ACCESS: Reviews of art fairs, galleries, and museum exhibitions
The L.A. stories told in Pacific Standard Time are not the stuff of Hollywood, but create a context for west coast art in our shared history. The Getty has created a platform for this narrative with events surrounding the theme of time and place. Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980 opens on October 1st. This project was initiated through $10 million in grants from the Getty Foundation in an unprecedented collaboration of 120+ exhibitions at over 60 cultural institutions across Southern California. Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 has also launched its innovative virtual hub,www.pacificstandardtime.org. The website provides a unique visitor’s guide with a region-wide voice expressing the rise of L.A. This portal provides a centralized source for up-to-date information about the initiative and its partners, exhibitions and events.
Start with Art Begins A Dialogue Between Designers and Art Advisors at BLU in San Francisco
The intersection of art and design is an intriguing place where lines blur between interior decor and visual art. Start with Art suggests crafting an interior from the art out, accentuating the elements that make a work of art unique. I queried designers and art advisors about their practice, learning how each embarks on an aesthetic dialogue with art.
Big Rewards at Destination Gallery LA Louver
At the prestigious destination gallery LA Louver, the rewards are great this summer. Los Angeles-based artist Tom Wudl offers engaging, jewel-like paintings in Venice Beach. Exploration of Buddhist scripture is the vehicle for Wudl’s work, which expresses content and imagery related to the Flower Sutra. Paintings on vellum open to the viewer, offering an understanding of interconnectedness through image and technique.
Finding Common Threads in San Francisco Art Fairs
Finding common threads in three San Francisco art fairs ties together an experience of contemporary art in California. With 175 galleries the opening question was: Will San Francisco draw enough attendance and support to sustain three art fairs? Three well-attended fairs, each catering to niche audiences while welcoming crossover, marked my experience. Conversations with dealers indicated that clear gains were yielded in the form of new collectors, increased gallery visibility and sales.
New York Armory Week 2011: Tactile Revival
New York Armory Week 2011 saw the revival of tactile, visceral paint reminiscent of the stylistic cycles from the past. From the modern masters on view at the ADAA Art Show and Armory Show like Alice Neel and Joan Mitchell, to new works on view at VOLTA, PULSE NY and galleries (LES and Chelsea) paint takes center stage. In its application, it is washed, sprayed or scumbled on then built up, pushing into the viewers space, engaging and delighting with its physicality.
New Realities in Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills offers crisp sunny January weather and a couple of differing views of reality embedded in contemporary art installations. Mike Kelly recreates a nostalgic fantasy at Gagosian Gallery (see above). At ACE Gallery Jeff Colson constructs what appear to be props within a film set. The array of objects at first glance appears to be authentic, but upon closer investigation, they can never fulfill their function. Both artists create new realities with juxtaposed objects in a gallery space.
Big “Money” at Miami Art Basel 
In early December the art world gathered from all parts of the globe to converge upon Miami. It’s a time to see and purchase modern and contemporary art. Jack Pierson’s work from Art Basel Miami Beach captured the mood very well in “MONEY”. The event combines a great number of galleries, collectors and museums putting forward solo and group shows within booths, tents, collection spaces, galleries, and temporary halls. Some say art week in Miami has become the revival of late 70’s, early 80’s Club 54; a party scene wrapped in commerce. While that may be true, there are many ways to enter into this fabulous week.
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Flower Mandala: Recognizing Beauty
Inspired by the Tibetan sand mandalas, I have created temporary installations made of fresh flowers. In 2003 FLOWER MANDALA was a response to the events of 9/11. Living very near to Ground Zero, it was a compassionate intention amid the horror of that time. The JPMorgan Chase Project Space commissioned the temporary piece on the Hudson River, inviting compassion and healing in proximity to the WTC. The mandala image in Buddhist understanding speaks to a worldview, mapping the experience of awareness. My paintings also speak to ritual, created with intentional marks like beads of a mala ~ Buddhist rosary. At the core of my work, grace is inherent, exploring stability within chaos. Forces that challenge beauty and balance are depicted as strong gestural elements.
