Photo ABCs

Bilbao: Guggenheim Museum: Rothko

Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was a Russian-born American abstract artist.

He is known for his large pieces consisting of color rectangles.

Reaction to his art varies, some see it as simplistic, others see contemplating his art as a near-religious experience!

In fact, a non-denominational chapel in Houston was constructed around eleven of his works.

Here, a visitor walks past his untitled painting at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

I believe that this is the first Rothko painting I have seen in person.

My life is still the same.

Allegory of Virute and Nobility

Now for something completely different!

A young girl contemplates "Allegory of Virtue and Nobility," a painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, an Italian painter of the 18th Century.

Photographed at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, in March of this year.

Polo's Fine Art Gallery: Rosarito Beach

Exciting news!

Yesterday I dropped off photographs at Polo's Fine Art Gallery in Popotla, the art and furniture neighborhood south of Rosarito Beach in Baja California.

The gallery, established in 1990, is a showroom of regional art by dozens of talented artists, including the owner, Polo Valencia, and other local artists such of Becris Armando.

The walls are chock-full of art from floor to ceiling. It is not a "stuffy" formal gallery, rather a celebration of the vibrant regional art scene and the colors of Mexico.

Here is Polo hanging my work "Eleven Turkey Vultures" which was photographed south of San Felipe, in Baja California.

Above it is a photograph from my recent trip to Mexico City for Day of the Dead.

Polo's Gallery is located at kilometer 33 of the free road from Tijuana to Ensenada, across the street from Xploration Studios where the movie Titanic was filmed. Polo has stories of various movie stars who have purchased art at his gallery. If you visit the fun town of Rosarito, or are on your way to or from Ensenada, stop by Polo's Fine Art Gallery!

Museo José Guadalupe Posada

Despite his name being nearly unknown today, José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was one of the more influential Mexican artists of the last 150 years, whose influence continues to grow.

He was a graphic artist, political cartoonist, lithographer, engraver, and produced illustrations for countless publications and books in Aguascalientes (his birthplace), León, and Mexico City.

He is best known for his satirical cartoons and his depictions of skeletons, or calaveras. These calaveras poked fun at politicians, as well as at the vanities of the Mexican aristocracy, and indeed, of the vanities of the living!

The calaveras were featured in murals by Diego Rivera, who once stated that Posada's art was "so great that perhaps one day his name will be forgotten!"

His most famous skeleton was dubbed the Calavera Catrina, whose likeness inspired the whole culture of dressing as skeletons for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

In 1972 a museum dedicated to Posada was opened in the historic Encino neighborhood of Aguascalientes. It is housed in the former cloisters of the church El Señor del Encino.

His legacy is not forgotten in Aguascalientes, for an entire festival, El Festival de las Calaveras, is dedicated to him and his calaveras. The festival began in 1994, and is attended by tens of thousands who descend upon the city each year during the week surrounding Day of the Dead. The historic town center comes alive with concerts, parades, bullfights, and carnivals.

The very modern facade of the José Guadalupe Posada Museum, with the adjoining Church of El Señor del Encino:

His Calavera Catrina adorns the front of the museum:

A portrait bust of the artist:

The courtyard:

The illustration that started the Calavera tradition, housed within the museum:

More calaveras:

“La muerte es democrática, ya que a fin de cuentas, güera, morena, rica o pobre, toda la gente acabaría siendo calavera”.

"Death is democratic. At the end, whether you are white, dark, rich or poor, everyone ends up a skeleton." Jose Guadalupe Posada

Leonora Carrington

About this time last year I was in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí traveling to the small town of Xilitla to experience their version of Day of the Dead, called Xantolo in the local dialect.

Our first stop was the city of San Luis Potosí. The highlight of this lovely city was visiting the Carrington Museum, housed in one wing of the Centro De Las Artes, a former state penitentiary. The Carrington Museum opened in March 2018. An excellent article about the museum and her life is published here.

