2009-10-28

U.S.A. - Minneapolis-Minnesota - The Louvre and the masterpiece


Marvel at superb art objects from France's great museum. Drawing from each collection area, this fascinating exhibition explores why some artworks are considered masterpieces, while others are runners-up. Feast your eyes and get art smart by looking at side-by-side comparisons of objects spanning 4,000 years. And find out how the Louvre used science to spot a forgery in its midst. A once-in-a-lifetime event!


Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 18.10.2009 - 10.01.2010


Website : City of Minneapolis

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2009-10-21

U.S.A. - Memphis-Tennessee - Masterpieces from Museo de Arte de Ponce

James Tissot

Comprising 56 splendid European paintings from the 14th through 19th centuries, the exhibition Masterpieces of European Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce offers a remarkable opportunity to view iconic works by major Italian, British, French, Dutch,
Spanish, and German painters. Among the artists represented are the famed Pre-Raphaelite visionaries Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the renowned Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens, and the great belle-e´poque painter James Tissot. Finding inspiration in classical mythology, ancient Greek and Roman history, the Bible, the poetry of Tennyson, and fleeting moments from everyday life, these artists worked on every scale and through various modes of expression to convey major trends in European art from the Renaissance to the Romantic period. Ponce’s masterpieces transcend time with their beauty in this comprehensive exhibition, which is long overdue in North America.



Memphis Brooks Museum of Art - 03.10.2009 - 10.01.2010



Website : Brooks Museum

Website : City of Memphis

2009-10-14

U.S.A. - Jacksonville-Florida - Robert Motherwell

Elegy to the Spanish Republic n° 110, 1971

Robert Motherwell found no limitation in ideas or materials, or in extending ideas with materials or materials with ideas. The artist’s use of line and form creates a window through which we can see an atmosphere of time and place.
In speaking about the possibilities in his works, the artist once said:
I think a lot of my work has to do with correspondences that are not at all literal. I mean that my orange picture is not merely pure orange (though the purest orange I could get). It also has to with fruit, with the sun with skin, lot of things I’m not even aware of, maybe a hose I saw in Mexico once, forty years ago- who knows what? Ideally all the reverberations orange could have.
Dark and heavily textured shapes on thick deckled paper might allude to the monuments in iconic Stonehenge, while crimson red and the bold, yet elegant brushed gesture nods to the Matador’s cape across the approaching bull.
Motherwell’s studio was a converted carriage house that was spacious and bright. A row of skylights drew in the best quality light and sliding glass doors opened out to an expanse of grass and trees. The sonance of water from the nearby brook was within earshot of the active painting space. He often sat in the aged leather sofa in his painting studio, contemplating his work and reading any one of the hundred of books in his library. Writers- like Joyce, Baudelaire and Rimbaud- played into the narrative of his work again and again.
This journey through line and form in Robert Motherwell’s work provides us with a sense of getting lost and subsequently finding possibilities. An invitation has been extended into the soul space of the artist- a space where nature, memories and narrative all intersect.


Museum of Contemporary Art - 18.09.2009-03.01.2010


Website : MOCA - Museum of Contemporary Art

Website : City of Jacksonville

2009-10-07

U.S.A. - Des Moines-Iowa - Return to Function


Return to Function brings together an international group of contemporary artists whose work blurs the line between art and the everyday object. As the title of the show implies, each piece in this exhibition has a function, from a cellular phone that doubles as an exercise machine to a do-it-yourself coffin. These works look like items we buy and use on a daily basis, but contain a rich commentary on the relationship between ourselves and our possessions, exposing issues surrounding global economics, environmental concerns, and the pervasive nature of advertising. The artists included offer innovative solutions to old tasks, and suggest that objects can play a central role in improving our lives.
Return to Function is curated by Jane Simon of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Wisconsin, and is accompanied by a catalogue with essays by Ami Barak, Martha Schwendener, and Jane Simon. The exhibition is organized for the Des Moines Art Center by Laura Burkhalter, associate curator.


Des Moines Art Center - 02.10.2009 - 10.01.2010


Website : City of Des Moines

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