topping Out Celebration
- In Berkeley Art Museum, California
- Lovely Sight at Berkeley Art Museum (BAM)
- Casualty of the Economy - Berkeley Art Museum's new building by Toyo Ito
- Changes Exhibition Opened at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley
- Free Speech Movement 50th Anniversary (FSM 50) Rally at UC Berkeley
- California Memorial Stadium of UC Berkeley
- Waterfall in Berkeley