Happy Caturday!

Aren't these kitty mugs by artist Amy Worrall charming?! For more of Amy's ceramic cats visit Buy Some Damn Art.

Friday Art Fix

Janet Cardiff, The Forty Part Motet, 2001

Ugh, while I'm so happy to be living on the west coast again, exhibitions like Janet Cardiff's The Forty Part Motet really make me wish I lived closer to New York. Cardiff is an installation artist working primarily with audio. Perhaps best known for audio walks her works explore continuities and discontinuities in time and space. Learn more about the project here (scroll down to listen to the excerpt).  If you happen to be in New York before December 8th, be sure to check it out for me!

Friday Art Fix

Albrecht Dürer, The Great Piece of Turf, watercolor, 1503, 16 x 12 3/8 inches

The last exhibition Ian and I saw at the National Gallery before we left DC was Albrecht Dürer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina. Dürer was a German artist who lived from 1471-1528 and is considered an artistic equal of Da Vinci and Michelangelo. One of my favorite works in the show was The Great Piece of Turf which you can read more about here.

Friday Art Fix

As some of you may have noticed, I've fallen off the Art Everyday wagon, but I still want to incorporate art into the blog regularly so I've decided to do a weekly Friday Art Fix. Today's art fix is a print my Molly McGrath.  Read more about her process here.

Art Everyday

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On Sunday Ian and I went to the National Gallery of Art's screening of the documentary Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters.  Before seeing the film, I was unfamiliar with Crewdson's work and I was blown away by his process. Crewdson uses actual locations and residents of three small Massachusetts towns, as well as elaborately staged sound sets to achieve his incredible hyperrealistic photographs.  If you see the film pop up on Netflix, it's worth watching.  Check out the trailer here.  You can also listen to an NPR interview with the artist here.  In the introduction to the interview the NPR reporter says that Crewdson "doesn't take photographs, he makes them," which seems very apt.

Armory Week in NYC

Two weeks ago, Margaret and I were in New York for work.  The gallery was participating in Salon Zürcher, one of about a half dozen satellite fairs occurring in conjunction with The Armory Show. The Armory is a massive art fair that features one pavilion of contemporary art and one of modern art. Salon Zürcher is an alternative fair hosted by the gallery Zürcher Studio at their SoHo location (they also have a gallery in Paris) and is much smaller in scale, only six galleries were invited to participate. This year's theme was "Out of Town" and the fair featured galleries from outside of New York City. Here's a shot of the space:

We brought work by four artists, Rachel Farbiarz who create the chair sculpture, Avery Lawrence's film Moving a Tree, a photograph by Jon-Phillip Sheridan, and another photograph (far wall) by Satomi Shirai. We thought these pieces did a good job of representing the gallery's aesthetic and functioned well together in a small space. 

I roped Ian into driving the van full of artwork from DC to New York (thank god nothing broke; we were pretty nervous about Rachel's sculpture!) and he stayed in the city with me for a few days. One of our first stops was the High Line, which is an elevated railroad track that has been converted into a park.

When I was living in New York a couple of years ago, Ian and I loved to visit the High Line and it was fun to go back for a little stroll. The High Line also features artwork and one of my favorite pieces is this installation by Christopher Finch.  Finch took an 11 hour boat ride up the Hudson River (which is visible from the High Line) and photographed the water each minute of the journey. The 700 glass panels all represent a distinct color that the camera captured of the river water.

A few days later I had to head back to Chelsea to deliver some art work we had borrowed from Asya Geisberg Gallery. It turned out to be the last day of Todd Kelly's show and I'm so happy I had a chance to check it out. One of my favorite works from the show below:

Since I was already in the neighborhood, I decided to pop over to the Independent Art Fair. I really enjoy the Independent because of its manageable size and fresh artwork. They also have a great roof top deck where you can chill out for a minute or two. Here's the view:

Love these little abstract paintings! Space is usually very tight at art fairs and I thought the gallery was clever to hang work on the sculpture pedestal.

 I fell head over heels for this pink and yellow print by Matt Connors at Printed Matter's booth.

Then it was on to the Armory. The Armory is a totally overwhelming experience (especially for those of us that don't like crowds)...

 

Below is an installation of David Kramer's work. We showed David's work at the gallery shortly after we opened and it's one of my favorite exhibitions that the gallery has put on. I was lucky that David was at the fair when I stopped by and it was great to catch up with him for a bit. 

My love of pink and yellow art continued with this piece by Ghada Amer. (I think this would make an amazing wallpaper pattern!)

This itty bitty artwork is by Patrick Jacobs and was featured at Pierogi's booth. It's about the size of a half dollar.

From the smallest artwork at the fair, we move on to the largest. A huge 30 foot long Warhol camouflage painting at the Gagosian booth. Pretty ostentatious...

Along with the Independent and Armory I also went to Volta and Spring Break. I didn't take any photos at Volta and while I thought there were a handful of strong booths for the most part I thought the fair seemed a bit tired. Like Salon Zürcher, Spring Break is an alternative fair. Unlike most fairs which are gallery-oriented, Spring Break featured 20 curator-led projects fitting within the theme of New Mysticism. While I liked a couple of the curated rooms, most of the projects were a bit too avant garde for my taste.

