Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Art Museum Critique
Art Museum Critique
Art Museum Critique
1) Which museum did you visit? Utah Museum of Fine Arts 2) escri!e at least one of the permanent collection e"hi!its on a theme# period# $eo$raphic re$ion# or topic% &ithin the museum' (1)0 &ords*
+he section that , spent the most time in &as the permanent e"hi!it that focused on -uropean art' ,n the si"teenth century# all of the paintin$s &ere focused on .esus Christ and Mary' At first , /ust loo0ed at each individual paintin$# !ut &hen , stepped !ac0# , reali1ed that they all had somethin$ in common: Mary is depicted almost e"actly the same &ay in every paintin$# despite the different mediums and artists' , counted at least seven different artists that portray Mary in a red dress &ith a !lue cape# !ro&n2reddish hair and her head is al&ays tilted' +he artists &ere contemporaries of each other# so did they !ase those ideas off of each other or &ere they all dra&in$ from a different# earlier artist? Fra Filippo di +omaso 3ippi and 4ierfrancesco di .acopo di 5andro Foschi focused on Mary as Madonna and her relationship as the mother of Christ in 6Madonna and Child7 and 6Madonna and Child &ith the ,nfant 5aint .ohn and a 8oldfinch7' ,t $ives a different perspective on ho& it mi$ht have !een to have the responsi!ility of carin$ for such an important fi$ure# and that she played a !i$$er role in his life than one ni$ht in a sta!le' Another -uropean paintin$ that stuc0 out to me in this e"hi!it &as 63e$end of 5aint Cappadocia7 !y an un0no&n artist' 5aint orothea of
faith and &as sentenced to death' +he paintin$ sho&s her !ein$ ta0en a&ay &ith a little an$el offerin$ her a !o9uet of flo&ers' +he description under the paintin$ e"plained that orothea told the an$el to $ive the
flo&ers to her enemy: even &hen she &as so close to death# she &as thin0in$ of others !efore she thou$ht of herself' , loved her story# !ecause she &as firm in her reli$ious !eliefs and she &as selfless in every act until the end' ,n today;s society# it;s not al&ays easy to !e or to find that 0ind of person'
3) 8ive a !rief# one para$raph description of a special# temporary e"hi!it <for help# as0 museum staff &hat these are: they are usually in one of the first rooms%' (100 &ords*
+he temporary e"hi!it on display ri$ht no& is called 6Under 4ressure7' +he first thin$ that comes to my mind &hen descri!in$ this e"hi!it is color' -very piece of art &as !old and easily dre& in attention' -llen 8alla$her;s 6de3u"e7 &as a layout of si"ty frames that &ere filled &ith old articles and pa$es from ma$a1ines &ith some form of added te"ture and color: A year!oo0 pa$e &ith colorful hair# a ma$a1ine pa$e pressed into
aluminum# and colla$es of different people and colors' ,n 6=ull 4rofile 5eries7# artist >oy 3ichtenstein sho&ed the pro$ression from a distinct portrayal of a !ull to a completely a!stract !ull' +he first panel &as a $rayish2 !lue 1inc linecut# the ne"t &as a com!ination of a litho$raph and linecut# and it !ecame pro$ressively more comple" &ith layers of mediums until it &as a colorful# a!stract paintin$ of a !ull' -ach piece of art&or0 in the e"hi!it &as simple &ith many colors that made each stand out in its o&n &ay'
4) What do you thin0 the museum administration and/or e"hi!it curators &ant you to learn or $ain from the e"hi!its you vie&ed? (100 &ord minimum*
, thin0 that art is a &ay to e"press many different emotions and time periods' +he entire top level of the museum is cate$ori1ed !y time periods and $eo$raphic re$ions# so it portrays ho& different 0inds of people vie& those specific moments in history' +he museum administration &ould &ant you to !e a!le to see history from different perspectives# and art is a perfect &ay to e"press the emotion that come from those people' For e"ample# in 3e Conte 5te&art;s 64rivate Car7# it sho&s faceless men travellin$ throu$h the Mid&est !y train' +he men represent the thousands of people &ho mi$rated to the &est tryin$ to find a ne& &ay of life for themselves' When &e learn a!out history &e mi$ht loo0 at the &estern mi$ration as an e"citin$ opportunity for the people &ho moved' +he paintin$ sho&s the an"iousness of the mi$rators# !ut there is $ood and !ad' ,t helped me to see the perspective of the actual people &ho moved# and not /ust $ettin$ a second hand story from a history teacher' ,n $eneral# , feel li0e , $ained a deeper appreciation for history in America and in -urope !ecause , &as a!le to vie& those time periods from different perspectives'
