Finch Fight - Bird is not the only word

March 1st Gallery Crawl on Penn Avenue (aka Unblurred) confirmed once more it's always worth visiting. Despite the bitter cold and the freezing breeze. 

At ImageBOX, in particular, you can always be sure you'll see high quality art. This is how I discovered Abby.

Abby Diamond is now presenting some pieces from her work "Finch Fight" in this space and as I entered the place, I had no idea about what I would have seen or found. The drawings on the walls, hung in a simple way, were very powerful and really well drawn. I loved the clear lines, but also the wise use of colors, and the elegance of the technique (I first thought the illustrator was a male, but very gentle!)

From her profile on Tumblr, I discover that she is "an illustrator in Pennsylvania, and these are my adventures fresh out of college. You may see a lot of birds here". 

After seeing the drawings I spotted her in the crowd and sincerely congratulated with her. She is very nice and kind, but her drawings show also a strong character, precision, elegance and energy - all at the same time.

As I was walking through each piece, I was studying the lines that define the figures. There is something Japanese in these drawings, as well as something taken from the fairy tales. The over-all aesthetic reminds me of the Japanese prints of Sesshu Toyo or Kanu Eitoku, a little more complex of course. The shades of some shadows in the background, though, are very oriental, in a way. 

Then there is the subject: magic animals? Enchanted woods and ponds? Dream or reality?

The precision of the illustration, botanical for the plants shown and very anatomic for the animals, clear most of the doubts: these "creatures" do come from reality, but are just presented in a different way. Reality can be magic, if you look at it from a different perspective.

Abby's work (above) and Kanu Eitoku (below)

I generally prefer simple drawings. These are very complex because made of a number of layers. Japanese prints are mainly 2D, while Abby puts a lot of details into her drawings. Nevertheless, this adds magic to the magic, because each piece, so rich in details, has the power of a story. 

It's impossible to just peep at her work. You are naturally captured and you start following all the lines that, inch after inch, develop a interesting narrative. The more you look, the more you discover. 

This process has a logic, easily followable, that gives you the pleasure to look at Abby's work. It's easy to add a lot of detail stacking them up like crazy. There is plenty of angry artists that express their anxiety by adding details over details. But you cannot follow any narrative. That's a renounce, while Abby tells you a very precise story, magic but not impossible. She fights to tell you that story.

People were very interesting and I do hope Abby will have all the attention she deserves. 

Congrats, Abby! Hope to write of you again!

check more - click here http://cargocollective.com/finchfight

contact Abby here: Finchfightillustration@gmail.com

CI13 Apartment Event | Chris Beauregard & Brandon Boan

Have you already planned anything for next Fall-Winter-Spring? I know all this could sound a little untimely, but Pittsburgh goes fast.

from the official blog http://web.cmoa.org/ci13/exhibition/:

<< The 56th Carnegie International, scheduled to open at Carnegie Museum of Art in October 2013, will be organized by co-curators Daniel Baumann, Dan Byers, and Tina Kukielski. This is the first time in the International’s history that a curatorial team of three people will lead the exhibition.

Initiated by Andrew Carnegie in 1896 in Pittsburgh, and presented every three to five years at Carnegie Museum of Art, the Carnegie International is among the leading exhibitions of contemporary art worldwide. The International serves to present an American audience, especially that of Western Pennsylvania, with a broad and ambitious survey of the art of our time. With hundreds of works by artists from around the globe—including many commissioned specifically for the show—the 2013 International will be a catalyst for new ways to present, experience, and think about art. >>

The 2013 Carnegie International runs October 5, 2013 to March 16, 2014. 

Whether you are artist, visitor, curator or just passing here by pure chance, just get ready: it's gonna be big. The three curators, Daniel Baumann of Basel, Switzerland; associate curator Dan Byers of Pittsburgh; and associate curator Tina Kukielski of New York, were selected in 2010, two years after the Carnegie International Exhibition of year 2008 (you can read more about them here http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/10267/1089883-437.stm on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette website).

Today, though, I would like to introduce a piece of this CI13: the apartment that the Carnegie Museum of Art rented in Lawrenceville. The address is 113 44th Street, Pittsburgh PA and they currently host lectures and the "Apartment Talks". 