A Carrington renaissance has arrived in Mexico, as another Carrington Museum soon followed in Xilitla, which opened the week that we arrived in October 2018. Both museums are spectacular and should be on the bucket list of any art lover.

Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) was British-born and became a major surrealist artist, spending much of her adult life in Mexico. She spent time in the town of Xilitla, where she would visit friend Edward James, whose surrealist sculpture garden there is now a major tourist attraction.

Carrington's art is often whimsical in the spirit of Dr. Seuss. In fact, Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was a surrealist in Paris, friends with Dali and others before his career as a children's book author, as noted here.

A Carrington sculpture at the Carrington Museum in San Luis Potosí. Note the high walls of the former prison:

More smaller sculptures in the Carrington Museum. These smaller sculptures were housed in former prison cells:

Alto. (Stop)

If Pigs Could Fly:

The Mandolin Player:

Mother Is Always Right:

Necromancer, in the Leonora Carrington Museum in Xilitla:

A portrait of Leonora Carrington at the museum in Xilitla:

A sculpture in Edward James' surrealistic garden, Las Pozas, in Xilitla. Unfortunately I was not feeling well the day I visited this garden, so took few photos. More photos can be seen in this article.

While in Xilitla, we stayed in a house built by Plutarco Gastelum, who constructed Las Pozas for Edward James. The house is also slightly surrealist and whimsical. It is owned by Gastelum's granddaughter, Leonora, named, of course, after Leonora Carrington!

Fight of the Century

To paraphrase Henry Hazlitt this video could be titled Economics in One Incredibly Entertaining Lesson.

Fight of the Century is the new music-video sensation by George Mason economist and author Russ Roberts and videographer John Papola. It shows how the economic struggles of today rehash the arguments of the 20th century economists Hayek and Keynes. 

The newsreel photography is in sepia, and the modern-day photography is a mixture of sepia and color. In addition to being stylistically gorgeous, this choice shows how historical ideas influence today's events.

The more times you watch this video, the more you will be entertained, (check out those ring-girls!) and the more you will catch (like seeing Malthus in Keynes' corner!) 

 

Atlas

See it! The story, acting, and photography are all superb. It brings to life the classic novel.

Douglas Kirkland

I had the pleasure of hearing Douglas Kirkland speak at the San Diego Photo Expo last weekend.

Kirkland is a legendary photographer, having photographed a who's who of movie stars over the past half century.

Listening to Kirkland speak is entertaining for the stories, of course, but more importantly, for his sense of joy. He loves photography as a way to connect to his subjects, be they famous or not. 

A few of his words:

With today's tools photographers are now empowered like painters.

You'll get as good a picture as your subject feels.

Know about your subject and be interested in them.

Make your subject feel calm and serene.

The high ISO capabilities of today's cameras have caused him to use smaller (slower) lenses.

Use music in your sessions to keep the model relaxed, and the shoot can be like a dance between you and your subject.

"It's all so much fun!"

"I want people to look good."

After a slide show, he did a live photo shoot with a model from the local area. It was clear that he loved the session and put the model at ease.

If you get a chance to see Douglas Kirkland speak, don't miss it!

An exuberant Douglas Kirkland at the 2010 San Diego Photo Expo.

Today's Special

Are you are stuck in a rut photographically, having knowledge of cameras, settings, and recipes for a good photo but just not achieving your artistic potential?

See the movie Today's Special. 

Trust me.

Lyceum Theater Gallery Show

I have three photos now on display in the Lyceum Theater lobby. The photos are part of a group show titled Many Artists, One Passion. The show, featuring art and photography by members of the Allied Artists Association of San Diego, coincides with the play A Weekend With Picasso, a one-man show at the Lyceum Theater.

The art will be on display from noon-9 p.m. daily through April 11.

My photographs will be from my Bullfights in Sepia series, in homage to Picasso's love of the bullfight.

There will be a reception this Friday evening, April 2, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. I hope to see you there!