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Heartfelt Abstraction in NYC Exhibitions
In an oversized abstract series of 4 drawings based on the events of 9/11, we follow the artists’ experience as he was stranded outside his home country in those challenging hours and days. The work is breath taking; however the suite of intimate drawings from 1999 is not to be missed. All the drawings are gathered from private collections, not likely to be together again. This show runs through November 18th and is well worth a visit.
Text and Texture in San Francisco Art
Text meets texture in the San Francisco art season opening exhibitions. David Buckingham: Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful, opened with new metal sculptures at Cain Schulte Gallery. Here found text from advertising, film and lyrics POP off the wall with both personal and collective meaning. With the text we also see a recycled giant replica of the gun that shot Harvey Milk. Buckingham’s themes stem from our American life.
Color in California Contemporary Art 
Color, light and space play a strong role in the summer selections of California contemporary art. So Cal offers the color energies of Sohan Quari at the Sundaram Tagore gallery in Beverly Hills. Quari creates a mystical space though vivid color, subtle texture and the thoughtful use of pattern seen in the physically carved holes within the paintings. His work relates to Buddhist spiritual tenants, which both fascinate and mesmerize the viewer with a meditative quality.
East and West Coast State of Mind By evoking a state of mind, American painters from the east and west coast excel in similar ways. Two modern masters draw equally on the emotive power of landscape, each with a unique understanding of their own relationship to the experience of space.
The Return of the SF Fine Art Fair
International trends in contemporary art become clear at art fairs, with the democratic presentation of the white booth. Contemporary art fairs have become an excellent venue to see and shop for art, plus connect with curators, dealers and artists.
New Art Excitement Buzzing in Lower Eastside Galleries The Lower Eastside Galleries were a high spot in this year’s Armory Week. Here is a perspective into Manhattan’s most significant emerging art scene. The New Museum acts as an anchor for the neighborhood and is currently presenting Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection, curated by Jeff Koons.
Highlights from Armory Week 2010 Armory Week draws visitors to New York from all over the globe to participate in art fairs and exhibitions. In it’s 12th year, the Armory Show on the Midtown piers expanded to a size comparable with Art Basel / Miami Beach. Last year the Armory Show introduced a second pier for modern art dealers.
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The Lure of Limited Edition Prints Multiples and limited edition prints are forging new ground in design projects and collections as a hybrid alternative. New highly detailed digital techniques became available and invite artists to explore a contemporary print format. Artists are finding good results on archival paper, in resin and on fabric. Sourcing intriguing prints that retain the artist’s vision offered at recessionary friendly price points is a winning combination for designers.
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El Anatsui’s work at Jack Shainman Gallery NYC reveals a smart contemporary global perspective
Behind the Scene at Art Basel Maimi Beach
Art Basel Miami Beach, is an international art week that generated both excitement and optimism in early December kicking off the holiday season. Collecting trends show a building interest from Latin American collectors. Continued attention to international blue chip art was a mainstay of the 250 exhibiting galleries from the USA, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Asia showing 20th and 21st century artworks by more than 2,000 artists.
Chronicling Narratives: SF Galleries Open the Fall Season With Book Inspired Artwork
San Francisco art season opens with fascinating work presenting themes of texts, stories and sequence images. These book-related images emerge and draw to mind the nature of a book, ripe with mystery and chronicling narratives. Stories both reveal and conceal meaning in this season’s fall art offerings. The reoccurring text themes are clearly visible.
Metropolitan Remix- San Francisco Galleries Off the Square
San Francisco galleries offer smart contemporary art that shines through the fog to heat up summer in the city. The art scene by the bay excites artists, curators and designers alike with a sassy metropolitan style. Geary Street galleries off Union Square offer gems within the summer exhibitions.
Insider Guide to LA’s Contemporary Art Scene
Los Angeles galleries exhibit work that is the antidote to June Gloom. Keeping an eye on the contemporary art scene in LA informs both my artistic and curatorial practices. Art explored from an artist viewpoint offers design professionals insight into current art movements.
