Art Stroll

Art Stroll – Garcia Torres at MoMA

Art Stroll Garcia Collage

A couple months ago I went to MoMA with my friend Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and I was excited to see the Joaquin Torres-Garcia exhibition since I fell in love with his work a couple months before in Argentina at Malba. Torres-Garcia was an Uruguayan painter and sculptor. He lived in Barcelona with his family in 1891, traveled a lot in his life and was friends with Picasso, Duchamp and other important artists. What I love about his work is how versatile and symbolic it is.

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Fourteenth Street, 1920 – Oil on board

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I love his New York City Scenes- they are so lively and I love that he put more detail on signs and writing than on faces – yet you totally get the vibe of the city.

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Aren’t those the coolest? I want them all!

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I love his very limited color palette.

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Construction with triangle, 1929 – Oil on canvas

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Structure with struck forms, 1933 – Tempera on board.

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His use of wood pieces – It makes me want to find old pieces of wood and paint on them.

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And working in black, white and grey…even though I am such a bright color nerd, this makes me want to do it.

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Constructive composition,1931 -Oil on canvas

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Composition, 1932 – oil on canvas

 

 

 

Oh looksie…there is Julie :) I miss her and our MoMA strolls.

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The one below is one of my favorite. The collage elements, the flags, the ephemera, symbols- I just love it!

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It was a great art stroll and I really enjoyed seeing more of Garcia Torres after my visit to Malba. I am sure I will refer to his artwork in one of my future works – stay tuned :)

Do you find his work inspiring?

Comments (8)

  • Joi@RR

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    I’m like Gayle – love traveling with you Nat. And yes – this was definitely inspiring. I am really thankful to learn about these different artists and I enjoyed seeing all of these very much. You know… you already do his type of city art… it reminds me of you a lot. Thanks bunches for such a great post. XX j.

    Reply

  • Gayle

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    Again, thank you SO MUCH for expanding my art-appreciation horizons. These works have a neolithic flavor mixed in with primitive hieroglyphics and brings one back to the universality of images and symbols — before language started creating barriers. I can definitely see how this style can be incorporated into mixed media and am anxious to experiment with this concept. I love travelling with you via your blogs!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Gayle, So glad you like the work and inspiration by Torres. And yes – I agree- images and symbols- what a wonderful way to communicate in art. Thank you for traveling along!

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  • Sue Clarke

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    I like the wooden sculptures but not much inspiration for me sorry to say.
    You and Julie give me plenty of inspiration (especially with all your new products)!

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      sorry to hear you didn’t find inspiration in his work but so happy you are here :) hugs, nat

      Reply

  • Joyce

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    I enjoyed this presentation of the artist. Food for thought.

    Reply

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Art Stroll: Picasso Sculpture at MoMA

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Disclaimer: This post includes artwork with abstract or not so abstract nudity – it is not called Sodom and Gomorrah – it is called ART . If you have a problem with art, all I can say ” so sorry for you!” . Don’t email me to complain, don’t visit my blog anymore because I might post things like this again and, farewell!

For a couple weeks now Picasso Sculpture is on view at MoMA (until February 7th, 2016). It is AMAZING! I have been there four times and I really hope I can sneak in a fifth time. The work shown was created between 1902 and 1964. Every time I go, I am entranced by something else. The scope of Picasso’s work and the range of materials he used in his sculptures is just mind-blowing.

 

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– Guitar, Paris, 1924. Painted sheet metal, painted tin box, and iron wire. –

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– Violin and Bottle on a Table, Paris 1915 –

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– Violin Paris 1915 – Painted sheet metal and iron wire.

All those sculptures make me feel as if Picasso Paintings came alive in a 3D installation  – so brilliant!

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Bust of a Woman, Boisgeloup 1931 . Plaster.

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Head of a Woman, Boisgeloup 1932. Plaster

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Head of a Warrior, Boisgeloup 1933 . Plaster, metal and wood.

This somehow made me think of a cartoon and smile- there is so much fun and joy and many puns in Picasso’s sculptures.

