I have submitted this drawing to James Wagner for his online gallery of hand-drawn images of PS1's "Greater New York 2005." He initiated the gallery after finding out that the oh-so public-minded PS1 has a photo ban on all artworks. The image above is a detail of Gedi Sibony's Disguised as Material Properties. The materials are a cardboard box, twigs (held together with wood putty), plastic sheeting, and a wood panel with circular holes cut in it. The box is affixed to the wall and the "legs" appear to be half-supporting it, half dangling from it. Very crude, but nice. After War of the Worlds came out, it's hard not to think of a DIY version of the Cruise-menacing alien "tripods."
As for the show as a whole, one can see why it inspired a critical yawn. An awful lot of student-level painting: if this is what the Bush millionaires are clawing each others' eyes out over, we can only snicker at them. And we could all use a hit of whatever the curators were smoking ("Looked at a certain way, this is kind of good--pass me that pipe again.") Exceptions are Anna Conway's Magrittean painting of figures lying with their heads in tree-reflecting pools, next to another one of huge clown faces in storm-tossed seas, which are well-rendered and genuinely odd images. Dana Schutz is a good neo-neo-Expressionist, but her giant, multi-character Emil-Nolde-by-way-of-the-Dutch-Masters "anatomy lesson" canvas strains to be over the top.
As usual for this media-babysat generation, the videos fared better than the objects. Thumbs up for: Sue de Beer's new nonviolent work, which is becoming quite sumptuous in its use of colored gel lighting and classical photo-composition, albeit deliberately problematized by the splitscreen and without stinting on the essential agony of the pimply teen years; Meredith Danluck's slightly ghoulishly bleached out boy in tuxedo tails tapdancing to a trancy electro score; and Mika Rottenberg's sweat-wiping truckdriver with bicycle-driven conveyor belt feeding her new! more absorbent! tissues (also genuinely odd).
That's a very nice drawing you know. I like the idea--slowing things down-- taking all the detail in, listening to the call of the work.
Thanks. I wish the circumstances had been so contemplative. As I was drawing one guard after another was saying "Sir, we're closing." "Sir, the museum is closing..." "Sir..." (This was in a span of a couple of minutes--I'm not that much of a reprobate.) I had to finish the shading at home.
i was checking around to see who the big guns were in court room sketching. the artistic importance seems to hinge more on the trial than the sketch artist. manson / hearst and this from AF.
I agree with Brent- you've got some real drawing chops, Tom.
Bill, funny you link to the SF Gate article; not only did I see the Bancroft library exhibit but I know the daughter of one of the two sketch artists and just saw her a couple of weeks ago after having not seen her for awhile. Since the library exhibit was quite recent we talked about it a bit and she talked about how hard the work is not only because the artist is trying to make drawings so quickly of moving targets, but also because since the workplace is in the court the artist is hearing lots of horrific, gory and stupid stuff, especially if working the big trials, which the two in the exhibit did. Her mom did all the big trials of the 60's and 70's- Manson, Sirhan Sirhan, Hearst, etc.
And because the subjects are such moving targets the drawings tend to have a carnival/sidewalk artist feel to them: flattened features in profiles, too much color, similar complexions .
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I have submitted this drawing to James Wagner for his online gallery of hand-drawn images of PS1's "Greater New York 2005." He initiated the gallery after finding out that the oh-so public-minded PS1 has a photo ban on all artworks. The image above is a detail of Gedi Sibony's Disguised as Material Properties. The materials are a cardboard box, twigs (held together with wood putty), plastic sheeting, and a wood panel with circular holes cut in it. The box is affixed to the wall and the "legs" appear to be half-supporting it, half dangling from it. Very crude, but nice. After War of the Worlds came out, it's hard not to think of a DIY version of the Cruise-menacing alien "tripods."
As for the show as a whole, one can see why it inspired a critical yawn. An awful lot of student-level painting: if this is what the Bush millionaires are clawing each others' eyes out over, we can only snicker at them. And we could all use a hit of whatever the curators were smoking ("Looked at a certain way, this is kind of good--pass me that pipe again.") Exceptions are Anna Conway's Magrittean painting of figures lying with their heads in tree-reflecting pools, next to another one of huge clown faces in storm-tossed seas, which are well-rendered and genuinely odd images. Dana Schutz is a good neo-neo-Expressionist, but her giant, multi-character Emil-Nolde-by-way-of-the-Dutch-Masters "anatomy lesson" canvas strains to be over the top.
As usual for this media-babysat generation, the videos fared better than the objects. Thumbs up for: Sue de Beer's new nonviolent work, which is becoming quite sumptuous in its use of colored gel lighting and classical photo-composition, albeit deliberately problematized by the splitscreen and without stinting on the essential agony of the pimply teen years; Meredith Danluck's slightly ghoulishly bleached out boy in tuxedo tails tapdancing to a trancy electro score; and Mika Rottenberg's sweat-wiping truckdriver with bicycle-driven conveyor belt feeding her new! more absorbent! tissues (also genuinely odd).
- tom moody 8-19-2005 8:49 am
That's a very nice drawing you know. I like the idea--slowing things down-- taking all the detail in, listening to the call of the work.
- brenthallard (guest) 8-21-2005 1:46 pm
Thanks. I wish the circumstances had been so contemplative. As I was drawing one guard after another was saying "Sir, we're closing." "Sir, the museum is closing..." "Sir..." (This was in a span of a couple of minutes--I'm not that much of a reprobate.) I had to finish the shading at home.
- tom moody 8-21-2005 5:35 pm
i was checking around to see who the big guns were in court room sketching. the artistic importance seems to hinge more on the trial than the sketch artist. manson / hearst and this from AF.
- bill 8-21-2005 7:12 pm
I agree with Brent- you've got some real drawing chops, Tom.
Bill, funny you link to the SF Gate article; not only did I see the Bancroft library exhibit but I know the daughter of one of the two sketch artists and just saw her a couple of weeks ago after having not seen her for awhile. Since the library exhibit was quite recent we talked about it a bit and she talked about how hard the work is not only because the artist is trying to make drawings so quickly of moving targets, but also because since the workplace is in the court the artist is hearing lots of horrific, gory and stupid stuff, especially if working the big trials, which the two in the exhibit did. Her mom did all the big trials of the 60's and 70's- Manson, Sirhan Sirhan, Hearst, etc.
And because the subjects are such moving targets the drawings tend to have a carnival/sidewalk artist feel to them: flattened features in profiles, too much color, similar complexions .
- chrisashley (guest) 8-23-2005 4:08 am