Pop Culture MoMA

We visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York this afternoon for the sole purpose of seeing the "Tim Burton and the Lurid Beauty of Monsters" exhibit. I regret to inform you that photos are not allowed at the exhibit, so I don't have any to share. You have until April 26, 2010, to see the Burton's work for yourself.

This was definitely one of the best art exhibits I have ever seen (and I've seen some impressive ones of Dali and Miro). The exhibit contains a chronology of Tim Burton's work--some early cartoons that include an unpublished children's book about monsters, character sketches from his films, and original drawings from his published book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. Not all of the work is Burton's, some of it is costumes and storyboards from his movies that other people made.

Entering through the mouth of demonic circus monster, visitors see some of Burton's cartoons as they're led into a dark room of glowing paintings and an alien carousel of sorts. Then visitors can enter to the doors to the full exhibit.

I'm fairly certain we went through the exhibit backwards--to the left of the door is Tim Burton's earlier work. His paintings and drawings remind me of a twisted and colorful Charles Addams with a few more clowns and aliens. The color and ridiculous shapes of his monsters are what make the grotesque images humorous--exactly what Burton has made his living on through his films.

Though Jia didn't know who Tim Burton was prior to the exhibit, I did introduce her to some of his movies in China--Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, and Charlie and Chocolate Factory. Now I have to make her watch Mars Attacks (one of my favorites because I love sci-fi B-movies).

And for the movie buffs, MoMA will be showing some sci-fi and horror films until the exhibit closes. When else will you be able to see Plan 9 from Outer Space at an art museum?

Work of (Iron) Art

This week's Friday photo is from Bangkok. I was reminded of this cool ironwork after meeting an ironwork artisan down the street--he makes a lot of functional art from scrap metal and wood (it's quite plentiful when they tear down some of the older buildings in Jersey City). I'll have to go back and show him this work of art from Thailand. I'll also have to go play mahjong with him since he claims to know how to play.

Artistic Monday

Yesterday Jia and I took a short trip to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City--we were fortunate enough to have free guest passes that my aunt got with her membership, and we didn't have to wait on line.

The special exhibits were well worth seeing. Into the West: Photography's Image of the American West was wonderful. The photography spanned about 150 years, with images of nature and the old west juxtaposed with modern urban and suburban landscapes.

Next to "Into the West" was an exhibit about photography printing. I'd imagine many people wouldn't find it interesting, but I like learning about the printing process--partly from the days in the printing press class in grad school.

Martin Kippenberger was a surprise to me--I hadn't previously heard of him. I was amazed by the skill of his work as well as the sheer amount of completed work in his short career. I enjoyed seeing his out-of-focus acrylic paintings--he showed great skill with the paint and subject. Some of his work was more poetic with long titles (some of which were meant for shock value).

There was also the exhibit of Tangled Alphabets: Leon Ferrari and Mira Schendel. Jia and I were not impressed. Ferrari had some interesting, imaginitive work, but much of it was inaccessible to the average person. Schendel's work resembled gibberish with a lack of creativity.

We ended our long day out at Cooper Union, listening to the poetry of C.P. Cavafy translated by Daniel Mendelsohn and read by Mark Doty, Olympia Dukakis, and Maria Tucci.

Meandering in Manhattan

I got my exercise walking around Manhattan over the weekend--Jia had to meet with a former student and his business partner about teaching Chinese at their office. This left me with about ten hours to kill in the city.

After showing Jia how to get to her student's office, I took a walk up Park Ave. and admired the architecture of the city I thought I knew. I realized that after so many years of following people around the city, or walking with particular destinations in mind, I had ignored so much of New York. Maybe it was the three and a half years in Shenzhen, but I felt like I was seeing this familiar city for the first time again.
I passed a few interesting sights, such as Lever House at Park Ave. and 53rd St. They usually have some art exhibit, and this time they had some large Hello Kitty sculptures. It was a little unsettling to see these.
Nearby, down Madison Ave., I found an Easter bunny made out of small chocolate Easter bunnies. That sight made me a little hungry.
On the second day in New York, I wandered through Central Park, Columbus Circle, and nearby streets. I took my time and sat outside in the sun (something I didn't have the day before). It made for a pleasant day to read The Last Picture Show while breathing in the fresh air.

The only disappointing part of the trip for the weekend was that the museums were overly expensive. Without a decent job it's difficult to justify paying $20 for a ticket.

Artistic Malaysia

One of the first stops on our tour through Malaysia was the Islamic Arts Museum, which was much further from the metro station than it appeared from the map. Along the way we passed the National Mosque, a modern structure that doesn't conform to the Western expectations of what a mosque looks like. It's a beautiful building, but, unfortunately, it's difficult to get a good view of it from a distance.

The Islamic Arts Museum claims to house the largest collection of art and culture from the Muslim world. It is certainly a large museum that one can spend hours wandering through. There was a large display of art from China, though they didn't mention the region or ethnic group to which each piece belonged. Suspiciously absent from the displays are works from Africa--there was nothing from the continent (unless you count a few items from Egypt and Morocco in the gift shop).

We also took a trip to Compleks Budaya Kraf, the traditional Malaysia crafts complex, which is another great work of architecture in a more traditional style. The shops inside the complex weren't that interesting, but the artist village outside was worth a walk in the heat. We came across some very nice original artwork. One of my favorites was the work of Mohammed Zaki Zakaria, who paints a lot of colorful sea scenes. I was only able to afford a print of one of his oil paintings.

Even as we went through Malacca and Penang, we found great galleries filled with some inspiring work. I had expected more repetition like I've seen in most of the art galleries throughout China, but I was relieved to find a wide variety original work. My only regret is that I didn't bring enough money to buy a few paintings.

Xinjiang Art

Last summer, when Jia and I got married in Xinjiang province, I met a lot of people in her hometown. One of those people was the artist Dong Zhentang (董振堂), who is a friend of my mother-in-law. We were amazed by his work--he uses a traditional Chinese painting style, but his work portrays the minority population of Xinjiang. They are beautiful and inspiring scenes.

My wife returned from her bureaucratic journey home to retrieve some documents with a lot of gifts (mostly food). But she did bring a gift from Dong Zhentang--a large painting of an old Uyghur man and mules, titled "Going to the Bazaar."
I found a Web site with pictures of Dong Zhentang's other work (the site is in Chinese, the links are at the bottom).

Get Thee to an Art Gallery

A while back, Jia and I went to Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) to see a new exhibit at The Loft. They had a special event with urban artwork called "Redo." I think they were redeveloping the area as many of the buildings were being renovated at the time. I'm not sure what the area looked like previously as this was my first trip through The Loft.

I was wholly unimpressed by most of the exhibition. I don't think crushed paper cups as candle molds is really fine art, and neither are blinds made from paper cups with Chinese writing on them. Most of the work had to do with urban development and over-development--I suppose they were trying to grab the publics attention to the excessive construction going on in China.
The graffiti art exhibit did grab our attention. There were some temporary walls set up for the artists outside and a gallery for graffiti-influenced work inside. This was a much more international selection of art than the other urban exhibitions.

This was my favorite painting by a French artist who goes by S2ONE. There was no title.