Herb Ritts

April 30, 2012 Leave a Comment


I finally made it around to visiting The Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The view overlooking the city (and the ocean) was amazing but I’m sad to report that, overall, I was disappointed with the art. I think I’d heard too much about how amazing it was so my expectations were really high—it didn’t quite meet them. Perhaps it was the mood I was in, but I just wasn’t feelin’ the collection that day. That being said, there was an AMAZING exhibit of photographs by Herb Ritts.

(Side Note: His name makes me crave some sort of flavored Ritz cracker. Do they even make those?!…….. Confirmed! They do. Moving on…)

I could do a little write up on who Herb was and how awesome his work is/was but the LA Times already did that so you should just read that if you wanna know more. In the mean time… look at these!


Mmm hmm. For reals…

Now that we’re at the end of this post, I’m starting to feel bad for hatin’ on the Getty. It really is a nice museum. You can see Van Gogh’s and Picasso’s and and crazy French beds from the 1700′s. I think I had more fun at the Getty Villa though. Give them both a chance. And, if you’re in the area, the Herb Ritts show is up until August. Lucky you!

 

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LACMA

April 24, 2012 Leave a Comment


A few weekends ago I spend a lovely Saturday afternoon at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The museum is huge and I didn’t get to see the majority of it—like most museums, one trip isn’t enough.


I was so excited to finally see some Alberto Giacometti statues in person. His work is so crazy and awesome—like a Tim Burton movie.


They have a HUGE Picasso collection. Again… crazy and awesome.


But, my favorite exhibition had to be California Design, 1930-1965: “Living in a Modern Way.” It was full of fashion, architecture, graphic design and textile design. It featured work from Charles and Ray Eames, Saul Bass and… Barbie’s Dream House!


I think the exhibit is up until June so if you’re in the area, go! You can pretend like you’re in Mad Men! I did…

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Peristyle And Other Art History Words

February 29, 2012 2 Comments


My parents were in town this last weekend and—among many other things (Disneyland!!!)—we went to the Getty Villa in Malibu. The Getty is a HUGE museum(s) that was founded by a super rich oil guy named J. Paul Getty.* He dug art and bought up a ton of it while he was alive. When he died, he left billions of dollars behind for artsy things. The main Getty museum is in Los Angeles and I have yet to visit it (Soon!). The Getty Villa is an offshoot of the main museum and is dedicated to art from ancient Greece, Rome and Etruia. The Villa was actually Getty’s home at one point and was modeled after the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum (basically a rich house that was buried in the Pompeii catastrophe and dug up many years later. Neat, huh?).


The museum was ridiculously cool and reminded me that, at one point, I knew a lot of art history words like “Peristyle” and “tablinum” and “cubicula.” I’ve always loved ancient art and find a lot of inspiration from the colors and patterns they used.


Look at these trendy little jars! I think I know where Missoni got their inspiration from…


These lovely fertility ladies were my favorites. Saggy boobs, big hips. I’m into it. Crampy childbirth? Sure. I just like them.


The flow of the house/museum was amazing. Inside spaces flowing outside—outside spaces flowing inside. I’m convinced that’s the way to live. So, it’s settled… I’m moving in.

* Although I loved art history in college, I almost failed every class (I mean, not really. I think I got mostly B’s… but it was a struggle.). My mind loves pictures but doesn’t absorb facts very well so any and all of the “history” that I’ve written here could very well be wrong. Your best bet is to do a little research on the museum yourself. It’ll be fun! 

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Graphic Design—Now In Production

December 3, 2011 1 Comment

There is a fantastic graphic design exhibit at the Walker museum in Minneapolis right now. I got the chance to see it on Thursday and I’ll definitely be going back before it closes. As soon as I got there my ADD kicked in—this exhibit is HUGE and you definitely need more than an hour to take it all in. Although I saw every piece, I feel like a second visit would allow me to digest it a bit more.


From the Walker’s website, “This major international exhibition explores how graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool. With the rise of user-generated content and new creative software, along with innovations in publishing and distribution systems, people outside the field are mobilizing the techniques and processes of design to create and publish visual media. At the same time, designers are becoming producers: authors, publishers, instigators, and entrepreneurs employing their creative skills as makers of content and shapers of experiences.”


“Featuring work produced since 2000 in the most vital sectors of communication design, Graphic Design: Now in Production explores design-driven magazines, newspapers, books, and posters as well as branding programs for corporations, subcultures, and nations. It also showcases a series of developments over the past decade, such as the entrepreneurial nature of designer-produced goods; the renaissance in digital typeface design; the storytelling potential of titling sequences for film and television; and the transformation of raw data into compelling information narratives.”


My favorite parts of the exhibit were the motion graphic movie titles (They showed one of my favorites!—The opening sequence to Catch Me If You Can.), the infographic room and the interactive logo display where you could vote for several “before” and “after” logo designs. It was also nice to see several Minnesota designers represented including Aesthetic Apparatus and Werner Design Werks.

If you’re in the area, definitely stop by this exhibit. It’ll be running until January 22nd and then it’ll be heading to New York. For all you thrifty folks out there (like me) admission is free to the Walker on Thursday nights and the first Saturday of every month. Go see yourself some art!

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Waste Land

March 21, 2011 Leave a Comment

“Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives.”

I’ve been waiting (somewhat patiently) to see this movie for some time. I missed it when it was in theaters and it’s finally streaming on Netflix. It’s really hard to sum up my thoughts about it because it touches on so many areas that I’m passionate about. The environment, poverty, social justice, art (specifically art used to help people or bring about a change), human rights… Gah! So many things! So many thoughts! This film sits heavy with me… it weighs me down in the best kind of way.

I’ll just say that it’s incredibly inspiring to see an artist use his talents to help people and bring to light issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. It’s also amazing to see how art can completely change someone’s life, how they see themselves, how they carry themselves and how they live their life from that point on. I could go on and on… but I won’t. I think you should just watch the film.

Go on now… off you go…

(All images downloaded from wastelandmovie.com.)
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