MAGPIE/ Prompt #78

                                    
                                                       Photo/ Tess Kincaid


GREAT PHOTO for Magpie Prompt #78... thanks Tess!!


FOR ART'S SAKE...

Hey Pollock, paint's here! 
What do you mean by dribble?
I just don't get it.


copyright/ all rights reserved/ 2011


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Superman!!

SUPERMAN

What Wright had in mind

for the Guggenheim was a

Spiral stuffed with art.

                 It's a building, it's a landmark, it's super monument!!  Come on in!  Potluck Poetry...  Share, it's a good thing!!

@copyright/all rights reserved/ 2010

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Reversible Destiny...

 SHUSAKU ARAKAWA  July 6,1936-May 18, 2010 / madeline gins

THIS CAUGHT MY EYE:  " It's immoral", Ms. Gins said, "that people have to die".  This was the closing line of an obituary that appeared in the NY Times today.

Ms.Gins was speaking about the passing of her husband, Shusaku Arakawa, the artist and neo-Dadaist.  He was born in Japan, moved to New York at the age of 25.  With his wife, Madeline Gins, both conceptual artists and designers, they explored mortality by creating buildings meant to stop aging and dying. 

He died on Tuesday.  Ms. Gins said, "This mortality thing is bad news."  She now intends to strengthen her efforts to prove that, "aging can be outlawed".

She declined to give the cause of his death, but my belief is that it had something to do with his tongue being irrevocably stuck in his cheek.

They called their philosophy,"Reversible Destiny" and explored it in books, paintings, poems, and for those who would pay for it, architecture.  A house on Long Island/ Lifespan Extending Villa, featured dozens of colors, sloped floors that sent one hurtling, and levels meant to induce the sensation of being in two places at once, windows at odd heights and no doors..no privacy.  All of this was meant to keep the owner young.

Their work has been considered by some philosophers, critics, and architects as important in both an objective and subjective sense.  But fun and strangeness have prevailed and they had a retrospective in 1997 at the Guggenheim to exhibit the infinite ways to stretch life.  Arakawa said that Marcel Duchamp was his mentor.

As a further indication of their well thought out ideas, it should be mentioned here that in the 1990's they invested money with Bernie Madoff.  They lost it all in the fraud.  Perhaps dying is better than living forever in poverty. 

RIP... Shusaku Arakawa

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Entering...

Wassily Kandinsky 1886-1944
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WHEN I DIE AND RUSH ALONG THE TUNNEL OF WHITE LIGHTS, BEING NEITHER HERE NOR THERE YET, I know that I will enter into a Kandinsky landscape. I'm the last person to advance mathematical theory, but I see before me, clear as day, Einstein's very large number, c2, the very square of the speed of light. You remember, E=mc2.
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For Kandinsky, art and music gave rise to each other. Color is art's pitch and volume, and a low note on a cello is deep blue. Relativity will make sense when I enter that space between. After my life, before my heaven, I christen that waiting place, "the space between".
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Kandinsky left me a road map. I saw it this morning as I paid a very early visit to the Guggenheim Museum, membership invitation. Having the place almost to myself allowed me to observe the portals of eternity. Great big eyes, circles of vibrancy and but also hues befitting Morpheus. I awakened to the possibilities, as Kandinsky must have, after seeing Monet's, "Haystacks". Imagine that at the age of thirty he began artistic studies! If it hadn't been for Monet, would it have happened?
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Kandinsky believed his passion to create would awaken the same desire in the viewer, because the artist and observer were equal. If the artist's creativity was pure enough, that would bring out a similar response in the viewer. Therefore I took up his invitation this morning. I peered through portals and found some enticing, some karmically prohibiting. A big eye, stared into, seemed to bring me closer to heaven. And a tiny clock stood still. When I really get to "the space between", I will have to piece it all together, next job after Earth. But not yet. Right now I'm just emerging from a museum.
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But I do think this: Creating Art is the same as starting a Universe.
xMan On A Horse
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Weston's Muse...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Edward Weston
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CHARIS WILSON/ May 5, 1914- November 20, 2009
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Another muse has passed. Charis Wilson, muse, model and wife of the great photographer Edward Weston, died on November 20, 2009 at the age of 95.
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She met Weston at the age of 19 at a concert in Carmel, Calif. Weston was in his late 40's at the time. Shortly thereafter she became his model. At one point she said,"It was a very pleasant thing to be glorified"....She inspired his art: elegant, simple, intimate, and sensual. His photographs of her on sand dunes, in pools, her face hidden, revealed, are among his most long lasting.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edward Weston

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Helen Charis Wilson was born in San Francisco on May 5, 1914. She dropped her first name, which was the same as her mother's, because she was tired of being called Little Helen. She preferred Charis, the Greek word for grace.

