Highbrow Magazine - art https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/art en Brentwood Arts Exchange Showcases Traditions of African-American Quilting in New Exhibit https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23409-brentwood-arts-exchange-showcases-traditions-african-american-quilting-new-exhibit <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 02/13/2023 - 21:03</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1freedomshow.jpg?itok=TCj4Rgkq"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1freedomshow.jpg?itok=TCj4Rgkq" width="479" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><a href="https://www.pgparks.com/1782/Brentwood-Arts-Exchange" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">The Brentwood Arts Exchange</a> is currently showcasing <em>FREEDOM: Selected Works From The Uhuru Quilters Guild</em>, a group exhibition, featuring the works of artists  Renee Anderson, Melba Brown, Phyllis Fagan, Cheryl Deene Hurd, Angela Lanier, Maxine Morgan, Tametha Morrow, Betty Phillips, Adrienne Randall, Sandra Schmidt, and Rose Swain.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">"Uhuru" means "freedom" in Swahili. The Uhuru Quilters Guild's mission is to promote the work and accomplishments of African-American quilters, while also preserving the tradition, culture, and history of quilting. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>FREEDOM</em></strong><strong> </strong>runs through April 22, 2023, with an opening reception on Saturday, February 18, from 5 - 8 p.m., and an Artist and Curator Talk on Saturday, March 25, 2023 from 2-4 p.m. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2freedomeshow.jpg" style="height:652px; width:663px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3freedomshow.jpg" style="height:556px; width:652px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4freedomshow.jpg" style="height:546px; width:655px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5freedomshow.jpg" style="height:650px; width:657px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>For more information, visit the <a href="https://www.pgparks.com/1782/Brentwood-Arts-Exchange" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Brentwood Arts Exchange</a>.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Images of featured artworks:</em></strong></span></span></p> <ol> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Renee Anderson</em></strong></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Angela Lanier</em></strong></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Cheryl Hurd</em></strong></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Maxine Morgan</em></strong></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Renee Anderson</em></strong></span></span></li> </ol> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/renee-anderson" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Renee Anderson</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/melba-brown" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Melba Brown</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/phyllis-fagan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Phyllis Fagan</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cheryl-deene-hurd" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cheryl Deene Hurd</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/angela-lanier" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Angela Lanier</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/maxine-morgan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Maxine Morgan</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tametha-morrow" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tametha Morrow</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/betty-phillips" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Betty Phillips</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/adrienne-randall" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Adrienne Randall</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sandra-schmidt" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sandra Schmidt</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/and-rose-swain-uhuru-quilters-guild" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">and Rose Swain. Uhuru Quilters Guild</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/brentwood-arts-exchange" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">brentwood arts exchange</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/black-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">black artists</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/quilting" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">quilting</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/quilters" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">quilters</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Editors</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 14 Feb 2023 02:03:47 +0000 tara 11671 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23409-brentwood-arts-exchange-showcases-traditions-african-american-quilting-new-exhibit#comments Exploring the Significance of Ecological Art https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/20090-exploring-significance-ecological-art <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 07/25/2022 - 13:53</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1rahimi.jpg?itok=d-EpS_qS"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1rahimi.jpg?itok=d-EpS_qS" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Early in the fall of 1971, I stuffed my two big dogs into my VW Beetle and drove 80 miles an hour up the California coast under a vivid blue sky, past vast blurs of brilliant color, from San Diego to CalArts in Santa Clarita. Our trip had a dreamlike quality. Shiva, my neurotic black Belgian shepherd, and Rosa, my white German shepherd, were excited about the heady scents they inhaled through the window. We were passing fields of commercial flower farms, which have long since vanished under housing developments. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I was becoming interested in the ecological idea that the heart of a system depends on its periphery. The biological edges we were passing seemed to parallel contemporaneous discussions about social and psychological boundaries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Ecologically, vulnerability at the edges is important for several reasons. First, the edges of any habitat are crucial to its integrity. Fragmentation can be dangerous because of its impact on <em>ecotones</em>, which are the subtle transitions from one nuance of habitat to another. Ecotones can be as rich in subtlety as human relationships. Ecotone microhabitats act as filters and bulwarks to support larger systems. An intact ecotone system is where animals migrate between food sources or for water, shelter, and mating. Edges are also an insurance policy to provide resilience to disruptions. Resilience allows species and peoples to sustain communities in equilibrium. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Finally, ecologists speak of biological redundancy as natural engineering to protect systems. Any edge is, in effect, a pool of many small variations on biological functions in case any species in the core habitat is threatened or weakened. These subtle complexities reinforce ecotones. That wider impact from the periphery to the heart is the rub. In our age of climate change, unless we intervene in fragmentation, nothing will be left to mitigate the disaster of maximum warming. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2rahimi.jpg" style="height:650px; width:532px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">That day in 1971, as my dogs and I approached and then left Los Angeles behind, we traversed the futuristic concrete highway complexes that the historian and urban critic Lewis Mumford had identified as the greatest public artworks of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. We encountered scant traffic. My destination was a meeting with the artist Allan Kaprow a week before fall classes began at CalArts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I had with me a slim black portfolio of typed-up performance scores to show Allan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">When the dogs and I pulled into the CalArts parking lot, the dogs tumbled out and set off racing over the then-empty hills surrounding the campus until I called them back to my car. My goal as I walked into the large, newly built, shiny, industrial-looking building was to ask for a job. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I never got that far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I found my way to the office of the School of Art, where Allan was the vice chair. We sat across from each other alongside a desk and exchanged greetings. I handed him my portfolio. He quickly scanned through it. Before I had a chance to ask for a job, Allan turned his head and yelled across the room to the painter Paul Brach, then chair of the School of Art, who was standing not far away. