Taking Stock

I have gotten of track with sharing the artsy parts of our France trip and I will try to remedy that soon. September was a whirlwind from start to finish that almost had me considering giving up blogging altogether.  In this fast social media world blogging is becoming a bit antiquated which is odd considering it is a young medium, but things move at a breakneck pace these days.
Regardless of what is hot or trendy in terms of sharing your life and work, I feel that blogging still gives something that other platforms do not offer which is simply more content.  So for now blogging is going to remain something I offer and process through.
September began with my first meeting with my local Studio Art Quilt Association group.  They meet bi-monthly and share work and ideas.  At this meeting we also had a trunk show and talk from artist Mardell Rampton.  It was a very enjoyable 4 hours and I hope to attend as many of these meet-ups as I can.
I also joined the Surface Design Association and met up with several local members for dinner before attending the Banjara exhibit at Monte Clark Gallery which was a book launch of the Banjara book created by Maiwa.  The work was stunning and the Monte Clark space is very cool.  Concrete floors and huge ceiling height, the industrial feel of the space showed off the warmth of the textiles beautifully.
Nearing the end of the month I participated in a three day workshop as part of the Maiwa Textile Symposium.  The teacher was Bettina Matzkuhn and we delved into the world of maps and making textile maps with embroidery.  It was a great experience and I came home with the beginnings of a new piece that will work well with the body of work I'm developing right now.
This weekend I travelled across the U.S boarder into Washington state to attend the Judged & Juried International Quilt & Fibre Show as part of the Quilt festival put on by the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum.  There were some lovely quilts on display and my quilt Beryl was part of the show.
As exciting as all of these things have been I am looking forward to a slightly slower pace over the next couple of weeks to get some other things started and/or continuing.
Below is a photo of myself with Beryl.
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JJ

Van Gogh in France

What can one say about looking at art in France... it is crazy how much there is to see.  You could look at art around the clock and be there for months.  So inevitably I had to cull and pick certain places, museums and galleries over others in the hopes that someday we will return and I can see ones that I missed this trip.

Arles was a place that I was drawn to see because of Van Gogh's short time living there.  While there we visited The Fondation Vincent Van Gogh and walked around the town.  The famous yellow house no longer exists, but the Cafe Vincent Van Gogh remains and the town has erected displays at some of the locations that Van Gogh immortalised in paint while he lived there.

The Fondation is a modern gallery that had two exhibits on:  "Van Gogh in Provence" and artist Glenn Brown's "Suffer Well" which had several pieces that referenced to Van Gogh's life and work.
The space is intimate and very well curated showing examples of Van Gogh's evolution from classical to expressionistic painting.  It is possible to see the whole gallery in about 2 hours which is perfect when viewing art with children.

Glenn Brown's work.  Above Suffer Well and below one of his sculptures made of oil paint referencing Van Gogh's thick brush strokes and palette.

A few scenes of Arles. 

 There were also many highlights of seeing Van Gogh's paintings in the Musee D'Orsay.  Seeing the third version of Bedroom in Arles in person was incredible.  That painting seemed to exude light.
More about the art on our trip to come.

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JJ

Montpellier: The Art Scene

Our two weeks in Montpellier afforded a diverse exposure to art shows.  I was very impressed by the free exhibits in two city sponsored spaces: the Carre Sainte-Anne is a converted church which houses contemporary exhibits (a marvelous space in which to look at art) and the deceptively large Pavillon Populaire.

Elina Brotherus was featured in the Pavillon in a sweeping show entitled: La Lumiere venue du Nord, Photographies, videos 1997-2015 (June 29-September 25, 2016).  Her work is stunning and very current feeling.  Searingly emotional but also calculated she makes comments on very personal subjects using herself as subject matter.  Her most confrontational works in this show were about her struggle with unsuccessful infertility treatments.  The work was brilliant and hard to look at but the pain was visualized in a most compelling way.  Her landscape work is beautiful, use of light complex, and her commentary on the history of painting and the female gaze pushes dialogue further.
Her self-portraiture was also very interesting in terms of today's social media obsession with the "selfie."  She was taking selfie's with a personal documentation feel long before smart phones hit the scene.  Can you tell?  I loved this show.