After the craziness of the fairs, I was happy to escape to the Met for a morning to see the Matisse Retrospective. I'm so glad I caught this show before it closed! Matisse is one of my all time favorite artists! No photos were allowed in the exhibition, but I had a much need moment of calm in one of the Met's sculpture galleries. 

I also squeezed in a few non-art-related outings. I was able to do a bit of retail therapy and Ian and I had several great meals including lunch at Eataly's Birreria, a very fancy dinner at Mas, and yummy noodle bowls at Noodle Bar. We also came across the cutest coffee bar near where we were staying in the West Village called Mojo. If you are ever in the neighborhood I highly recommend their oatmeal. 

We also  took the train up to Connecticut to visit my Aunt Kim, Uncle Scott and much younger cousins Oliver, Kaitlin and Grace. Kim made an incredible meal and it was wonderful to visit with them for an evening. Unfortunately, Ian had to headed back to DC, but I was able to meet up with Uncle Scott again in the city as well as my Aunt Dawn, Uncle Jim and cousin Ani. Jim picked a great organic restaurant called Siggy's. I went back the next day to try one of their smoothies which was so good! I've been craving them the past couple of weeks in DC. 

There was a restaurant supply store about a block from Salon Zürcher, so I popped in on a break from the fair. It was fun to see all the different gadgets! I can't believe I left without buying anything!

A funny little house in the West Village that we walked by on our way to Mojo. I wonder what it's story is?

And this happened...

New York was a whirlwind, but so much fun! I can't wait until our next visit!

For Your Monday

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The LA Times recently published a provocative article about the planned collaboration between the National Gallery of Art and MOCA.

As an introvert myself, I appreciated this TED talk.

27 heart-melting moments of childhood discovery.

Photos of lost tourists looking at maps. We've all been there, right?

A shift from microlending to microsaving.

Disney princesses after their ever afters.

Art Everyday

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I got an email from Artlog this afternoon featuring this photograph by Narahashi Asako. Love it!

For Your Monday

Will Wegman's first GIF. So cute! Image source

The Met got a great deal on some art.

Baby Red Pandas playing. 

A mysterious sculpture was uncovered in Brooklyn 

A new design for airline seats.

Homemade room sprays.

Happy Caturday from New York!

I've been in New York this week for work. It's the week of the Armory Show and the gallery is participating in one of the satellite fairs, Salon Zürcher. I had some time this afternoon to check out some of the other fairs and came across this little gem. Perfect for Caturday!

By Marc Hundley at White Column's booth at the Independent Art Fair.   Looking forward to posting more about the week in NYC when I get back to DC! 

The Duck Knows Art?

Love this video from my alma mater, the University of Oregon, and that the UO (with some assistance from Nike) is sponsoring an art contest. Details here.

Art Everyday

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 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Composition A XXI, 1925

 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was a painter, film maker, theorist and a professor at the Bauhaus (among other institutions).

Art Everyday

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Spring Fresco, with swallows and red lilies, from Akrotiri on Thera, Late Minoan Era, 1500 BC

Spring Fresco is one of the best preserved frescoes discovered on the island of Thera (Santorini).

For Your Monday

Photo by me :)

An adorable squirrel.

The Kennedy Center during Nordic Fest 2013.

When art critics change their minds. 

A fun pom pom rug.

Getting the shot.

Oscar dresses!!! Who wore your favorite dress? I loved Naomi Watts', Jennifer Lawrence's, Jessica Chastain's, and Amy Adam's.

For Your Monday

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The dilemma of owning a Damien Hirst.

A baby panda who wants some attention.

Vintage fashion photography. 

The CUTEST baby booties!

This exhibition just opened at the National Gallery of Art. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Art Everyday

I'm totally in love with this illustration by Virginia Frances Sterrett, published in Old French Fairy Tales, 1920. For more of her illustrations go here and here.

Happy Valentine's Day

Some love from around the web on your Valentine's Day:

A boy surprises his grandpa.

Animals wearing their hearts on their coats.

Some love inspired art.

A 19th century Valentine's day card. 

A little boy and his four legged best friend. 

Modern Love essays in the New York Times.

DC's most romantic locations.

A life defined, not by disability, but by love.

A song for your Valentine's Day. 

Art Everyday

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Tracey Emin, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995, Appliqued tent, mattress, and light, 1995

Tracey Emin is a member of YBAs (Young British Artists) a group that rose to prominence in the 1990s and includes Damien Hirst and Liam Gillick. The work of art above is more commonly referred to as "The Tent" and is a seminal work in Emin's career. As its formal title alludes to, the tent features the names of everyone the artist slept with between the years of 1963-1995 (not all of whom were sexual partners). Sadly, the work was destroyed in a warehouse fire in 2004. Emin's life is as interesting as her art and I highly recommend this WSJ interview with the artist.

Art Everyday

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Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Vertical-Horizontal Composition, 1916, wool needlepoint tapestry

Currently on view at MoMA is the exhibition "Inventing Abstraction," which chronicles the development of abstract art.  Critic Peter Schjeldalh recently wrote a review of the show in the New Yorker and stated, that, in his opinion, the most beautiful work in the exhibition is the tapestry above by Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

Art Everyday

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Piet Mondrian, Avond (Evening): The Red Tree, 1908-1910

Piet Mondrian is best known for his abstract color block paintings, but he was also a wonderful landscape painter. I particularly love his trees which range from naturalistic to nearly abstract.