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3rahimi.jpg" style="height:650px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“I want her as my student!” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Paul smiled slightly, nodded laconically, and just like that, I began to work with Allan. I thought that was better than a teaching job. Allan became my mentor. He got me a job and a scholarship and made me his assistant the following year, when I started graduate school. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Change was in the air. The first green parties would be established in 1972 in Tasmania, Australia, and New Zealand. Despite my challenges in San Diego, I was sure that new possibilities would emerge from formal ideas based in artmaking about social dynamics, such as I had discussed with Herbert Marcuse, when I had audited classes at University of California San Diego. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Ecoart, or ecological art, as a distinct genre has evolved as a hybrid form from people like me who couldn’t accept silos. Where land artists such as Robert Smithson were using sculptural techniques to stamp their own philosophical comments on the Earth, as my father had, ecoartists are driven by the sense that the Earth desperately requires healing much more than stamping. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4rahimi.jpg" style="height:455px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It was at this time that I produced <em>Physical Education, </em>a performance art piece that involved ritualized direction that could be enacted by performers with or without formal training. I thought <em>Physical Education</em> was both explicit and elegant exploration of how we manage water that included a nod to ecofeminism. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">These were the exact instructions for each performer in <em>Physical Education</em>: </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>1. </strong>Take a plastic baggie and a plastic spoon. Go to a water fountain or sink in an institution. Fill the baggie half full of freshwater and seal it. Drive to the ocean. Stop four times en route. At each stop, take a teaspoon of earth and put it in the baggie with the institutional water and leave behind a teaspoon of the freshwater at each site. Reseal the baggie each time. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>2. </strong>At the beach, get out of the car and find some very dry sand. Pour out the earth and water mixture into the dry sand. Walk to the water, refill the baggie half full with seawater, and seal it. Return to the car. Drive back to the original institution, stopping four times en route to leave behind a teaspoon of seawater and gather a teaspoon of earth to replace it. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5rahimi.jpg" style="height:424px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>3. </strong>On returning, take the baggie to a toilet. The remaining seawater and arable soil mixture are then poured down the toilet. Flush the toilet. If the spoon is plastic, discard it.<br /> <em>Variation: </em>Use a special spoon to transfer the mixtures of earth and water. Keep the spoon. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Today this work still interests me, both as a study in paying attention to ecotones and as a subtle political statement. It ritualized the incremental transactions between an institution, a human, and the ecotones of transition from land to sea and back to built infrastructure. Water and the ocean were common ecofeminist iconographies. The toilet was likened to a vagina. Flushing the water down the toilet was how I saw us squandering the natural world. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Aviva Rahmani is the author of </strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Divining-Chaos-Autobiography-Aviva-Rahmani/dp/161332166X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong>Divining Chaos: The Autobiography of an Idea</strong></a><strong>. She is a pioneering ecological artist who has worked at the cutting-edge of the avant-garde since she committed to her career in art at the age of 19. Rahmani is an affiliate of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Plymouth, U.K., and received her BFA and MFA at the California Institute of the Arts. </strong></span></span></em></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>This is an excerpt from <em>Divining Chaos</em>. It’s published here with permission.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Images:</strong></p> <div> <div dir="ltr"> <div><em>Physical Education</em> performance detail 1973</div> <div> <p><em>Portrait of the Artist Mother</em> Egg tempera on wood 44”x36” 1979</p> <p><em>Portrait of the Artist's Father</em> oil on linen 36”x36” 1987</p> <p><em>Ghost Nets</em> site 1930 courtesy of The Vinalhaven Historical Society</p> <p> Ghost Nets excavation work, photograph by Ben Magro 1997</p> <p>Elements for copyright of <em>The Blued Trees Symphony</em> 2015</p> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aviva-rahmani" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">aviva rahmani</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/divining-chaos" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">divining chaos</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-books" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new books</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/contemporary-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Contemporary art</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/eco-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">eco art</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ecological-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ecological art</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Aviva Rahmani</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All images courtesy of the publisher</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 25 Jul 2022 17:53:36 +0000 tara 11223 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/20090-exploring-significance-ecological-art#comments Croatian Street Art Festival Features Renowned International Artists https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/17046-croatian-street-art-festival-features-renowned-international-artists <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 10/27/2021 - 13:39</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1croatianart.jpg?itok=0pUPKTYs"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1croatianart.jpg?itok=0pUPKTYs" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This year’s VukovART street art festival in Vukova, Croatia, featured a number of international street artists, including Boa Mistura from Spain, BustArt from Switzerland, Jana Brike from Latvia, Juandres Vera from Mexico, Mr Woodland from Germany, Victor Splash from Russia, Artez from Serbia, Kerim Mušanović from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šumski from Croatia, and Marion Ruthardt from Germany.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2croatianart.jpg" style="height:338px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3croatianart.jpg" style="height:400px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4croatianart.jpg" style="height:450px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6croatianart.jpg" style="height:338px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Images provided by VukovART.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Featured artworks include:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Juandres Villa – The Heart Is the Commander</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Boa Mistura—OSTAJEMO</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Sumski – Portals</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Artez – Surprise Yourself</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--BustArt – Kiss by the Danube</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/croatian" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Croatian</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/vukovart" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Vukovart</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/street-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">street art</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/graffiti" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">graffiti</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/graffiti-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">graffiti artists</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/vukova" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">vukova</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Editors</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 27 Oct 2021 17:39:02 +0000 tara 10709 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/17046-croatian-street-art-festival-features-renowned-international-artists#comments The Art of Frances Glessner Lee: Shrinking Evil https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/17035-art-frances-glessner-lee-shrinking-evil <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 10/22/2021 - 11:00</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1glessnerlee_lorie_shaull-flickr.jpg?itok=zttDYyje"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1glessnerlee_lorie_shaull-flickr.jpg?itok=zttDYyje" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“A small thing may give an analogy of great things, and show the tracks of knowledge.”