Looking toward the road ahead. Yellowstone, finally! Here we come.

Southern California Continued

Around Los Angeles,

05/04/09
#257. Laguna Museum of Art

05/05/09
#258. The Getty Center

05/06/09
Riverside
#259. UCR/California Museum of Photography
#260. Riverside Art Museum
#261. Riverside Metropolitan Museum

05/07/09
#262. UCLA Hammer Museum
#263. Los Angeles County Museum of Art

05/08/09
#264. Long Beach Museum of Art
#265. UAM/CSULB
#266. Orange County Center for Contemporary Art

Southern California

Southern California around San Diego.

04/28/09
San Diego
#248. Mingei International Museum
#249. Museum of Photographic Arts
#250. San Diego Museum of Art
#251. Spanish Village Art Center
#252. Timken Museum
#253. San Diego Art Institute: Museum of The Living Artist
#254. San Diego Museum of Man

04/30/09
Oceanside
#255. Oceanside Museum of Art
California Surf Museum

05/03/09
#256. Carlsbad Oceanside Art League

Pittsburgh

#227. Carnegie Museum of Art,

#228. Mattress Factory, the,

Here in Youngstown

#226. Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

Fathers Day Fun

#223: Vanderpoel Art Association [Museum(collection)]
When we got there the gallery was locked. I told the attendant I was here for the art(this is a field house with a pool and a community workout center), she had to get the keys and power up the lights from a hidden closet on the first floor. Once inside we had the exhibit all to ourselves. I could see the years of wear on some of the paintings(reminds me of the condition of the work at the Gardner in Boston) but for the most part the work was in good shape. I felt no pressure as examined each painting, print and sculpture on display. I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere , a collection definitely off the beaten path and worth checking out.

#224: NVVAM or National Viet Nam Veterans Art Museum
I've driven and biked by this place so many times, it's about time to check it out. First off it's much larger than I imagined having three floors. Work is by both skilled and amateur artists mostly from veterans some work by children of veterans. I can appreciate the work and exhibits but feel there should be more work because there seemed to be a lot of unused space. Worth checking out and very intense. Be prepared.

#225: Depaul University Museum
Campus was geering up for graduation but the museum was still open to the public. The first exhibit was a display of Ellis Island Portraits. The work looked as though it was digitally reprinted on a pebble finish coldpress paper with a sepia tone. I most enjoyed the descriptions of the travelers that accompanied each piortrait. Across the hall there was a Juried Student Art exhibition, with various types of work including video, interactive even installation. I was told that there was an exhibition of photographs of Cuba from the early 20th century in the Latino Studies dept but the space was closed by the time we got there.

Studio is a Mess!

This studio is really a mess and I'm not gonna take it anymore!

South Central...Art Tour

Wednesday thru Saturday: Charlotte > Spartanburg > Greenville > Augusta > Savannah > Charleston > Columbia

Charlotte:

#189: Mint Museum of Art
The building actually used to be a U.S. Mint or something like that. They have examples of the money minted there so long ago. They also have a decent art collection. The Mint Museum system also operates a Craft and Design Museum in a separate location, I did not get to visit that location.


Spartanburg:

#190: Spartanburg Art Museum
One of the best jurried shows I have seen in a long time. Kudos the artists, the curator and the museum for have a distinct vision. A wonderful surprise!!!


Greenville:

BMW Zentrum
#191: Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery
#192: Geenville County Museum of Art
A hidden gem! The building is architecturally interesting and the inner space is still usable. There were at least three good sized exhibitions and there was still room left for more and the people were friendly! Whoa! What a great art place.

Augusta:

#193: Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art
Another hidden gem! While you may have seen the art center in a historic home thing before, think again.


Savannah:

#194: SCAD Museum of Art
#195: Telfair Museum of Art
#196: Jepson Center for the Arts


Charleston:

#197: Gibbes Museum of Art


Columbia:

#198: Columbia Museum of Art

Art Madison

One Special Saturday started with drving through blustery weather en-route to explore the Art Museums of Madison, Wisconsin. Why? Because I never hear about them. I have heard decent things about the art program at UW though.

THE MAINSTREAM would like you to eat your pinecone and shut up! To hell with the mainstream! The mainstream says "contemporary art= unintelligible, conceptual, monstrosity with excrement smeared on it." Yeah, Right! Contemporary Art, really = art done in our time. Even watercolors, landscapes and portraiture.


#187: Chazen Museum of Art:

In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite

For me this exhibit was a sort of reaquainting with roman culture. It fleshed out the experience I had while exploring Empuries on the Spanish coast north of Barcelona. I think this is a good exhibit for those interested in history and willing to slow down enough to take in what they are seeing.

Peter Gourfain: Roundabout and Fate of the Earth Doors

This piece is massive and fills almost the entire main floor. The reliefs made of terra-cotta are interesting though seemingly repetative. The artist had originally intended to carve the reliefs from wood but had to stop after developing an alergic reaction to the wood dust.

Permanent collection

Browsing the permanent collection felt as if I was getting just a sample of great collection. The size of the museum confims this, as there are several galleries with changing exhibitions, there is not enough space to show more of the native collection.


#188: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art:

You can go on the roof! This is really cool and you get a small sculpture park/dining area with a good view of the roofline across the street and a great pearch for watching people on the street below.

In Depth: A Closer Look at MMoCA's Permanent Collection:

These guys have a nice photography and print collection, it's almost as if they cornered the market on Bravo photographs, Just kidding. Overall I enjoyed a lot of the works from Wisconsin artists unknown to me.

Young at Art:

Alot of childrens exhibits often look like just that: childrens work. Alot of the work in this exhibit seems to be a bit more polished than I am used to. Kudo's to Madison's student artists!

Comment: I am really glad to see usable building space at MMoCA is much more successful than other buildings of similar concept. The MCA, Contemporary Art Center and Racine Art Museum all have an exorbitant amount of wasted space. Thank You again MMoCA!