Blog

Self Exposure

The Indian-born artist Zarina Hashmi–known simply as Zarina–is exceptionally brave. Though her small works on paper are technically excellent, she impresses me most as an artist who is unafraid of exposing her secrets and personal losses. Recently, while leading a group of fifth graders through Zarina: Paper Like Skin, the artist’s current retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, one student said to me, “It seems like she doesn’t want her memories, like she is trying to cover them up with black ink.” He had no idea how apt this comment was. Zarina herself has stated, “Memory is a burden. I tried to get rid of my memories, but it didn’t work, so I decided to use them.”
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Color Saturation

In my ongoing class on Henri Matisse, we recently discussed Michel-Eugéne Chevreul’s role in Matisse’s development as an outstanding colorist. Chevreul (1786-1889) was trained as a chemist, but he became a surprisingly influential figure in the fields of art and design. In 1824, he was hired by Gobelins, a Paris-based tapestry manufacturer, and he quickly became head of the dyeing department. Chevreul was immediately tasked with eliminating any existing color deviations in Gobelins’ dyes. While working towards this goal, he found that the dyes were, indeed, reliable and consistent, but colors appeared altered depending what they were placed beside.
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Copycat

I just began teaching a class on Henri Matisse. In our first meeting, we investigated his practice of copying other artists’ work and techniques. A few questions arose: What is the value in doing so? And how can an artist who is so intent on being a trailblazer get to a point of originality through imitation?
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Lo Real Maravilloso

Mexico City, from which I returned last week, is an underrated metropolis. It is full of provocative paradoxes and surprising juxtapositions. These inconsistencies at first seem jarring, but upon closer inspection, they meld together to create a pervasive air of fascinating strangeness.
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Happy Anniversary

Call me a traditionalist, but I think the world’s most radical art was created a century ago. As we all look forward to 2013, I’ve been looking back at 1913–a revolutionary year in visual art, music, dance, and literature.
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Art and Biography

The discipline of art history often frowns upon reading an artist’s work through a biographical lens. Many scholars consider it deterministic and an easy way out (i.e. Van Gogh was depressed when he painted Starry Night, so he used a dark color palette dominated by cool blue tones). However, biography is an important factor, and it should not be ignored. In certain cases, learning more about an artist’s personal life can prove enlightening, especially when the information is used in a responsible way. These two portraits by Pablo Picasso provide a case in point. Done only five years apart, each image depicts one of Picasso’s lovers, yet they vary greatly in style and tone. How might we account for their noticeable discrepancies?
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Stroller Tours

A friend and colleague of mine recently started a business offering art and architecture tours for parents and their babies. It’s called Bottle Rocket Stroller Tours, and it’s a great opportunity for new parents in the city to meet and learn something together.
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Transatlanticism

Recently, I returned from a month-long trip to Buenos Aires. My central aim was to gather primary sources for my dissertation, which investigates the role that the Italian immigrant community played in the rise of modern Argentine art. I spent many hours in archives, libraries, and parillas (traditional steakhouses). The overall experience was productive and a lot of fun.
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Dijkstra’s Gaze

Now that summer is underway, I can safely disclose my favorite show of the season: Rineke Dijkstra’s mid-career retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. Dijkstra, a 53-year-old Dutch photographer, is scarily adept at getting beneath the skin of her sitters to reveal their deepest insecurities. Though her portraits are often of children or adolescents at the height of vulnerability, she occasionally photographs adults who have recently undergone harrowing and/or revelatory experiences. Her most successful adult series include blood-splattered bullfighters who have momentarily escaped death in the ring, women just emerging from childbirth, and Israeli soldiers directly following target practice.
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