WLCMBCK Show Review

I chose this specific wall of artwork because I appreciated each work individually and also how they flowed from one piece to the next. Each piece seemed as though it was getting you ready for what was next. I also appreciated the curation of the entire show. Before it was explained to us, I thought that each piece was well placed in terms of space and positioning to the eye level of its audience. Once the placement was explained it made sense that each piece seemed to fit and give enough room for the next piece to shine. It was also an interesting note that the show had no particular theme other than a welcome back for the faculty and students and yet the pieces on this wall do have a dialogue with one another.

It begins with Stephan Westfall’s Cosmadin  (2008). It is smaller than a lot of his usual work measuring at just 38” x  30”, but it still commands a presence with its simple pattern of colored diamonds. The pattern becomes an optical illusion in trying to discover whether the diamonds are coming towards you or receding into space. The canvas itself appears to have been coated with several layers of gesso or gel medium, which can be discovered by just getting a few feet away. The canvas’ surface is thick and almost rough like a cold pressed sheet of watercolor paper. As you observe the actual image or painting itself, it becomes remarkable that the pattern was done in paint and by hand rather than a machine. Each diamond looks perfectly symmetrical.

The next piece is Eileen Behnke’s On The Grass (2010). Measuring at 5’ x 3’ it is the largest piece on this wall. It depicts figures on the grass outdoors. While the piece was clearly painted in a different aesthetic than Westfall’s it still commands it’s own presence on the wall. It accomplishes this by perhaps doing the exact opposite of Westfall’s painting. The paint is applied on thickly and its brush strokes are very visible. The colors also tend to vibrate with one another, a trait all the paintings on this wall share.

Julie Langsam’s Fuller Landscape (2007) is next on the wall. This painting combines pattern and landscape. The bottom of the painting is a grid of red tints that form the horizon. On top, is a building that sits against a cloudy sunset. For me, the curation of this piece is interesting because of its relationship to the previous two paintings, the pattern of Westfall and the Landscape aspect of Behnke. In terms of paint application, the paint is applied thicker in the red tinted pattern and it is obvious the entire painting is done by hand.

Finally is Caetlynn Booth’s Checkpoint (2010).  Booth’s piece measures at 16” x 48” making the painting particularly long. She applies the paint rather thick creating a more solid look to the image. The image portrays a street covered in colored lights and shadows. Again it seems to play with a combination of pattern and landscape.

In relation to the rest of the show, these four pieces seem to have one of the most cohesive themes. They play with color, paint application, pattern, to create three dimensions and optical illusions.      

Interview

Jeffrey Villanueva: Ok, so let’s start with when did you start drawing?

Brian McGinn: When I was very little, probably when I was five. One of my older cousins, he had a bunch of comic books, and I always thought the drawings were cool. So I started like tracing Wolverine and I started to get a feel for how you could actually make these people without tracing them and like how arms work and stuff like that.

JV: That’s funny because your work actually does look very graphic, almost like a comic book.

BG: Yeah, that’s how I started drawing

JV: It’s funny it shows through even years later

BG: Yeah it’s still there, evidence of where you started.

JV: When did you start doing design work?

BG: Uhm design, I took a Photoshop class in high school. I wasn’t really too interested in design but I’d say that most of my work is pretty graphic as it is. You know so painting or drawing is like, I like to do both of them but I’m not like a fine artist. Most of the stuff that I do naturally would just be graphic like designs like this. (Shows some of his designs)

JV: So do you work on the computer or drawing or is it both?

BG: It’s a lot of both, I mean, less computer because i'm not as good at it but if I have to incorporate letters and stuff I’ll use the computer. But I love typography so I like to use the computer when I can. But most of my prints are just done by hand.

JV: So the medium you use is obviously… print? What does that consist of? Lithography, etching? 

BG: Yeah, lithography, etching, aquatint, over the summer I did silk screen and woodcut, and also I took a book making class and it taught me how to make books and paper.

JV: So did you make the paper for this book? (A book done in woodcut and silkscreen by McGinn)

BG: uh, no not this one but I have made paper.

JV: So why this medium, with this subject that you’re going for? Why this specific medium?

BG: Well I uh, took a print class cos I wanted to learn silk screen and stuff like that, but I could never get into silk screen so I did everything that wasn’t silk screen cos they weren’t full. And I really liked all of it and it was easier to do that and make a print out of that then to use the computer for me. So I really got into print making because it was done by hand, which is how I do things most of the time.

JV: So what is the subject matter for your work? What are you trying to focus on?

BG: It’s basically whatever comes to my head. I try to incorporate my symmetry aspect and try to hide the image or make it psychedelic in some way. Like with this book, what I was gong for was just doodles and lines and hoping people would be able to find different things.

JV: You have very nice line work.

BG: Thanks I actually did some of this with my fingers.

JV: Really? I could never imagine getting that thin with a finger.

BG: (laughter) Yeah. You know when like a window fogs up, I always love doing lines with my fingers cos you can use the tip of your finger and then go onto your nail. You could say I’ve been practicing.

