100 Museums: Paintings of Buildings That Have Paintings Inside

I went to the ASU Art Museum and looked at the 100 Museums: Paintings of Buildings That Have Paintings Inside exhibit. It was very interesting, because the artist, Rico Solinas used an untraditional canvas for his paintings. He used saw blades as an alternative, which was meant to reflect American work ethic. I thought it was very interesting that he chose to paint museums and no other building. I very much enjoyed the show, especially the one of the Louvre. It brought back memories of when I had the opportunity to visit the museum. It amazed me that the artist spent 13 years putting together this body of work. That is true dedication. I would highly recommend this show if anyone has time to run over and check it out.

New Graduates Exhibit

Check out the lastest exhibit in the Harry Wood gallery located in the Art Building this week.

There was a wide variety of works there, but out of all of them this particular piece caught my eye. At first glance it seemed almost out of place. I say this because it was the smallest piece in the show. All of the other piece were much larger, and the only second smallest was a tea cup set.

Back to the piece titled Memory Sorting Station, I loved the fact that although it is small this piece had a lot of intricate and beautiful designs through. The set up of a bike rack with the Bikes as well may seem like a simple subject matter to depict, but the artists went beyong just that. To me, the intricate bicycles seemed to be made from old jewlery, perhaps a family heirloom or special gift from a significant other? This could also be a piece that pays homage to a specific moment within the artist life.

Its those details that keeps this piece interesting and mysterious. Just what I love in art. Because pieces like this one gives the viewer a chance to create their own stories from what they see.

-Tina O.

I also went to the New Grad Show at the Harry Wood gallery this week. My favorite pieces were the ones pictured above: War for Eminent Domain by Ingrid Donaldson, Memory Sorting Station by Mary Klacza, and Papa Poli by Monica Garcia. But I liked everything else in the show, too. I wanted to touch and play with almost everything in the room; it was a pretty hard temptation to resist. I'm glad I went, it was very interesting and it had some really fun pieces.

Art Intersection

Art Intersection is a gallery/workshop space that opened in Gilbert last January. It's primary focus is on photography, but it also offers a variety of workshops dealing with book making, paper punching, and similar techniques. They have a large workspace, equipped with darkrooms for both film processing, digital processing, and alternative processing. I visited last week to attend a lecture hosted by Jim Hajicek, a retired ASU photography professor who is well known in the photography community. The lecture was a "walk through" style, where the attendees followed Jim through out the three galleries located at Art Intersection, as Jim explained how each photograph was made. There was a variety of techniques exhibited, including salt prints, tin types, ambrotypes, silver gelatin, and photogravures. It was incredibly interesting listening to how each process is different from the other. I would highly recommend checking this great location out, as it is growing fast and becoming a great source to learn everything there is to know about photography, including how to incorporate it into a three dimensional piece. The piece shown below is from a collection of tintypes made by David Adams, who is an ASU graduate student.

New Graduate Show

I went to visit the Graduate Show on Thursday and what really drew my attention to this exhibit was the vibrant painting done by Ally Glowacki titled Blue Presence. The painting shows a goat floating in a bright blue background. I am a real sucker for animals and I love how even though the piece is so simple it has the ability to draw so much attention through the use of its color. I also really enjoyed the piece by Kelly O'Briant titled Tea for Two with Bugs. The tea set is so cute and well crafted. It looks just like something I would buy at a local store because it's so functional and has great craftsmanship.

New Graduate Show

Like the two previous people, I also went to the Harry Wood Gallery. I thought all the artwork there were really neat. I found Exemplary Augmentation by Dannon Shroeder to be really cool. I love the "alien" look it had. At first glance, it looked like some alien form (that looked like wood) was implanting itself in the object or growing out of it. However, after looking at it for a while from far away, it reminded me of a tail. I loved the sense of movement of the tail. That was the main thing that drew me over. Its smoothness made it seem like the tail would continually grow. I also liked Pullin My Tail by Haylee Bolinger. The form really appealed to me. It too had an alien look to it; it reminded me of those movies where there is a large, eel-like sea creature swimming freely around, killing people on a nearby ship. I also really like that it is interactive; I saw someone pull its tail, and its mouth would open. Another thing I liked about it is the design of it's body. I find the repetitive circular lines making up its body to be quite beautiful. Overall, the show was very interesting. I like that there were different styles of art and that some were made to be looked at, while others were made to be interacted with.

I went to the exhibit that is currently in the Harry Wood. My favorite part of the show was all the different sculptures. The sculptures were all different. It was really cool to see all the different mediums that different artists used to create their sculptures. One person used paper, another used metal and a third used wood. It was also to see the different types of sculptures there were. They ranged from amorphous shapes to abstract monsters to realistic representations of familiar objects. I love to see these little insights into the different ways that approach their art. Its awesome to get these small insights into how different people's minds work.

Hey everyone! This week I visited the Harry Wood Gallery to see the New Graduate Show. The exhibit featured new ASU graduate students from around the country. It was really cool to see the variety in style from all of these new artists. While most pieces in the exhibit were sculptures, there were a few very unique drawings, some done with gold leaf and charcoal and some done with paint and resin. The piece that stood out the most to me was the electrical sculpture with a foot pedal. When you press the pedal, the machine starts to whirl and vibrate! I'm excited to see more from these new grads, you guys should check it out if you get the chance!

