Category: Art

Ye Olde England-Finale

This is it..I swear.

Soooo….we’d had enough countryside…we had some urban needs.  London calling and we had 2 days to hit the highlights…strap on your comfy shoes.

Pretty buildings, and uniformed people in funny hats……

Speaking of those in uniform…security is so much more apparent.  Remember the old joke about the bobby chasing the criminal?  “Stop!… or I’ll say stop again!”  I don’t think that’s a problem anymore.  Check out the size of that gun. He also had one strapped to his upper leg.  Granted, this was in front of 10 Downing Street.

Oh, and while we’re taking about the size of guns….I think Henry VIII was quite proud of his….

….and the Crown Jewels, (obvs not THESE) no snaps for you…no cameras allowed near the shiny diamonds…boo.

Moving on to the final stretch…ART!

We had just enough time to hit the 5th floor and part of the 3rd floor of the Tate Modern.

The way the Things lingered over the Do Ho Suh Staircase, I thought maybe it was their favorite.  Video of the artist interview and this piece’s installation are here and here.

Nope…in typical young boy fashion, they both liked Lichtenstein’s Whaam! best….

photo via wiki – I didn’t snap this one…of course mom forgets the fave.

Since it had only been installed 2 days before…we felt obligated to go check out the new Picasso, heralded as the most expensive piece ever sold at auction. $106 million and change in case you were wondering.

Warm beverages on the top floor of the museum with the killer view and we were DONE.

 

Our feet hurt, and it was time to go home.  Back to school on Monday in the land of the 2 syllable monosyllabic word.

Uh, NO, Mom.

During yet another snow day, the winter organization frenzy rages on.  I summon the Things to bring me 20-30 pieces of their favorite artwork.  We are going to frame them!  My plan is to make my own Jan Eleni collage, like below, but with the pieces a bit bigger…say 3″ x 3″ each.

For those who haven’t seen this on any of the 20 blogs featuring it…the gist is this:  She photographs the artwork, then prints it out and mounts it to make the collage you see above.  A great way to showcase a lot of work in a smaller amount of space.  I LOVE this idea.

Thing One HATES this idea.  It never occurred to me that shrinking the art for display would cause such a stir, but I am told in no uncertain terms that these pieces are to be showcased “full size only.”

Noted…and she’s SHUTDOWN.  I only have one empty frame and a dining room table heaping with eager to be upgraded from the magnet board artwork, so Momma better scramble. That’ll teach me to try and be efficient….stupid, stupid woman.

Dali High

“…may call you, any night, any day….”

OK, I’m really sorry. That was the lamest South Pacific reference evah, but I’m a little loopy today.

One of our stops during the fall break roadtrip was the Salavdor Dali exhibit at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.  The Things were skeptical at first.  The Phillipe Halsman photos started to get their attention, and then they got excited.  They loved the optical illusion and 3-D pieces the best.

The look of wonder (and sometimes confusion) on their faces was absolutely priceless.  They couldn’t wait to tell the CC all about what they’d seen (while he was stuck in a meeting).  And I secretly feared they’d hate it!

Lincoln in Dali Vision really jazzed them, since both have studied Lincoln in school now. They would stand close, then stand away, and back and forth…

In the spirit of Los Dias de la Muerte, some Dali calaveras…

In Voluptas Mors 1951: Phillipe Halsman via Unnatural Eye

The Skull of Zubaran 1956

Yes, there’s some nudity.  They got over their initial embarrassment pretty quickly and started to look past it to see the bigger picture.  There was so much to see, far too much to discuss here.  My point:  If you live in the Southeast, it’s worth the trip.

Disturbing Fawn Love

Peregrine Honig‘s piece last night on Work of Art freaked me out, but I also loved it.  We all know my fawn love and in looking at them, I just wanted to crawl under the glass with them and snuggle.  The shock behind how they came to be can be a tough pill to swallow, but I think it’s actually a wonderful story.

Via PeregrineHonig.net

You’d have to be stone cold for that not to break your heart, just a little….no?

Op Art Quest

Ever since I saw Roger Sterling’s new office on this season of Mad Men, I’ve been hunting the artist of that fab piece of op art.  Then, when Freddy Rumsen joked about it, I figured the blogosphere would have it all figured out for me.  NO.  Surprisingly little response on the interwebs.  I have not found the same image, only similar ones.

Via Art Fully Yours

I only found one great post over at Art Fully Yours guessing it was Bridget Riley.  She likened it to her piece “Loss”….

I also thought of this piece….quite similar…

Bridget Riley, “Pause” 1964, ICA Boston Via BerkshireFineArts.com

I’m considering Edna Andrade as a contender as well……

Edna Andrade, “Color Motion” 1964 via Columbus Museum of Art

Edna Andrade, “Black Diamond” via arcadja.com

Feeling sick yet?

There are a few other time appropriate possibilities….but these two gals seem to be the front runners to me…if you know..PLEASE share and educate us all!