It was sad to hear that Claes Oldenburg’s wife, whom he also worked hand-in-hand with on his art, died this past January. To think of him working alone, without her, reminds me of my own grandparents’ years that they had to live without their significant others. Although in my family, the women all outlast the men. It also reminds me that different artists work best in different kinds of environments. Some close the doors and hole themselves up and others open their studios and prefer the presence of others. Warhol, obviously, was the ultimate open door artist. In fact, it could be said that, later on at least, he had no ideas of his own, but to reflect the world that swirled around him. He let his own fame become his art. And what is fame without the audience?
To have been part of the Pop Art movement and remained alive, innovative, new and truly relevant has been nearly the sole proprietary space of Claes Oldenburg – and the man knows how to fill a space. The show at The Whitney, in NY, features a number of works by Oldenburg and I’m itching to go see it. It is, in some ways, a retrospective, but seems to be marking a turning point in the 80-year old’s life. How his art changes is something I am more than curious to see.
Ever since Nick Nolte shot down Reuben Toro in the Scorsese part of New York Stories with the single best put down in art history, if not movie history, I have not been able to get myself to fully embrace spraypaint as a medium. I have found myself marveling at it, awestruck in front of it and even switched a few nozzles myself, but for me the paint runs just a little too thin. It’s not that it can’t make you think, but rarely does the image reach inside and grab hold like a starfish clamped onto your heart.
This is all being undone, though, by a myriad of artists who have started to take the notion of “wall art” to new levels. Banksy comes to mind, of course. But also this guy, Blu, whose stop motion work is mind-blowing and other-worldly. And a third guy I recently stumbled across, Alexandre Farto (AKA Vhils), who has done something interesting by working with the texture of the wall itself. It is worth taking a look at this video. Nice to see the medium of graffiti go beyond what it has always appeared to be on the surface and reach somewhere a little deeper.
“Lighting is everything.” My Mom taught me that at an early age. It wasn’t an art lesson, it was a beauty lesson. But it was an art lesson, too. After all, how you light your subject determines a lot.
Then, when I got into drawing, my Dad sat me down with his long-time friend, Lee Chapman. At the time, Lee lived in a beautiful sprawling house with a pool, up in Laurel Canyon. He was an ad guy, but his true calling was fine art. We had his paintings in our house and I had already heard many stories about his drawing and illustration skills before I had met with him that day. It was intimidating as hell. “So, you like to draw?” I remember him asking me. “Let me show you something.” Continue reading ‘Lighting is everything.’
Recently, the annual MOCA fundraiser featured “blind” works by famous artists and non for to bid on. A great concept and a show that I would have gone to, if I weren’t deathly afraid of crowds of people circling around artwork. Thanks to the Internet, though, I can sort of glide in unnoticed and I am saved all the chatter and distracting movements and noises. This is one of the first art events I can say I’ve truly enjoyed – in large part because I didn’t attend it.
