The Internets are alive with reverence for Zhan Wang’s stainless steel re-creation of San Francisco (above; he’s now exhibiting at the Asian Art Museum), but when I saw it, I immediately thought of Subodh Gupta’s work (below). I’ve always admired Gupta’s use of commonplace utensils in a way that transcends their everyday purpose; would love to see more of what Wang has to offer (it’s particularly interesting, to me at least, that Wang forges his own stainless steel, thus situating his works in a very real place and time; the work above ultimately can be traced back to the Sierra Nevadas).
May 7, 2008
Stainless steel
Posted by tf under Arts and crafts | Tags: art, asian art, asian art museum, contemporary art, exhibitions, museums, sierra nevadas, stainless steel, subodh gupta, zhan wang |Leave a Comment
December 29, 2007
Five (NYC) exhibits I wish I had seen in 2007
Posted by tf under Arts and crafts | Tags: Arts and crafts, crafts, embroidery, exhibitions, gustav klimt, India, international center for photography, kara walker, kashmir, neue galerie, New York, robert capa, scene, whitney museum |Leave a Comment
(Instead of drinking my way through the Village …)
1. Gustav Klimt at the Neue Galerie — an old favorite; what’s not to like about Viennese art nouveau?
2. “My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love,” Kara Walker, Whitney Museum of American Art — probably the best-reviewed show of the year; I don’t explore contemporary American art nearly enough as I probably should.
3. “This is War!”, Robert Capa, International Center for Photography — a retrospective of the Magnum vet’s war photojournalism, and a reminder that the images coming out of Iraq now lack a certain independent spirit of earlier eras.
4. “Pricked: Extreme Embroidery,” multiple artists, Museum of Art and Design — I stitch, I bitch, therefore I am?
5. “Arts of Kashmir,” Asia Society — a deeply divided region that nonetheless houses some of the most beautiful art in the known world.