The University City studio of pottery is seriously some of the most gorgeous American made pottery of the Art Nouveau movement. There are a fair number of examples tucked away, including tilework, vases and the like. This is one of my favorites: there is nothing simple about the composition, nothing easy about the matte finish in the glaze, the spacing in between the lines… it is an exercise in precision and execution. Its seeming simplicity belies just how extremely difficult it is to pull off with perfection.
Tag: 20th century
Tuesday
This is gorgeous tribal American art from the northwestern coast of the United States. It’s symbolic, it’s stylized, it’s complex, it is exquisite. The symbolism of the people’s faces trapped within the bodies of the animals is not lost on me, nor should it be on anyone who knows the history of this continent.
Monday
This, to me, is like disembodied, atonal notes from a warm-up. I love it, but it’s not really harmonious or full of reason. It’s very much an improvisational, casual style and feel.
Friday
I’m glad that they specify that this is a symbolic dance and not actually what the warriors actually go into battle wearing because that would be a very awkwardly fought battle. Though, to be fair, we’re the direct descendants of wearers of mail and plate armor, so what am I even bitching about?
Thursday
So, here’s the thing: how much did any of y’all know about Bali before I started pointing at the art and going, “look at this stuff?” Not much, I’d wager.
The masks themselves are actually beautiful objects, and when kitted out with their flowers and feathers would truly have been a spectacle to behold as full sized puppets. I can only imagine what they would have looked like in their parades.
Wednesday
There is a dreamy, ethereal quality to this canvas that reminds me of sinking into the ocean and holding my breath for the longest time, looking through the sunbeams at fish. Living in Hawai’i for a time probably contributed to this.
Thursday
What I love about this painting is the organic feel of the design; all of the lines mesh together in a way that is very harmonious. Nothing feels over the top, nothing feels out of place. It is all about balance.
Saturday
There are many artists that I have a complicated relationship with. Otto Dix is one of those artists. I’m not wild about the majority of his work, or his styles in general – the shock/horror genre mixed with surrealism doesn’t fly for me. However, for whatever reason, I find myself drawn to this particular work. Be it the juxtaposition of color, light, and dimensional tonality, be it the composition on interrupted diagonals, be it the fragmented fractal focus, it speaks to me on a primal level for some reason. I’ll listen for long enough to shut it up, then I walk away from it and find something else to look at.
Thursday
This is one of those pieces that I find challenging in that I have such a love-hate relationship with it as to be almost laughable. Intellectually, it trots out the ‘noble savage’ trope and throws it in your face in such a way that it smacks of historical revision, whilst at the same time being such an object of beauty and style that it makes your heart ache with longing to reach out and touch the texture of the sculpture and purr when you feel the tiny imperfections in the lines.
I love to hate it and hate to love it.
This is why art exists: to challenge us, to challenge the world around us. To make us hurt and feel things that we don’t want to feel.
Friday
This particular statue has always felt to me like someone long suffering, world-weary, on the verge of giving up everything, stopping to take stock, to take one last breath, to hold onto one last shred of hope before she gives in. It’s a reminder that none of us are infallible.