Dripping Vases

Fran admired and collected other artist’s work for her home, but also as part of her trove of infinite objects that often made their way into her art. From the mad jumble of countless boxes and bags in her studio came often playful “bricolage” works of beauty, humor and imagination. She taught for many years at the New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, the Newark Museum and was actively teaching until just weeks before her death last year. An award-winning artist, she exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, Victoria and Albert Museum, and in galleries throughout New Jersey. She began her eight-decade career as a fashion designer before moving into painting, printmaking, found art sculpture, book and paper making, and other multi-media arts. Fran studied art at the American School of Fine Arts, Newark School of Fine Arts, and Fairleigh Dickinson University. The works in this exhibition were generously donated by Fran’s family to The 1978 Maplewood Arts Center. Proceeds from all sales will benefit the center as well as public art in the

In “Ways of Seeing”, John Berger, an English art critic, argues that images are important for the present-day by saying, “No other kind of relic or text from the past can offer such direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer literature” (10). John Berger allowed others to see the true meaning behind certain art pieces in “Ways of Seeing”. Images and art show what people experienced in the past allowing others to see for themselves rather than be told how an event occurred. There are two images that represent the above claim, Arnold Eagle and David Robbins’ photo of a little boy in New York City, and Dorothea Lange’s image of a migratory family from Texas; both were taken during the Great Depression.

As we know, the result of “Art is” is “Art is” which returned in an ephemeral form at the Studio Museum. All forty photographs are on display on the basement level of the galleries, which are supposedly reserved for pieces in their permanent collection. The room just outside, whether coincidentally or not, is filled with photos of students - reflecting personal memories. How the museum decides to play with this, is by missing them with old-timer photos of Harlem from the

The entire show was wonderful, the title, “The Story Continues”, was a perfect fit. Both artists distributed their eye for art, making each of their art works appealing to the eye, having to reach out and send a message. Every painting feed off one another with meaning. The theme seemed to be earth, nature, and how everything played a part in the circle of life. Comparing to each other. The exhibit includes oil canvases, acrylic, mixed media, found objects, frames, pigmented papers, and steel frame.

The primary focus of this exhibition is Archibald J. Motley Jr.’s Mending Socks, an oil painting created in 1924 currently located at the Ackland Art Museum. Depicting Motley’s grandmother across a 43.875 x 40 inches (111.4 x 101.6 cm) frame, Mending Socks exhibits a familiar setting complimented by bold colors. Such colors immediately draw the eye to the grandmother, then to the socks on her lap. One then looks to the table, to the fruit overflowing from the bowl, eventually falling on the background. Trailing along, Motley’s grandmother is the off-center grounding of the piece, proving a strong, soothing, and familiar image of relaxed family settings. Behind her, however, are subtle reminders of white power.

When we enter the Spencer Museum, we were brought to different locations in museum to review five pieces of art works. After much consideration, I personally chose “Haunted by the Ghost of Our Own Making” by Hollis Sigler as the central theme of my essay. Like many other abstract canvas in the museum, “Haunted by the Ghost of Our Own Making” is not necessary the most powerful in conveying its message to the audience without artwork description provided by the museum or a narrator, as compare to other pieces like Above Ground Movement by the Young Female Activists who captured photographs with meaningful and relatable events.

She took these typically invisible, behind-the-scenes, unvalued processes, and brought them into the light. She made, what she called, a, “life process of the museum visible.” And she assigned it cultural value, giving value to the labor and the laborers who keep it clean, who keep it safe—just like a mother. She took this notion of life process from her home to the museum (transition to other things—jewishness—she brought from her home)

Flowers In a Vase was a painting that Ruysch painted after 1700. This composition balances a swirl of twisting blossoms along a diagonal axis (Chadwick 138). The variety of blooms and colors, and the painter’s subtle touch and impeccable surface treatment distinguish her work (Chadwick 138). Flowers lavishly spill out of the vase, filling the entire picture space. Some are in full bloom, others droop and wilt, as leaves and curving stems entwine throughout (Robinson). The lighting in this painting falls on the flowers from the bottoms left to top right, leaving the closed peonies at the edge in shadow. Complementary colors create harmony, as warm yellows and rose balance cool blues and greens. Against the dark background, her sophisticated palette creates a flawless sense of depth and three-dimensionality (Wieseman). And looking more closely, the viewer and depict several insects in the painting- caterpillars, ants, and a grasshopper are

‘I look at it every day and every day it gives me pleasure. Their art is what they leave behind. And art matters because it changes the way we see ourselves in the world. It shows the next generation who we were. It’s important and long lasting.’

