Tom Wesselmann: Beyond Pop Art

Tom Wesselmann

May 19 - October 7, 2012

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting the first ever North American retrospective of the American Pop artist Tom Wesselmann, consisting of about 180 of his works, some of which were never exhibited before. Most prominent are seventy-five paintings and earliest metal pieces produced by laser steel-cutting. Of great interest are also his preliminary drawings and maquettes as well as some thirty archival documents such as photographs, letters, billboards, etc. After this exhibition ends in October 2012, it will travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond where it will open to the public in the spring of 2013.

This exhibition presents Wesselmann’s most significant series: Great American Nudes, Still Lives, Smokers, Bathtub Collages and Seascapes. The two works just above demonstrate the elegance and simplicity, and even sensuality with which Wesselmann often handled his creative imagery.


Here are two Seascape paintings. In the one just to the left, the Sky - the nurturer of all - is reaching towards the Earth below. A symbolic image of dove could be discerned, with a beak and a head on the left, and an upward wing extended towards the sky on the right.

In the painting below it, and just to the left from this text, a human being is reaching towards the sky and above the clouds. In both painting the sea water is not blue, but almost a green of the grass. Thus this colour not only seems to represent the water, but also grass, both being the part of the Earth's landscape.

Do these two paintings project some spiritual concerns Wesselmann might have harboured? Apparently, at the time he was producing this work (according to his wife Claire Wesselmann, present at the press conference at the inauguration of this exhibition) her husband was writing Haiku style poems. Haiku is traditionally a very short Japanese poetry, involving a juxtaposition of images. Through very laconic means, a very profound and even spiritual meaning is achieved. These two Seascape paintings of Wesselman definitely seam to be "Haiku" paintings, where with very few elements and colours, a poetic visual effect and a profound meaning is achieved.

Early in his career, Tom Wesselmann began to investigate and reinvent traditional genres like the nude, still life and landscape. Beginning with collages, he incorporated a diverse array of materials in his work: advertising billboards, plastic flowers, television sets and neon signs. The photo to the left and above shows a collage-painting with the typical period domestic items which, when properly arranged, create the illusion of "art" of the everyday life. The objects are taken out of the realm of the mundane and are imparted an aesthetic value, thus catapulting them from the everyday drudgery into a seemingly sublime sphere.

The photo on the left is an example of a Wesselmann’s invention of steel line drawings. The idea was to take a pencil drawing from his sketchbook, to “detach” it from the paper, and place it directly on the wall.

Wesselmann had a keen appreciation for the art history. He also incorporated a number of reproductions of paintings he liked in his work, for instance by Matisse, Picasso and Mondrian. In addition, he also incorporated all sort of materials. This new understanding and the definition of genres led him, along with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, to invent a new Pop aesthetic.  He was especially preoccupied with form and the relationship of shapes to each other. He also used strong undiluted colours, making striking aesthetic and content statements when playing with the tension between colour and shape.

Below is a view of one of the MMFA Exhibition Halls with three  magnificent paintings by Tom Wesellmann.

Click on images to enlarge them.

List of Photos as they appear in the text:

1. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life No. 53, 1964, Painted molded plastic, Mugrabi Collection, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

2. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life No. 60, 1973, Oil on canvas, New York, Estate of Tom Wesselmann, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

3. Tom Wesselman, Smoker No. 1, 1967, Oon shaped canvas, in two parts, New York, The Museum of Modern Art Susan Morse Hilles Fund, 1968, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

4. Tom Wesselmann, Smoking Cigarette No. 2, 1980, Oil on wood and masonite, 173.9 x 200.6 x 45.7 cm, New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselmann, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

5. Tom Wesselmann, Seascape No. 24, 1967, Oil on shaped canvas, New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselmann, MMFA 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

6. Tom Wesselmann, Seascape No. 22, 1967, Oil on shaped canvas, New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselman, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

7. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life No. 30,  Oil, enamel and synthetic polymer paint on composition board with collage of printed advertisements, plastic flowers, refrigerator door, plastic replicas of 7-up bottles, glazed and framed color reproduction, and stumped metal, New York, The Museum of Modern Art,  MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

8. Tom Wesselman, Still Life with Two Matisses (Portraits), 1990/1992, Alkyd oil on cut-out aluminum,  New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselman, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

9. Tom Wesselmann, Sunset Nude with Wesselman, 2003, Oil on canvas, Huston, Sandders Collection, MMFA Retrospective 2012,  Photo by Nadia Slejskova

10. Tom Wesselmann's Retrospective, Exhibition Hall, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2012,  Photo by Nadia Slejskova

You can purchase the exhibition catalogue at the Museum's Boutique and Store.