American Debut of Artist Shalinee Kumari: San Francisco Through July 19th
Roots in Indian tradition with the wings to fly to new heights, is how I would characterize the “American Debut of Shalinee Kumari” on view through July 19th at the Frey Norris Gallery, 456 Geary Street in San Francisco. This fascinating display features 18 works on paper in the Mithila style of Indian painting. This style is indicative of the Madhubani region where female-based paintings exhibit Hindu themes celebrating rites of passage (marriage and birth). Shalinee Kumari, a 23 year-old artist, expresses her worldview with a focus on larger global issues.
Discovering Mithila from the Villages of India
Today Decorati guest blogger Patter Hellstrom takes us on an art tour of India. Exploring India’s diversity, culture and history though its visual art made my first visit fascinating. As a guest artist of the Mithila Art Institute, I addressed students in western ideas of color theory. It proved to be a remarkable experience.
Rest Easy With Well Chosen Art
We have some exciting guest bloggers joining us in the coming weeks. Here is the first installment from Artist/Curator, Patter Hellstrom. She will be bringing us the world of design, from an artist’s point of view. Today she will take us through the process of selecting art for a newly opened hotel, the Westin Jersey City Newport. See more to learn how she transformed the hotel with an original art collection that engenders a sense of serenity in the bustling New York City area. Thanks to Patter, many wary travelers might find it easier to get some needed rest.
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2008 Review ~ From Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art: Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and the Aesthetic of Indifference
written by artist and curator, Patter Hellstrom
“Everything starts out on the street,” says artist Robert Rauschenberg of his work. In late August, while wandering the charming streets of the Sonoma Square I discovered a gem in the Sonoma Valley Art Museum, a porthole into the energetic world of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. John Cage said of that friendship that… “they set off sparks within everyone in the room.” Robert Rauschenberg did not refer to himself and Jasper Johns as representing a lofty movement, or even as a stylistic pair, but as two artists working without scrutiny - at least in the beginning. From Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art: Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and the Aesthetic of Indifference explores the transitional moment between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. These two artists, in relationship, would go on to define a generation, usher in Pop Art and influence artists that would come after them.
In this brilliant exhibition curated by Louise Siddons we see diversity within a clear framework of art history. I am less convinced by the exhibition title, however Siddons suggests we consider this work as an Aesthetic of Indifference. I fully appreciate the choices Siddons has made from the Anderson Collection, a noteworthy private collection of twentieth century American art, but I am less sure about the label she applies to this project. The title refers back to art critic Moira Roth, and the context she created for the work of Johns, Rauschenberg and Cage. Roth suggested that these artists, skeptical of the formal qualities of Abstract Expressionism, went on to created art that was ambiguous, ambivalent, and indifferent while consciously concealing dominant themes.
Moving past the labels, I suggest that the two main artists in this exhibit, Johns and Rauchenberg led us to a fully American art form - Pop Art - by building on the Abstract Expressionist tradition and adding their unique understanding of the common elements that make up our everyday lives. We see them including numbers, cars, flags, newspapers, and found objects in their art as they create a bridge to Pop Art, to use a musical metaphor that John Cage would approve of. The forward-thinking of Cage, Johns and Rauschenberg in concert created an atmosphere of innovation seen in these forty-two prints, monotypes, and paintings in this exhibition. The skillfully created prints invite the viewer to discover and uncover meaning. Johns, Rauschenberg and Cage are not easy artists, offering a single interpretation. Rather they pack layers of meaning into each inventive artwork created through chance, collage of concepts and viewer participation.
We get a very brief look at John Cage in the 1979 – 1982 print Changes and Disappearances 35. Cage makes a musical connection saying, “Just as music is made with lots of little notes, so this is made with all those little pieces of color”. Cage values random arrangements and welcomes chance as part of his process.