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The Orator, 1933-34, Plaster, stone, and metal dowel

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Head of a Woman. Paris 1929-30. Iron, sheet metal, spring and metal colanders.

Again this and the one below made me think of a Bugs Bunny Cartoon . Loving it!

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Woman in the Garden, Paris 1929-30. Welded and pained iron.

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left: Woman Carrying a Vessel, 1935. Painted pieces of wood, objects, and nails in a cement and wood base.

right: Figure, Mougins, 1938. Painted wood, nails, and screws with string, wire, paintbrush fragments, and push bell hardware on an unfired clay and wood base.

These were probably my favorites in the exhibition. I love the colors, and the materials and how they were put together – and look at the back of the figure!

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Again these made me smile. You can almost see how someone who is so creative can never stop playing and transforming anything close by.

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Goat. Paris, 1943 – Torn Paper

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Death’s Head, Paris, 1943 . Torn and scratched paper.

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Head of a Dog, Paris 1943, Torn and burnt napkin

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Pregnant Woman, Vallauris, 1950. Plaster with metal armature, wood, ceramic vessel, and pottery jars.

 

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Little Owl, Vallauris, 1951-52. Painted Bronze

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Crane, Vallauris, 1951-52. Painted Bronze

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Goat Skull and Bottle, Vallauris, 1951. Painted Bronze

 

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Cock, Boisgeloup, 1932, Bronze

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She-Goat, Vallauris, 1950, Bronze

 

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Woman with a Baby Carriage, Vallauris, 1950-54 . Bronze

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The Bathers – two times I was there, I saw a group of kids. They loved loved loved this – they recognized the faces and arms right away and they were totally entranced by the installation.

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The Bathers: Man with Folded Hands ; Fountain Man; Woman with Outstretched Arms – Cannes 1956 – Wood

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Baboon and Young, Vallauris, 1951, Bronze

Come on …this makes me laugh – this is awesome!!!! a car as the monkey head? I will never be able to look at a toy car again and not think of this!

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Bull, Cannes 1958 – Block board, palm frond, and various other tree branches, eyebolt, nails and screws, with drips of alkyd and pencil markings.

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Maquette for Richard J. Daley Center Sculpture, 1964. Simulated and oxidized welded steel

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Woman with Hat,Cannes 1961. Painted sheet metal

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Head of a Woman, Mougins, 1962. Painted sheet metal and iron wire.

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Little Horse, Vallauris, 1961. Painted metal with wheels.

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Sylvette, Vallauris 1954. Painted sheet metal.

What struck me the most was really how Picasso constantly changed his medium, his style and just totally indulged into the next and explored it, made it new and exciting! Looking at all the different work I felt super inspired and couldn’t wait to go home into my studio. Furthermore, I told people I took to the exhibition that this is exhibition feels like a therapy – it makes you happy and smile and just leaving in a very good mood. Yes- not the most art criticy en vogue thing to say, but you know…I think Pablo would have approved ;)

If you are anywhere near NYC and can make it before February 7th, 2016 to MoMA – RUN! Do it – don’t wait!

Hope you enjoyed the little art stroll!

 

Comments (14)

  • michelleward

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    Wow! What a great show! Thanks for sharing all the details. I feel like I’ve been there. Love those first few….1915. Amazing. What a visionary. Love your enthusiasm for Picasso – thanks for taking us along.

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Michelle, you would love to go- come and go with me before it closes :)
      I take you in! My treat!

      Reply

  • Mary W

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    Thank you for the guided tour. It was fun to walk through with you and your ideas! That is the best part of art – sharing and evolving. Also, I won’t be able to look at my grandson’s cars without laughing now. Fun stroll.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      I am glad you enjoyed it Mary! I agree sharing and evolving is the best part- how fortunate we are to live in a time like this where the internet can bring us all together and make it possible to share.

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  • Jane LaFazio

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    Thank you for the fascinating visit to the exhibition. I recently saw an exhibit of Picassco’s lithographs and block prints that was also fabulous. What a rich original imaginative body of work. I feel I have much more to learn about his work. Thanks Nat!

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you Jane, glad you liked it. I wish I could have seen the exhibition you saw, that sounds so interesting!