JV: Wow it still looks pretty difficult to get that thin even with a nail. (laughter)

JV: All right, so where do you gather your inspiration from, what other artists do you look at and where do you get your ideas?

BG: Uhm I don’t really look at too many other artists but I do, I love music and I always love to look at album covers. You know The Grateful Dead album covers are awesome. Uh Yes, I’m not a big Yes fan but their album covers are pretty sweet. Their logo is awesome. I love album artwork. I have a big appreciation for the design that goes into album artwork.

JV: Awesome, so you said you don’t look at a lot of other artists but do you have any favorite artist that inspires you at all?

BG: I wouldn’t say fine artists in a gallery but I do love graffiti. Which is kind of where I get my lines and stuff like that. Cycle is awesome. All the old guys like E wok, they’re really cool. All the New York graffiti artists, my mom always bought me the books.

JV: So are into any other forms of art?

BG: Uhm yeah I love music, music is like, I almost love it, maybe even more than visual art.

JV: So you love it and can perform it? What do you play?

BG: I play the bass, I had a hardcore band we stopped playing. We played our last show a few weeks ago and I have another band that’s like a jam band.

JV: Awesome, jam band’s are cool.

BG: (laughter) yeah, and we’re still playing

JV: Cool, so just music or anything else?

BG: I love movies, I love a good movie, I’m not really a good reader so I don’t read a lot

JV: Hahaha, I’m not a very good reader either.

BG: I’m not a very good reader but I do like to write, essays, creative writing; I took a creative writing class, that was a lot of fun. But I’m not a good reader so I don’t gather very much inspiration from literature and stuff like that.

JV: Yeah I understand. (laughter) ok so finally what are your plans after college?

BG: I’m looking to open up my own design place. I’d love to design album covers and do album artwork.

JV: Cool, what about grad school?

BG: definitely an option. I’m going to see what I can do before I go to grad school but it’s definitely an option.

 

Curate

Donna Gustafson’s intention was to ask the question, “how do you think of water?” She wants you to see water in a new way. In contrast I want to focus on a more specific characteristic of water; it’s ability to take form. Water is the most versatile of the elements. This is especially true in it’s ability to take forms. Whether the water forms the negative space such as in Atul Bhalla’s Immersions, or the postive space as they do in Maya Lin’s Dew Point. I have chosen these four pieces because they illustrate the different shapes water can take and be described in. You still get a full idea of what water is and you can still ask yourself what more can water be? How is it depicted and what is it used for? I was particularly interested in the three dimensional space water occupies. For example, the “water” in Black Sea forms an interesting horizon and also an interesting positive form due to the shaped plastic. And particularly in Bhalla’s Immersions, the water is forced into becoming the negative space against very solid, very contrasting cast sand. The reason I chose Two Lakes was to show the abstract shape of water. You can imagine seeing water from an aerial perspective and these are the forms you would see. Overall I want the audience to see water as both a shape and a form which occupies space. 

Water by Donna Gustafson

Donna Gustafson’s curation of Water at the Zimmerli Art Museum depicts both the calm and rage that water can possess. At some points blunt and others subtler, the show illustrates the different characteristics of water and juxtaposes them against one another. For example, upon first entering the Water exhibit, you are greeted by bright and beautiful walls reminiscent of the ocean itself. As you examine further however, you notice the giant fish net holding countless bottles of water, asking the question can water be owned? Water is all around us, seemingly abundant, and yet sold for profit and owned like a material possession.

What is most interesting about the Water exhibit is its ability to provoke thought from the audience. The first room in the exhibit emphasizes this with two particular pieces; the first by Hans Haacke entitled Condensation Cube and the other by Maya Lin entitled Dew Point. Both pieces depict water with Haacke using a more literal translation, and Lin essentially focusing on the same idea of condensation or dew and magnifying it into large sculptures. This pairing is particularly strong in that it examines the same characteristic of water in both a natural and imaginative way.

The next room also features a piece by Maya Lin. On the opposite side of Dew Point, is Lin’s piece entitled Pin River. This piece takes a more theatrical approach to interpret water.  It is an abstract piece with an obvious reference to how a river flows, constructed with a not so obvious choice of material, needles. The choice to put these two pieces on opposite sides of a wall really highlights the creativity of Lin and was another strong choice by Gustafson.

As you continue through the exhibit, each room brings a different experience. Every wall is painted a specific shade of ocean blue to accentuate the paintings and pieces on display. The video room is particularly interesting. The pairing of two videos showing water, one calm, the other in a more excited state truly shows the versatility of water.

Gustafson really tries to make you think about what water is and what it means, however, at times the idea is forced. I do believe some of the blue walls were excessive. And probably due to the lack of space, the pieces look as though they are on top of one another. There is a flow between each piece but it feels rushed as if the Gustafson had to pack her vision in a smaller space than she would have preferred. She also did not always let the artwork’s own intention come through. You see all the pieces as one series explaining Gustafson’s perspective and because of this you sometimes lose the fact that the artists had different intentions. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however it poses the question, who is the artist? In this case it is Gustafson.