Sunday, March 28, 2010

Traveling to Home

Richard Avedon (American, 1923–2004): Dovima with elephants,
evening dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, August 1955.
© 2010 The Richard Avedon Foundation.


After returning from a few winter adventures, I am writing this blog entry from my home in Friday Harbor. I was able to view a few choice exhibitions scattered around the country.Locally, I hope you were able to go the Calder show here in Seattle at Seattle Art Museum

One of the highlights, the works of photographer, Richard Avedon at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palms Beach, Fl. I appreciated photography as artform, but mea culpe after a few photography classes, I now understand art as photography on a visceral level.

Avedon Fashion 1944–2000, Richard Avedon revolutionized fashion photography in the post-World War II era with his spirited, imaginative images of the modern woman. This spectacular exhibition will feature more than 160 works – including edition and vintage prints, contact sheets, and original magazines – created during Avedon’s long career at Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, The New Yorker, and beyond.

The elegance, and simplicity of the black and white images were inspiring, leaving me wanting to see more of his works. Perhaps it is time to show photography at waterworks gallery.

The other highlight of my winter was a trip to Abiqui, New Mexico, the home of Georgia O'Keeffe. I have admired her works, especially her role as one of the few successful woman artists. I wanted to see the land that inspired her visions.

This was my first trip to Santa Fe. My initial impression of the land was reminiscent of the hills of eastern Washington or Oregon and Idaho. High plateau scubby, sagey devoid of intense color, a desert. Not till I actually got within a few miles of Ghost Ranch, that I saw the RED HILLS.
Oh my god, even on a cloudy day the rock formations were dauntingly beautiful [ Yes, I like rocks].

From the painting show of Georgia O'Keeffe's entitled "A Sense of Place", the landscape tour was created to allow the viewer to fully experience the actual locations of the paintings from Ghost Ranch. A tour of her home is another option. For the landscape tour, a dozen people are loaded into a van and driven around the large ranch to the areas that she painted on canvas. Museum curators and guides have assembled the paintings as placards and the same locations. Highly simplified and yes, there are purple hills. These towering rock formations painted for many years, mark the passage of time. Some sites are still intact , other have changed with time.
Even in winter under rain and clouds, the magnificents of the land is almost holy.

More stories of art shows to follow. Cheers