</span></span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">                                                                        Lucretius, <em>De Rerum Natura</em></span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Why do miniatures enthrall us?</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A snow globe is a world within a world. Gazing inside, you see the whole universe at once. Shrinking it to fit in the palm of your hand confers an almighty power. You can shake the globe and make it snow!</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Want to make a boy the master of the universe? Give him a model trainset. When he grows up, he can don an engineer’s cap and fill his basement with tracks and switches and stations. Locomotives will chug over tiny bridges, through tunnels, up hills and down valleys into villages. And his trains will run on time. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I never had a dollhouse, but I did have a miniature battery-powered oven that came with tiny baking tins and boxes of cake mix. Both prepared girls for the “women’s work” of running a full-scale household. But dollhouses are also intimate. Regardless of their pedagogical role, they’ve always been spaces in which we are meant to feel safe. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the 1940s, a Chicago heiress turned the notion of a dollhouse on its head. Tapping into the power and intimacy of miniature dwellings, Frances Glessner Lee constructed 18 tiny scenes of violent death set in rooming houses, rustic cabins, garages, attics—even a nursery. Lee’s crime scene dioramas may be a trifle outdated, but time has not robbed them of any of their power.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Lee was born in 1878. With a fortune from International Harvester, her parents were prominent members of Chicago’s turn-of-the-century social and civic elite. The granite fortress they built on Prairie Avenue had no lawn and few windows facing the street; the basement ones were barred. As wedding gifts, Lee’s parents built her and her brother identical townhouses down the street from each other.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2glessnerlee_laurie_shaull-wikimedia.jpg" style="height:400px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Lee was shy and brilliant. She longed to study nursing or medicine, but her parents sent her brother to Harvard instead. Her mother and aunts tutored her at home in metalwork, sewing and domestic arts. At age twenty, Lee was forced into a society marriage from which she fled, returned, and fled again. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Lee’s interest in crime was spurred by her brother’s Harvard classmate, George Burgess Magrath. A medical examiner, Magrath regaled Lee with stories of real murders and became a lifelong friend. Through him, she finally found her purpose: transforming dollhouses into miniature crime scenes to train homicide investigators. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Lee designed and built her models to exacting standards of realism on a scale of one inch to one foot. All but one of her “nutshells” (she never called them dollhouses) is a dwelling. She drew her crimes from real cases, wrote witness statements, inserted tantalizing clues that sometimes led nowhere, and added tiny victims. Like the snow globe, shrinking her crimes into self-contained universes created the illusion that all the answers were in front of you.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In their tidy little home, a family lies gruesomely slain. The parents are in their bedroom, blood is spattered on the wall behind their baby’s crib, and the kitchen table is set for breakfast. The murder weapon, a rifle, lies on the floor by the table, and the phone is off the hook. But the doors are locked from inside.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In a seamy rooming house, a woman is face-up in the bathtub with water from the faucet pouring onto her head. She had a history of seizures. Did she fall in, or was she drowned by one of the men who’d visited her the night before? </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A spinster hangs from a rafter, with old letters and articles of her past strewn at her feet. But her face is bruised and scratched, and why is one of her shoes lying on the attic’s step? </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3glessnerlee_lorie_shaull-flickr.jpg" style="height:400px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Harvard still uses Frances Glessner Lee’s nutshells in forensic seminars. As a training tool, they endure for what they make us do: observe minute details and convert them to clues, imbue tiny victims with real lives and troubling deaths, and create narratives as to who, how and why. But their lasting impact is greater. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">By depicting murder in domestic settings and shrinking it to a 1:12 scale, Lee used the power of miniatures to amplify crime’s human dimensions. Miniaturizing savagery and rage creates an existential dread, and inviting us to peer through windows and behind doors at violence in intimate spaces makes crime personal. The new narrative Lee created is the age-old quest to understand the impossible. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">She didn’t want us to gape at evil. She wanted us to make it make sense. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Stephanie Kane is the author of</em> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/object-lessons-stephanie-kane/1140145084" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Object Lessons</a>.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Laurie Shaull (</em><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/number7cloud/33248126936" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><em>Flickr</em></a><em>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Laurie Shaull (</em><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nutshell_Studies_of_Unexplained_Death,_Red_Bedroom.jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><em>Wikimedia</em></a><em>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Laurie Shaull (</em><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/number7cloud/33247968546" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><em>Flickr</em></a><em>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/frances-glessner-lee" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Frances Glessner Lee</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/dioramas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">dioramas</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/evil" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">evil</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/crime" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">crime</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/dollhouse" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">dollhouse</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/stephanie-kane" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Stephanie Kane</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/object-lessons" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">object lessons</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/criminals" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">criminals</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Stephanie Kane</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All images by Laurie Shaull (Flickr, Creative Commons)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 22 Oct 2021 15:00:07 +0000 tara 10700 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/17035-art-frances-glessner-lee-shrinking-evil#comments The Frick Art Collection Finds a New Home https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12588-frick-art-collection-finds-new-home <span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 09/22/2021 - 15:58</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3frick_duccio.jpg?itok=NgtJMkpX"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3frick_duccio.jpg?itok=NgtJMkpX" width="480" height="451" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><em><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Duccio di Buoninsegna (ca. 1255–ca. 1319), </span>The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain,<span style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> 1308−11. Tempera on poplar panel. 