Samurai – The Prestigious Collection of Richard Béliveau

Samurai

May 17, 2012 - March 31, 2013


Pointe-à-Callière, the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History is holding the first ever exhibition of items from a private collection of Richard Béliveau, a university professor, researcher and author, and a prominent collector of Japanese objects and artwork. His is one of the most important collections in the world because of its historical value, its rarity, and the number and variety of its items.

One of the oldest Items on Display is on the photo on the left - the Samurai Helmet from Muromachi Period (1336-1576). It has 61 riveted plates. Some helmets were made even with 100 plates. As most of the helmets, it has a frontal crest called in Japanese "maedate". The frontal crests were to ward off evil forces and also, I presume, to scare the opponent. They often feature items from nature, legends and various personal believes. Many if them have a variety of horns, as you can also see in the very top photo. In the forefront of that photo is a very bright red Samurai outfit or rather armour, which belonged to "Demons of Li" clan. It has a lacquered iron boal helmet with huge maedate-frontal crest. It is the only armour in the collection that has a "jinbaori" - a field overcoat.

Here, to the left, is another Samurai helmet. This time it has a crab as the front crest. This crest came from a legend and is a tribute to courageous samurai worriers. The legend has it that during a navel battle in 1185, the young Emperor Antoku threw himself overboard to avoid the dishonour of defeat. Many of his Heike warriors died that day. Since then the waters of that area have been filled with crabs with human faces. If a fisherman pulls out such a crab, he throws it back into the water, since no one would want to eat a crab with a samurai spirit.

What would a samurai be without his sword? The sword was held in a place of honour, on a special sword holder. The sword was cleaned every day to ensure the blade would not rust. To the left is one such sword holder presently on display at the PAC Museum.


Samurai had a very strict code of conduct, not only as warriors, but also regarding the general everyday conduct. Samurai were also versed in arts like calligraphy. The calligraphy was considered to express one's spiritual nature. "Skill in calligraphy depends entirely on the energy and spirit with which it is executed. A samurai must proceed unflaggingly, never tiring or becoming dispirited, until the task was completed. That's all." Quote by Hagakure.

Buddhism and its principles of spirituality were also very important to Samurai. Some samurai warriors even took along with them into military campaigns portable Buddha altars. Some had Buddhist prayer - chanting beats incorporated in their attire.  

The Buddha, in the sculpture to the left, sits in the centre of an open lotus flower as a symbol of perfect enlightenment.

The following two items on display are from the 19th century, and celebrate the importance and reverence of nature, so central in Japanese culture. They are bamboo Ikebana baskets, the one on the right representing a bird's nest.

Come to the museum to see for yourself the magnificent colours and artistic design of many Japanese artifacts on display.

For those who live very far away and would not be able to attend this exhibition, here is website with a lot of additional information Samurai culture with many pertinent links and references.

http://factsanddetails.com/japan/cat16/sub106/item500.html

List of Photos as they appear in the text

  

1. 10 Samurai outfits, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova.

2. Richard Béliveau and his Samurai Collection at PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012

3. Samurai Helmet, Muromachi Period (1336-1576), 61 riveted plates, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

4. Samurai Helmet with a Crab Frontal Crest,Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

5. Sword Holder, Samurai Swords, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

6. Japanese calligraphy set, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

7. Buddha, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

8. Bamboo Ikebana Basket, 19th century, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

9. Woven Bird’s Nest Bamboo Ikebana Basket, 19th century, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

PAPER 12 - Ai Weiwei Cardboard Sculpture

Between April 12 – 15, 2012, Montreal held the annual Paper Show, number 12 this time, in French - PAPIER 12. What impressed me the most was a giant cardboard stature by the Canadian artist Sean Martindale of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The sculpture is 8 feet high. Next to it stands a 40 lb bag of sunflower seeds, the direct reference to Ai WeiWei’s installation at the Tate Modern Gallery in London, England, as seen in a photo in my previous article on Ai Weiwei just below this post.

This sculpture is quite magnificent and I trust you will appreciate it as much as I did.

