Looking at pictures

After spending the last two and half months as a tour guide at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, I've developed a real appreciation for visitors who know next to nothing about art. As an art major, surrounded by intellectuals, it can be strange to find yourself discussing paintings with people who have never read Baudrillard. It's been a wake-up call to find that so many people visit our institution out of love for Cole's painting, rather than from any academic program or agenda; guiding people through his artwork has been a lesson in appreciating the beauty of art. In a sense it's been a reminder of why I chose to study art in the first place. One of my professors told me that art historians often neglect to simply look at pictures, tending to forget what makes those images appealing and capable of carrying meaning and commentary.

So here's to just looking at art.

A bit of comic relief

Justin Reed re-imagines movies on canvas. This is his take on 80's action heroes.

Shows outside NYC that deserve a visit

• Tributes to Ed Ruscha at Albright-Knox, including an interesting anecdote about Ruscha and James Frey.
• Frederic Church's oil sketches from his country seat of Olana are still on display, offering a window into the very personal working process of one of the giants of 19th century American painting.

Thoughts on Jean Shin

The more I see her work, the more I'm convinced that Jean Shin doesn't want us safe. By transforming the detritus of everyday living, the threads that make up comfortable home existence, into almost-ironic parodies of cultural archetypes she disturbs just a little - but enough to rock the boat.

Sound Wave (top), a 2007 installation at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, takes the implicit uncertainty of the sea and thrusts it into the living room. A subject rich with symbolic potential for artists like Ryder and Homer, the sea variously stood for the unconscious, the unknown, and the a landscape free of nationalist overtones for American artists at the close of a 19th century shaken by Freud, Darwin, and Civil War. In Winslow Homer's Early Morning After the Storm (detail below) waves become a lyrical expression of fresh calm. With warped records and brushstrokes, Shin disengages the wave from the naturalistic overtones of the sea, co-opting Homer's calm and making us painfully aware of just how easily we have subjugated the environment in our cultural food chain.

Links round-up

• Jonathon Jones' confessions.
• An artist with multiple personalities...imagine Monet and Banksy living in your head. With Tracey Emin hanging about for comic relief.
• I'm upset I'm missing this. If you're in Portland from the 14th to the 23rd, make room in your schedule for The Manor of Art.
• There's a childish charm to the art of Raquel Aparicio (top).
  

Postcards from New York: Pen and Parchment at the Met

Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages is a welcome foray into the intricacies of Medieval drawing, where cloistered monks explored the world of the spiritual through lenses at once sacred and profane. Literally diagramming creation, these books and sheets boldly dissect genealogies of time and space before Newton. From the illuminated inks of psalters to architectural sketches, the exhibition presents an impressive selection of the various types of Medieval drawing and definitely lured me to the Cloisters to see more...

Taking a break...

There will be no posts as I explore all the art that New York City has to offer over the week. 

Have a great Monday!