McGuire Real Estate at Elmwood, Berkeley, continues its effort to
support local artists, with its new eight-person show, "Crowded by
Beauty", including works in a multitude of mediums: sculpture, acrylics,
ceramics, watercolor, oil and photography. The featured artists are Philip Hall, Matthew Felix Sun, Camila Valdez, Jill McLennan, Deborah Schilling, Sarah Whitecotton, Judy Wiener, and Susan Erickson.
Four paintings of mine were included in the exhibitions are Forest Within, Birches, Net, and One Fine Day, all played a bit of optical illusion, with a bit twist of psychology.
Forest Within & Birches
Net & One Fine Day
There were many interesting artworks and it was a thrill for me to be in their company.
The turn out was quite wonderful. The place was indeed crowded by beauty.
My recent oil painting The March of Time was a chromatic piece, masking details with broad strokes, employing repetitive patterns to emphasis the underlying messages, and exploring the deep emotions with subtle tonal variation.
The painting depicted a wasted land - wreckage of houses in various degree of decay, scattered around a no-man’s land in spots where they once proudly stood but barely hanging on with ineffective supports of crutches and buttresses. This wasteland was the product of ruthless time, as manifested in the title; yet, it was hard not to think what humans, who once built and occupied those now abandoned structure, had contributed to this vast span of ruin.
The March of Time
Oil on Canvas
24" x 30"
Completed in 2016
The gracefully proportioned Palazzo della Ragione in Padova (Padua), Italy, was a unique building, which was not only enormous in dimensions, but functions uniquely as a market place in its lower level, and a civic center on the top tier.
The most outlandish thing, and my favorite, was a huge wooden horse, basked in blue light (or was it painted blue?). According to Padovaincoming.it,
"the big wooden horse kept in Palazzo della Ragione was ordered by
Annibale Capodilista in 1466: it was one of the big machines - and the
only one that has survived - made for an extraordinary celebration that
was organized in Padua, in the squares Piazza dei Signori and Piazza del
Capitanio. The parade saw the participation of all the people in town,
and of more people who had been attracted to town for this exceptional
event." [Source: Padovaincoming.it]
Apparently, Padova artists and civic leaders were the vanguard of flashy blockbuster installations almost mandated in today's art markets. Cynicism aside, the horse was indeed eye-catching and exhilarating.
On the four walls of this gigantic hall, surrounding and contrasting the blue horse, were a series of marvelous allegorical frescoes, all in wonderfully
aged colors, subtle and harmonious. Collectively, they were my second favorite there.
The Duomo in Padova (Padua), Italy, was a solemn and imposing mass, well prepared visitors for a moving niche showcasing a glowing painting of Madonna and the Child, done in a typical Renaissance manner. The bright red background of the painting, contrasting strongly the dark contour of the figures, practically glowed.
The interior actually was mostly airy, such as this wonderful chapel featuring a marble sculptural shrine, all in pale colors save its base — a burial chamber, hosting the relic or remain of perhaps a certain bishop, which glowed with red and gold. Strange and unforgettable.
Last year, a print and online review magazine, Owen Wister Review (University of Wyoming), planned to publish three works of mine: Stairwell, Rafting, and Ink and Watercolor Lilies. After much delay, the 2015 issue finally was published.
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From early June to late October, I will participate a group show, titled Crowded by Beauty, in McGuire Real Estate Office Gallery, Berkeley.
Below is information from the announcement by McGuire Real Estate:
Yesterday, as a member of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), I
joined a big crowd for a preview of the newly expanded seven-story
building, chiefly to accommodate the vast and important Doris and Donald Fisher Collection.
Behind the existing brick-colored and black and white tiled facade, a taller wing like a white ship was added, like a backdrop, or a enveloping protective hull.
Some of the best feature of the older building was preserved, such as the signature black-gray tiles, transparent gangway; the changed main entrance staircase was a major failure - either inviting or comforting, nor flashing or grant, and had been aptly compared to IKEA.
New wing was definitely airier and even spiritual; the old wing became decidedly cramped and old, by contrast.
I was glad to encounter some of my favorites, such as this lovely portrait by Max Beckmann and some Paul Klee:
Frau bei der Toilette mit roten und weissen Lilien , Max Beckmann
Blüten in der Nacht (Blossoms in the Night), Paul Klee
A very familiar sculpture, Sequence, by Richard Serra, seen on Stanford Campus for many years, in the open air, reflecting changes of time and lighting, was on display in an indoor setting, which was still great to view, but robbed if some of the magic:
Sequence, Richard Serra
Then, in both old and new wings, which sprawled like a labyrinth, I encountered many interesting works, some of them had been featured in a special exhibit to introduce the Fisher Collection.
The best two rooms were the great Anselm Kiefer works collected by the Fishers, monumental, profound and deeply moving:
Works by Anselm Kiefer
Der Rhein, Anselm Kiefer
Wege der Weltweisheit die Hermannsschlacht (Ways of Worldly Wisdom Arminius's Battle), Anselm Kiefer
Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sea Lion), Anselm Kiefer
Unternehmen Seelöwe (detail), Anselm Kiefer
Margarethe, Anselm Kiefer
Rooms of Anselm Kiefer
Other my favorites included these works below by Georg Baselit, George Condo, William Kentridge, Brice Marden, Gerhard Richter, Shirin Neshat, sand Cy Twombly:
Der Falke, Georg Baselit
Elke im Lehnstuhl, Georg Baselitz
Dancing Figures, George Condo
Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Picture), Gerhard Richter
Drawings from Preparing the Flute (Bird Catcher), William Kentridge
Design for "Die Zauberflöte" by William Kentridge, SFMOMA Re opening Preview 7May2016
Passage, 2001, by Shirin Neshat, Fisher Collection, SFMOMA, August 2010
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