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In her own right she was a creative writing teacher and a speaker of her time with Edward Weston. She published a book of photographs, "Edward Weston Nudes", appeared in 2007 in a documentary,"Eloquent Nudes", and her memoir is, "Through Another Lens".
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Weston had said: "Perhaps C. will be remembered as the great love of my life".

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A Good Career..

JUDITH LEYSTER/ self portrait/ circa 1632-1633
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A WOMAN NAMED JUDITH LEYSTER, 1609-1660, HAD A CAREER IN ART 400 YEARS AGO IN HOLLAND. One might say that Leyster was ahead of her time, but the expanding culture of art in the Netherlands in the 17th Century was an open door to creativity. It was said that everyone was a collector, that even farmhouses were decorated with paintings.
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In her self portrait, above, she turns to us, greets us with warmth and a smile, and invites us to view what she does best...paint. She wasn't amongst the greatest, such as Rembrandt, but she was considered to be very good, and the 400th Anniversary of her birth is being celebrated. After training with such as Frans Hals, she earned membership in the prestigious guild of St. Luke in Haarlem.

A Game of Tric Trac/ circa 1631
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She had her own workshop, her own students and her own style, one that combined the brushwork of Hals, and the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio. But her story took a familiar turn. She married a painter, Jan Miense Molenaer, had three children and painted less and less frequently. As her husband's art grew in popularity, hers diminished. Perhaps the demands of domesticity replaced her artistic talent, as has often been the case.
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Young Flute Player/ circa 1635
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Many of her paintings were attributed to other artists and weren't properly identified until the 1890's. Her art reflects a humor and engagement that surely emphasizes her personality. She is being honored now with an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC., through November 29, 2009.
xMerry Company/ circa 1630-1631
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The National Gallery show includes just 10 of her paintings featuring her self portrait. The exhibition was organized by the curator of Northern Baroque painting, Arthur J. Wheelock, Jr.
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Then as now it may have been difficult for a woman to have everything, but not impossible to try. This woman found a way to be creative, to be dedicated. To be an artist. And quite special enough to be saluted 400 years later.

Andrew Wyeth 1917-2009

I found out this morning that the artist,

Andrew Wyeth had died at the age of 91.

I didn't want to post the painting of the

enigmatic figure of "Christina's World".

I think that image is going to be pervasive

for quite a while, it being the one that

immediately comes to mind when Wyeth is

mentioned.

Instead I chose this painting of a

young man striding across another hill,

perhaps less mysterious, on an ordinary day.

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I greatly admired Andrew Wyeth. He was sometimes

referred to as the "Painter of the People".

This is not very good in some circles. Because

the "people" generally like art that is sentimental,

illustrative. I will let the critics who do not appreciate

his work, speak for themselves.

One can readily see that Wyeth's work is a contrast to

the Abstractions of the middle of the 20th Century.

But looking closely at many of the paintings, in addition

to strong currents of emotion, symbolism, and clear beauty,

there is an underlying abstraction at play. Contrasts and

shadows become stark angles, enhancing and sometimes

obscuring the character, mood and spirituality, always part

of the mystery of Wyeth's paintings.

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The isolation, the existential moment is similar to the

introversion that I am so drawn to in the work of

Edward Hopper, another artist who portrays the

everyday moment, the resignation of "ordinary" people.

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I write of Andrew Wyeth with gratitude for his

artistry.

Interview

So happy to have been chosen to be interviewed
by Willow, Life at Willow Manor. After I answer Willow's
questions, I invite you all to be interviewed as well.
Instructions at the end of this post will tell you how.


