Awesome, isn't it? I wrote in my last post that today I would be visiting the San Jose [CA] Museum of Art while on a mini vacation. And so I did! While walking up the street towards the museum I passed something very cool.
"Downtown Doors" [San Jose Downtown Foundation's signature event] is an art project begun in 2003 - according to the website: "...Downtown Doors features the art of high school students on otherwise stark utility doors in the center city's core area...." The photo above is one of those doors! It caught my eye immediately. It shows vitality, humor and "art." The text on either side reads:
- [left side] Sponsor: Adobe Systems Incorporated; Site Host: The Fairmont San Jose; Producer: San Jose Downtown Foundation
- [right side] Title: Self; Artist: Erik Piedad-Leigh High School; Project: San Jose "Downtown Doors"
Then it was on to the museum. I was really looking forward to this...the last museum devoted to art
I visited was the de Young in San Francisco where my husband and I were amazed by the King Tut exhibit. The art I saw today was so very different.
The San Jose museum devotes itself to 'modern and contemporary' art. My biggest disappoint today was that the main gallery was closed because they're setting up for a new exhibition. So I headed to the second floor to view the "To Hell and Back: Sandow Birk's Divine Comedy," the "Frank Lobdell: Wonderland" and "Renegade Humor" exhibits.
Now, I'm not an art critic; I'm an artist myself. I come at the work of other artists through the glasses of my own vision, training and expectations. I don't view with judgement on technique or use of materials. Rather - and I know this sounds kind of esoteric - I like to suspend my thinking mind and see with my emotions. You know that feeling of looking at a piece of art and just knowing that it works? Like that. And yes, it is totally subjective - what works for one viewer may not for another. We each bring our own sensibilities to whatever we view.
My thoughts:
*"To Hell and Back: Sandow Birk's Divine Comedy" - admittedly Dante's Inferno is one of those writings that is known at least by name by nearly everyone. It's not exactly "fun" reading but the lithographs in this collection are stunning. I know something about drawing and draftsmanship and value scales and ink work and other art stuff so I totally appreciated these artworks. I actually paid little attention to the details of what each drawing was about, rather I enjoyed the beautiful movement of those pen lines. This gallery is worth spending a decent amount of time in.
*"Frank Lobdell: Wonderland" - this exhibit examines this interesting artist's evolution of work - he "...conjures dreamlike landscapes of mystery and longing. His images—vibrantly colored and fantastical—are simultaneously mechanical, yet anthropomorphic...." [from the San Jose art museum website]. If you want to know more about this artist, I found a very informative article on Huffington Post written by John Seed [Professor of art and art history, Mt. San Jacinto College], titled "Frank Lobdell: 'Nothing Worth Anything is Easy'." For me, I connected with some of the works displayed and not at all to others. Seems I'm not easily swayed by "dreamlike landscapes;" I'm more drawn to color and form explorations that are somewhat more bold than most of the works on the walls. For instance I did like 2-25-83, N.D. Edition 29/33 - to me it looks like a teapot on its side balanced on a ball.
*"Renegade Humor" - "...Bawdy irreverence, iconoclasm, parody, and puns...." [from the website]; they had a gigantic centipede made of furniture, giant frosted animal cookies that are melted and other bizarre works. I have to confess that I'm not a fan of puns or absurdities so this exhibition I wouldn't see twice...remember I said Art is subjective!
Tomorrow I head over to The Tech Museum.
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