The art of Yayoi Kusama is bold, colorful and extremely popular these days. People flock to her exhibitions, kids play in her dotted pumpkins and everybody marvel at the magic of her infinity rooms. Yet, Kusama’s underpinning story is extremely dark. I am actually surprised that many people never go beyond the fun visuals that her vibrant use of colors infuses. I wanted to rectify this a little and take you down the path of her self-obliteration…Don’t be frightened, she makes it a visual feast!
Like last week, I am playing with Spark Page to share strong visuals I recently experienced on the Second Avenue Subway line in New York City. Make sure to visit these striking permanent art installations by renowned artists Chuck Close and Sarah Sze (Part 2, this week) and Jean Shin and Vik Muniz (Part 1, last week) when in New York. At 86th Street, I met a member of staff who proudly showed me his picture taken with Chuck Close in front of one of his mosaic work. These art installations definitely made him re-think his appreciation of his working environment…something that should apply pretty much everywhere for everybody’s benefit. Please click the link below and enjoy the ride! https://spark.adobe.com/page/dDwPrItKfsYho/ © 2017 Ingrid Westlake All pictures by Ingrid Westlake, unless otherwise stated.
This week and next, I am playing with Spark Page to share strong visuals I recently experienced on the Second Avenue Subway line in New York City. I hope you will enjoy the pictures and go visit these striking permanent art installations by renowned artists Jean Shin and Vik Muniz (Part 1, this week) and Chuck Close and Sarah Sze (Part 2, next week). Please click the link below and enjoy the ride! https://spark.adobe.com/page/VSTzqOrHVAQ5j/ © 2017 Ingrid Westlake All pictures by Ingrid Westlake, unless otherwise stated.
I often hear my associations of ideas are off-beat or décalé (or off-the-wall, depending on how polite you are :-). So let me throw you at the cross between yoga, running and art and see what you think! To me, breathing is at this intersection on my grid – often underestimated, so underrated yet ESSENTIAL! I practice yoga 3 times a week, no matter what. I am also half way through my marathon training program. So let’s just say I have learnt to pay attention to breathing because my life (an your life) depends on it 🙂 There is a meditative quality to breathing that helps me get through the discomfort of a crescent lunge on my weaker side or the pain that usually comes without a fail after running 17 miles. I made breathing a life tool and a habit but like most things, I refused to make it bland. My wonderful yoga teacher Karoll B. uses the visualisation of a ball of color that I can match with my mood or my needs of the day. It works wonders and allows me to power through most days! So much so that I found myself thinking of my yoga practice, breathing and […]
If you think about Seurat, dots should be the next word popping into your mind. My 5th grade daughter and her class made their own version of Seurat’s The Channel at Gravelines, Evening to be auctioned at the school gala. They used a multitude of dots to recreate local and illuminating colors and paid a brilliant homage to Seurat. He formalised scientific discoveries on color theory as a systematic approach applied to his painting technique. His breakthrough was termed Pointillism and was achieved with just six major paintings that are so familiar to all. He did not have time for more: he died aged 31.
A Multitude of Forms recently opened at the Met Breuer in New York. It unfolds like a story and clearly shows the evolution of Brazilian artist Lygia Pape as she explored the theme of abstraction. OK, but if it’s abstract art then what is the story??
With the exhibition dedicated to sculptor Richard Deacon debuting today at the San Diego Museum of Art, I was looking forward to some Contemporary Art. Reading around in preparation, what a surprise that Rachel Cooke in the Guardian declared that Richard Deacon’s sculptures reminded her of Gustave Caillebotte’ s Floor Scrapers! Gustave Caillebotte?!! The Impressionist with a photographic eye I am completely obsessed with and on which I have spent the last few weeks writing about for a paper I had to submit?! Now, looking at these two works side by side, can you honestly see it???
Studying a painting is the exact opposite of the better part of our life spent glued on our smartphone. Isn’t it weird then that sharing this blog through social media brings me so many personal connections and mini-conversations that I would not have otherwise? Truly honoured that people I know (and some that I don’t) decide to Follow me, I am thankful for the Likes and the time you take to fill the Comment box. Active looking versus passive flicking, it all comes back to squeezing more out of the little time we have and getting something meaningful in return. Like most, I flick through Facebook (sometimes) and Instagram (more often) to check on my friends and to feast on the visual world I love so much. Yet, for my sanity, I try to balance the fast and furious short attention span of social media with slow, detailed observations of artworks from a bygone era. Looking at the Impressionists, I envy the sophistication of what people used to wear, the refinement of outings to the opera and the silent dialogue that such scenes establish with our modern days. Until I spent too much time recently looking at Renoir’s La Loge. I suddenly realised the lorgnette and opera glasses […]