Tag Archives: exhibit

Art on Color is No Joke

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Question: What do two architects have in common with a
French artist and an English painter?

Answer: An irrefutable interest in color.

Chelsea is a Manhattan, New York neighborhood. While the people who live there may be colorful and lively, the art galleries tend to steer clear of the vibrant hues found in other parts of the city.

This summer, however, an art exhibit has moved in and is brightening up this subculture of New York. Entitled, “Art on Color,” the exhibit is anything but chromatic. In fact, the two men responsible for this three month showcase made it their mission to paint every wall of Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl a different color, leaving only one wall white.

“It’s always important to know where to start and where to stop with color,” said Peter Stamberg, partner at Stamberg Aferiat and Associates, an architectural design firm based in New York City. Together with Paul Aferiat, the two architects designed some profound establishments, like the Saguaro hotel in Palm Springs and Shelter Island Pavilion, which are known for their bold color and architectural designs.

In addition to designing buildings, they are also the masterminds behind the exhibit “Art on Color.” Although, it can be said that more than two great minds engineered this idea.

Stamberg and Aferiat invited great artists like John Baldessari, Ann Hamilton, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Brice Marden, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist and Joel Shapiro to feature their work in Chelsea this summer.

 

However, even Hockney is hesitant to claim his title as a color authority. He advises the men behind “Art on Color” to go to Matisse when they are “having trouble with color.” After all, the colorful works of art created by the French artist display the magnificent qualities art takes on when it is infused with bold color.

Stamberg and Aferiat are bathing New York with color this year, but with designs popping up all over the United States, who knows where their touch of color will land next.

Read more Segmation blog posts about art and color:

Pantone’s World of Color

The Importance of Color Vision and Art

Liza Amor Shows Las Vegas What Happens in the Art Room

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Smithsonian Declares Video Games Works of Art

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When you think of the word “art”, what comes to your mind? Picassso, painting, drawing, Michelangelo, photography, and….video games? Most people would probably not associate that last term with art. But the truth is, video games are being acknowledged as an art form. In fact, the Smithsonian American Art Museum is so convinced of this that it is currently hosting an exhibit called “The Art of Video Games”.

The Smithsonian’s increasingly popular exhibit features about four decades worth of video games. It displays games created in the 1970’s and 1980’s, such as Space Invaders, Pac Man, Combat, Super Mario, and Pitfall, and later games such as Heavy Rain. The exhibit is interactive, and most people come not to observe, but to play. “The Art of Video Games” has been such a smash success that there are plans for it to move to 10 other cities.

One of the reasons the Smithsonian decided to acknowledge video games as works of art is the sheer prevalence of them in the modern world. Betsy Broun, director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, pointed out that up to 6 million copies of a single video game have sold in just one day. Obviously, there is something unique about video games that captures people, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum wanted to find out what that was and expose it.

But what is it about video games that is so artistic? To find the answer to this question, begin by considering the games’ images. “Indeed, when you look at some of the images from games, they can resemble moving paintings, from abstract to figurative to landscapes.” There are probably dozens of artistic features in your favorite video games; it is just a matter of recognizing them.

The intense creative process that must take place for a video game to be born is another validation of a game’s artistic nature. After all, art is always the product of some type of creative work, no matter how simple or intricate. In the case of video games, the process of creation tends to be quite complex.

By creating “The Art of Video Games” exhibit, the Smithsonian American Art Museum is challenging people everywhere to open their minds and hearts to the possibility of new art forms. The droves of people that are visiting the exhibit are proving that they believe video games are works of art — do you?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57399522/the-art-of-video-games/

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“Morbid Curiosity”–A Chicago Cultural Center Exhibit

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The Chicago Cultural Center opened a very unique and intense art exhibit in January called “Morbid Curiosity.” The exhibit is truly unique because it showcases the work not of a singular artist, but of a collector. The art exhibit is extremely intense because its theme is death.

Richard Harris has spent twelve years collecting pieces of art that convey the many themes of death. The Chicago Cultural Center has over 1,000 of Harris’s pieces on display–they include artifacts, photographs, and decorative objects.

Surprisingly, this is only a portion of the pieces that Harris has collected over the years. His entire collection of death-related art totals more than 1,500 pieces. The museum’s curators, alongside Harris, created a replica of the Cultural Center in order to choose which pieces should be included and how they should be exhibited. Several practice runs led to the many-roomed “Morbid Curiosity” exhibit.

The goal of the exhibit is to address the many facets of death. One entire section of the Chicago Cultural Center is devoted to Mexico’s Day of the Dead. This portion of the exhibit contains a funeral procession of death-related artwork including altar paintings, drawings, and photography.

Another room offers a religious perspective on death. Christian and Catholic artwork provides a foundation on which to examine the common fate we all share in our relationship with death. Artistic images are used to relate the concept of death to the individual.

One room in the Chicago Cultural Center has been affectionately dubbed “the war room” and contains pieces of art that reflect the toll that human action, particularly war, can have on human life.

The exhibit also includes a 13 foot chandelier made of 3,000 plaster bones, 50 photographs, dozens of skulls, real and artistic representations, and Japanese pieces of art made from bone.

Be warned–this exhibit is not for the squeamish. However, “Morbid Curiosity” is perhaps the most suitable name for this exhibit. After all, death may very well be the single thing we all have in common. Richard Harris, along with the Chicago Cultural Center, has afforded us the opportunity to examine how different cultures, religions, and individual actions relate to death. The exhibit ends in July.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-0126-museums-morbid-20120125,0,7002015.story

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