1. I see from your blog that you are a
breast cancer survivor. Which one piece of
advice can you give us from this experience?

I'm taking it for granted that women are looking
after themselves, that no foolish excuses, no
hiding one's head in the sand, is allowed to take place.
Go for that exam, follow through. Believe that you are a
survivor. For ages I've had this favorite phrase. If anyone
tells me I have something awful, I always say,
"I have the good version". Have faith in your good fate.
Is that more than one piece of advice?

2. Why is your blog called "Two Ghosts"?

I had a book of poetry published last year. The title
is "Two Ghosts". There are two short poems in it, connected
by theme. What else...ghosts! The ladies in the poems
are as scary as I could make them. My grandmother, from
the old country, brought a bounty of frightening tales
with her when she came here. Many times her stories had
me sleeping with the lights on. "Two Ghosts"? I like the
sound of it. Better than One.

3. Who is your favorite female actress and why?

It used to be the other one, but now it's definitely
Helen Mirren. She's sublime. Just when she seems to
be acting a hag, with the turn of her head she becomes
beautiful. She always seems transcendent, more than
inhabiting the role, more than anyone could wish for.
Who else could play the "Queen"? And Jane Tennyson?
There's no such thing as seeing "Prime Suspect" too
many times.

4. Apart from your loved ones, what
is your most treasured possession?

A very big box. My apartment. Lock me in and throw
away the key. Everything is here. Books on shelves,
on tables, on my nightstand. Paintings hung the way
they do at the Louvre. One on top of the other up to
the ceiling. My Puja, where I have a very ecumenical
group of saints and symbols that I invoke every morning.
Old pots and pans, two great new ones, that I really
use for the hundreds of recipes I've collected. Music at
all times, Mozart or The Beach Boys. And all
my art things are here in this box.

5. Before blogging, what, if any was

your main mode of personal expression?

Before blogging, like a month ago, (this stuff may be
too tech for me), I was gifted with a love for art and
was extremely privileged to be able to follow the path
of an artist. For the last five years or so I have been
totally wrapped up in the making of collages. What I
love about collage is that I am able to use parts of
other art that I've done, old sketches, pieces of etchings,
prints, cloth, nothing is thrown away, anything that
can be pasted, assembled. I like beauty, I try to make
my art beautiful. In order to take that love for beauty
to a logical place, I became a makeup artist.
I'm just a fool for beauty. I also like to write. Talk?
You can't shut me up.



Here's the instructions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions.
(I get to pick the questions).

3. You will update your blog with the answers to
the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer
to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed,
you will ask them five questions.

Christmas

We observed the rising of His star, and we have come to pay him homage.

Smile

THE REAL MONA






She was the third wife
of a Florentine noble who brought her to sit for Leonardo.

So quiet and modest,
she inspired a very subtle interpretation.
And so he smiled at this good fortune.


Mona was sketched and erased, painted and highlighted.
Luxuriant pleats of Chinese silk enfolded her wrists.
A diluted brown and a thickened umber underlined
the shadows of her face.


Every visit brought a fresh coloration.
Amethyst blended into purple,
as Leonardo's brush deepened the creases of her gown.


The face again, with the touch of a smile.
A muted lavender curved over her cheeks.
Light from the leaded glass window
rounded her bosom and blushed her skin.
The artist let a speck of gold enter his palate,
and so he did caress the Lady with his brush,
his fingers lingering on this touch.


The reflection in her hazel eyes showed Leonardo
painting his muse for days and weeks and months.


Yet, too square the chin, too much like his.
At once an unsoiled brush dipped into yellow ochre
outlined an oval, and a delicate heart of a face
was at last fashioned and set to remain.


Three years posed before the window,
her words, like a soft breath, told no stories,
revealed no secrets. Leonardo's mouth softened
to mimic an impression of silent Mona's mouth.


His parted hair, now graying, touched his shoulders.
He stroked her curls on the canvas with bronze
and touched her silent lips.
Suddenly Leonardo's hand brushed the painted mouth
and a blotch of ginger paint stayed on his thumb.

He blended it into a rose,
then painted onto it the smile
that he knew much longer than three years.







c2008 Two Ghosts all rights reserved