San Diego Museum of Art, June 2019

by Patricia Frischer

I very much feel it is time for everyone to make a visit to the San Diego Museum of Art. I went because a friend wanted to see the Eisenstaedt photo exhibition but we stayed for 3 1/2 hours because there was so much to see. Here is a very brief report on just five of the displays. If you have not explored the museum recently, there are changes and changing exhibitions and I encourage you to visit and see for yourself.  What a beautiful treasure we have in our county!

Alfred Eisenstaedt was one of the founding photographers for LIFE magazine and as you would expect, this show covered decades of life in America. 

Before he was hired to work at LIFE this is a photo of a culture fashion show in Switzerland. 

Back in the USA, this is a great view from above of the Cartier Jewelry shop

Here are two charming children dressed in clothes made from cotton bags from 1939

Another charming view of two small children being warned by a policeman to stay out of the streets to be safe

A meat counter during the war years. Notice the "Save Waste Fats for Explosives" sign. 

Eisenstaedt is known for his famous picture of the kiss by the sailor and the girl in white. We even have a controversy n San Diego about the sculpture  inspired by that scene. But this image of sailors coming home is just as impressive 

Students on the University of New Hampshire getting fit for the war effort.

Model in flower sunglasses of 1941

There were many celebrity photos but I choose this one of a young Gregory Peck in La Jolla

An Italian Officer in the Italian Alps enjoys a sled ride in 1934

A small gallery which I had never seen before lies in the middle of the ground floor space between the Asian collection and the Modern section and had this lovely little show Spectacle & Satire featuring quite a few famous artists like Chagall, Picasso, and Klee. I choose a few favorites.

This debauched tavern scene from 1735 is by one of the most famous artist and satirist of England, William Hogarth

Right up there with Hogarth is Thomas Rowlandson who lived from 1756 to 1827. Some of you may have experiences a child like this!

Lawrence Beall Smith, an American captures the Magic of the Theater in this 1938-9 composition. He lived from 1909 to 1995....amazing changes he must have seen.

The famous Scopes Trial (Religion vs Science) f 1925 is depicted in this lithograph by Mabel Dwight. 

She also made this scene of the public in front of an aquarium.

Everett Gee Jackson preaches to "Sailors Beware" as a part of a series which ended with a sailor and his wife and baby. This one shows a lady of the night luring her prey with coffee?!?

Russel Theodore Limbach shows us the relation between artist and devoted student. Tee Hee. He was one of the artist included in a "print of the month" club in 1932. There was an attempt to supply artists with a steady income. Editions were 250 prints each.  

There was a small set of works on display in the back hallway on the ground floor Women of the Southwest

Georgia O'Keeffe and this image is worth a visit if for no other reason!

An artist new to me is Edith Hamlin with this strong work called Black Pool

Art and the Empire: The Golden Age of Spain was what I thought was going to be typical of a mass of private collection exhibitions that have been shown since the current director took over. But this show is different.  It has borrowed some works from outside of our area also has some of the favorites from the SDMA's own collection like the El Greco:  The Penitent Saint Peter, 1595 and the Juan Sanchez Cotan, Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber, from 1602. I was very impressed with the scale of the work on display and it arrangement. There are central and south American  works included because of the Spanish influence and the range of work even including wood work, jewels and tiles gives a total view of the life of the times. This show could occupy three hours of your time on its own.  

I have chosen to write about these two depictions of Saint Michael slaying the demon as they are so large and vivid. It reminds one why religion has such a powerful hold on the community. These very large images brought to life the lessons of the church. Saint Michael is so yummy in both these works that he must of been the superstar of the day. 

This depiction of the Virgin Mary as a child and asleep at her lessons, was a good sign to me that it was time for lunch! You can only take in so much art in one day. and my eyes were starting to cross!

All of these shows and the José-María Cano: Apostolate exhibition are changing exhibitions so check the dates if you want to see them. There are a number of displays of the permanent collection that do change occasionally and one that I liked so much is the relatively new rooms called Visible Vaults. These were works that didn't fit into any of the regular categories that could be included in displays, but were interesting never the less. The large selections of unframed prints could be pulled out one drawer at a time for study and I loved the small collection of Chinese netsuke. 

In Common at Wonderspaces

By Patricia Frischer

Wonderspaces in the last two year has drawn 178,000 visitors to their two shows in San Diego and has now opened their first permanent location in Arizona utilizing some of the works from these shows. The is a relatively new concept in visual art presentation, where there is a fee to enter(much like theater) to see large installation works.

Wonderspaces is at B Street Pier 1140 N Harbor Drive, SD 92101 and continues until September 1st. 2019
Tickets 
Adult  $24  but $27 on the weekend
Senior (65+)/Student/Military $20
Children (3-12) $15

The title of this year In Common is loose and vague enough to include almost anything and did not help to tie these works together for me.  I am thus focusing on the works that are very visual which is my own preference and the following five actually do move and are even interactive with the audience. 