17 x 18 1/8 inches. The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Michael Bodycomb</span></span></em></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In March 2021, the world-famous Frick art collection took up residence at 945 Madison Avenue, in Marcel Breuer’s modernist architectural masterpiece (formerly the Whitney Museum of American Art.)  This was in direct response to the two-year renovation underway of Henry Clay Frick’s historic mansion at 72<sup>nd</sup> Street and Fifth. It may be no exaggeration for some to imagine Mr. Frick turning in his grave at such an upheaval.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The good news is that the Frick Madison’s minimalist approach is providing fresh insight and perspective on an amazing repertoire. Beloved works from the Renaissance through the 19th century—Bellini, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Goya, Fragonard and Whistler, among many others—along with installations of important sculptures and decorative arts capture the eye, demanding to be noticed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Frick the industrialist (1849-1919) played a major role in the foundation of the U.S. Steel Corporation, building Carnegie Brothers &amp; Co. into the largest manufacturer of steel and coke in the world. Since the opening of the museum in 1935, its holdings have more than doubled in size. The Frick Reference Library founded by Frick’s daughter Helen is one of the foremost art history research centers, serving generations of students, scholars and the public.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4frick_veronese.jpg" style="height:600px; width:458px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em><span style="font-size:14px">Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari) (1528 –1588), The Choice between Virtue and Vice, ca. 1565. Oil on canvas. 86 1/4 x 66 3/4 inches. The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Michael Bodycomb</span></em></span></div> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Perhaps most satisfying about this temporary home is the anticipation of visitors young and old (who may have put a hold on a visit to the Frick’s imposing mansion on first investigation) gazing upon such masterworks for the first time.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Here are just a few examples of some of the breathtaking works currently on view at the Frick Madison:  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain</em> by Duccio (1255-1319) is a powerful altarpiece from Sienna that was chosen as a favorite by Frick Director Ian Wardropper and certainly a prize acquisition.  Another masterwork of the Christ figure is <em>The Deposition</em> by Gerard David (1495-1500). Piero della Francesca’s <em>Saint John the Evangelist </em>(1454-69) seems to hover benignly over his backdrop of blue skies for those who must put their next trip to Florence on hold. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">For this reviewer, the dramatic intrigue of Veronese’s <em>The Choice between Virtue or Vice </em>(1565) is the big draw. Here, the furtive backward glance of the seducer, the suggestion of a forbidden tryst in all its daytime brilliance is undeniable.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">George de La Tour’s <em>The Education of the Virgin</em> (1650) with its shadowy chiaroscuro effects are as finished as any of Caravaggio’s best works, admittedly without the resident anguish of his subjects.   </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2frick_ingres.jpg" style="height:600px; width:419px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Jean -Auguste -Dominique Ingres (1780 – 1867), </span>Comtesse d’Haussonville<span style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">, 1845. Oil on canvas. 51 7/8 x 36 1/4 inches The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Michael Bodycomb</span></span></em></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Portraiture was obviously an obsession of Frick’s and the examples on display are worth the visit. Ingres’ <em>Comtesse d’Haussonville</em> (1845) and her coy confrontation must have been a shocking revelation to more conventional portraitists of the age. Thomas Gainsborough gives us the remarkable subtlety at play in <em>Grace Dalrymple Elliott</em> from 1782, and Thomas Lawrence’s <em>Julia, Lady Peel </em>is the epitome of elegance with her crimson feathered headdress (1827). Only the later portrait from John Singer Sargent of <em>Adele</em> at the Neue Galerie could hold a candle to such imperiousness. <em>Lady Hamilton as “Nature”</em> (1782) with her pet spaniel is notable for the sheer unadulterated beauty from George Romney’s brush.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Male splendor is never better accentuated than in Joshua Reynold’s romantic rendition of <em>General John Burgoyne</em> from 1766. This swashbuckling, red-coated hero must have set hearts aflutter for many a decade. A soul brother might have been Titian’s subject in <em>Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat</em>. He poses with the diffidence of one who must have been frequently asked for a sitting. Rembrandt is present in his own forthright manner in his <em>Self-Portrait</em> from 1658.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">There are others that stand alone, as much for their singular style as subject. El Greco’s <em>St. Jerome</em> (1590-1600) will surely live on in many memories when his saint’s name itself fades from recall.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5frick_reynolds.jpg" style="height:600px; width:479px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), </span>General John Burgoyne, <span style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">ca. 1766. Oil on canvas. 50 × 39 7/8 inches. </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Michael Bodycomb</span></span></em></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Domesticity and its charms are front and center in Vermeer’s <em>Officer and Laughing Girl.</em> And what exhibition collection would be complete without the requisite number of Joseph Mallard Waller Turners? <em>Fishing Boats Entering Calais Harbor</em> gives us the flailing grandeur we’ve come to expect from this master and this example from 1803 doesn’t disappoint.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The Fricks had the Fragonard Room rebuilt in the early 20<sup>th</sup> century to complement the artist’s <em>Progress of Love</em> series. Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) was a prolific French painter of the late Rococo period who painted these works for the music pavilion on Madame du Barry’s property (du Barry was the last mistress of Louis XV). Visitors will now have the rare treat of enjoying the collection in its entirety, even if the former ambience is absent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Sculpture gets its rightful due and one can be forgiven for choosing the diminutive <em>Angel </em>(1475) from Jean Barbet over more conspicuous offerings. It beckons in its humble perfection, and I can only liken it to the lone statue of San Germaine des Pres in the historic Left Bank chapel. There’s a sanctity in the simplicity of depiction, no less obvious than in Francesco Laurana’s <em>Beatrice of Aragon </em>(1475). </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6frick_joseph_coscia_jr.jpg" style="height:402px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <div><em><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><span style="font-size:14px">Marcel Breuer building -- Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.</span></span></em></div> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The ceramics section will find its fans, with an impressive collection of bottles and bowls from the Quing Dynasty (1644-1911).  An exquisite <em>Basin Sevres</em> from 1781 is also worth searching out as are the display of clocks. The French 18<sup>th</sup>-century <em>Annual Mantel Clock with Figures Emblematic of the Passing of Time </em>and the <em>Dance of Time: Three Nymphs</em> by Clodeon from 1788 will reward any intrepid clock enthusiasts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">And what about the return of the Frick collection to its original Beaux Art home in 2022?  Perhaps these masterpieces that could stun the visitor from an unadorned wall will retreat, back into the baronial splendor that Frick envisioned for them. One guesses they will not lose their majesty and provenance of place but assume their proper role—merely awaiting the discerning glance to assume their full glory once again.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand is </em>Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief art critic.