Hilma Af Klint
1862 - 1944 Solna, Sweden
Hilma af Klint is a rediscovered abstract painter and also one of my new favorite artists. Her work comprises of 
over 1,000 oil paintings, watercolors and sketches. Most are dedicated to her knowledge of theosophy and anthroposophy. It's believed that her spiritualism sparked after the death of her sister. 
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Af Klint requested that her work not be viewed by the public until 20 years after her death. She probably did not expect the world to grasp what she was attempting. However, it was more than 40 years after her death that any sign of her work was acknowledged.  

The oil paintings I saw at the Biennale were not as large as the ones shown above (I have to visit Berlin for those!) 
Considered to be a pioneer of abstract art, Hilma af Klint painted from her ideas of the world and its inhabitants.
"Af Klint was driven in a way that is difficult to deal with.Her art just kept on coming, in all its variety and strangeness, until she died, in the same year as Mondrian and Kandinsky. What for the two men was a generalised utopian spirit, for Af Klint was a matter of personal psychic survival. She must have been incredibly tough."
-Adrian Searle 
. . .

Anna Zemankova 
1908-1986 Olomouc, Czech Republic
my sad camera skills don't do the fine details found in her pieces any justice. You might just have to see these in person ;)
(above screenshot) Untitled
oil pastel, ball point pen on paper
24 x 18 in
Ana Zemankova's creative process started in her 50s when depression hit. She used her embroidery skills along with multiple mixed media such as oil pastels and colored pencils to cope with with the suffering. The psychedelic colors were all I could see at first then I stopped to take in the embellished beading and embroidery details. . .AMAZING!!! Each composition I saw checked off the basic principles of design. I was blown away by the variety in line quality, balance between geometric and organic forms and most of all the style of flowers are just the way she saw them.
"I grow flowers that grow nowhere else" - Anna Zemankova
Her compositions play with light in a way that they radiate warmth. Intensified with bright bold colors and patterns that bring harmony to her piece.
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not to mention TEXTURE!


Shinro Ohtake 
1955 Tokyo, Japan
painting, sculpture, bookmaking
There was a surprise around every corner of the Biennale. Shinro Ohtake filled an entire room with rows of these slapdash books of purposeful chaos. Ohtake whose work I believe is inspired by the growth of art history has clear responses to mass media and contemporary life. It took Ohtake years of consideration and planning to put together these scrapbooks. He was influenced by his travels, dreams, and diaries which he outwardly reflects by collaging and layering personal and found objects.

Jean-Frédéric Schnyder 
1945 Basil, Switzerland
Oil, textile, watercolor on linen
Schnyder painted in an attempt to overthrow the stereotype of Switzerland being a perfect and pastoral place. Art history is filled with Madonna renditions. He repetitively uses religious motifs especially Christian iconography which makes his works controversial. Yet, he uses a faux-naive style that intentionally treats his subject matter with dry humor. 





I studied Schnyder's self portrait below for a while. I was trying to figure out why his hands were up. I see him being trapped inside of this painting looking out at its viewers. He has a look of concern or maybe disgust in his eyes. The strong light source given to the composition casts distinct shadows and contrasts well with the bubblegum pink background.  

Domenico Gnoli
1933 -1970 Roma, Italia
"For me, imagination and invention cannot generate something more important, more beautiful and more terrifying than the common object, amplified by the attention we give it." -Gnoli
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Passing through I saw a few illustrations by Gnoli. His series What Is a Monster? were done in india ink, tempera, and acrylic on cardboard. Surreal and in grisaille! Gnoli depicted some interesting creatures like Snail on Sofa with a unicorn's horn and fish's tail. How unusually refreshing?! A common trend in Gnoli's works lies in his ability to get creative. I feel as though he made anything he could think of possible without over doing it or undermining his skills. He took great care to go into extreme detail.

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His compositions emphasize line quality, variety in subject matter and value. 


Guo Fengyi
1942 -2010 Xi'an China
Guo Fengyi was a female artist who focused on her inner energy using Qigong (a traditional Chinese health maintenance practice that cultivates the qi energy within the body). She practiced qigong to take her mind off the pain of her arthritis. 
Using traditional Chinese paper Fengyi depicted images of mythological Chinese creatures. Her subject matter comes from her studies in cosmology, acupuncture, geomancy and other traditional Chinese systems of thought. She remains true to her culture and uses it as an aid for her illness. 
  • Controlled, balanced brush handling
  • Symmetrical and unified
  • Encased Patterns 