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  • sunmoongal

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    I love love love this post. Your descriptions, photos, discussion right on spot. I could not agree more. I love the car face too. I kept looking at it before I read your comments. Just like your walks through the hood. I love reading your thoughts. Also loved your disclaimers! So glad to follow you and attend jump start. I am always smiling, learning and inspired. I am leaving this post with a big smile.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      so glad to have you Denise! Happy I made you smile! huge hugs,Nat

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  • Sue Clarke

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    Pregnant Woman and Woman with a Carriage jumped out at me for some reason and NO I am not planning to have another baby.
    Thanks for posting these delightful photos!

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      fun, right? I love those too. Thanks for coming by Sue!

      Reply

  • roncasw002

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    Thank you for sharing. Very fun and interesting.

    Reply

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Back To School or…What I learned in my MoMA Class

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Back to School might be exaggerated but for six weeks I visited a class every monday at the Museum of Modern Art called The Modern Studio: Rauschenberg, Johns, Cage.

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I knew the instructor Corey D’Augustine already from other classes and knew he would do a great job . Since my husband is an avid fan of John Cage and schlepped me once into a concert where the 4’33” piece was performed…I was really interested in this workshop. My husband and I discuss music and art and their connection and places in history a lot. You have to know the musician of 4’33” of whatever instrument is instructed to not play for the length of 4 minutes and 33 seconds. I can tell you this – when I watched/listened/attended/experienced the piano player in silence in concert  it made me extremely awkward. I remember thinking   “What the hay?” …”Am I missing something?” …”What are the others doing?” …”Am I stupid and just don’t get it?” …”Brilliant..and I paid for this” …”I wonder why?”

If you are interested in this- read about the exhibition at MoMA  “There will never be silence”.  John Cage influenced a huge variety of artists and still does and so I was really curious about the class.

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In every session we began with an art history lecture, then we wandered around the empty gallery and talked about the artwork, and then we had some studio time. We mostly had to work in oil but also used some wax  and we were free to use whatever was available in the studio. I never really worked with oil so I was curious how I would like it. We also learned how to stretch a canvas- which I didn’t master until the end- my canvases are all saggy sad little buggers- but oh well- some day I will tackle it. The fun part about this class was visiting it with my friend Julie :) and it was a very cherished time together usually with a nice dinner before or after class.

Here is what I did after a Rauschenberg inspired Lesson:

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While I was not unhappy with it – I felt bored…because somehow I did all the stuff I usually do. It was still very controlled and not really out of the box for my usual approach ….yes there is more personal hidden meaning in the whole thing- but from the outside it is just the usual textured stuff.

The next lesson was Jasper Johns inspired and we visited the new exhibition at MoMA called “Regrets” -amazing- I will go there a couple more times. I really tried to do something different from my style this time and in a non typical german behavior screwed up the order …on purpose…and I guess you figured and I will be honest…I also was tired of cleaning up the oil paint brushes …yes …it might not be my medium as the cleaning is soooo hideous- LOL

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That was interesting and fun…but not quite me….

When we went to the current Sigmar Polke Exhibition: Alibis – which I already saw- I love Sigmar Polke and I love finding cultural references – It is a very “hard” exhibition for a non-German and even for a German to get some of the references- and yet still you do not understand fully. I appreciate the free-ness of his experimenting with colors, stencils and materials and  word plays. BTW- without meaning it disrespectful in regards to our wonderful and super knowledgeable teacher,  – it was the only lecture where I felt I had a slight advantage of knowing some of the references – because of the language and the icons used. Again- that doesn’t mean I know the meaning behind his work. I get it that Sigmar Polke would have liked the exhibition shown as is with no explanation and yes it puts it down to just looking at the materials and making your own connections but MEH – a little bit translation/explanation of the figures used so that people can then still make their own assumptions would be ok and still  leave lot’s of things open for interpretation.

We had an all evening studio lecture where we finished our works and then we had kind of an art critic circle where we showed one piece and talked about what we liked/meant or what we didn’t like about the work and then it was open to the public opinion. I was amazed by some of the pieces-a lot of the students never painted, we had several musicians, graphic designers, performance artists, poets, an art dealer, and people just interested in doing something creative in our class.