<< In the run-up to the exhibition, the curatorial team has established a satellite space in an apartment in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. This space accommodates visiting artists and curatorial colleagues, as well as an ongoing series of screenings, artist talks, and presentations for audiences of up to about fifty people. >> 

The apartment is a satellite space ready to introduce people to art or to guest travelling artists for short periods. The purpose of that, with the blog http://web.cmoa.org/ci13/, is to bring everybody into the event, little by little, <<hopefully, bringing some (but not too much!) transparency to the planning process>>

I would encourage everybody to check it out, since it's well structured and easy to follow. 

© http://web.cmoa.org/ci13/ 

I was invited to go there by Brandon Boan, a smart Pittsburgh-based artist that works between  object-making and performance. You can follow his activity directly on his blog www.brandonboan.info  

Monday night was dedicated to him and his friend Chris Beauregard http://www.chrisbeauregard.com/ 

 Chris was creating "sculptures" with melted sugar, colored with red and made hard again by throwing it in iced water.
Everything was then displayed on a light table where, with gloves, you could medically analyze the result.

 Brandon, elegantly dressed, was welcoming the guests and taking pictures of their teeth. 

After "Polaroidizing" them, everything was projected on a window on 44th Street,

I'm wondering if there is a connection between the teeth photos and the potential (but that wasn't the purpose of the performance) sugar overdose in the other room...

Among refreshments and people chatting, the event took place in this interesting space, temporary enough to allows people to think about the CI, but without exaggerating. The final result will likely be a surprise, but it will be interesting to follow both the pre- and the post-production.

Stay in the loop, then.

Keep Fast: Gallery crawling in the snow

First Gallery Crawl of the 2013. 

It's really snowy outside and I am ready to leave it to others, braver than me, and with a car to move around. But once in Downtown Pittsburgh, biking in the snow, seeing the lights and people gallery crawling... It's always like this: you promise yourself to visit just two galleries, maybe the 707 and 709 Penn Gallery, close to each other on Liberty Avenue. Then you seriously consider that the Woodstreet Galleries are always worth visiting... and once there, how can't you run around at the Space Gallery, just on the opposite side of the street?! Darn walkable Pittsburgh!

This is what happened, despite the snow, the cold and the bike.

My first stop was suggested by a friend that I met by chance on Liberty Avenue. He was looking for the Pop-Up project, that promised some food booths open air, weather permitting. Weather didn't, so we headed to a quite "new" space, 131 Seventh Street, to visit the Night Market 3. It was an indoor market that displayed desserts vendors, creative artists (Don Jones was there - see previous post) and a band of musicians, elegantly playing classical music. 

Here I loved the setting: a true example of Pittsburgher creative restoration of an empty space, valorized in its simple (but never banal) materials and architecture.  

Then we went to the 707 and 709 Galleries, where we found Craig Freeman (707) with his light and hilarious view of the first Mikey Mouse version (late '30s), and Fabrizio Gerbino, that sincerely didn't impressed me. 

© Craig Freeman

At the Woodstreet Galleries you'll likely find very powerful installations by video artists. This time it was Miguel Chevalier who amazed the visitors with the gigantic projections of his ideas. The all space is filled with darkness and colored lights, at the same time. You find yourself completely absorbed by his psychedelic vision of the world.

The Space Gallery let me a bit unsatisfied. What I saw seemed to be pretty banal and overseen. Actually, mainly being garbage left here and there, it was even more than overseen. But I'll try to tell a story (my personal vision) of it. Some pieces inspired me to think about things. Not a granted service, for contemporary art.

The big windows along Liberty always let you see what's going on inside. And it's always a good sampler of twenty-something's life (see the New Yorker, for more info about the twenty-something generation). The main exhibit there was titled Romper Room and guested various artists. The result was a mix of anger against the world, anxiety about society, hate for Christmas and an ancestral fear/respect of our parents generation, that has to maintain us or at least financially helping. 

 Strange accidents and catastrophic visions of a rotten reality laid everywhere, where not standing in shape of weird person-like objects.