Maria Lassnig
1919 Kappel, Austria
Body-awareness paintings
Culturally significant in all societies where a specific body image is idolized and praised as being "perfect". As a viewer I was drawn into Lassnig's paintings and forced to dig deeper. The main idea behind this series of works is to find the balance between the surface world and the inner world and embrace them as one.
The process of her works contribute greatly to the overall meaning of her body awareness paintings. Lassnig never uses photographs which is something I want to try for future self portraits. 
From “meditative slowness” comes awareness of the interior bodily sensations rendered in the strokes and lines of her art. Shaped by the self and shaping of the self, in Lassnig’s art visual language transforms the self into another as it transforms the self into an I. Lassnig creates and she is depicted.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
1977 London, UK
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Another favorite of mine would be Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's oil paintings because she simply allows her subjects to exist.
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I was surprised to find out that all Boakye's paintings were completed in one day. They are massive! I can only imagine the kind of energy put into these pieces. Working at such an accelerated pace, these finished pieces have diaristic function to the artist. None of the people depicted are real so they should be viewed as masks. Boakye denies any narrative or politics to her work. Art for art's sake.


Mark Manders
1968 The Netherlands
Room with Broken Sentence
Epoxy, clay, bronze, wood. Manders uses a blend of sculpture,  installation, and architecture. Some parts of his wooden pieces are painted as well as painted epoxy to look like wet clay. 
"For this reason, it exhibits an extreme, vulnerable nakedness, and it seems as if you could just press your fingers into it at any time." -Mark Manders 
To me Mark Manders brings a unique direction to critiquing his own art. The piece above is called Shadow Study (2) and its main function is to continuously catch the shadow that falls out of the cup. The bone represents his lap where he usually sits his cup. I find all his works intricate and visually appealing because they are layered with information and materials.
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me photographing Working Table by Mark Manders

Khaled Zaki & Mohamed Banawy
Egypt
"Treasuries of Knowledge is an attempt to visualize Man’s quest for knowledge at the intersection of Nature’s infinite wisdom and what Man learns for himself as he walks – and alters – the face of Earth." - Khaled Zaki
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clay, glass, wood, metal, cement
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bronze sculpture
Culturally the clay used in Banaway's piece (left) is representational of Egypt's soil and people. His abstract aerial views reveal the geological and cultural topography of Egypt.
The artist describes his creative process on his website:

I can see the whole world and feel it once my eyes fall on a huge mosaic panel that was formed unconsciously, with no intention at all; in which all the creatures played a role. Two of these creatures are the Goodness that builds the cities and the Evil that destroys them. As when we build a house or implant a tree or when we have a demonstration, we do put a piece or some stones to form this huge panel. Same as when we destroy a house, we do participate in a particular change in its texture by applying some different tentacles and spaces that should happen as they are destined to be there. That’s why I see the world through a mosaic panel where its features are keep on changing since the Universe has been created and until Resurrection.

 
We settled down in Venice for the last week of our trip. It was at this point I realized how much traveling we were really doing. I couldn't have planned a better city in our trip to spend the most days. The city was completely surrounded by water. Water that came up to your window if you didn't have a dock or sidewalk in front. 

Thank heavens we had breakfast at our hotel every morning. The staff (I wish I could remember the hotel name) made waking up early worth it they were amazing, kind and very helpful!
After we split up and settled into our hotel rooms we were on the hunt for fine dinning (on a budget)!
Speaking of dining…here are some food pics :)

meanwhile at a bar in Rome. . .

flaky croissants and rolls with cheese, delicious orange juice, and hot tea every morning in Venice! 

Gallerie dell'Accademia

Giovanni Bellini
Vittore Corpaccio

The Guggenheim

Ellsworth Kelly 
  • Oil on Canvas
  • pure colors & forms
  • forms take on independent existence 
  • from outside world
  • simplification of nature
  • inspired by Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi, Alexander Calder
Black Curve IV
Man Ray - Silhouette closeup

Padua day trip!

 
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Anne was prepared for our train ride from Rome to Florence.

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We spent a day at the Galleria dell'Accademia. We waited outside that brown door for our tickets inside. I got this picture from google but we got there before the crowd and shops were just setting up. The crowd was for...

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David by Michelangelo.

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We were greeted by the Duomo and the baptistry (smaller building on the right). I was on my way to climb the stairs of the Duomo when i realized I had not eaten a thing all day lol. I did get to see the inside of the baptistry. You have to cover your shoulders and knees to get into these places. Oversized scarfs are handy. 

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In a room down the hall from David I saw work by Lorenzo Bartolini. They were busts of the upper middle class of the 19th century. Playing in the background was a looped video explaining why the plaster busts had holes drilled into them.