Artist: Sean Martindale

Love the Future/Free Ai Weiwei

(2011), recycled cardboard, 40lb bag of sunflower seeds.

221 x 152 x 63.5 cm (87" x 60" x 25")

$45,000

The sculputure at KWT contemporary

Photo by Nadia Slejskova

No copyright, free to download.

FIFA 30th Edition: Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favour

(UK / 2010 / 58 min. Director Matthiew Springford)



Ai Weiwei is one of China's best-known artist. He is ranked the most powerful person in contemporary art by Art Review magazine. He also merits an acclaim as an architect since he co-designing the Beijing's ''Bird's Nest'' Stadium for the 2008 Olympics, Ai Weiwei artistic expression is very versatile, he is also a photographer, curator and a blogger.

Among his other artistic achievements this film prominently features his latest work - a carpet of 100 million porcelain hand painted sunflower seeds, tue to their natural size. As this work is unveiled at the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern Gallery in London, narrator Alan Yentob reveals how this most courageous and determined of artists continues to fight for freedom of expression while living under the restrictive shadows of China authoritarian rule. For instance, In April 2011, he was arrested for ''tax evasion'' before being freed eighty days later with restricted free speech and movement.

Ai Weiwei created a variety of amazing art pieces which are shown in this documentary. For instance, he likes to pieces of furniture to create his sculptures. At times, he even cuts or variously modifies and reassembles antique items thus creating his own statements of artistic expression.


Do make a point to see this film. FIFA has awarded it the top prize for the best film made for television. If you wish to acquaint yourself more with this exceptional artist, here are a couple of videos about him in YouTube.

Ai Weiwei's Sunflower seeds at the Tate video

A full version (in English) of Ai Weiwei Without Fear or Favour documentary is presently available  on You Tube

TED Film about  Ai Weiwei

N.B.

In 2015, Art FIFA presented a new documentary film about Al Weiwei: Ai Weiwei - Evidence. You can read about it in my post here:

http://news-reel.blogspot.ca/2015/03/fifa-2015-ai-weiwei-evidence.html

McCord Museum - Inuit Modern

Inuit Modern Art

February 24 - September 3, 2012

Montreal's McCord Museum is hosting a new exhibition, this time on Modern Inuit Art. This exhibition attests that Inuit art has a strong presence in Canada in 2012, and also documents that the Inuit have made a rich contribution to the history of art in Canada.

This exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Art gallery of Ontario. It features Esther and Samuel Sarick collection, one of the world's most comprehensive collections of Inuit art. Inuit Modern traces the transformation of 20th-century Inuit art and features more than 175 works by 75 artists, including sculptures, prints and drawings. All of the exhibits on display were privately collected by Esther and Samuel Sarick. They donated 3,000 modern Inuit works to the Art Gallery of Ontario that they collected with great passion for more than 40 years.

The exhibition examines several different topics:

Art in the Face of Colonialism explores the repercussions of the first contacts with Europeans. Starting in the late 18th century, explorers, whalers, merchants and missionaries travelled to the Arctic, bringing home as souvenirs small ivory objects made by the Inuit. These strangers (they were called Qallunaat) soon began commissioning sculptures, often of kayaks and small animals.

In the 1950s, as their lifestyle based on hunting and fishing began to collapse, the Inuit experienced major social and cultural upheaval. The federal government of Canada intervened and urged Inuit families to give up their nomadic habits and settle in permanent villages. Hopping to stimulate the Inuit economy, the government introduced an art program through James Houston and the Canadian Handicrafts Guild. The present exhibition attests to the fact that this art program was extremely successful and fruitful.

If in the USA, in order to discover the new territories it was commonly suggested to go west, In Canada it was definitely stated to go north. However, if you wish to discover the art of the north, you do not have to travel long distances but simply visit the Montreal’s McCord Museum.

Series of films and lectures on Inuit Art will also be presented:

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/activities/guidedtours/

Museum’s Opening Hours

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/info/hours/

 List of Photos as they appear in the text

1. Quvinatuliak Tampauhai, Woman Holding Breads, before 1987, stone, McCord Museum Exibition 2012.
2. Sallualu Quinuajua, Fantastic Figure, around 1970, McCord Museum Exibition 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova.
3. Augustine Anaittuq, Muskox, 1990, whale bone, fur, sinew, McCord Museum Exibition 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova.
4. Nick Sikkuark, Shaman Performing, 1987-88, whale bone, fur, sinew, McCord Museum 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova.