www.elinabrotherus.com

Barthelemy Toguo was featured at the Carre Sainte-Anne.  Deluge (June 22-November 6 2016) is an installation of 54 wooden coffins in the center of the space surrounded by large ink on paper transferred to canvas works.  Toguo was making commentary on war (especially referencing Africa in some pieces) and the resilience of the human spirit to regenerate through nature.  The show was very succinct and his point was quite clear.  I liked the ink effect and the way his imagery was painterly but stark.  It enhanced the subject matter.

www.barthelemytoguo.com

On the day before the Frederick Bazille show opened at the city's main art museum the Musee Fabre
we visited the permanent collection.  (An oversight on my part.)  This space was recently renovated and has some lovely works.  France has reasonable museum entry fee prices and we spent about 2 hours with the collection which is good for 2 kids under 10 I'd say. 
Overall the city is a joy to look at art in.  Viewers of all ages were at the galleries while we were there. France certainly appreciates art.
Back with more from our France adventure soon.
JJ
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Old but not Precious

"One man's treasure is another's trash." 

I do not think it is too harsh to say that today's North American, and perhaps even Western, culture is disposable.  We are systemically forced to discard a phone, toaster or television that we purchased a few years or dreadfully even months ago and replace it with the latest model.

This culture effects us all in countless ways. Hoarders, collectors, minimalists, consumers: we label our relationship to stuff, justifying our behaviour one way or another.  

My own relationship to things has evolved dramatically in the 20 years I have lived on my own. I love old/vintage things. I grew up appreciating antiques.  I adore flea markets and thrift shops. There are whole professions dedicated to the recording, preserving and caring of vintage treasures.

And then there is just old stuff. 

The linens in these photos are such items.  They are old textiles; I would date them to early 20th century.  A cotton skirt, silk blouse, and two cotton pillow cases edged with hand-crocheted lace.  They are stained, ripped, they smelled of moth balls and the blouse has several holes that have darkened to a crispy brown at the edges.  As vintage items they are not worth preserving.  A museum would de-accession these items.  

But for some artists these items are valuable. While they are not only historically significant in their own right, they also carry stories that can be transformed. In and of themselves they are not precious.  No one will buy them for lots of money at auction, no one has kept them carefully preserved in a cedar lined chest and most would discard them. Their decomposition would resume and eventually their fibres would mingle with all organic organisms.




Since these items were sent to me I plan to transform them. They will be made into art.  This practice of transforming old textiles is a common practice these days in the textile art community. I follow several talented artists who bring new life to unwanted fibres. Amy Meissner has created a crowdsourcing project and people from all over the world are sending her hand work from doilies to needlepoints. Susan Lenz uses old garments for rusting and natural dying. These pieces are unwanted clothing that is then used for installations or cut up for art quilts.

As for what my old but not precious items will become I am still pondering.  Gently washing them and hanging them in the sun to dry was my first interaction with them.  As an aside if you have vintage linens that you want to preserve hanging them in the sun is not recommended.  The beauty of linens drying on a clothesline in the sun was too hard for me to pass up.  I think they will tell me the story that they need to tell in time.  I am grateful that art offers up a place for old things to transform and that I get to use my own hands to transform them.

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JJ

Work I Admire: Drawing

When the occasion calls for it I will feature work by artists I like here.  I think there is always room for more promotion, for sharing of ideas but mostly for supporting each other. 

Both of these artists don't need my help, as they are on another level in their careers than I am. 
But what I admire about their work is that their works are meticulous and surrealistic drawings, large in scale and beautifully rendered. 

First off is Ruby Onyinyetchi Amanze a Nigerian born artist working currently in Brooklyn New York.
I learned about her in this article and I found her work stood out within the 30 artists featured.  Her subject matter speaks to me: identity, culture, and breaking boundaries of artistic boxes.

 And next is Kymia Nawabi who I watched win season 2 of  Work of Art: The Next Great Artist reality show.  This drawing was auctioned off as part of her prize and I just loved it.  I now follow her work on Facebook and am always impressed by her dreamlike figures and the amazing detail in each piece.

 So please follow these artists, and if you are able purchase some of their brilliant work. 

JJ