Art Curation Exhibition Reflection Journal

The Art Curation Exhibition Slideshow was actually something that I enjoyed doing, which surprised me. I think the reason for this is because of the theme I chose, which was any type of artwork that portrayed different skies/skylines/sunrises/sunsets. As I stated in my powerpoint, I have always thought that our sky is one of the most beautiful wonders of our world and is often overlooked.

After finding all my pieces of art that were based on the sky, I wrote what the image was portraying and why it was significant. I also decided to have a little more fun with the project by including an interesting fact about each piece, which better explains either the piece itself or the artist who created it.

Finishing up my slideshow, I tried to make text colors and fonts coincide with the theme and the pieces represented, but also kept things simplistic. I did this so that the most important and most eye-catching thing for each slide was the image of the art.

I have developed even more of a respect for artists who choose to portray the sky in their art, as it is not something that is easy to do and can easily be critiqued by viewers since we all know what our sky looks like. Still, each piece represented a different kind of sky, which makes the viewers feel a different type of mood.

Art Criticism Exercise

Artist: John E. (Jack) Dummer

Title: Untitled

Media: Stretched and dyed rubber, 12 panels

Date: 1990s

Size: Not stated

Source of Picture: Picture taken with camera at gallery

This piece shows 12 different panels, all of which are the same texture but with different coloring. Some of the panels are dark shades of purple and blue, while some have hints of yellow or light blue. This piece is interesting, as it represents what can happen with the colors on the stretched rubber from sitting there for an extended amount of time. The colors are faded into the stretched rubber, giving the piece a very elegant, simplistic look to it. Some of the panels show dots on the dyed rubber, while others show lines across the dyed rubber as well.

Artist: Seymour Drumlevitch

Title: Illuminations for the 21st Century - Catalan and Petenera

Media: Acrylic on canvas

Date: 1972

Size: Not stated

Source of Picture: Picture taken with camera at gallery

This piece catches the eye immediately due to its bright yellow background. Most of the piece shows the yellow background, while the top half depicts an abstract, colorful image. Although I am not exactly sure why the artist choose this type of design, my original thought in regards to what the colors were meant to represent was that each color symbolized something that went on or took place within the 21st century. Line is very prevalent in this piece, as the abstract design is broken up within itself, with each piece having its own color.

Artist: Charles E. Burchfield

Title: Early Spring Summer

Media: Watercolor and charcoal on paper mounted on board

Date: 1950

Size: Not stated

Source of Picture: Picture taken with camera at gallery

Although the title of this piece is a positive one, this piece looks like it represents an abandoned piece of land. It is almost eery when looking at it from farther away, rather than close up. The sky is bright in color, but the trees are black and without leaves, the fence separates part of the land within the piece, and the house is far in the distance with a dark rooftop. The land itself shows lots of textures, making part of the field look like it has tall grass, while the bottom left corner depicts a dry piece of land that is just starting to grow back.

Art Gallery Visit #2 - Burchfield Penney Art Center

The Burchfield Penney Art Center has many different galleries within itself. I took pictures and looked at 8 of the galleries: Andrew Deutsch Gallery, Anthony J. Sisti Gallery, Charles Cary Rumsey Gallery, Fluidity in Form Gallery, Jack Drummer Gallery, R. William Dootlittle Gallery, Sylvia L. Rosen Gallery, and The John R. Oishei Foundation Gallery.

Although I will show all of my pictures of the galleries below, I will be talking and answering questions about the Jack Drummer Gallery.