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/frick-collection" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the frick collection</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york-galleries" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new york galleries</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ingres" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ingres</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/duccio" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">duccio</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/veronese" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">veronese</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/reynolds" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">reynolds</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/vermeer" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">vermeer</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/painters" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">painters</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sculpture" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sculpture</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art-collections" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art collections</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All images courtesy of the Frick Collection</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 22 Sep 2021 19:58:04 +0000 tara 10639 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12588-frick-art-collection-finds-new-home#comments Deana Lawson at the Guggenheim – The Black Lens Transformed https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12400-deana-lawson-guggenheim-black-lens-transformed <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 07/16/2021 - 10:53</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1lawsonshow.jpg?itok=LYj-acjs"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1lawsonshow.jpg?itok=LYj-acjs" width="480" height="380" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:16px">--<span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">Deana Lawson, <em>Chief</em>, 2019</span></span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Art is the lie that enables us to see the truth.” The quote is by Pablo Picasso, but the photographer that personifies the philosophy is Deana Lawson. The 2020 winner of the prestigious Hugo Boss prize—the first photographer to be so honored—is turning perceptions of what it means to be Black on its head in her current show, “Centropy” at the Guggenheim Museum.  But how does she do it?  And how do we see it?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As the viewer moves from one gigantic pigment portrait to another, the eyes are drawn to her subjects as if by a gravitational pull. There’s nothing apologetic or submissive or even wary in these Black faces. In each domestic environment, they simply exist, in command of their surroundings. They don’t invite you in, but once you’re inside, there seems to be a mutual acceptance of your presence as a witness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Make no mistake. Lawson is a conjurer—she has staged her moments, often with strangers, to startling effect. The rugs, curtains, carpets, religious icons, gold crowns, baby bottles and dollar bills are all, whether serendipitously found or improvised, <em>props</em>.  The intimacy she creates, however, emerges as some version of the truth. It’s not surprising that visitors linger or come back, more than once or even twice, to see if what they see is real. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In a May 9<sup>th</sup> <em>New York Times</em> profile by Jenna Wortham, Lawson seems to justify her approach. “I’m giving an image that I do want you to believe; that is real—it is real, to me, in this moment, and I don’t want that to be minimized because the believability is important.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In <em>Monella Passing</em>, a seated man slouches next to the corpse of a woman who is laid out, her fingers elegantly splayed out in her netted gloves, eyes shut. I was struck by the word “passing” in the title.This is a transitory moment, with Lawson’s subject suspended somewhere between life and death. In <em>Latifah’s Wedding</em>, the bride’s veil is showered with bills, her husband’s suitcoat similarly covered, while a wedding guest sits with her plate nearby, indifferent to this display. A little costumed girl stands proudly on her bed, her face obscured by strings of beads, a complicit grandmother at her side, in <em>An Ode to Yemaja</em>. It smacks of ritual, of secrecy, but the photographer offers no explanation.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2lawsonshow.jpg" style="height:600px; width:474px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">--Deana Lawson, <em>Young Grandmother</em>, 2019</span></span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Perhaps the most intriguing portrayal of Black women is <em>Axis</em>, the three naked, entwined on a dark floral rug, their adornments, from heart tattoos to sequined nails on display. There is a classic beauty at play here, in opposition to their 19<sup>th</sup> century photographic counterparts, when images of Black females were synonymous with a libidinous and deviant underworld.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Not all portraiture on display is indicative of otherworldly realms or the overlay of cultures in the Black diaspora. Some are simply direct and riveting in their domestic reality as <em>Barrington and Father</em>. Two generations in stark relief pose triumphantly before us. The elder is a prototype of the urban gentleman, straw hat in hand, spats to match, a brown polka-dot tie to finish off the effect. His son conversely, is gold chained, bare chested, tattoos sporting among other signs, an Indian avatar. There’s no mystery here.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Yet the importance of ritual and the search for a deeper meaning in existence is a major component in Lawson’s oeuvre. Tucked into one corner of the exhibit are three selenite crystal wands, selenite symbolizing the protective properties of a healing goddess. In another corner, rose crystal tiles are interspersed with snapshots from the artist’s stable of friends and family. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In recent years, Lawson has admitted to creating environments for the work itself, in order to allow for the reflection “of both looking and being looked at” she desires from her audience. Her portraits are framed in mirrored glass, so that standing at a certain angle in front of a portrait one confronts the self. Where holograms in the portraiture are embedded, does it detract or enhance the overall effect?  It’s hard to say.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3lawsonshow.jpg" style="height:600px; width:471px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">--Deana Lawson, <em>Barrington and Father</em>, 2021</span></span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Traversing the clean rectangular space, another oval-shaped hologram is placed on a pedestal, reminiscent in feeling if not similarity to the monolith found by space travelers in Stanley Kubrick’s spectacle <em>2001</em>. On closer inspection, two concave eyes seem to peer out from the interior. Another surprising instance, <em>Dana and Sirius B</em> is an image of a night sky, in which the eponymous star is nearly eclipsed by its sister, Sirius A, the brightest star in the firmament. (Dana is the name of Lawson’s twin sister.)</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Born in Rochester, New York, in 1979, Lawson grew up sitting for family portraits. The Kodak empire was rooted in her hometown, with her mother finding administrative work there and her grandmother cleaning house for the founder George Eastman.The camera and its innate power to conjure images obviously worked its magic on her. And hers is an impressive, almost meteroric climb to prominence in the photographic universe. The name of the exhibit, “Centropy” refers to a thermodynamic term meaning a gathering or coalescing of energies into a natural order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Such an ambitious search is not foreign to an artist of Lawson’s caliber. Sometimes with maturity comes a recognition of the power in simplicity itself. The most memorable takeaway in this exhibit is in the transformative power of her portraiture. There are subjects here that form their own supernovae and they give a lovely light.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand is</em> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief art critic.