One of the things I love most about the art world is the diversity– of people, styles, ages, eras. It’s amazing to not only see the work of new graduates and up & comers, but to look back at the artists who made the way for today’s success. This week’s round up of must-see museum and gallery shows includes work from recent MFA graduates, old-school Abstract Expressionists, modern figurative savants, and some abstract artists who just wanna have some fun.
Oh how I wish I could be in all these places! Someone needs to hurry up with that teleportation device. If you’re in any of these areas and able to see these incredible gallery shows, share your experience on Instagram & tag me @artsyforager with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness!
I don’t know about you, dear Artsies, but I am ready to say goodbye to 2013 and get to the good stuff that I just know is waiting in the New Year! All in all, 2013 was a pretty good year for me and Mr. Forager. For today’s This Artsy Life post, I put together a little look back at some of our favorite moments from 2013 [ in case you’re wondering about the song choice, it is “our song” and still fits Mr. F & I so perfectly ]–
No life is ever perfect and ours, though exciting and full of adventure compared to most, is no different. We learned a lot this year, about ourselves and each other. We each went down new roads, sometimes things worked out and sometimes they didn’t. But in the process, we grew and we feel like we know better now what we want and where we’d like to be.
You can catch up on the specifics of our year in the This Artsy Life archives. Starting in 2014, I’ll take a break from doing these features each week but will be posting scenes from our life on Instagram and will pop in here on the blog with an occasional This Artsy Life post when I have something special to share. Meanwhile, I’m excited to begin a daily creative exercise that I’ll be posting on Instagram each day! More on that later this week!
Mr. Forager and I wish you all the very best in the New Year! Thank you for coming along on this journey with us.
All images by Artsy Forager. Video created using the Flipagram app.
Every new place Mr. Forager & I go, I try to hit the local art museum. Not only because I think it’s important to patronize local art resources ( artsy duh ), but I also find them to be an interesting gauge of the local tastes and what’s important to the surrounding culture. After being in Seattle for six weeks, we finally ventured to the Seattle Art Museum last week.
In addition to their current special exhibition, Future Beauty ( more on that in a separate post ), there were a few other intriguing exhibitions on display. I was especially excited to see 50 Works for 50 States, selections from the Herb and Dorothy Vogel collection.
[ Codex Morales Braccio Sermugnano by Michael Goldberg and Untitled by Tony Smith ]
I am continually amazed by the collection this couple put together on a modest income! Truly inspiring to anyone who is intimidated by the prospect of collecting artwork. The Vogels collected many smaller works and works on paper, making them more financially accessible but allowing them to build an enviable collection. Such a great example to follow!
One of the things that impressed me the most about the SAM experience was the thoughtfulness given to how each exhibition was displayed and how the galleries interacted with each other. Glimpses of work seen not just within each exhibition but from one gallery to another allow the work to relate and interact in a way that allows the viewer’s eye to flow naturally throughout the space.
[ Thicket by Martin Puryear ]
A delightful surprise was the small show currently on display in the Knight Lawrence Gallery, In a Silent Way, “a quiet reflection on African American identities and histories”. This small gallery is tucked in a corner of the museum, away from the crowds and bustle of the larger galleries, which was perfectly fitting for such a thoughtful group of works. The palette of the show was almost exclusively black and white, a subtle nod to the subject matter, but each piece filled with subtext of what it means to evolve as a person of African descent in America.
From the museum’s permanent collection, an exhibition of mid-twentieth century work, From Abstract Expression to Colored Planes, features superstars of the era such as Frank Stella, Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler. The progression of that era of modern art is always fascinating– you can literally see the artists deconstructing and reconstructing the meaning of form across time. It is without a doubt one of my favorite periods of art history!
[ contemplating Frankenthaler ]
In keeping with the special exhibition’s focus on fashion, I was especially drawn to the work of Yinka Shonibare, whose Nuclear Family installation shows us a “traditional” family dressed in the structure of Victorian garb in textiles reminiscent of modern Africa. In a different, but no less interesting textile sculpture, Walter Oltmann‘s Caterpillar Suit mixes two destructive species, the caterpillar and the conquistador, while exposing their vulnerabilities and tenuous existences.
[ Nuclear Family by Yinka Shonibare ]
[ Caterpillar Suit III by Walter Oltmann ]
I love the way the Seattle Art Museum is blurring the lines between ancient and modern, leading the visitor down familiar paths only to introduce them to something new and exciting. Can’t wait to see what else is in store!
