The Tang Teaching Museum

The exhibit we observed at The Tang teaching Museum was the Environment and Object Recent African Art exhibit. Environment and Object Recent African Art is curated by Lisa Aronson, Associate Professor of Art History at Skidmore, and John Weber, Dayton Director of the Tang. This exhibit combined the impact of the environment and the use of objects and appropriated materials as a recurring presence in current African art. The exhibit includes sculpture, photography, painting and video by well-known artists from Africa and contemporary African artists living abroad .Some artists used their art to convey political and economic message through this exhibit and other artists employed strategies of accumulation and recuperation, fashioning dense, lyrical works that combine a love of abstraction with a commitment to the use of found materials.

Viye Diba, Nous sommes nombreux et nos problemes avec... We are numerous, and our problems, too, 2008 was a mixed media installation.

Yinka Shonibare, MBE, Black Gold I, 2006,  Acrylic paint on Dutch wax printed cotton canvas

Banksy

Banksy, an anonymous English graffiti artist, political activist, painter and film director is very well known street art and epigrams. His work combines both dark humor and a unique stenciling technique and can be found on bridges, streets and walls throughout the world. Banksy also even goes as far as building physical prop pieces.

His work was born out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved much collaboration between different artists and musicians. He does not sell photos of his work himself however art auctioneers have been known to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder of the artwork.

Personally we find his work visually appealing and extremely creative.

Bringing the Public into Art

The use of conjoining the public with artwork can be very effective. By involving everyday people into art it allows for viewers to create a stronger connection with the piece. Some examples of artists that use the public in art are Gillian Wearing, Vanessa Beecroft and Jeremy Deller.


The artist in which involves the public in the most unique and interesting way is Vanessa Beecroft. While other artists try to incorporate "street people" to create a lens onto the non-glamorous part of society, Beecroft has a very distinct image for the people of her work. Beecroft focused on the idea of "sameness" which made her work very controversial. Otherwise classified as "hooters for intellectuals" there are very strong opinions as to whether Beecrofts use of what resembles runway models in their underwear is art. Through her art Beecroft reformulates ideas that have been around for decades in many fashion magazines. Despite much criticism the shock value of Beecrofts work seems to achieve the standards by which "art" is defined. Beecrofts ability to bring sexuality into galleries adds an entire different aspect of the art world that many other artists would not explore.

The Curator

In analyzing the job of an artist curator it is important to recognize the influence of different artist's work. A curator is responsible for an institution's collections. Most commonly a curator will use tangible objects as part of the collection. There are many different curator responsibilities such as making decisions as to what objects to collect, overseeing the care of these objects, conducting research based on the collection, transportation of objects, and make the research public through exhibitions and publications.

One of the most famous curators is Fred Wilson. Wilson is best known for his ability to reinform and reinterpret art to the public. Wilson brings a contrast of meaning to objects, such as an old tea set, that viewers may other not think twice about. Wilson's ability to reinvent art is likely a result of what he explains as "feeling a connection with everyone." Wilson's method of working based on the connections he feels allows for him to do what comes natural rather than focusing on what the outcome will be. Wilson is a clear representation of an artist who has to the drive to make art solely based on his emotions. While much of Wilson's work may seem one-dimensional to the untrained eye it is the search for meaning which makes it artistic for the viewer.

Spencer Tunick Installations

The New York photographer, Spencer Tunik, has recently broke his record photographing 17,000 nude Mexicans. The volunteers posed for Tunik at the Zocalo square in Mexican city posing in the fetal position. He is known to create shapes and forms with the human body and states that his work is an abstraction, a performance and an installation. In much of his work the bodies reflect the space he picks and the nakedness of the individuals in almost camouflaged.

In the past Spencer Tunik has faced arrest for his photo shoots. However outside the United States and in this case in Mexico, nudity is much more widely accepted. This shoot was about five years in the making with Mexican officials first turning down his request to set the shoot at the Teothihuacan pyramids outside the capital.

His work is unique in its own way and we personally find how big of a following he has extremely interesting.

Classified: Contemporary Art at Tate Britian

From June 22^nd to August 23^rd 2009, a piece called Classified opened at the Tate Britain. It was a huge display of British contemporary art which used a wide array of media such as works from Damien Hirst and Jake & Dino. The museums visitors were also be able to view works of the following artists: Gillian Carnegie, Martin Creed, Jeremy Deller, Ceal Floyer, Phillip Allen Tacita Dean, Mark Dion, Peter Peri, Simon Starling, Rebecca Warren, Simon Patterson and Fiona Rae.

Classified focused on the artist’s way of ordering their work and explored how humans need to classify affects our their outlook on the world. The exhibit addressed ones desire to collect and categorize. Each work has its own variety, method and approach but were all linked to one another because each artist coded the objects and images that surround us throughout our daily life. Each work allowed the viewer to reflect on both the artists’ creation of meaning by their use of different strategies and the museum’s role in collecting, organizing and displaying objects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqra_2axnYU

"Good Art Must be Dense with Meaning" - Robert Hughes

In the final part of his documentary entitled "The Mona Lisa Curse" Robert Hughes further explains his problems with today’s art. Specifically Hughes focuses on the work of Andy Warhol and the dry repetition of his artwork. The mass production of Warhol's work takes away from the meanings of his paintings. There is some truth to Hughes' criticism about work like Warhol's in that the paintings easily lose their unquineness. Art in Hughes' was all about how precious and special the work was which gave it a very deep meaning. If art becomes so widely known and easily accessed (like The Mona Lisa) there is no more motivation to go to the museums and truly appreciate the beauty of the work. While Hughes' does have a valid argument in suggesting that art has lost it's true meaning in recent times his criticism seems to be very cynical. The depth in which Hughes goes to completely take away the meaning of Warhol's work seems extreme and over the top. If Hughes was able to deliver the message of his documentary in a more subtle and discrete way it would have been much more effective. It is apparent that the message of his documentary could easily be lost in the blatant cynicism that is seen. In doing further research on the project we were able to fully understand the point of view of Hughes however most people may not be able to appreciate his true love for art.