Also in Florence was the Uffizi gallery…
 
❤ Some of my posts are not in order. I was not able to keep my blog up everyday (bad wifi). Since our first day at the Biennale i've been thinking about a concept for my final piece. Here are some of my sketches & notes for inspiration. 
 
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Day three was a free/travel day so we went to the spanish steps and attempted to look for the Trevi Fountain the mission was incomplete :( maybe next time. 

Good bye Rome Hello Florence!!!

 
Ashanta and I are took a moment to cool our feet off in the Borghese park fountain. 
Afterwards we headed to the Borghese Gallery to see the work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio and others. My favorite piece of his would have to be Apollo and Daphne. The story goes, Cupid shoots one arrow of love through Apollo's heart and he is immediately consumed with the thought of loving only Daphne. However, Cupid also sends an arrow that repels any form of love through the heart of Daphne. Daphne was a nymph and her love of all things woodland was all she needed. So she begged her father, the river god Peneus to remain unmarried so that she could stay in the woods. Her father changed her into a Laurel tree. Apollo still remained true to his love for her and would from then on wear a laurel wreath around his head. 
After we left the park we had the evening free to roam Rome. 
 
My treat at the end of the day came in the form of a bowl of authentic Italian gelato. It was so deliciously creamy and smooth. Like a rightcheous blend between yogurt and ice cream.  
My first day in Roma was a complete success! I exchanged my currency, ate lunch, then it was off to Il Colosseo. I read in my trusty travel guide that the Colosseum is 2,000 years old and only one third of it is still standing. I did not stop to have a look inside but the view from the outside was still amazing.
 
I really enjoyed Marisa Merez at The Central Pavilion and can not wait to see it up close at the Biennale. I think with her use of muted color schemes, line variation, directional movement and symmetry, Marisa Merez does a great job at transforming two-dimensional lines into images that are stylized. I think I even noticed the use of a stencil in one of her pieces which adds a great deal of contrast compared to the pencil.

Walter De Maria's exhibit I think focuses on the perspective of the viewer and scale. It is non-representational and linear.  I think the gold bars contrast well with the room they are in. There must be something significant about the number of bars are lying on the floor. Even the negative space between the bars are consistent. By positioning the bars on the floor I think the artist was trying to emphasize the heaviness of the bars. 

Varda Caivano creates compositions filled with strong directional brush strokes, and color to unify her pieces. Caivano makes excellent use of the entire picture plane. Carefully peeking through are the whites of the canvas that add depth and harmony to form organic shapes. To me up close is where you notice the bold texture made by drips and the washed out translucence of the media. 

With Enrico David at the Central Pavilion I would be interested in seeing what the back of his stitched pieces looked like. His use of a textile material leads me to think about the significance of the texture. The organic patterns and contrasting colors form three-dimensional images. The repeating shapes adds harmony to the textile pieces.

Sarah Lucas could have used molds or casting to make these figures. They become expressive because of the recognizable body language and contrast in smooth and rough surfaces. Some figures are also sensual in context. They have exaggerated phallic and ionic features. As a whole body of work I think these pieces are aesthetically pleasing and purely sculptural.

There is something extremely monumental about James Lee Byars exhibit. It is comparable to Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial. The two pillars are representational of grave markers. The use of gold relates to the importance of the initials engraved on the pillars. 

Carol Rama's work gets shockingly personal. You're initially drawn in by the different frames and smaller proportioned pictures. Her media looks like water color and ink on colored paper. 

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Katrín Sigurdardóttir at The Icelandic Pavilion Is my one of my favorite artists at the Biennale. She created a moveable platform that is the traditional design of 18th century pavilion using art materials instead of flooring materials. That decision was made to keep in the mind of the viewers that not only is this piece intricately ornamental it is still sculptural. I enjoy the fact that her viewers are able to interact with her work. Her piece is representational of the past. She based her shapes, design and pattern off of baroque patterns. Her use of minimal color gives viewers a focal point and her line work provides movement. the repeated shapes and colors unifies the piece. Viewers can clearly tell the importance of the piece by its specific location. Adding colors to certain areas brings attention to the balance within the piece.  A common theme with Katrin Sigurdardottir's works is full viewer and art interaction. 

I believe her art is functional because we are meant to associate with it not just view it. 
 
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In just a few months i'll have my own archive of images from Italy!

    Caro Saluto

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    A twenty something year old artist finally venturing out to a country that is sure to appeal to all my senses. Here I will document some of my most memorable experiences as I travel throughout Rome, Florence and Venice, Italy.  

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