Ceramics Research Center

This was my first trip to the Ceramics Research Center and although it was small there was so much to look at and I got the chance to view art pieces that others talked about in previous blogs. I came across a piece by Beatrice Wood that I thought was really interesting. I had just recently watched a video about her in one of my classes and it was really cool to see one of her pieces in person. The work is titled 'To be Digested' and resembles a fish-like creature that appears to have swallowed a few people.

I also came across a piece the resembled a unicorn that I really liked.

First Friday: Downtown Phoenix

I decided to take a little trip to Downtown Phoenix tonight before I go to Octoberfest at the park in Tempe Town Lake. Today is the first Friday in October! Why is that special? Because every first Friday of every month downtown Phoenix closes down some blocks and local artists, musicians and craftsmen get the opportunity to gather and show off all their magnificent talents! This is an incredible chance for local art to get noticed. Here is an image of a few that I personally enjoyed. The top right one I thought was amazing because of the scale of the painting. It's a street painting done on the side of a building and I really loved all the reality and abstraction that existed within this piece! The bottom right picture showcases a local artist whom I didn't get a chance to meet because he was extremely busy creating this magnificent piece of art. But I included this because I thought it was a great example of pointillism and how Seurat's technique is still being applied today. This piece was magical with the way the moon lights up the night sky and the stars glimmer over the meadow of trees. Saved the best for last! The piece on the left was my favorite of the night. Mainly because I like the simplicity of the piece but also because it made me feel very peaceful in a way. Also, this piece was done on old wooden slabs! Ah, I totally loved the fact that the artist took used wooden slabs and recycled them into this amazing creation! He also painted the negative space which I thought was absolutely brilliant and definitely adds to the success of this piece! That is all for today! Thank you for taking a look! Hope you enjoyed :)

Gotta Love those Free Wednesdays!

Back again at P.A.M. , I'm always here for inspiration or just to have sometime to myself around the things I love most, ART. Anyways, this past week I came across the display of miniature room settings. They are smaller than the average barbie decorated homes, think original (1990's) Polly-Pocket sizes. Each individual room had its own theme, and they all grasped my attention as I came each one. I wish I could've photographed all of them but there are just so many.

The three shown are the Baroque-styled livingroom (upper left), the victorian-era drawing room (upper right), and the art deco styled room (bottom left).

What I loved most about all of these pieces is that a viewer can see the time and effort gone into each individual room. The artist (or Artists) paid attention to the styles of the era they were depicting. Even the framed artwork depicted in the rooms fit the time periods.

Not sure if this fully counts as a sculptural piece, but to me these are definitely a work of art to be appreciated.

- Tina O.

PSA Show

This week I went to the Printmaking Student Association exhibition. In this show there were lots of prints from many different people. It was really cool to see some of the different ways people approach printmaking. Some of the students printed their pieces on paper that had already been used like pages from books. Most people used more regular paper. Other people actually printed on fabric. That was really cool, too. I found it really interesting to see some of the ways people's minds approach things differently. One person even designed the paper so that when it was folded into a paper airplane the printed color made the design of a bird. I really enjoyed this exhibition and all the different styles and methods I saw by the different artists.

Todays Special: Photographs by Bucky Miller

I visited the Step Gallery's current exhibit featuring photographs by Bucky Miller, for his undergrad show. Bucky's sense of humor is unique, and this can be seen in his photographs. What everyone else might view as mundane happenings, Bucky see's these missing pieces and photographs these quiet observations. Over the course of two years and several states, he has captured images that create a metaphorical commentary on a wide range of subjects.

I enjoyed his exhibit because it forced me to see the same things he sees in the every day, mundane idiosyncrasies of life. It is necessary to view the images several times and give it the attention it deserves, rather than a observance.

Today's Special

This week, I payed a visit to Gallery 100 to see the opening of Bucky Miller's photography exhibit. His photos in this collection focus on the everyday happenings of real life that occurred on a road trip. Not only do the images serve to document his trip, but they also document his own life and the life of strangers in a new place. The thing I like about photography is its honesty and its ability to allow us to see the world through someone else's eyes. Bucky seemed to have a lot of other fans besides me there. Like many gallery openings, this one was a bit too crowded, probably because the freshman ASU100 class was required to go. Overall it was a great experience!

Dulce: Bisque Without Borders

I decided to revisit the ASU Ceramics Center since I was deeply impressed with all the work that was on display there. This time I took a close look at the Bisque Without Borders exhibition by Franco Mondini Ruiz. The exhbition consists of a large, white block with many various sculptures placed methodically on it. The sculptures range from human figures to animals to pots and dishes. The range of emotions were varied as well. Some sculptures were fascinating, some were comical, and some were just plain confusing to me. One sculpture that caught my eye was something that looked half fish, half serpent. The serpent head extended from the head of the fish and the body of the fish extended out into the body of a serpent. The body slithered like a snake. I found the design on the body of the serpent to be very interesting; I like the textured appearance it gave. Another piece I liked consisted of a giant, white head of a bald man. His eyes were closed and there werecolored spots arranged randomly on his face. The mouth was open giving it an almost peaceful, sleepy expression when combined with the closed eyes. I found the facial expression to be intriguing; it made me wonder what the statue was thinking. In addition, I liked how the whiteness made it look weight-less, but its big size suggested otherwise. Overall, the exhibition was very interesting to see.