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

Limbique, 2010 by Pinar Yoldas and David J. Paulsen, UC Berkeley

Recently I went to the Worth Ryder Gallery at Art Practice Department, University of California, Berkeley and saw a wonderful installation work by Pinar Yoldas and David J. Paulsen.

The work, made of solid composite materials, is quite fluid and has an unearthly lightness in it.  It changes forms and translucency with changing of the viewing angle and reminded me of a time capsule, skeleton of a vertebrate, or the evolution of entire universe. 

The title, Limbique, refers to limbic system, the name given to a group of structures of the brain that play a very important role in behavior and in particular, in various emotions such as aggression , the fear , the pleasure and the formation of memory.

"Sargent and Impressionism"

"Sargent and Impressionism – an exceptional selection of landscapes and interiors painted by John Singer Sargent – is on view at Adelson Galleries, New York City, from November 4 through December 18, 2010.

"Sargent and Impressionism features paintings that focus on the effects of light and water; leisure activities captured en plein air; and interior scenes of every-day life. Works on view include dazzling landscapes with family, friends and fellow artists in informal outdoor settings. Additional highlights include two important oil studies for Sargent’s masterpiece, Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose (Tate Gallery, London). Many of the exhibited works are on loan from private collections and have rarely been on public view. Institutional loans include works from the Baltimore Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Flint Institute of the Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Yale University Art Gallery, among others."

-- Adelson Galleries

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), is a very important American painter and his domestic scenes and highly polished portrait of the gilded ages are very distinctive in its accomplishment.  However, when I studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, one of my portrait teachers compared him unfavorably to other portraitists, such as Thomas Gainsborough (1727 – 2 August 1788) and her arguments were usually very convincing and I learned to appreciate Sargent somewhat differently since then.  Despite the limitations of his artistic accomplishment and the narrow social scope of his works, he is still a very venerable painter, and any major exhibition of his work would be of great interests.  Since he is not best known for his connection to the impressionism movement, this exhibit is quite refreshing.

Indeed, to call Sargent an impressionist is quite stretch. He was definitely able to loosen up his brushstrokes and create works with great spontaneity and luminosity, the characteristics of impressionism.  But his connection to this movement was reluctant and tangible.  He dabbled here and there in its principles, but not always convincingly.  His milieu belonged to cocooned indoors.  I believe that the motive of his tentative venturing into impressionism was proofing his technique accomplishment.  Once challenges met, he lost interests in this movement, perhaps a very sound judgment.

I really appreciate his paintings below included in the exhibit - the virtuosity of his painterly skills were quite amazing and the languor permeated the canvases were overwhelming, even in the seemingly bright setting of Violet Fishing.  My favorites of this collections includes:


My Dining Room, c. 1883-89
Oil on canvas
29 x 23 3/4 inches


Paul Helleu Sketching with His Wife, 1889
Oil on canvas
26 1/8 x 32 1/8 inches


Violet Fishing, 1889
Oil on canvas
28 1/2 x 21 inches

I am rather indifferent about the below paintings - they are neither too interesting nor offensive.  They are always competent for sure but rather predictable, pallid and a bit boring:


Landscape with Trees, Calcot, 1888
Oil on canvas
22 x 27 inches


John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Autumn on the River, 1889
Oil on canvas
29 x 18 1/2 inches

Then there are a group of his works I found rather unsatisfying.  His technique was as assured as in other works, and the water treatment in Under the Willows was quite magical.  But, they were showy pieces, with colors can be fairly described as vulgar, not dissimilar to some canvases by Renoir.  Take At Calcot for example.  The color scheme was overwhelmingly warm, colors clashed violently and the painting had a menacing atmosphere rather off putting.   Intentionally done?  Maybe not.  If so, he is much deeper than I thought.  This painting also had the zeal of new convert to Impressionism which many painters had experiences at various stage of their artistic arcs, myself included.


John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Under the Willows, 1887
Oil on canvas
27 x 22 inches


John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
At Calcot, c. 1888
Oil on canvas
25 x 30 inches


John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
A Backwater at Henley, c. 1887
Oil on canvas
20 1/4 x 27 inches

Wonderful Member Show at Berkeley Art Center

This year's Berkeley Art Center (BAC) Members Showcase, Green, which runs from December 11, 2010 through January 23, 2011 has some very interesting works, perhaps something to do with BAC's decision to increase the dimension limit increase from 20 inches to 36 inches.  The increased limit definitely liberated me somewhat and I can submit a painting otherwise won't be eligible - Rape Fields, 27"x27" (see below image, on the back panel, about four small pieces).



The artist's reception took place on 11 December, 5:30-7:30.  Due to a prior commitment I was only able to stop by before the official reception hours, but it did allow me to take pictures and videos leisurely.

Below are images of art works attracted my attentions:








Archival ink on metal, by Elizabeth Sher


Rock Fall by Neil Haskell


 The Earth is Flat by James A. Bonacci




Winter Stems by Robert Abrams, porcelain


Figure #1 by Samuelle Richardson, Fabric over amature


Leaky Boat on Memory Bay by Lisa Glicksman