I decided that the first thing I would do on the day (Jan 2) after New Year's Day is to go out on a day tour of several places close to my residence. So, with the help of Google, I mapped out a route where I would go down south to car service place first for 8 am appointment for the oil change and for the repair of the gas cap door hinge. After I got my car serviced and the door repaired, I crossed the Hudson River and went up north to Katonah, NY for the first stop.
Destination #1: Katonah Museum of Art - Katonah, NY
I have been to this museum several times before - the last time being over three years ago. It is a small museum but it never failed to inspire me to see or think in a different way.
The main exhibition,
Walt Whitman and American Art of the Civil War Era, has a big impact on my perspective on what is like to go through this country's difficult time. Last year, I have watched the PBS' documentary on Abraham Lincoln and the enormous challenges that he faced during his presidency. I did not realize how unpopular he was during the Civil War. And this exhibition gave me insights into how deeply divided this nation was - even within the families. I am amazed at how this nation managed to stay together after this horrible war - I could not believe the amount of destruction and devastation this single war had caused. I learned that Walt was involved in the care of the injured soldiers and how enraged he was at the people who tried to take economic advantage of the soldiers and their families' sufferings. I could not remember the names of all of the artists represented except one - Winslow Homer. Their paintings did tell me a LOT of stories as told by soldiers, slave-owners, families and politicians through their facial expressions, their body language, and their attitudes. All of the paintings were done during the Civil War, and also displayed is one item that is of special interest to me is Walt's book of poetry collection,
Leaves of Grass.
The Civil War exhibition took up the space of two large galleries on both sides of the building. After I went through them, I went to a smaller gallery in the front - it used to be a museum shop and it was one of my favorite museum shops. On view in this small space is Alison Moritsugu's Hudson River Trilogy - one whole wall is covered Alison's wallpaper - it looked great, and then when I looked at the accompanying info sheet, I was surprised to learn that all of the "beautiful" plants from the Hudson River milieu are actually invasive ones that are threatening the current native flora. On other walls are unusual paintings done on the surfaces of cut pieces of tree trunk. Also on view are Brian Zelnick's illustrations for a childen's book on Walt Whitman - in another small room which is used as a classroom. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to see his work as for some reasons, I have never felt comfortable entering into any classroom if I am not taking a class. But I will try the next time I pay another visit there.
The museum's "backyard" contains a collection of sculptures (shown below) created by Chakaia Booker which happened to be one of my favorite outdoor sculptors. My first encounter with her tire art happened to be at
Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, New York, and ever since, whenever I see any of her work in other places, I would immediately recognized it as hers.
You can see her other works in her
website.After I viewed the exhibitions above, I drove out and saw the building across the driveway from the museum, and ...
in the front is a mailbox repurposed as a flag drop. I never thought of that!
After the above snaphots were taken, I drove on to get to the next stop:
Destination #2: The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum - Ridgefield, CTThe road from Katonah to Ridgefield was truly a picturesque one - a fresh blanket of snow fell a couple of hours earlier. I have never been to this museum, and also even though I have been in Connecticut's Fairfield County many times, I have not seen the northern part. The town were full of old homes - some Victorian, and some dating back to colonial times. I was surprised to find that a contemporary art museum would exist in this quaint town. My main reason for wanting to visit this museum was that I wanted to see the
Bike Rides: The Exhibition before it is over (Jan 17th), and I also wanted to find out what Edward Tufte is exhibiting there.
This bulldozer caught my attention, and I was determined to find out who the artist is.
I walked around a little bit, and I could not find a plaque that would tell me the artist's name.
Looking up at the front wall of the building, I noticed a hole. I didn't know what it was until I went inside and upstairs. It was for the
camera obscura ("dark room") - I could see the faint image coming in from the outside even though it was cloudy.
The bike exhibition starts outside in the front with three installations:
Bike Rack, 1998-2009, Tom Sachs
Cotter Pin Bike Rack, 2009, Studio Track Architecture
Bike Crab, 2009, David Gelfman
Before I entered the building, I noticed the poster on the exterior wall.
I picked up various brochures and after looking at the bikes (one of them is made from bamboo!), I viewed other exhibitions:
1.
Gerard Hemsworth: Hidden Agenda - Gerard's from England and it's his first solo exhibition in United States.
2.
Pretty Tough: Contemporary Storytelling A group exhibition of works done by nine female artists - some of the work reminded me of American Craft Musuem's (now Museum of Art and Design) Extreme Embroidery exhibition in New York, and one artist's (Kate Clark) sculptures reminded me of the movie, Mirrormask.
3.
Edward Tufte: Seeing Around - I went into this gallery, and I did not expect him to do any sculptural work. The more I look at them, the more sense it made to me. I had recalled reading two of his books, and after looking at the sculptures in detail, I said to myself, "Yeah, that's him!"
From one of the brochures below I was also surprised to discover that all of the outdoor installations (except the ones relating to the bike exhibition) were conceived by Edward Tufte.
From that brochure, I also found out the name of the conceptual artist (Edward Tufte) for the bulldozer in the front. I bought two books by Edward many years ago, and based on these books, I got the impression that his field of concentration is on the science of displaying information and on how the information is communicated to the public.
I also discovered that he authored two additional books which I later ordered and got them in the mail last week.
I went outside from the back of the building to look at Edward's installations. I don't think the warning sign below is one of them, though.