Indeed, there is still a desperate need of domesticity, in our generation of twenty-something (I'm 25). There is only a lot of uncertainty about what's and where is "home". We are still living in Romper Rooms, full of "bastard toys" that give us a sense of security: recognizable shapes but uncanny finishes. 

The children at the presentation were looking (at "us") like Dante Alighieri and Virgilio: 

« Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa;

misericordia e giustizia li sdegna:

non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa. »

(Inferno III, verso 51)

You can always spot a piece more interesting than others:

But then anger comes back, and you'll find things like this: a mistic library containing nasty drawings on books for "man's good". 

My only recommendation for the author is: just respect the books: if you hate them, just don't read them. There is no need to destroy a book. That only reminds me of Hitler "tolerance".

So, in the end, a piece is suggesting that the primitive man is vanishing. I have the impression that even the modern one has gone since a while, and the contemporary one is really in troubles. 

These exhibit seems to move us toward a premature phase of our lives, the infancy. The short circuit is caused by trying to live in a romper room when you are no more a toddler. The result? Apparently: disaster, or...

...or the Human Touch Project, that is much more hopeful. The artist is Phoenix Savage, always at the Space Gallery. She invites everybody to pick a piece of wax in boxes with different colored stickers. She tells you the mood you have picked according to the color. She asks you to work on the wax to shape the emotion/mood you have to select. Here my piece. I picked the yellow: happiness.

And it's with happiness that I want to leave you today, despite we are surrounded by anger and frustration. I think destroying is never a solution, in general. Creating and modifying is always better.

I would really leave all the rotten art in the basements: I can't see anything useful in it, nor a lesson to learn. Just frustration, with no explanation about it.

Keep fast! Improvement is always possible.

The "Don Jones" Robotic Average

There are several ways in which one can mix present and past, history and technology. The practice of combining a variety of "ingredients" from different Eras can be considered even a kind of trend nowadays- I'm thinking of different fields, from art up to cuisine. Moreover, the economical crisis and the "eco-friendly movement" are forcing us to maximize the savings, cut consumptions or extra expenses and rediscover a lot of things from our past (or just from our basements).

What we miss, at this point, is a kind of quality index of these blends and combinations. We are way far from the initial candid interest for whatever has never been seen before. Now it's time to select and reward who works better than others.

In a previous review, I talked about Vanessa German and her moving work, so conceptually powerful and touching. Could we have a quality index, her work would be in a very high position. 

Today, I would like to bring to your attention another artist, Don Jones, presented at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts as Vanessa was.

The thing I most like about his work is not the meaning of each piece, but the huge creativity and quality of every robot he builds. In the the quality index I would invent, he would be likely rated a little less than Vanessa, but just because of my personal appreciation for the meaning of things. 

The blends he creates is magic, though, in terms of shapes and pieces - so perfectly they are put together. I've never seen such expressive spoons, forks, screws or bolts (just to mentions some of the basics of his work). 

To create his robots, he mainly uses contemporary and new metallic pieces, even though you can find old boxes as well. Vanessa's creations are given meaning by the very old pieces she selects and that you couldn't substitute. The composition would lack of its meaning. 

Don's relation with objects from our past seems to be more aesthetical, than philosophical or moral. As a result of this, his pieces are perfectly studied to capture your attention and give you pleasure for being  perfect like Vanessa's one are, even of for different reasons.

I love them because the mix of Yesterday and Today is so balanced and well thought that each piece leaves you with a pleasant sense of domesticity. I warmly suggest you to see Dan's work, and maybe to buy some of his robots. They could be cool Christmas presents and perfect "companions" for the rest of  the year.

Enjoy!

one of the working robots by Don Jones

PCFA Pittsburgh

Don Jones pieces are very interesting and on sale at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. You'll find them at the ground floor, temporarily set as "Holiday Shop" until December 30th, 2012.

TUE-WED 10-5

THUR-SAT 10-7

SUN 12-5

MON 10-5

more info at http://pca.pittsburgharts.org/holiday-shop-1

"Inventing the Modern World" and rediscovering the old one.

Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851–1939

From the official website:

<<This groundbreaking exhibition explores the ingenuity and craftsmanship of decorative arts made for world’s fairs, from London’s Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in 1851, to the New York World’s Fair in 1939>>

When I first saw that the CMOA was guesting an exhibition about past World's Fairs, I hardly believed to what I was reading; I left Italy and Milan while the city was (almost) getting ready for our EXPO  - a kind current equivalent (in term of global visibility) of the old World's Fairs. Milano should be ready in 2015, but we are still not in great shape, with a lot of chaos around the project.

Before talking about the CMOA's exhibit, I would like to briefly introduce you what's going on in my city.

Milan's EXPO has a very noble and interesting theme: feeding the planet. Not an easy task, you could say, but you know... Italy: Small country that thinks bigger and then keeps the promises only thanks to our even bigger creativity. 

I know that we'll be ready for 2015, but we'll get there in a dramatic way, as usual.

find out more about the masterplan

At the Carniegie, though, the focus is on the Fairs that used to present the world the most innovative industrial production. The theme, in this case, is just the Industry. CMOA is displaying a number of interesting and precious objects. The exhibition is well organized and interesting: room after room, you'll see the evolution of the industry production according to the taste. And believe me: what a taste! 

English designer. Paris 1867

Image from http://web.cmoa.org/ITMW/gallery.html

  The first World's Fairs used to present the most innovative production in terms of technology, furniture, supplies  for the house, fabrics but also new materials. While visiting, you'll be able to see reproductions or originals of drawings showing the overall organization of the fairs, by stands (by country). And then you'll see superb objects hyper-decorated, coming from a variety of countries. The piece I liked most were the few coming from Japan. The artesans were asked to give them a Japanese look but with Western shapes or treats. The result is elegant, despite the Western requests (I apologize for being a bit cynical, but I'm a fan of traditional Japan).
I must also give the right space to some French silk fabrics - really masterpieces-  as well as to some ceramics by Gio Ponti (Italian architect and designer, that did the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan). But once there, you'll see also very powerful original pieces from the US, with an astonishing accumulation of details. These were great attempts to "go international". I would read here the first "WWW". 

American designer. Philadelphia, 1876

Image from http://web.cmoa.org/ITMW/gallery.html

My personal pick is the last room, a little more contemporary. I couldn't prevent myself from taking at least these two pictures, about a glazed table with armchairs and glazed radiator, simply elegant and everlasting. But maybe not exactly comfortable. Doesn't matter: when it comes to be cool, forget about it. This is true now and in the Thirties. 

 Here you see the little radiator, on the left, and the table on the right.

The background is a picture of the complete environment.

American designer,  New York 1939.

The chair: my photo and the one from the catalogue.

Image on the right from http://web.cmoa.org/ITMW/gallery.html

The last two pieces that really got all my attention are kind of posters called the Panels of Progress, presented at the Chicago fair of 1933. From the official caption: <<Radio Broadcasting Panel - The Panels of Progress, part of Westinghouse’s display at the 1933 Chicago fair, used innovative materials to promote the company’s products of mass communication and electrification. Each panel was made of Micarta—a new laminate composed of canvas, paper, and Fiberglas—with designs in aluminum and steel, materials that resonate in Pittsburgh. Shown at A Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, 1933>>

American Designer. Chicago 1933

Image from http://web.cmoa.org/ITMW/gallery.html

American designer. Chicago, 1933

Image from http://web.cmoa.org/ITMW/gallery.html

Current World Fairs are pretty different from those in the past. They are called EXPO and they present themes that affect the current society and have a worldwide impact. 

Exhibitions like the old Fairs are still organized, but are fragmented in a myriad of events. Each industrial sector has its own fair: Design, Fashion, Construction, Vehicles, Food, Technology, Computers...

This fragmentation became necessary as we started mass production in such a powerful way that it was impossible to keep everything "under the same roof". Current Fairs seems to be very impactive at first, but then they risk of disappearing in the swirl of necessary renovation and updating process (that supports the hyper production of goods).

On the other side, current EXPOs try to fix a lot of problems (2010 Shanghai's theme was "Better cities, better lifes") but the risk, in this case, is to create just incredible "cultural Disneylands" very attractive but not effective.

The old World's Fair, by the way, were really inventing the modern world. And now we can learn from them how the past world and society were. They can easily be considered milestones, precious treasures for our knowledge.