Title: Jack Drummer: The Effects of Time Gallery
Theme: The pieces made by Jack Drummer are made from his "materials that have transformed so much over time that they look unrecognizable.
Lighting: The lighting that is used in this gallery is very basic, yet very bright. There are bright, white lights throughout the whole gallery that hang above all of the pieces and also from the ceiling.
Colors on walls: The walls are completely white. This makes the room look very bright since all the walls are white and all the lighting is white as well.
Materials used in interior architecture: The only materials used for the interior architecture of the Jack Drummer Gallery are thick, white walls that protrude through the huge space, making the space look like somewhat of a maze from above. This makes the whole gallery more abstract to walk through. Other than the white walls, there are basic benches throughout the gallery for viewers to sit on.
Movement of viewer through art space: Because there are protruding white walls, this makes the viewer have to turn a few corners in order to see certain pieces when walking through the space. I liked this, seeing how it allowed me to concentrate more on the pieces that were currently around me, until I turned the corner or to another side to view different pieces. It created a bit of suspension on what would be coming up next through the walk.
Artwork Organization: The artworks are all hung on the white walls. They all hang relatively at the same height and in the center.
Artworks Similarity: The artworks are absolutely similar. Each piece flows with the next. The colors and textures may be different, but the back canvas/panel is the same, in addition to the shapes of the canvas which is either a square of rectangle. Some of the pieces are multiple canvas placed together, which is another similarity.
Artworks Differences: Like I just stated, some canvas shapes differed between squares and rectangles, in addition to their sizes. There are also some pieces that exhibit much more texture and have a 3D effect to them, where the painting is lifted off the canvas. Others have a tie-dye look to them and simply differ in color and the abstractness of them.
Artworks Framing: The pieces are not framed. They are all on canvas/panels that are simply hung on the wall.
Artwork Identification: All of the pieces in the gallery are identified by a small rectangle that is placed directly next to each piece stating the artist, year, title, and media.
Artwork Proximity: Each piece of art has its own wall, making lots of white space around each piece. This helps viewers keep their eyes focused on one piece at a time.

Andrew Deutsch: Object as Energy Point Gallery




Anthony J. Sisti Gallery




Charles Cary Rumsey Gallery




Fluidity in Form Gallery


R. William Doolitte Gallery






Sylvia L. Rosen Gallery




The John R. Oishei Foundation Gallery

Video Reviews - African & Chinese Art

I chose the African Art video because from what I can remember, lots of African sculptures consist of long bodies and large facial features, in addition to bright colors painted on these bodies and faces, so I thought it would be interesting to choose this video to see if it touches upon this style of art. As for my second video, I chose the Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum The Great Wave video because I have always liked Chinese art that depicted army soldiers standing in rows of each other, which I saw that our book touched upon. Chinaware is also very beautiful, so I thought it would be cool to hear about the making of Chinaware as well.

The African Art videos talked about the meanings behind African art, from making pottery and utensils, to dress, hairstyles, and other forms of ornamentation. Art is also very important in traditional African rituals, like masks for example. These masks were made of wood and straw, representing patterns that have been handed down from generation to generation. The Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum The Great Wave video talked most specifically about the different glassware, or Chinaware. It stated that people used black glazed tea bowls to help accentuate the paleness of the tea, which I found to be odd, yet interesting. The Chinese teapots that were featured in the video were also intriguing, as they had similar features of current styled teapots, like the spout and the tail, yet it also featured 3 legs that the bowl part of the teapot stood on.

The text discusses African clothing and ornamentation in Africans, which was talked about in the African Art video. The textbook features an image titled Temne nowo masquerade with attendants. The term nowo refers to the mask that is featured in the picture. The picture depicts females surrounding a girl who is hidden underneath the mask, and shows the bright, ornate colors that are being worn by the woman all around her during a ritual. For the Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum The Great Wave video, this video was based solely on a diverse collection of 33 pieces like glassware, jars, cups, cabinets, and other artifacts. I did not see any Chinaware featured in the textbook, unless I somehow missed it, and was sad to see this considering how much I love Chinaware. My family has a few different sets of Chinaware that are absolutely beautiful and have continued to remain pristine through many years, so I wish the text had touched on this specific subject more.

As always, both videos helped provide further explanation of different pieces of art, like how they were made, what their meaning was, what they were made of, and also showing 3D images in close detail. I do wish that the Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum The Great Wave video discussed more than pottery and artifacts, but I liked how it showed close-up, 3D images of every piece they showed, including a description of what the different markings were.