Here are the photos of his sculptures:
Looking at the end of one of the rusted steel sculptures above, I could not help but think, "Buck Rogers". I went back inside the museum, and made a beeline for the gift shop (now one of the best museum shops for me to visit). I bought a couple of items and paid $88.88. When I saw this number, thought about the tour route looking like the figure 8 and the time of my car service appointment (8 am), I got the goose bumps as I did not know what to make out of this repeated occurences. Anyway, I love this shopping bag with the words:
look. look again. Perfect word for developing observational skills.
Here's what I bought: A Pentagram typography center - it has short descriptions for each month's featured typefont.
That envelope on top of the above calender is a paper flower/leaves garland that can be hung from a ceiling. This "Fairy Tail" garland was designed by Tord Boontje.
When I first saw the above garland, I immediately remembered the book that I acquired a while ago:
Tord Boontje
I also bought three books. I could not get a brochure on Gerard Hemsworth, so I was happy to get a book on his work. The other two...umm...I will explain these in later posts. :-)
I went outside to hop into my car for the next stop. But I decided to walk around a little bit more to see more of Edward Tufte's installation. I regret to report that I could not stay there longer for Edward's lecture at 2 pm as I had to visit other two places before I get home.
After looking at the "backyard," I hopped into my car for the drive south to the next stop:
Destination #3: Center for Contemporary Printmaking - Norwalk, CTI found out about this place through a website,
Connecticut Art Trail, whose Art Pass (15 museums for $25) was mentioned in the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum's webage. You can see that one thing leads to another. Anyway, this printmaking center is situated in the Mathews Park.
This building used to be a carriage house - the main house is right across the street which is now a historical museum.
I entered in, and encountered a very nice lady. After I viewed the prints done by
Alice Candiana and Sandra Ramos as well as several monoprints done by others, the lady offered me a tour of printmaking and papermaking workshops on the first floor and upstairs. I was very fascinated with the arrangements of these shops, and I am impressed with a variety of presses and equipments for making prints.
On the way to upstairs, I saw three long prints done by Ibrahim Miranda, a Cuban artist. I have never heard of him, and I was already mesmerized by his complex but beautiful prints. I will have to do more research on this artist to find out more about his style. Show below is the Helen Frankenthaler Printmaking Cottage which is used as artists' residence.
I wished I had the time to tour the other two museums in the same park, but I had to get in the car and head for the next and final stop:
Destination #4: Bruce Museum - Greenwich, CT This museum contains a mixture of both artistic and scientific exhibitions. Of special interest to me is Calder's prints.
After I parked my car, I walked around and took several snapshots of the building and the outdoor sculptures.
Since the grounds were covered in snow, I could not find the plague that would tell me who created this metal installation.
Totem pole...
The museum building on top of a hill...
The museum's entrance...
Listed below are the exhibitions that I viewed in this building:
1.
Charles Addams: Cartoonist - some of his cartoons were exhibited in the lobby and the rest in a large gallery. I enjoyed a good chuckle from his quirky and sometime macabre humor - and duh, I didn't know that he was the creator of the Addams family.
2. Alchemy: Magic, Myth or Science? - I saw this exhibition two days before it was closed. For some reasons, I was not impressed with this exhibition.
3.
Alexander Calder: Printmaker - I was very surprised by the fact that he created many prints. An excerpt from this exhibition's introduction said:
"... attention paid to Calder's innovation in sculpture has obscured his prolonged engagement with other media including painting, drawing, jewelry design, set design, and printmaking." Well, this is so true, and whenever I think about Calder, I automatically think mobiles, wire sculptures, and large metal sculptures.
4.
Eat or Be Eaten: Animal Survival Strategies - When I first saw this title, I sarcastically said to myself that a new exhibition could be created with the title, "Eat or Be Eaten: Human Survival Strategies in the Business World" (smile). Anyway, this natural science section provided me a fresh insights into the form and design of the animal kingdom.
As usual, I went to the museum shop to get an electronic copy of the Alexander Calder exhibition brochure - the paper copy is not available. I also bought a sticker book - it's not for the kids only - the adults could benefit from it, too.
I walked back to the car tired but satisfied with a full day of art. As I was driving down the hill, I saw this sculpture and I had to stop and take a snapshot. I have no idea as to who the artist is, so I do hope I will find out the name at a later date.
Wow, what a great tour. I did experience a little bit of sensory overload, but I felt enriched by such a wealth of cultural treasures. Look at the variety - old paintings, contemporary paintings, cartoon drawings, illustrations, prints, printmaking facilities, sculptures, nature, and architecture in only two counties - Westchester (NY) and Fairfield (CT). And all of these are within 60 miles from my home. What a great tour!
I drove into the parking lot, and right in the middle of it is a huge structure with a peacock on top of it (see blue arrow). I noticed that a good number of rocks looked like it came from a volcano.
I paid the admission and walked the grounds. I took quite bit of pictures, but I decided to show you a few and let them speak for themselves.
The next stop I made is the "The Fun Farm" in Bend, Oregon. It's a combination of junk, antiques, and costume shop. I drove into the parking lot, and unfortunately the store was not open when I arrived. It's really an interesting place, but since the store was not open, I did not feel comfortable going into the back of the store to see the huge installations visible from the main road (more like a highway).
These two are truly fascinating places. I hope to go back to "The Fun Farm" again, but I go there again, I will find a way to contact them and find out the store hours. You can get more information about these two places in the book (Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations) below:
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