Art field trip

Monday Memories—Our Week-end in Pennsylvania Pt. 1

We had a wonderful week-end of art through Art Escapes of the Columbus Museum of Art. We visited the Carnegie and Frick museums in Pittsburgh; had an Italian lunch at Lydia's; then stayed at the Nemocolin Woodlands Resort, which has a number of art collections, and we saw only a part of it; then on to Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob homes, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Carnegie and Frick museums in Pittsburgh

At the Carnegie Museum of Art we caught the last day of the 2013 Carnegie International—35 artists from 19 countries. None of us were too excited by Phyllida Barlow’s sculpture at the entrance which looked like scattered steel wrapped with pink and orange ribbons, but after the tour, it made more sense.

One of my favorites was the neon sign pieces by He An, or at least it was until I learned how he had made it—stole the signage from various fast growing cities in China.

While we were observing Erika Verzutti’s strange forms and objects assembled on the floor, we saw a delightful little girl about 7 or 8 with her notebook, trying to copy the imagines.

There was some interesting art made from confiscated guns by a Mexican artist and an abstract sequence of “film frames” by Sadie Benning. Cubes by Lara Favaretto made of confetti were fascinating, although the docent explanation wasn’t clear. There was a large exhibits of photos of lesbians of South Africa by Zanele Muholi. I didn’t find anyone who liked the soft sculpture by Sarah Lucas—sort of stuffed panty hose in very suggestive positions which was supposed to represent the oppression of women, I think. I spent the most time (up close) examining the photos by Taryn Simon of women of the James Bond movies. There are just too many to mention all of them. I’ve not been a fan of contemporary art, but I thoroughly enjoyed the Pezzuti collection we saw last month, which I enjoyed much more than the 2013 International.

“An American Odyssey” is showing at the Frick Museum from March 1 to May 25, 2014.  There are many other things to see there like the Frick home and a car collection. This is from the Warner Foundation, the private collection of Jack Warner, who believes American history can be told through its art.

“The Warner collection is one of the most important collections of American art formed in recent decades, and the breadth and variety of works represented are both artistically and historically illuminating. Portraiture, still life, landscape, and genre painting are all represented with major groups of works by Hudson River School artists and American Impressionists, as well as significant groups of work by individual artists like Winslow Homer (1836–1910) and Mary Cassatt (1844–1926).“  http://www.thefrickpittsburgh.org/eventlist/events/index.php?eID=7881

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110227/NEWS/110229628

Lunch at the new art hotel, The Hilton

And then after that breath taking show, our Conestoga group went to the new Hilton, had a fabulous lunch in the  Gallerie Bar & Bistro, a 160-seat full-service restaurant and bar and then another art show which hangs throughout the hotel, much of it commissioned by Ohio artists, others purchased from galleries. The pointillist painting behind the front desk isn’t even a painting, it’s the skyline created by Granville, Ohio artist Christian Faur and is made of 30,000 crayons!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mBBtgTlrA

The dining area is really lovely.  The art that you can see in the very open area--15,000-foot tall atrium--has a theme—food, or dishes, or glassware, or eatery signs. The artwork is through out the hotel, displayed in functional space, guest rooms (with paintings on the ceiling) and public areas of the hotel and all the furniture, rugs, sculpture, windows, flowers, colors, etc. make it all one big art space. Everything was a feast for the eyes. Our group was divided in the three and we had tour guides.

The food was delicious—everyone at our table agreed on that.  Sorry, I didn’t see the prices listed anywhere since we had paid in advance, so I can’t give you a heads up.

A visit to the Pizzuti Collection inaugural show

Today our Conestoga group (Friends of the Ohio Historical Society) had a mid-winter, kill the blahs tour of the new Pizzuti Collection, lunch at the new Hilton, and then a tour of the Hilton’s wonderful art collection of Ohio artists. What a day!  Just fabulous. And the sun came out and it is in the mid-40s heading for 50 degrees. This inaugural exhibit is the private collection of Ron and Ann Pizutti of contemporary art which they have been collecting since the mid-70s.  The collection is now a 501-c-3 and it includes a lovely renovated building, formerly the United Commercial Travelers insurance building, with 18,000 sq. ft., at 632 North Park Street, 43215, in the Short North neighborhood of Columbus.