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It was really interesting to see and then hear what influenced everyone from the lectures and I loved seeing how much fun everyone had. This is my piece I showed- it was my first canvas – started in the John Cage Lecture – again very usual for me : texture, colors – the only difference to what I usually do was the oil paint – and then in the end I came back to it and stretched some plastic tarp over and screen printed on top and did some marks. It is a hard to see in the photograph but you might get an idea from the detail pictures.

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I like it because I played with different materials and with the texture – non texture appearance – I find it pretty interesting. So ..

What did I learn in this class:

  • I don’t like not being in the know about my medium. It is not that I dislike oil- I  just hadn’t had the feeling I was mastering it – it mastered me.
  • Art can sometimes only be understood with the same cultural background as the artist – but you do not need to understand art completely and it can still speak to you.
  • Many great artists never studied art – so get over the fact you didn’t study art.
  • All artists we talked about learned craft or did craft work to  support their living and they all took something away from that right into their art.
  • In the 50s /60s there seemed to be way more cross inspiration between all fields of art going on – musicians, performance artists, calligraphy artists, dancers, painters, writers …they influenced each other and exchanged ideas

What I take away for the future:

  • I would like to reach out and meet up with other artists from different fields in my community – I think it can be only highly inspiring
  • I want to work more with different substrates and play more with texture – non-texture- push and pull in my art work
  • It is fine to stick to one concept for a while and work on it before moving away and do something different – you will see more city canvases for now ;)
  • Some things I do are just fine the way I do them…just because you taught them yourself doesn’t mean they are not good. Stop doubting.

So that was a long post- but I hope you enjoyed it a bit – it is what influences me in my artwork- and I am sure this class will have a share of influence in the future

Is there any class/workshop you took (doesn’t have to be art related) that influenced you a lot in the past?

Have a gorgeous day

 

Comments (5)

  • Gina Sismilich

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    Nat – I have been so inspired by your paintings of buildings – yours are just so lovely – I’m not quite there yet but I mentioned your website in my blog post this week – right here http://bellefrogworks.blogspot.com/2014/08/something-different-and-lovely-mail.html It’s an abstract cityscape WIP and I am trying to brighten it up without overworking it – If you get a chance to take a look that would be great. If not I just wanted you to know that I mentioned your blog this week.

    Reply

  • Denise

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    Loved the post. Good info and learning. I really do love your art and your city canvas’s. And your walks in the hood. I always look forward to your posts. Can’t wait for Create TX.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I really enjoyed that post Nat.
    One class that I took at CKC a # of years ago made an impression on me. The instructor said that there was no reason that we couldn’t scrap the same photo more than once and that we didn’t need to scrap chronologically. I found and still find this freeing. Can’t say why it clicked for me but it did.
    I also had a great time at one of Julie’s classes at AE and learned about using deli paper and other cool techniques. I’m still learning to let go of the finished product and just play.

    Reply

  • Kelly Belton

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    I have probably learned more from watching my son work ( he is an artist), and living with his art all around me. As he works in several different media with absolute confidence that has inspired me to forge ahead and not fear “mistakes”.
    Several classes I have taken from you Nat, have reinforced that sense of freedom and introduced me to techniques previously unknown.
    I appreciate more and more being able to find the beauty in all that surrounds me, whether it is intentionally art or not.
    I have had access to some great instruction and art history at the AGO here in Toronto and have concluded from that – and indeed all of the above – that life truly is art. Every day.

    Reply

  • Karen D

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    I really enjoyed your post on your classes at MoMA, how amazing it must have been to do those classes and see all the artwork of those legendary artists. I have just recently finished a Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in Creative and Performing Arts and I have to say that it has really informed my own artwork. I have been painting in acrylics for a number of years and dabble in stamping and now art journaling, but it is always hard to find your own voice. Studying about all of the artists you mentioned, as well as many others has given me a great insight into art, why we do it and how to create. I would love to be in your position of being able to go to MoMA and attend classes there. Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience.

    Reply

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