In Experiments 2, you can actually dip you hand into the miss and see it swirls. The colors do change as you look into the distance, but the red seemed the most effective to me. 



Anima, below, is an actual large globe and the surface design changes colors as you noise is made in the room and changes patterns as you move. 

In Les Cent Viages the image of faces are back projected on a soft round screen which can be touch and pressed to distort the image. Across from screen is a large mirror which more clearly shows the distortions from a distance. 

Floor is a  stable walkway but with a moving bump that affects those walking or laying or sitting on it. With a very shiny surface, the peoples shadows are affected by this bump.

We Are All Made of Light does just that. Light reflective strings become the background and light is cast on bodies so there merge and only show up with moving or at certain angles. A mirror on the back wall enhances this affect. 

There was is a very large contingent of audio art with minimal visual content. I happened to be sound challenged. I can't take a variety of different sounds like bird calls, traffic noise, party conversations like those in the piece Space Here Becomes Sound (below) where each of the center square controls a different recording,  and combine them to make something special. It is just a jumble of noise to my ears. The same was true of Drift by Margaret Nobel, where one was blind folded and had to feel your way around a small space with rope restrictions while listening to random sounds or Harmony of Spheres by Foo/Skou where you found suspended balls in a darkened room. The lit up when raised  and each had a different sound. In intersection by Don Ritter, you walked (again) through a darkened room and car sound came rushing at you...stop and you could cause a crash. 

S PA C E  H E R E  B E C O M E S  S O U N D 

Studio LONK & Mark IJzerman

But I am including this one image of a colorful room full of colored strings and tied up furniture. It was just so vibrant after all that darkness. 

R A I N B O W  R O O M S  Pierre le Riche

Sandra Chanis sculptures: FRIVOLOUS

by Patricia Frischer

Sandra Chanis exhibits at  Art Gallery of Phillips Center at Sts.Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church (3459 Manchester Avenue, Cardiff by the Sea, CA 92007) The show runs from May 25 to June 27. The Gallery is open F 4-7pm,  SAT 11-2pm,  SUN 1-4pm,  M 4-7pm. Or by appointment from Pam 760.942.0920 or contact Sandra Chanis

We are lucky in San Diego to have many libraries which have art galleries, but have you notices that churches now have art galleries as well. The newest one is spearheaded by Father Michael at the Greek Orthodox Church in Cardiff.  With his master's degree in art and his own artistic talents, he has dedicated his attention with a committee of art enthusiast at the church to bringing a lovely space to life. The new church on the premises allows this room with high ceiling and white walls and even a stage to be a new home for artist to exhibit.   

A fine choice for the first one person show is these  white creations by Chanis best known for her years of support of the Oceanside Museum of Art. She titled the show Frivolous and that lighthearted feeling is prevalent especially as this is an artist known for stone carving and bronze casting...both very arduous processes. In her own words, "There is something about working with clay, from dirt, from that raw and responsive nature of the material, that makes shapes, shadows and empty spaces reveal themselves through your hands with that inexplicable energy that is the spirit of art."  

The artist might claim she has no control of what happens as the figures emerge, and that they have no purpose, but it is a pleasure to fantasize about works that have titles that are clues. Think Tank, Goldie Locks, Balance, Three Rams and a Hand all in stoneware, can take you on journey to the past and future. 

Balance

Goldie Locks

Think Tank

Three Rams and a Hand

SD Art Prize at the Athenaeum produced by San Diego Visual Arts Network

By Patricia Frischer

SD Art Prize  Presented by San Diego Visual Arts Network at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall St. La Jolla, 92037) with Anne Mudge with Erin Dace Behling, and Robert Matheny with Max Robert Daily. This exhibitions runs from Sat, May 11 to Sat, July 6  . Words of support from Lynn Susholtz, Art Produce, Jacqueline Silverman, director San Diego Art Institute, Dave Hampton, curator for Robert Matheny and Jill Dawsey, PhD, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego now available for free download in the  SD Art Prize Catalog 2018  More info: Patricia Frischer

The 2018 recipients of the SD Art Prize were honored during the opening of their exhibition at the Athenaeum Music and Art Library on Friday May 10th. The show included new art work by all of these artists of excellence. As always, the Athenaeum provided a perfect showcase.

San Diego Visual Arts Network is pleased to announce that Chi Essary has been selected as the new curator of the San Diego Art Prize. Over the next year Essary will be streamlining and restructuring the prize to focus solely on emerging artists, increasing the prize’s visibility and building public engagement.