Lyonel Feininger - New MMFA Exhibition

Lyonel Feininger

January 21 - May 13, 2012

at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Lyonel Feininger is an artist of exceptional talent whose works include comic strips, caricatures, whimsical toys, woodcuts, photographs, musical fugues, figurative painting, and the transcendental paintings of architecture and the sea.

Come and see this exhibition, you will discover a great artist who, most likely, you do not know at all, or do not know enough about. He is indeed a surprising find! Multi-talented and diversified, he astonishes with his interpretation of the reality of his subjects, be they people, buildings or seascapes. The shapes and colours he uses create a rhythmical cadence, an illusion of movement in the scene, in the virtual world he has conjured within the canvas. Many of his paintings seem not to stand still, they have a wave-like vibrancy of their own. You will also see in his works both the expressionist and cubist elements, as well as quirky distortions of a caricaturist.

Lyonel Feininger seems to have fallen in the past through the cracks of the art historians’ attention. This was probably mainly due to the fact that his artistic career was torn between two continents: between Germany and America. He was born in America to German parents. He moved alone to Germany at age 16. His artistic career was very much diversified, and even included teaching at Bauhaus, where he was hired by Walter Gropius as the first faculty appointment.

Although Feininger was held in high esteem in Germany, where his career began and took deep roots, he had to flee to America in 1937 at the age of 66 because of the World War II and his Jewish wife. He therefore had to reestablish himself as an artist once again, on a different continent, and at an advanced age, which must have been quite a difficult task. He lived in America until his death in New York City in 1956 at the age of 84.

Also amazing is the diversification of his talent. He loved the fugues of Bach, and had written some fugues himself. You will find exhibited his personal violin, which he often played in the mornings before breakfast. You will also see colourful toys he made for his son, his caricatures, cartoons, and some photographs. He produced a large body of photographic works between 1928 and 1956 which he had not shared with the public but only with his friends, and which came to light only after his death.

In addition to Lyonel Feininger’s works, the last room of this present MMFA exhibition also displays black and white photographs of his son Andreas Feininger, an accomplished and a renown American photographer. One can easily discover in his works the influence his father had on him.

I highly recommend this exhibition. Come and discover for yourself this amazingly creative artist. You will also be able to pick up a pamphlet at the museum with all the activities it offers, and all the free films and lectures that are scheduled.

To find out more about this exhibition and the opening hours, visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts website.

You can purchase the exhibition catalogue at the Museum's Boutique and Store.

Click on images to enlarge them.

List of photos as they appear in the text

1. Feininger, Bathers on the Beach I, 1912, Oil on canvas 50.5 x 65.7

Harvard Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Association Fund BR54.7, © Estate of Lyonel Feininger / SODRAC (2011)

Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

2. Lyonel Feininger, Bird Cloud, 1926, Oil on canvas 43.8 x 71.1 cm

Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum; Cambridge, Massachusetts; purchase in memory of Eda K. Loeb BR50.414, © Estate of Lyonel Feininger / SODRAC (2011)

Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

3. Lyonel Feininger, Yellow Street II, 1918, Oil on canvas 95 x 86.1 cm

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Purchase; gift of The Maxwell Cummings Family Foundation, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' Volunteer Association, John G. McConnell, C.B.E., Mr. and Mrs. A Murray Vaughan, Harold Lawson Bequest, and Horsley and Annie Townsend Bequest.,© Estate of Lyonel Feininger / SODRAC (2011)

Photo MMFA

4. Lyonel Feininger, New York 1871 – New York 1956

The Kin-der-Kids, The Chicago Sunday Tribune, April 29, 1906
59.4 x 45.3 cm Commercial lithograph

The Museum of Modern Art, New York; gift of the artist 260.1944.1
© Estate of Lyonel Feininger / SODRAC (2011)
Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY

5.  Lyonel Feininger, Locomotive With Big Wheal, 1910, MMFA Exibition 2012

Photo by Nadia Slejskova

MMFA: Big Bang

MMFA - the Montreal Museum of Fine Art is currently featuring Big Bang exhibition. It runs from November 6, 2011 to January 22, 2012.  This exhibition was created and produced by the Museum as a celebration of the creative process. A number of contemporary Quebec artists were invited to choose a work from the museum’s permanent collection as a starting point and on the basis of that work let themselves be inspired to create a work of their own. In this way, the museum is paying tribute to Quebec’s creativity.

