The Hirshhorn INSIDE & OUT

RODIN

I spent a couple of morning hours at the “Hirshhorn” a few Sundays ago. The “Museum and Sculptor Garden” located on Independence Ave. in Washington DC is in many ways my favorite place to view great art in it's diversive forms and incarnations. It was the museum’s extensive collection of sculpture that became my main focus of attention on that particular June Sunday. Castings from the great Rodin to moderns like Zúñiga and Moore are featured in their regal grandeur and authority. Kusama, Calder, Cave and Mueck  are also on view for study, enjoyment and Zen reflection…whatever way you choose to relate with these masters is available for locals and world travelers.

RODIN

RODIN

RODIN

I have casually run into many great contemporary artists of the day and others at this Washington, DC site. Julian Schnabel, John Currin and his spouse; sculptor Rachel Feinstein. Historian and lecturer Simon Schama is another art world luminary I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at one of his Hirshhorn seminars. The Hirshhorn is a fabulous place and always new serving as both contemporary collectors of new pieces while possessing a unique and expansive permanent collection that is displayed in rotation. The Hirshhorn is always fresh and exciting.

Zúñiga

Zúñiga

                               

Moore

There is ever a sense of discovery associated with walking around the sculpture garden that surrounds the physical building and extends to a lower level across Madison Dr. This can be both relaxing and comforting for the soul and spirit. Walk ways that lead to hidden treasures are many and you must be sure to explore them all.

The Hirshhorn opened in early 1974. I was actually one of the first visitors to this “museum in the round.”  It was even still under partial construction at the time. It has grown into a world class destination and is remarkable in it’s reach and depth of character and understanding with a distinct and unique perspective of the purpose of art. Currently artist Mark Bradford has the first continuous single artistic creation that encircles the entirety of the third floor’s interior walk way.  The outer walls became a 360’ projection surface in 2012 for artist Doug Aitken's "SONG 1” that was especially memorable for my personal mid-night viewing and experiencing  that "shock of the new.”

Enrico David

Enrico David

Enrico David

So much to see; so much to review, that I’m just including a sampling of what I saw during my morning visit. I’ve selected and presented here some historic, some new and all spectacular. I’m hoping that this is enough to wet any appetite for more and a visit of your own. Of special interest and featured as illustrations are the works of Enrico David (above.) This was my first exposure to his art and it had a tendency to jump out perhaps for that very reason. For those who haven’t already visited themselves; please for all purposes do visit the Hirshhorn when you can and I would love to compare notes with you on it’s many exhilarating wonders. 

POMODORO

SCHNABEL

               

Mark Bradford

SONG 1

BERNIE WRIGHTSON: The Horror of it All

The work of this artist is as distinctive as that of his signature. They each can be seen as identifications of his purpose.  It is undeniably his own and in a league of rarity. Whether literary classic, graphic story-telling, book cover or poster he has done it all. Few artists cross and include the many boundaries of great illustration in their chosen genre. A standard of a truly great illustrator is the work can stand alone and be admired for it’s mastery of light, draftsmanship, color and craft. Bernie Wrightson passes every criteria as; yes, he is a great teller of story. 

It is in the realm of mystery, suspense, men and monsters that Wrightson thrives. There exist in Wrightson’s world; mayhem, gore, scares and thrills, as it is rightly so. There is horror galore in his art. While along with the horror, brutality and intensity; there is beauty. He is able to convey a sensitivity and understanding in his pieces. That understanding is of the human condition and spirit. 

“People in your life kind of come and go, you have relationships, you get divorced, you move on and things change, but the one constant, never-changing thing in my life has always been monsters.”

                                                                                                                                                                              Bernie Wrightson  

A major housing of his talents is realized in the Dark Horse Edition of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly’s “FRANKENSTEIN.”  It was as a true labor of love in that Wrightson undertook the drawings of the piece without a commission or contract. The Dark Horse Edition of Shelly’s novel is actually the 25^th anniversary publishing of the Wrightson illustrated version. Wrightson began to shop around his art (at that time incomplete) to potential publishers. Marvel Comics would be the first to publish Wrightson’s version but it was limited to direct sale comic shops as was a subsequent printing by Underwood Miller. 

The Frankenstein Portfolio

Strangely enough the majority issued by both publishers were destroyed while they languished in warehouses either by fire or flooding. It seemed that the books (like Dr. Frankenstein) were somehow cursed.  The Dark Horse silver Anniversary printing was sold in major book stores to rave reviews and are coveted by Wrightson fans and lovers of the drama’s glory. It is a phenomenal piece and a much treasured article. Wrightson’s drawings hold their own with the greats of any era or style of comparable works of any illustrated fictional narrative.

DC Comics would print in it’s EC comics style book “House of Secrets” what would become a major and lasting contribution to the medium in 1971.  The short story written by Len Wein and drawn by Wrightson; “Swamp Thing” is now one of the company’s and the creative team’s crowns. Wein and Wrightson would work on the comic book series for ten issues. These issues are considered landmarks. Swamp Thing in it’s way has become part of the popular culture; TV, movies, magazines and graphic novels. In particularly the “Swamp Thing” stories of writer Alan Moore are acclaimed by critics and legendary among fans. An all new "Swamp Thing" TV series will be appearing in a few weeks at the DC Universe. This looks to be an excellent adaptation for the character.  

#DCUSWAMPTHING

The creations of Wrightson exhibited here

Exalted by critics, extolled by his peers

These samplings of horror, his fans’ delights

All for your pleasure, while possibly frights

Take them each and all as you will

Possibly as thrillers and perhaps for the chills

The End

The Exceptional Artistry of Mark Summers

My favorite beer is Samuel Adams. My favorite magazine is probably Rolling Stone.  I’m nuts about Dickens’ literary classic “A Christmas Carol” and the New York Society of Illustrators. So; what is the connection? Mark Summers. 