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong>--All images: Copyright <span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">© Deana Lawson</span></span></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">(1) Deana Lawson, <em>Chief</em>, 2019</span></span></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">(2) Deana Lawson, <em>Young Grandmother</em>, 2019</span></span></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">(3) Deana Lawson, <em>Barrington and Father</em>, 2021</span></span></strong></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">For Highbrow Magazine</span></span></strong></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/deana-lawson" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">deana lawson</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/guggeneheim" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the guggeneheim</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/photography" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">photography</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/black-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">black artists</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/contemporarty-photographers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">contemporarty photographers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/black-photographers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">black photographers</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All images courtesy of The Guggenheim--Coyright Deana Lawson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 16 Jul 2021 14:53:42 +0000 tara 10512 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12400-deana-lawson-guggenheim-black-lens-transformed#comments The Art of the Late Daniel Johnston: Musician, Artist, and Renaissance Man https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/11212-art-late-daniel-johnston-musician-artist-and-renaissance-man <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 01/20/2021 - 10:46</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1danieljohnston.jpg?itok=HWvP_nKe"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1danieljohnston.jpg?itok=HWvP_nKe" width="480" height="439" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>Daniel Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, active in the music scene since the late 1970s, whose artworks are currently on exhibit at <a href="https://gallery30south.com/daniel-johnston/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Gallery 30 South</a>.</p> <p>He was a self-taught pop rocker and illustrator whose art and music was greatly focused on his obsession with unrequited love and the pop culture that he first encountered as an adolescent.</p> <p>Johnston’s songs have been covered by several hundred artists, including David Bowie and Tom Waits. The late Kurt Cobain mused that Daniel Johnston is the best songwriter in America. In 2006, his life was documented in the award-winning film, <em>The Devil and Daniel Johnston</em>, and his painted illustrations were exhibited in the Whitney biennial.</p> <p>Johnston had a lifetime battle with mental illness, and medication prescribed for this condition damaged his liver requiring multiple hospitalizations. He died from a heart attack in his sleep before the morning of September 11, 2019. He left behind a legacy as perhaps the greatest outsider musician-artist of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>For more information about Daniel Johnston’s artworks, visit </em></strong><a href="https://gallery30south.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Gallery 30 South</em></strong></a><strong><em>: (323) 547-3227,  </em></strong><a href="mailto:info@gallery30south.com" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>info@gallery30south.com.</em></strong></a></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2danieljohnston.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3danieljohnston.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4danieljohnston.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5danieljohnston.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/daniel-johnston" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">daniel johnston</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/gallery-30-south" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Gallery 30 South</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tom-waits" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">tom waits</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/david-bowie" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">David Bowie</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/musicians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">musicians</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/contemporary-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Contemporary art</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-exhibits" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new exhibits</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Editors</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 20 Jan 2021 15:46:34 +0000 tara 10121 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/11212-art-late-daniel-johnston-musician-artist-and-renaissance-man#comments How Mid-Century Airline Travel Came to Symbolize Glamour and Adventure https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10866-how-mid-century-airline-travel-came-symbolize-glamor-and-adventure <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 19:50</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1twa.jpg?itok=ivBJNKNm"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1twa.jpg?itok=ivBJNKNm" width="298" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div> <p> </p> <p>For thousands of years, manned flight was an unreachable dream. From this historic perspective, modern air travel seems a most unlikely event. Yet after the humble, historic flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903, there was simply no stopping this dream from becoming a reality. The first half of the 20th century saw new aircraft being developed at a breathtaking pace, and by 1970, millions of tourists and business travelers were flying around the globe in Boeing 747 jet aircraft.</p> <p> </p> <p>Two important developments took place simultaneously between 1945 and 1975 that make this time period of unique interest for an analysis of the visual identities of airline companies.</p> <p> </p> <p>First, the period after World War II marked the beginning of air travel on a much more significant scale, when the big aircraft and advanced technologies developed during the war were put into civilian operation. It was a rebirth for civil aviation, which had been all but suspended during the war. The Jet Age began in the late 1950s, and by the mid­1970s, all major leaps in air travel innovation had been completed – in terms of the size and comfort of aircraft, as represented by the Boeing 747, in terms of speed, embodied by the supersonic Concorde, and in terms of the availability of destinations.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2panam.jpg" style="height:600px; width:388px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Second, this time period marked a fundamental change in the notion of corporate identity. By 1945, after nearly two decades of experimentation, the visual identity of airlines had reached a degree of maturity. It was customary for corporations at this time to have their symbols and marketing materials created on a case­by­case basis by designers and artists on behalf of the marketing department or the company’s advertising agency. Several different designers or artists could work simultaneously for the same company on different assignments. This system was derived from the product­oriented marketing methods developed in the 1920s. The designs thus produced were often very attractive and far from ineffective, but they lacked the integrated, highly disciplined, almost scientific approach of modern branding, which proved superior.</p> <p> </p> <p>The 1950s marked a turning point. The multitude of individual designs and campaigns had made it more and more difficult to differentiate a single product. At the same time, it had become increasingly acknowledged that the visual appearance and the “personality” of a corporation somehow  communicate,  without  the  use  of  words, its values. Therefore, it would be advantageous to make a corporation’s identity appear coherent and ensure that the right values be conveyed. This notion eventually led to the modern concept of branding, which involves not only graphics but also such fields as economics, psychology, and sociology. This theoretical framework became widely accepted and implemented in the 1960s.</p> <p> </p> <p>Around the same time, graphic design firms specializing in corporate identity programs began to appear. In the airline industry – then considered among the most progressive industries, along with electronics and business machines manufacturers – the adoption of modern corporate design generally took place in the 1960s and early 1970s, although a few airlines began to use prototype modern design principles in the 1950s, notably Swissair as early as 1952, and Pan Am and British European Airways in 1956. Overall, the airline industry embraced modern corporate communications principles rather swiftly, which can be in part attributed to the arrival of the Jet Age in the second half of the 1950s, compelling airlines to contemplate what it meant to be “modern.”