She had a superb talent for beautiful imagery, but her work was incomprehensible, content-wise. I thought at the time – I told her at the time, is actually what I can report with accuracy, because I don’t know exactly what I thought – that she just needed to spend time reading and collecting experiences, so that she could have something more to say. In retrospect, and as with many opinions this is one that has become less generous in retrospect, for all I know precisely because it’s in retrospect – anyway, in retrospect, I think nobody who refuses to confront even the barest fact of the breakability of bones and ignores big issues (like the nature of truth) to avoid small ones (like stepped-on fingers) could possibly have anything to say, certainly as an

This is another way that this vase relates to that of Euphronios’ vase Death of Sarpedon. The process of creating such a manipulation to the clay is simply the opposite of the black figure vase technique. Instead of using slip to define figures it is used to cover the background and then the details are applied with a slip and brush. This method was very common especially among Kalpis/Hydria vases during the time. This is one major difference between the Terracotta Kalpis/Hydria (Water Jar) with Achilles and Penthesilea and the Terracotta Neck Amphora with the Battle between Herakles and the Centaur Nessos; one is red figure and the other is black figure. The red figure design of the Terracotta Kalpis/Hydria (Water Jar) with Achilles and Penthesilea created a more active and fluid movement that allowed for enhanced narrative. Likewise, there seems to be a lot less texture in this piece than the Terracotta Neck Amphora with the Battle between Herakles and the Centaur Nessos because there was a larger emphasis on the story and the characters. This is reflective of the shift between the Orientalizing and Archaic periods and their differing values and

Memories can be as short-lived as the moments that created them. The recollection of events and the deterioration of memories over time is a constant process that cannot be stopped. This inevitable passing of memory is fused to the inevitable passing of human life. Emily Davis’s still life photograph of wineglasses is reflective and fragmented, allowing the image to act as a metaphor for this fleeting aspect of memory through its own memory-like qualities. The photograph is also symbolic of the transience of human life through the use of the traditional symbol of the wineglass, ultimately serving as memento mori.

Each of the pieces in the De Young museum have their merits, but few can, although debatable, compare in boldness and complex simplicity to Beth Lipman’s Candlesticks, Books, Flowers, & Fruits. Finished in 2010 by the American born artist, Candlesticks, Books, Flowers, & Fruits is a life-sized sculpture that, in a general way of putting it, touches upon various contemporary themes and ideas regarding opulence, indulgence, and the taints associated with such undertakings, all of which may be naturally derived from one’s perspective-based interpretation. This art piece comprises of an ovular table with an overabundance of constituents resting upon it, these constituents consisting of a medley of flowers, vases, glasses, fruits, bowls, plates, books, & candlesticks among other things, all of which are sculpted from glass, coloured of glossy pitch black. This work, being a sculpture, was unexpectedly assorted into the museum’s Still Life gallery, implying its classification as a Still Life piece.

Considered by many as a poet for poets, Elizabeth Bishop was one of the most refined voices of the American poetry of the last century. She was known as one of the best female American poets of the contemporary period famous for her style patent with simplicity and precision. Her work was famous for disclosing the mysteries of her personal life by cleverly chosen representations. In her very-famous villanelle, “One Art,” Bishop’s tone seems relaxed at first impression, yet the reader can later feel her disguised frustration. Her internal feelings reflect the pain she has experienced due to loss, and with the emotions wanting to come to life from the page, Bishop converts them into art by controlling and shaping them into a very well-

History and art are aspects of life that will go hand in hand until time ceases. Humans obsess over the past, most likely in hopes of finding guidance from those that came before them. Every society has its fair share of artists who take inspiration from the events that define that specific era in history. In many instances, these works often help historians understand the events better than the history books themselves. An artist’s touch often makes the subject seem more personal or conveys the scene of it in a manner that is more relatable to the human spirit. Life through Dame Laura Knight’s eyes was filled with emotion and a form of romanticism. Regardless of subject matter, Knight creates her pieces in a manner that captivates the viewer, making them question the backstory and meaning behind them.