Monthly Archives: April 2012

Sunflower in the Hall: Dorothea Tanning

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Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, 1943, Dorothea Tanning 

It has been years since I’ve been to the Tate Modern, but I remember coming home afterward and trying to google a painting featuring little girls in a hallways with what seemed like a very dangerous and large sunflower. I couldn’t find anything about it.

Recently I happened across the image in a blog post about Dorothea Tanning, and all mysteries were revealed. Dorothea Tanning was speaking about her painting (my mystery image) when she said:

At night one imagines all sorts of happenings in the shadows of the darkness. A hotel bedroom is both intimate and unfamiliar, almost alienation, and this can conjure a feeling of menace and unknown forces at play. But these unknown forces are a projection of our own imaginations: our own private nightmares.
     —Dorothea Tanning in an interview with Victoria Carruthers, Art, History and the Senses: 1830 to the Present, 2010, p. 112.

Well, perhaps not all mysteries.

For the benefit of all future mes, I added “girls in hallway” and “sunflower” as tags to this post.

Northern Star: Ylva Ogland and Karl Holmquvist

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This installation from Ylva Ogland and Karl Holmquvist formed an immersive environment at the Fruit and Flower Deli booth at the Armory Show. The Stockholm gallery was part of the Armory Focus: The Nordic Countries section. The pelts, tents, and star made me think of the nomadic Sami people of Lapland. (I wish I could find more information instead of just supplying my conjecture, but there is not much on the internet about this and I’ve lost my papers from the show.) Juxtaposed against these element were traditional “fine art” on the easel and the walls. Two large facing canvases mirror each other, and creating a dialogue between the naked woman and her twin.

Better image of the installation here. 

Hey, I went to Philadelphia! (Medieval style)

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Yep, this is Philadelphia. I went to see the Van Gogh exhibition – completely sold out – and ended up browsing the Medieval section of the museum. Atmospheric, no?

I made a friend a few inches tall carved in ivory. She seems nice and devout. I quite like her.

But there’s another side to her – a darker side reminding one of death as much Medieval art does. 

There were some extraordinary works of art. There were also sea monsters.

Of course the sea monster here is a woman. Just like blaming Eve for that whole apple incident. I feel sure that there are an equal number of male and female seamonsters, but when do you ever see the male portrayed?

This picture depicts a typical angel crowning going on in the main room (you know how it is). 

However, who is the mystery man in boxer shorts at the door? Why is he included in this picture of St. Veronica and her husband being crowned by angels when he seems to be delivering wood? That’s what I like about these Medieval artists: You know they are going be absolute fanatics about details, so you get a sense of what it was truly like the day Veronica was crowned.

Dragon.
I also enjoyed the portraits of highly unattractive people.

Outside the museum, a fog hung low over the city.