 He is among the most celebrated and revered artist working today. He is a master of his medium. Summers’ chooses to illustrate with pencil, scratch board and  X-Acto knife. It is a precise, unusual, breathtakingly beautiful and rewarding form of etching. His creations; especially his caricature are perfect representations of his subjects. Men and women from history, past and present; along with imagined characters of fiction. The faces, postures and attitudes are immediately recognizable and true to each of his subjects. His created likenesses are uncanny.
It was from the printed pages of “Rolling Stone” that made me aware of Mark Summers’ work. I became a fast fan of what he was achieving within his efforts.  I then began to notice his work in other magazines and soon in books. Most notably; again, Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.” Another personal favorite is featured in R.L. Stine’s “Horror Hour.”  Summers embellishes the short fiction “The Black Mask” in that anthology book. His illustration talents are exhibited in “Edgar Allen Poe selected Poems & Tales” collected by Neal Gaiman. I have purchased multiple copies of his books and often given them as gifts to family and friends. He is a great artist/illustrator. Just ask The New York Society of Illustrators.  Summers’ has received numerous honors from this most prestigious organization including “The Distinguished Achievement Award”  and “Best Illustrator” for 2000 & 2003.

“Summers takes the illustrator’s art back a century by enlisting the wood engraver’s craft to the scratchboard medium. He gives it a thoroughly contemporary flavor, however, in the power of his imagery.” 

                                       Walt Reed   “The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000,”

“The most frequent question I get asked about my work is "What program are you using?  The answer to that question; none.  My materials consist of just a pencil, a knife and a pen on a regular scratchboard.” 

                                                                                                                                                                Mark Summers

                                                     

                                                           

Summers’ also possesses an assuredly enviable list of clients including: Time Magazine, The Atlantic, Sports Illustrated, The National Law Journal, Parker Brothers, DuPont and Major League Baseball. Look for his celebrity caricatures monthly in Rolling Stone’s end page feature “Last Word.”  Indeed; he is a busy man.   

Mark Summers continues to maintain the highest of quality in his work and only seems to improve with each project. I am enjoying his continually ascending star, grace and gifts. He is the long ball hitter whose best is yet to be realized and always better. Stick around and be amazed and thrilled by The Exceptional Mr. Summers.  Now; if someone could please pass me a “Sam Adams.”

Yayoi Kusama; Infinity Rooms, Polka Dots and One Incredible Night

Part I

It was a dark and stormy night…in February; in Atlanta. Just outside the High Museum we waited; waited for tickets. This was a night and darkness that seemed would never end. The waiting that started for myself and a number of others began around midnight Thursday Feb. 7^th. This would continue into daylight Friday morning (the 8^th) around nine thirty. 

In the course of the night we would face wind, rain, cold, the dark and no available toilets. We would have to be resourceful on all accounts. There were people in tents, sleeping bags, blankets, coats and hoodies. I was arrayed in a sweater, scarf and blanket with snacks, books and an MP3 player. There have of course been worse conditions but really; for tickets to an art exhibit it was unusual. For the record; I had waited outside the Metropolitan in New York with two of my grandkids just the year before in below zero wind chills to see Michelangelo. These temperatures we faced now were at least above freezing; a little.

About the time conditions seemed at their worst; it was almost as if the darkness would not end. One of my fellow, brave and generous art lovers appeared in front of me offering coffee. She was a Heaven send. Her name was Veronica and we would eventually buy scalped tickets for a reasonable eighty dollars each. 

Part II

The exhibit we were dedicated to seeing was Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms. This phenomenal exhibit had started at the Hirshhorn in Washington DC and played in several major cities around the country and in Canada. 

Yayoi Kusama is one of the most fascinating and creative artist’s working today. Her career began in a major way when the Japanese born artist came to America and became a part of the 60's Pop/Happening Scene. Polka Dots are something of a main stay for her as she covers everything from sculptures to film, fashion and paintings with different expanding and ever changing dot patterns.  She befriended and in many ways competed with the greats of the period like Larry Rivers and Andy Warhol for publicity and space. Her zeal and exuberant work ethic led her to a nervous breakdown. She to this day lives in a mental institution where she checks herself out and in daily to work in her nearby studio.

The Infinity Mirror Rooms are among her greatest intellectual and artistic gifts to the world. They are marvels that the viewer is limited to seeing in 30 seconds intervals. Like the finest gourmet servings a small bit is savored with a much larger delight and relish than an unlimited, gratuitous buffet.  

Kusama’s work has been meaningful for viewers from around the nation and the world that came like myself to Atlanta for a life time’s opportunity. I was able to meet enthusiastic visitors from New Orleans, to Pittsburg to Paris at “The High.”  I had traveled from the tip of South Western Virginia, across the Carolinas and into Georgia myself. It was worth every bit of what it took for me to behold the mastery and spectacular vision of Yayoi Kusama. 

A Video Report from The News Hour

Hey Veronica;

It was fabulous meeting you at the Kusama Exhibition in Atlanta. As you said while waiting overnight for tickets; “...this is (was) a Great Adventure!”  I arrived late that afternoon and we didn’t have a chance to touch base. If you’re reading this: thanks again for “the Best and Warmest Cup of Coffee” I’m likely to ever have. I hope someday, to be able to return the favor and meet for a coffee and a doughnut.

All the Best;

James

jartistt@yahoo.com