</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1airfrance.jpg" style="height:600px; width:379px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Modern corporate design programs radically altered the visual identities of airlines. Their initial implementation required courage from airline management, and many airlines opted for “phase­in periods” not only to save money, but in order to allow their customers to become accustomed to their new look. Ultimately, their triumph was complete. Many of the identity programs created for airlines in the 1960s and ‘70s were so successful that they remained virtually unchanged for decades.</p> <p> </p> <p>Besides this fundamental revision of the concept of corporate communications, other factors influenced the visual identity of airlines. In 1958, when Pan Am launched the first Boeing 707 flights, only one in 10 Americans had been on a commercial flight, and in Europe, the proportion was less than one in 20. Ships and trains were still the predominant modes of passenger transportation. Accordingly, airline advertising targeted a relatively affluent group until the 1970s, when wide-bodied jet aircraft caused capacities to soar, marking the beginning of mass tourism by air. Now, it was necessary for airlines to shift their marketing efforts to reach millions of new customers.</p> <p> </p> <p>Industry regulation, too, influenced advertising. The airline industry was highly regulated until the late 1970s, when deregulation in the United States started a trend to liberalize air traffic around the world. Until then, ticket prices and the destinations an airline was allowed to serve were the main subjects of regulation. Airlines were regarded as important agents for economic growth as well as ambassadors of their home countries abroad, and regulation was to provide stable economic conditions for this promising new industry. Domestic regulation was controlled by each national government, while the rules administering international flights were at first negotiated on a case­by­case basis, and later regulated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), founded in 1945. With limited possibilities for price competition on given routes, airline marketing tended to emphasize destinations or the quality and efficiency of service and equipment.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2twa.jpg" style="height:600px; width:366px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>In most countries outside of North America, privately owned airline companies were nationalized in the 1940s and 1950s to create “flag carriers,” which often enjoyed near monopolies in their respective domestic markets. Flag carriers were bound to make positive national traits part of their corporate personalities and revealed them in their visual identities. The United States was the only country with several major airlines, all of which remained under private ownership, resulting in a much greater variety of marketing strategies.</p> <p> </p> <p>Other factors influencing the visual identity of an airline company included the quality of implementation as well as the maintenance of an identity program. Neglect or improper implementation rendered even the best identity program futile.</p> <p> </p> <p>Following the infant years of commercial aviation in the 1920s and 1930s, passenger flight became a symbol of glamour and adventure in the decades following World War II, and a magnet for the world’s greatest creative minds in the fields of design and advertising. The list of designers and advertising agencies hired by airline companies reads like a <em>Who’s-Who </em>of that era. The epic endeavor to make travel by air attractive and available to as many people as possible continues to impart respect and fascination today.</p> </div> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1aeroflot.jpg" style="height:600px; width:423px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>This is an excerpt from <a href="https://www.callisto-publishers.com/project/airline-visual-identity-1945-1975-premium-edition/#collectors-limited-edition" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975</a> by M.C. Hühne (Callisto Publishers). Printed with permission.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Image Sources:</strong></p> <p><em>--All photos courtesy of Callisto Publishers</em></p> <p><em>--Photo on main page: <a href="https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-snhly">Piqsels </a>(Creative Commons)</em></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airline-industry" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airline industry</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airlines" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airlines</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/twa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">TWA</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pan-am" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Pan Am</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/british-airways" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">British Airways</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aeroflot" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Aeroflot</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/japan-airlines" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Japan Airlines</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/air-france" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Air France</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airplanes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airplanes</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pilots" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">pilots</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flight-crew" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flight crew</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/travel/archive" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">travel</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airports" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airports</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flying" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flying</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/design" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">design</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airline-posters" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airline posters</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">M.C. Hühne</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All images courtesy of Callisto Publishers</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 15 Sep 2020 23:50:09 +0000 tara 9835 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10866-how-mid-century-airline-travel-came-symbolize-glamor-and-adventure#comments Is Botero the World’s Most Famous Living Artist? https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10671-botero-world-s-most-famous-living-artist <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sat, 05/30/2020 - 07:17</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1botero.jpg?itok=AVwFhF7f"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1botero.jpg?itok=AVwFhF7f" width="328" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong><em>Botero</em></strong></p> <p><strong>Directed by Don Millar</strong></p> <p><strong>A Corinth Films Production</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Fernando Botero may just be the most famous living artist in the world.  It’s a pretty good guess, that no matter where you experienced your first Botero painting or sculpture—New York, Bogota, Paris, Madrid, Shanghai—you never forgot it.  Chances are, whether it was a woman, a cat, a bird, even a Pope, it was, let’s face it, <em>fat.  </em></p> <p>Those same artworks are also so much more—explosive, monumental, satirical, controversial, humorous, and wildly popular. In Don Millar’s engaging and heartfelt documentary of the artist, we are not only treated to a series of international exhibitions, a rich and constantly varied pictorial archive of the artist’s family and other personages of the art world, but a deeply personal portrayal of the man himself.</p> <p>Born in Medellin, Colombia, in 1932, he lost his father at the tender age of 4, and his seamstress mother kept Botero and his brothers together by a thin thread.  A natural aptitude for drawing emerged early and by the age of 16, he had sold a batch of his bullfighting sketches.  Madrid, Paris, and Florence were waiting to be discovered.  He didn’t want to be a better painter than his local Medellin neighbors; he wanted to be the best painter in the world.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2botero.jpg" style="height:570px; width:476px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Director Millar gives us insights into the artist’s processes, particularly through the reminiscences of his daughter Lina Botero Zea, who was also an executive producer on the film.  At one point, she and a brother visit a storage space for their father’s works not visited since the 1960s.  The viewer shares their excitement as they roll out the sketches, reveling in Botero’s strokes of color and endless experimentation.