Nearly 20 artists from various artistic branches, several of them internationally renowned, responded to the Museum’s invitation. As a result, the works of these artists are presented in this show: Jennifer Alleyn and Nancy Huston (film and literature), Denys Arcand and Adad Hannah (film and visual arts), Melissa Auf der Maur (music), Geneviève Cadieux (visial arts), Marie Chouinard (dance), Collectif Rita (design), Claude Cormier (urban design), Jean Derome (music), En masse (mural art), Pierre Lapoint and Jean Verville (music and architecture), Renata Morales (fashion), Wadji Mouawad (theatre), Jeannot Painchaud (circus arts), Rolland Poulin (sculpture), Michel Rabagliatti (comics), and Gilles Saucier (architecture).

Visit the Museum  and see the result of this creative process. Maybe you yourself will be inspired to created a work of your own based on some of the art piece from the Museum’s permanent collection.

I personally was inspired by one of the Museum’s gems to create and propagate my own artistic expression, inline with the Big Bang's objectives. Here is the result. I rather like it and feel it merits attention. If I had the means, I'd make it into a large poster celebrating the MMFA museum.

The painting to the left is by the French painter James Tissot, entitled October, 1877, from MMFA's permanent collection. On the right is my own take on that painting. It is a photo of the enigmatic and vivacious Grand Dame of the Museum, Madame Nathalie Bondil, the MMFA’s director and chief curator. I took this photo during the press conference inaugurating the Big Bang show on November 2, 2011. The postural likeness and expression of both women, and to some extent of their dress and shoes is quire remarkable, though Madame Bondil's look is obviously quite contemporary.

Parallel to Big Bang runs another show, called In My Mind’s Eye, a collection of paintings and other works by Dorothea Rockburne. It is her first Canadian retrospective. She was born and educated in Montreal, but later moved to the United States, where her works are featured in the collections of numerous institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MOMA.

The admission to all the Museums exhibitions and collections is currently free.

The painting to the left is by Dorothea Rockburne, entitled Mozart and Mozart Upside Down and Backwards, 1985-87.





For more information visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' website

http://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/index.html

McCord Museum

There are currently two exhibitions on display at the Montreal's McCord Museum.

Toys 2 

This exibiton which targets mainly children, or those who are children at heart, rans from November 18, 2011 to March 11, 2012.

This is the Museum's second exhibition of toys. The first one took place a year ago. It was a great success and attracted some 30,000 visitors. This year has a special theme: a cat chasing, or rather searching, for a mouse. The young visitors have “to help” a cat to find a mouse. All are assured that the cat does not really want to eat the mouse, but simply to play with it.

The exhibition is broken into four separate themes through which the chasing of the mouse is pursuit. This is an engaging way for children to view more than 200 toys and artefacts, some of which date back almost 150 years. The exhibited pieces for this show were chosen from an amalgamation of some 11,000 items from Museum's various collections.

The children will be engaged in some physical activity as they have to climb under low ceiling entries, as for instance is the case of a masterfully constructed igloo, where pieces of “ice” are made from white pillows which could be lifted to reveal some of the museum’s treasures. Another such crawling entry leads to a treasure trove with costumes, where children can dress up and assume role playing.

Admission to this exhibition is free for children 12 and under. 

The second exhibition currently at the McCord museum:

Edward Burtynsky : OIL

This is another excellent exhibition currently on display at the McCord Museum. It runs from October 6, 2011 to January 8, 2012. It consists of 56 large colour photographs by a Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. Burtynsky explores the subject of oil and how this natural resource redefines the world as we know it, how it affects nature and the natural scenery. The vast landscapes shown in the photographs, offer rarely seen glimpses of oil production and distribution, of oil fields, oil sands, and oil refineries. Burtynsky’s work shows the impact the petroleum industry has on the lives of people, cities, the land, and the environment. His stunning photo images carry a social and ecological message that is disturbing but also thought-provoking. The images are artistically superb and beautiful, yet this does not diminish the intended impact of Burtynsky’s message nor the concerned opinion of the viewer.

To find more about these and other exhibitions and activities, visit the McCord Museum’s website

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/