Exhibition press release:

The opening exhibitions feature the Pizzuti Collection through two lenses. The Inaugural Exhibition on the first and third floors presents the collection in a narrative form, using works from the collection to connect the threads of experiences, artists, and galleries that guided its formation for more than 30 years. The Inaugural Exhibition will include works by John Chamberlain, Dave Cole, Jean Dubuffet, Carroll Dunham, Leandro Erlich, Darío Escobar, Ori Gersht, David Hammons, Guillermo Kuitca, Josiah McElheny, Louise Nevelson, and Ai Weiwei.

Additionally, the grand opening of the collection can be viewed through a thematic lens. Cuban Forever highlights compelling contemporary art, primarily by native Cuban artists. Much of the artwork in the collection was acquired via trips to artist studios in Cuba to meet and learn more about the art being produced in the country. This exhibition presents the best survey of the Cuban contemporary art scene today. The artists presented include Yoan Capote, Raúl Cordero, Enrique Raúl Martínez, Enrique Martínez Celaya, and Douglas Peréz. In addition to works by native Cubans, the exhibition includes work by Americans Michael Eastman and Teresita Fernández. Eastman’s stunning photographs of Havana and Fernández’s evocative sculptures transcend the artists’ nationalities and underscore the global environment in which Cuban artists work. The name of the exhibition, Cuban Forever, was chosen to emphasize the global nature of the artists included, reinforcing that the Cuban identity is not bounded by geography.

The Pizzuti Collection also includes programs for school children, educational programs, a library, talks by artists (because it features contemporary art many of the artists are alive), lectures, rotating exhibitions with a variety of memberships ranging from$3600 to $75.

From the windows of this building we could see the construction of a new complex which will include a new office building, parking garage and Le Méridien Columbus, The Joseph a 135-room, art-themed boutique hotel on High Street in the Short North arts and entertainment district.

Great trip to Greensburg PA, 35 miles east of Pittsburgh to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art to see this wonderful show, The Tides of Provincetown. Next it will be in Wichita, KS, then back to the east coast. It is worth a drive to see it. This art colony was started in 1899 and the show is examples through the years.

I'd never heard of Greensburg (about 3.5 hours from Columbus), and on the map it looked like small town, but it isn't--at least not for people like me who grew up in towns under 3,000. About 16,000 says the 2000 census (when will new figures start appearing? They had all that stimulus money.) There's a nice video on the town website--click and you can see many of the sights of Main Street where we walked to find a place to have lunch. Many huge, lovely churches, and it's the county seat, and that building is quite grand, too. We saw lots of reviving businesses in the downtown area.

When the rich don't buy

All sorts of people are losing their jobs--not so much from the recession, although that's part of it--but from the hostile, unfriendly, investment-cooling policies of the Obama administration. Let's say, just for fun and fantasy, you are worth a few million (like the current President) or many millions (like our former Presidents Bush and Clinton). How eager in today's climate would you be to invest in the finer things of life--like art. Now if you're a speculator, this might just be a great time. But let's say you became wealthy through solid investments and/or the smarts of your handlers and political friends.

In the WSJ today there's a story about a classy art gallery defaulting on loans. And apparently there have been a number of NY galleries go under. The rich aren't buying and probably credit sources have dried up because the bailouts have gone to a much higher tier in the credit food chain (that's not in the article--just my opinion). What happens when a first class art gallery closes? Staff is left go, of course; rent isn't paid and that hurts the bank that holds that mortgage; real estate firms are hurt; neighborhood business is hurt; the staff and shoppers who would have patronized the area shops now go elsewhere to spend their money; the delis and restaurants in the area lay off their immigrant counter clerks and bussers; the graphic artists and printers that worked up the catalogs have to cut back; the webpage designer for the gallery's sales has lost an important customer; rent payments and mortgage payments fall behind sending the economic ripples far down the subway line through people that never bought a piece of art in their lives; less tax money comes to the city, district and state; city workers get laid off; more demand on unemployment payouts.

On the plus side there are very good buys for art speculators; warehouses and storage facilities are doing well as banks look for places to store the seized art; court dockets fill up keeping their clerks busy; there's a demand for bubble wrap and protective coverings as art goes into storage; fraud investigators have more work as owners try to hide sales; lawyers are rubbing their hands since it looks like the terrorist trials might move elsewhere; they all need to hire more support staff.

And in Washington DC and the rubber chicken campaign circuit, our President flogs his health care plan oblivious to the ripples he sends out every day that keep the economy struggling and businesses sinking to the bottom of the government quagmire.