</p> <p>His inimitable “Boterismo” style informs every subject, the style itself a mystery to the artist himself.  In Botero’s words, “An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even judge it.” </p> <p>Volume and strength are twin passions of the artist, and the film provides generous glimpses in such paintings as <em>Mona Lisa, Age 12</em>, only one of many recreations of that iconic subject.  Botero has an obvious interest in transforming historical artworks in his own style, an insistence he shares with his idol, Picasso.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3botero.jpg" style="height:529px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>The monumentality of his work is never better exemplified than in his sculptures.  In one sequence, a signature piece is flown to its exhibition by helicopter.  We are given the diatribe of one critic, who obviously resented a massive work dominating her beloved Park Avenue.  During a visit to the Museo Botero in Bogota several years ago, I was stopped in my tracks by the largest single orange I have ever witnessed.  The painting seemed to glow from its resident wall, overshadowing every other artwork or living presence. (It is worth noting that in 2000, the museum received 208 art pieces from the artist, 123 of his own making and the rest from his own collection of Chagalls, Picassos, and favorite Impressionists.)</p> <p><em>Death of Pablo Escobar</em> is symbolic of the intimate role the artist has played in his home country’s affairs.  Botero was troubled by the terrible violence from drug cartels, and this painting of the dictator’s demise is just one example of his attempt to describe it. When a bomb severely damaged his public sculpture of a dove, he wanted it left in place, constructing another to rest alongside it.  In 2004, he began work on a powerful series of works evoking the horrors of Abu Ghraib, a grim testament to the U.S handling of prisoners during the Iraq war.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4botero.jpg" style="height:338px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Throughout the film, we are introduced to a lighter side of the artist.  My favorite was an early account of his mischievous nature.  At one point, he served his children “eye soup”, a concoction of tomato soup topped off with a crystal eye from one of his sculptures.  Describing his process of creating a work, he thinks “a smile is perfect,” demonstrating how he added a parrot to his subject.  Such improvisation along the way in a work’s creation is part of what explains his global popularity. His appeal is universal.</p> <p>A loving touch is everywhere evident in the film.  Editor Henry Stein, who also co-wrote the documentary with director Don Millar, has managed to weave an enormous amount of material together without losing a beat.  Even if you’re not a convert to Botero’s style, to experience such an account of one of the world’s most intriguing and individualistic artists is an almost guilty pleasure. </p> <p>                                          </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand is</em></strong><strong> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief art critic.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/fernando-botero" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">fernando botero</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/botero-paintings" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">botero paintings</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/south-american-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">south american artists</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/famous-living-artits" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">famous living artits</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/don-millar" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">don millar</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Images courtesy of Corinth Film Productions; Google Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sat, 30 May 2020 11:17:23 +0000 tara 9583 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10671-botero-world-s-most-famous-living-artist#comments Artist Zach Mendoza’s Tribute to Great Literary Heroes https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10659-artist-zach-mendoza-s-tribute-great-literary-heroes <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 05/20/2020 - 06:38</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1mendozaart.jpg?itok=ztUW1qrr"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1mendozaart.jpg?itok=ztUW1qrr" width="480" height="394" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>Much of Zach Mendoza‘s art is an investigation of the ways things are built, disrupted, reinterpreted, or redefined into something new.</p> <p> </p> <p>Francis Bacon once said, “I want a very ordered image, but I want it to come about by chance<em>,</em>” and that fundamental dichotomy of chaos and order is a prime component of Zach’s practice. His narrative work is infused with universal truth – or rather the search for that truth, and opposing forces are always at play: randomness and order, beauty and the grotesque, victim and aggressor.</p> <p> </p> <p>The great reverence that Mendoza has for the past (and an equal infatuation with the lurking shadow of the future) is omnipresent in his <em>alla prima</em> portraits, which pay tribute to his literary heroes -- including F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Sylvia Plath, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. His combination of expressionism and neorealism embodies the era in which many of his subjects thrived. As a perpetual student of history, he draws a line from late modernism through post-contemporary art, such that even latter-day heroes connect back to the writers and artists that inspired <em>them</em>, in addition to Mendoza, himself.</p> <p> </p> <p>According to Mendoza, “I have always had an appreciation and reverence for the past. Romantic-era music and art has moved me since before I knew how to articulate the feeling and it continues to, still. I give great credence to the art movements that preceded me, though it is sometimes difficult to reconcile old wisdom with a post-modern understanding of time in the age of the internet.</p> <p>“Turner and Basquiat can be components of a single Google search. While each is a master in his own right, and separated by more than a century, the democratization of information online dissolves the context. And so now when someone enters my name into a search engine, this very page will list my name beside theirs–all of us intrinsic to one another and to the writers and artists that comprise the portraits in this show. Just by painting them, I’ve created a through-line that connects us all,” Mendoza explains.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2mendozaart.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3mendozaart.jpg" style="height:492px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4mendozaart.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5mendozaart.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Zach Mendoza: Literary </em></strong><strong>is on display at <a href="http://gallery30south.com/zach-mendoza-literary/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Gallery 30 South</a> through May 31. For more information, visit the gallery’s <a href="http://gallery30south.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">website</a>.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zach-mendoza" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zach mendoza</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/portraits" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">portraits</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/literary-heroes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">literary heroes</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/gallery-30-south" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Gallery 30 South</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/paintings" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">paintings</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/f-scott-fitzgerald" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">F. Scott Fitzgerald</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/dostoyevsky" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">dostoyevsky</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flannery-oconnor" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flannery o&#039;connor</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sylvia-plath" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sylvia plath</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Editors</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Images courtesy of Zach Mendoza and Gallery 30 South</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 20 May 2020 10:38:15 +0000 tara 9562 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10659-artist-zach-mendoza-s-tribute-great-literary-heroes#comments