Art Gallery Visit

The Albright Knox Art Gallery is a place that I have been going to since being a young child. I was excited to bring myself back there to see the new changes and the new artwork that the gallery has gotten since I have last been there. I decided to do something different, which was buy six postcards on six pieces of art that intrigued me or related to me, versus a piece of art that was on a wall or in the middle of a room. I wanted to do this so that I could bring these postcards home and spend some real time looking at them, and also be able to keep them.

There were two postcards that I got that had caught my eye right away. Both of these pieces of art are filled with bright colors, which is one of the reasons they make such a great impression on me. Although I am a fan of dark colors and shades, I always find it interesting when I see bright pieces of art that I really enjoy. These two pieces are listed below:

Artist: Jasper Johns
Title: Numbers in color 
Media: Encaustic and newspaper on canvas
Scale: 66.5 x 49.5 inches
Year: 1959

Numbers in color is a piece that I have seen before. I've always found it interesting that the numbers went in counting order (0-9) from right to left, as if we were reading words on a page. Although the shapes of the numbers stay the same, the colors of them continue to change. No same number ever looks exactly alike, which is what I like most about this piece.

Artist: Polly Apfelbaum
Title: Reckless 
Media: Synthetic velvet and fabric dye
Scale: Not stated
Year: 1998

This postcard actually had two pieces of art on it, but I immediately focused my attention to the piece on the floor, which is the piece I will be specifically talking about. Never in my life had I seen such bright, abstract designs on a floor before. The art is also placed on white flooring, making the design and colors more bright and eye catching. This was my favorite postcard out of the six.

The two pieces that I connected best with are pieces that directly relate to my life. These two pieces are listed below:

Artist: Henri Matisse
Title: La Musique 
Media: Oil on canvas
Scale: 45 3/8 x 45 3/8 inches
Year: 1939

This piece is also one that I have seen before. It represents two women who are focused on the music that is being played, coming from the woman on the right who is playing the guitar. Although I always found the bodies of these women to be very large, I love that it represents music because music has a big impact on my life. I think that music brings people to another place and helps people relate to something within song. I also think that music is a form of art, so finding pieces of art that incorporate music are always pieces that I enjoy looking at.

Artist: Ellsworth Kelly
Title: New York, N.Y. 
Media: Oil on canvas
Scale: 73 3/4 x 90 inches
Year: 1957

This was actually the first postcard that I found and one that stood out to me simply because it has the letters NY on it. It is very simple, based on it being a black and white piece, but is something that obviously relates to me due to me being from and living in New York. For a long time I had always wanted to leave home, but once I was finally given the chance to, I no longer wanted to. I love Buffalo, NY and everything about it is home to me, which is why I was glad to have found this piece.

There were two postcards that I liked, yet was unsure about what they were meant to represent. Both of these pieces are simple in color and in my opinion, they are not blatantly obvious as to what they represent. They are a sort of mystery to me, which is why I chose these two pieces. These two pieces are listed below:

Artist: Zhan Wang
Title: Urban Landscape Buffalo 
Media: Stainless steel, pots, pans, and kitchen utensils
Scale: 67 1/2 x 197 x 393 5/8 inches
Year: 2005-2010

This piece was one that I liked because of the stainless steel look. I love stainless steel, especially with my kitchen appliances and utensils, but I had no idea that it was actually made of stainless steel kitchen utensils until I read the back of the postcard. I wondered what inspired the artist to do a piece using only the items listed above. The way that the pots and pans are laid out, it is not obvious that they are pots and pans. The way the light reflects off all the stainless steel was so intriguing to me, and I think the artist must have had a great time putting all these pieces together.

Artist: Franz Kline
Title: New York, N.Y.
Media: Oil on canvas
Scale: 79 x 51 inches
Year: 1953

Although this piece is also titled New York, N.Y., I am not exactly sure why. This piece is also black and white and remains a mystery to me, which makes me questions what the artist was thinking about and what he was feeling during his time of creating this piece. I love the idea of the white background and the solid, black lines being painted over the white, almost overtaking the white background. Black is a dark color, which I think represents more of a painful emotion. I wonder what the artist was going through in his life during this time of painting it.