I had a chance to view the
mural by Paola Villaseñor Panca at San Diego Art Institute gala fundraiser
and found myself very, very attracted to it. I was not put off by the subject
matter, but instead attracted to the wonderful colors and the excellent
composition. So I had to ask myself why I was not more put off by the view of
naked women eating a fallen companion. This really intrigued me. Why did I like
this so much?
I started to analyze what I
was seeing and realized that the almost cartoon nature of the drawing
eliminated the serious nature of the content. We all see cartoons like Superman
and Spiderman where blood is graphically depicted and looses some of the
realistic nature that would make it scary.
The subject of women with
blood is one which women deal with from puberty and the site of blood and the
female is a very natural one, Women bled almost all of their lives. I
think that is another reason I could accept this subject matter with all women
in the image. The absence of men seems significant.
I had a bit more trouble
wondering about the eating aspect, and I know that could be a challenge to
many. But art should challenge us. I am an optimist and I choose to see the
subject in a positive way. I saw women surviving by devouring the wisdom
of the group. I heard others say it was a metaphor for the blood of
Christ but I am not Christian so this did not resonate with me. Someone else thought
it was reflective of the recent be-heading in the middle-east. And I think many
others have made other suggestions. These ideas including my
own are more reflective of the viewer than the artist perhaps, but once a
work it made and put on view, then it is in the domain of the viewer.
My suggestion is to go and
see the image yourself. SDAI has arranged a wonderful changing light that make
the work glow with energy. The work is up for only a few months and then I
understand there are plans for a whole series of artist to create murals in
this fabulous space. SDAI is the premier display site for living artists in Balboa Park.
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| We would’ve gotten
you a Warhol but your grades weren’t good enough. Lisa Levy's "Thoughts in
my Head # 50 (Warhol)" 2014 at Schroeder Romero |
December
in Miami is art fair month and I had a blast looking at the images from
the different fairs. I had no idea there were so many as you have about
10 just in Miami Beach including the grand daddy Art Basel Miami Beach
plus Aqua, Scope, Select Untitled etc. and then all the mainland fairs
as well I have decided to post a selection of some of my favorite works
and there is a complete list of fair with links and some more slide
shows at the end of this blog.
From Art Basel:
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| Alison Knowles Four Shours, 2011 |
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| Broadway 1602 |
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| Franklin Parrasch Gallery. |
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| Galerie Rodolphe Janssen |
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| Hirschl & Adler Modern. |
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| Hrair Sarkissian Homesick, 2014 |
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| MOT International |
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| Nathalie Djurberg Bonute with Purple Glaze 2013 |
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| Plaster raindrops by Urs Fischer give Sadie Coles's |
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| Take Ninagawa |
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| Two Palms |
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| Will Cotton Elle with Cupcakes, 2014 |
From Spectrum
From Red Dot
From Design Miami
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| Carolline Van Hoeck |
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| Gallery Antonella Villanova |
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| Magen H Gallery.j |
From Miami Projects
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| Kasher Potamkin Gallery Maurizo Galante, porcelain, hand embroidered cockator parrot freathers of organza with glass meads.jpg |
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| ProjectsMargaret Bowland at Driscoll Babcok Galleries |
From Pulse
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| Beers Contemporary.jpg |
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| Poulsen, Jean Pierre Roy Macraherence |
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| Bransten Gallery Munlz, album Booting |
From Scope
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| Inner State Gallery |
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| Primo Marella Gallery |
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| Rush Arts Gallery |
From Untitled
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| plaster-on-books sculpture by Jonathan Callan at Josée Bienvenu |
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| Marco Maggi's Putin's Pencils at the Josée Bienvenu Gallery |
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| Marlborough Chelsea tony Mateilli, Arrangement 3, 2014 |
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| Threewalls |
