Caixa Forum-Goya: Lights and Shadows

I have visited Barcelona in April and I have visited the Caixa Forum because it is free and there was a Goya exhibition.

He was born on 30 March 1746 and died on 16 April 1828
He was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era.

The most famous paintings of Goya are the Nude Maja and the clothed Maja and I was so glad to view it in the Museum. 

I like the clothed Maja more than the naked Maja. Goya's master skills successfully captured the lust of in the clothed Maja. You can feel her intense seducing eyes. 

Goya became stone-deaf after a serious illness in 1792. Deafness made him more critical, mistrustful but also visually more sensitive.  He began to face the dark side of life, and at this time he created Caprichos (whims), critique of social evils and human weaknesses. 

Later, Goya witnessed the cruelty of War when French invaded Spain, completed his prints of "The Disaters of War" which was published only after his death.

Documenta: Geoffrey Farmer

Geoffrey Farmer-leaves of grass

This is one of my favourite exhibitions in the Documenta.

The work spans sixty feet and is built from thousands of clippings from US image-centric magazine-Life taken between the years of 1935 and 1985. 
Each of the small photograph cut-outs feature various objects from advertisements and articles including politicians to products evocative of a particular point in visual history for the American journal.

I think it represents our culture! It is quite nice to recognize some icons, some famous ppl, some food, toys...

Art is fun:) 

Some previous work of Geoffrey Farmer:http://www.we-find-wildness.com/2012/06/geoffrey-farmer/

Documenta 13-William Kentridge

William Kentridge: The Refusal of Time

My Spanish friend said that it is her favourite exhibition

The Refusal of Time is an installation. Five films are projected on three walls of an industrial space near the Kassel train station.  A large wooden structure with moving parts—it resembles something like an accordion and an oil rig combined—occupies the center of the room; this is the “breathing machine (elephant).” Intermittent sounds of Kentridge speaking and music (most memorably tubas and singing) are transmitted through silver megaphones, one at each corner, each with a different soundtrack. 

I was only able to watch the first 15 mins of the films because of the time limit. 
I quite enjoyed the films and the atmosphere created by Kentridge! 

Reflection: What is time? And how can one oppose its enforced standardization?
The idea of time zone and world segments!

More information: http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/jun/30/kentridge-galison-refusal-of-time/
Video in youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2VPkD6MJi4

Documenta 13-Paul Chan

Paul Chan-What is what, why the why

Paul Chan-born 1973, Hong Kong, China.

Lives and works in New York, USA.

艺术家Paul Chan在dOCUMENTA 13的作品被安排在了主展区之外一栋二层矮建筑的一层，这个空间颇像一个零售店面，而这个空间安排与Paul的作品可谓相得益彰——“店面”的四壁挂满了几百本“书”，准确的说是几百张书皮。原来Paul将他的小画画在了这些书皮上，与书皮原本的颜色、结构及文字形成了新的视觉关系。用英文诠释其概念非常简单清晰：Volumes without Volume，可以尝试翻译为“没有卷的卷书”。这些书的内容Paul从来没有读过，没有了内容的书成为了承载他的视觉想象的新的平台。无论是小画还是书，都呈现着各自的不完整，而这两种不完整的组合恰恰构成了Paul在dOCUMENTA 13的相对完整的叙述。

Nice interview: http://www.artbook.com/blog-paul-chan-e-book-interview.html

Reflection: what is knowledge? What? Why?

Documenta 13-Etel Adnan

I'm happy to visit the worldly famous art exhibition, Documenta 13
Just want to record some of the nice artworks:)
First one: Etel Adnan

Etel Adnan was born in 1925 and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. Her mother was a Greek from Smyrna, her father, a high ranking Ottoman officer born in Damascus. In Lebanon, she was educated in French schools.

She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, Paris. In January 1955 she went to the United States to pursue post-graduate studies in philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, and Harvard. From 1958 to 1972, she taught philosophy at Dominican College of San Rafael, California.

Apart from a painter, she is a author and poet!

38 untitled paintings are shown in the Documenta 13:

A full collection can be found: http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2012/06/documenta-13-etel-adnan/

Etel Adnan:  "Painting is something else, a language without a language problem - an unknown, abstract world with endless possibilities. There is in it logic, a truth, a directness guided by intuition that remains elusive in words. If I want to express the spirit of a place, an emotion, an idea, I paint; if I want to describe or comment on it, I write…" 

Abstract art was the eq. of poetic expression. I didn't use the words, but colour and lines

My comment: I feel a sense of tranquility in her abstract paintings. The colours speak and express themselves:) I also can feel the joy of colour

Bokunen Naka

Just watched a programme in Japanese TV which is called Takeshi Art Beat: Bokunen Naka, woodblock print artist

The programme introduces the artist Bokunen Naka who is based on Okinawa, Japan.

His woodblock art is amazing and the programme shows how did he produce a print!

Woodblock printing is a form of fine art printmaking where an artist carves away a design from a piece of wood. In order to do this, the artist uses woodcutting tools that are somewhat similar to chisels. These tools come in a wide variety of sizes and edges such as v-shaped and u-shaped, and each individual tool produces a different cut. Printmakers well versed in their art know the exact woodcutting tool they need to produce a desired effect. 

Bokunen adds an additional dimension to his artwork by painting onto the back of the semi-translucent paper he uses for printing, enlivening the black ink images with splashes of vibrant colors. Lush, green banyan trees, cobalt oceans and carmine hibiscus pop from the pale yellow museum walls. Small placards are scattered among the museum prints that include quotes from Bokunen describing the content and inspiration for his work, as well an explanation of how he makes his art. The gallery’s far wall is a stunning series of large murals with dancer-like figures that seem to move whimsically but have enigmatic expressions. At over seven feet in height, it is easy to become lost in the scene while marveling at the time it must have taken Bokunen to create this body of work.

During the programme, he mentions about the importance of colour:)

The colours expresses themselves when they are together 

The colours have souls:) (which made me rmb the paintings of Edel Adnan which I have seen in Documenta 13)