“I’m looking forward to streamlining the Art Prize and building its reputation and audience. It’s a valued milestone in the artist community and I’d like to build the general public’s interest in the prize and the emerging artists we have right here in San Diego.”  Chi Essary, new curator of the SD Art Prize

“We feel really fortunate to put the SD Art Prize into the capable hands of Chi Essary who will breathe new life into this time honored award for excellence.“ Patricia Frischer, founder San Diego Visual Arts Network which funds and produces the SD Art Prize 

Chi Essary

Anne Mudge creates ethereal environments of complicated wire works that looked amazingly fragile but turned out to be as resilient as its creator. Tension wire and physics keep these very organic works afloat. Mudge says there are challenges and, "...magic moments of discovery" in her process-based art. In this exhibition we see new works in delicate silver tones, but also some white works in this very large display. A whole wall is dedicated to darker pieces with more pronounced intersections. A favorite was one that transitions from earth to sky, dark to light. 

Anne Mudge 

detail

Mudge works with geometry and repetitious patterning and shares these aspects of creation with Erin Dace Behling’s furniture design. They are both creating landscapes because they are arranging biological components into a sort of scenery, but Behling is using a wider variety of materials and her works are functional. She uses very familiar components of the natural world but in unfamiliar ways. Look closely at the variations in color on the handcrafted wood and concrete which reflect the magically colors of the Utah deserts and mountains. 

Erin Dace Behling

Max Robert Daily is a butcher and puppeteer and art installer by trade and the proprietor of Oslo sardine bar, really an art installation. After displaying last fall at SD Art Prize  at Art San Diego presented by San Diego Visual Arts Network, Max Daily still has one stop to make in Santa Fe before returning from a year of traveling to Art Fairs around the country sponsored by Redwood Media Group. He will be showing again at Art San Diego which this year moves to the convention center. The Sea Glass and Skipping Stone dispenser in this exhibition really works and for 25 cents, you could own a few pieces of this installation. The dispenser is set on a pile of books from the Athenaeum.  Go up to $10 and get your own package of sardines and crackers. A free newspaper hat/sailing boat comes with each interaction if you are lucky.  Daily really is a clown and  a piece we have not seen before is a box of clown death mask noses sitting on a stack of newspaper comics. Clown play a varied role in our community and the life blood of Max Daily's work is that variety. 

Max Robert Daily

outside of the box

detail

Robert Matheny has played with every medium and combines strong conceptual art ideas with a tangible product which is almost never functional. He is a master trickster with a sense of humor of the cynical variety and the constant surprise of never knowing what he will do next. Matheny had a terrific retrospective this year at the SD History Museum (maybe he is not so Almost Anonymous anymore!) He reports that the "as usual, whatever I select to show will be spectdaculary." The tiny blue and gold glitter dot shown off in an elaborate frame is part of a new series of glitter works. At the start of his more than 50 year career he used metal flake paint surfaces on sculptures.  He recently posted instructions for a meditation by concentrating on one flake of silver glitter placed on grey pants until they catch the light of the reflected sun.  He asked the question, "which do you like best the "real" 2 dollar bill or the "fake" one?  Makes you think, doesn't it!

Robert Matheny 

Ruth Platner: Yom Hashoah - A Holocaust Remembrance through the Arts a Leichtag Foundation

By Patricia Frischer

Ruth Platner's exhibition: Yom Hashoah: A Holocaust Remembrance through the Arts at the Farm House Gallery of the Leichtag Foundation is a Holocaust survivor's story in painting and drawings. 

Ruth Platner's painting are colorful and positive and because the show is introduced as a Holocaust survivors exhibition, these seems to be at odds. But Ruth who is 92 and in attendance wrote a stirring message that was read by her daughter. she explained how as Jew in Germany in WW II she was banned from school and bomb shelters. Her parents managed to take her into the country side and one day on the way home from school, she came across the crater created by a bomb. She reached in and grabbed some clay which had been revealed after the top soil was blown away. Soon she was sculpting a head and found that the war had revealed art as her passion. The art in turn has been a large component in healing her from the war.

She attended the Hamburg Art Institute, married Fred Platner in 1949, moved to Wisconsin and in 1978 to Carlsbad. She created and administered the OMA School of Art and her incarcerated veterans program is based her book  “Meditation and Art”

To see this show which is up for a limited time in May contact Naomi Nussbaum 

The evening also supported the the Butterfly Project by having the attendees painting one ceramic butterfly in commemoration of each child who perished in the Holocaust.  This will be put on permanent display in The Hive which is a community workshop at the Leichtag Foundation. 

The Anti- Defamation League gave a presentation about how their No Place for Hate  program strives to support anti-bias and bullying interventions on school campuses across the country. Presentations by two local students was sad and heartening at the same time.