Robert Rauschenberg embraces the element of chance as well while looking forward and back into art history, concurrently. In his 1974 work Preview we see Rauschenberg combining the archaic image of the Greek Kouros between two classic Chrysler cars (mid-1930 vintage). His vision honors the past, wrestles with his contemporary culture, absorbs both then incorporates the kouros as a hood ornament on a new icon: the American automobile. Intelligent visual rhythm is present rather than indifference. We see a one, two, three placement of prominent hood ornaments screened upon sheer silk chiffon and draped into the picture plane. I was also struck at the section in the informative film (57 min.) screened continuously within the exhibition. Rauschenberg's first and most famous combine, Monogram (1959) was discussed for its innovative quality. In Monogram, which is made of a stuffed Angora goat, a tire, and various other objects, Rauschenberg looks back to Chagall’s painting La Mariee (the bride). In that we see a floating goat in the blue night sky. “Happiness isn’t happiness without a violin-playing goat,” says one contemporary film (Notting Hill 1999). References to art history are evident on so many levels from artists to contemporary culture.
Rauschenberg does not dwell in the past, but pushes us to explore a global understanding of art from his ROCE project. In the late 1980s, he created the Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Exchange. The goal was to visit cultures around the world and respond to what he saw there. The objects found were collaged in both meaning and photographic form to create new works of art. In each county he visited, he would create art and leave one piece behind. There are three works from that project included in this exhibition. He foresaw the future of visual art as a global endeavor. John Cage said about Rauschenberg, “He opens the window and the world flies in”.
Jasper Johns is often saddled with the label of disengagement but I see instead a dry sense of intelligent humor in his works. His often seen images of flags, targets and numbers have the surface appearance of simple disconnected designs, yet upon closer investigation the same formal nuisances in value, color and line can be found within Johns as in an accomplished nineteenth century artist. His remarkable self-portrait, Souvenir a print from 1972, offers insight. In Souvenir Johns creates an image in which he uses labels of mundane objects such as “mirror” and “flashlight”. The labels exist while the objects do not. The labels act as a stand-in for the object. The word becomes the subject matter as much as the brushwork and actual objects depicted. Idea or at the very least the words - are equal players in his work. His humor comes out with the perceived over simplification in which he seems to be saying “ take these images at face value” then there is no face value. Johns has been an intriguing artist throughout the breadth of his career. He stands on the shoulders of artists that have come before. Evidence of this is in his work as presented in the recent SFMOMA traveling exhibition Picasso and American Art. In that exhibition American artists’ works were presented alongside the Picasso works that inspired them. Johns created homage to Picasso’s composition and expressive use of shapes. Speaking of Picasso, we see Roy Lichtenstein creating a Pop version of Picasso’s abstraction of a cow. His radiant series of six prints brings us forward into the Pop Art graphic art techniques and sensibilities while paying tribute to the rich past.
Abstract Expressionism, a movement defined in the shadow of the Second World War by immigrant artists, was the contemporary movement out of which Johns and Rauschenberg grew. Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis, and Robert Motherwell create that context in this show, but we do not see the full importance of their work, simply examples. Two hallmarks of the Abstract Expressionism are the revealed brush stroke, free of apology, standing boldly. The second is a free flowing application of materials, be it paint or, in this case print-based materials. Both are present in Johns and Rauschenberg, as they lead us to the Pop artists, which clean up those methods and refer back to them. The brush stroke becomes the subject matter in Lichtenstein’s painting Two Red and Yellow Apples. Allan D’Arcangelo represents the omni present highways as a new slick icon for America, while Wayne Thiebaud provides Boxed Balls in his now-classic style expressing the art of commodity. Ed Ruscha’s works write elegantly in the sky, a field of soft color. Word becomes subject, visual play and thoughtful intellectual tug. As we have seen in Johns, the word becomes the subject of the art and often a wry joke.
The exhibition runs through October 19th at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and I promise you; there is nothing to be indifferent about. It is indeed a remarkable gem of an exhibition, thoughtfully curated from a remarkable collection within a stunning museum space at 551 Broadway, just one-half block south of the historic Sonoma Plaza.
Click on Thumbnail image to see installation view
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