5) What 0ind of information is provided a!out the &or0s? Where mi$ht you loo0 for further information if you &ere interested? <Name three possi!ilities%
5ome of the pieces had para$raphs e"plainin$ the story of the paintin$ or the !ac0$round of the author &hile other pieces simply had the title# artist# medium and time period' +here are plenty of tour $uides and museum staff &ho are filled &ith facts a!out each part of the museum' , listened in to a tour $roup for a fe& minutes &hile the $uide e"plained one piece of art# and she &ent on for at least ten minutes findin$ different thin$s a!out the piece and &hat the $roup thou$ht a!out the paintin$ itself' +he paintin$s also had the scan code ne"t to them# so if you &anted to learn more a!out it# you scanned your phone and it $ave you more information' Unfortunately my smart phone isn;t smart enou$h to fi$ure that out# so , &asn;t a!le to ta0e advanta$e of that opportunity' , also don;t thin0 it;s a !ad idea to ta0e advanta$e of the
internet' Wi0ipedia pro!a!ly isn;t the !est idea# !ut there;s the Museum of Fine Arts &e!site that e"plains the temporary e"hi!its at http://umfa'utah'edu'
6) Choose several &or0s that particularly appealed to you' -"plain &hy you &ere dra&n to these &or0s' Comment on the su!/ect# style# medium# time period# etc' Who &ere the artists? What messa$e do you thin0 the artists &ere tryin$ to convey in the &or0s you chose to discuss? +his 9uestion must !e ans&ered in its entirety' (+his should !e at least )00 &ords*
,n the temporary e"hi!it 6Under 4ressure7# there &as a screenprint !y 5arah Morris called 64ools? Carillon <Miami%7' , &as dra&n to it !ecause of the colors and lines that stood out to me' At first it loo0ed li0e she had put tape do&n on a canvas# painted over it# ta0en the tape off to create the lines# and /ust repeated it over and over a$ain &ith different colors' ,n reality it &as a screenprint that &as part of a !i$$er collection' ,t &as also really interestin$ !ecause &hen , loo0ed at it strai$ht on# it had a @2 perspective and the !old colors seemed to pop out' My friend and , tried movin$ around to !e a!le to see it in more of a A2 perspective# !ut found that &e could only really do this !y loo0in$ at the ed$es and corners' ,n the description ne"t to the piece of art# it descri!ed it as an Ba!stract notion of a comple" city7' +he artist used the colors to represent the tropical sunli$ht that fills the city of Miami and used the lines to sho& the !usiness of the streets' , li0ed it !ecause it;s one of those paintin$s that you can loo0 at and thin0 it;s /ust a !unch of lines# !ut &hen you see the author;s perspective it starts to ma0e more sense' Carl 5tanley =en/amin;s paintin$ 6DE7 &as another one that captured my attention !ecause of the colors' +he medium used &as oil on canvas' +here &ere )FE trian$les that made up a $iant s9uare' ,n the middle there &as an oran$e diamond made out of the same small trian$les that made up the &hole paintin$# and it &as the only section of the paintin$ &here t&o trian$les of the same color &ere touchin$' Gonestly the only reason , &as attracted to it &as !ecause of the color' irectly opposite to =en/amin;s paintin$ &as Hayoi Cusama;s 6,nfinity Nets7' ,t &as acrylic on canvas and painted as a surreal and e"pressionist paintin$' ,t &as !lac0 and yello&# and dependin$ on &here you &ere standin$# there &as more of one color than the other' From far a&ay it loo0ed li0e it &as !lac0 &ith so many yello& dots that the !lac0 !ac0$round could !arely !e seen' As , &al0ed to&ard it# the !lac0 spaces !ecame lar$er and the yello& dots seemed to simply complement the !lac0 !ac0$round' +he yello& dots made a lace pattern that created the illusion# &hich made it more of a surreal paintin$' Ine of my favorite pieces that sa& in the permanent e"hi!its &as in the American West section' Minerva Cohlhepp +eichert painted 6=attle of the =ulls7' ,;m not usually a !i$ fan of the history of the &est# !ut
, really li0ed the &ay this one told its o&n story' ,n my A4 American Gistory class in hi$h school# my teacher informed us that the Wild West &asn;t nearly as e"citin$ as &e sa& in the movies or !oo0s' +hat 0ind of crushed my idea of some parts of history# !ut this paintin$ !rou$ht !ac0 the e"citement and romanticism of the Wild West' +here &as a co&!oy on his horse in the middle# then the at least t&o !ulls comin$ to&ard him &ith his rope' =ehind him &ere the covered &a$ons and a fe& more horses' +here &as so much $oin$ on in such a little space# and the circular stro0es $ave the paintin$ life and movement' , thin0 the artist &as tryin$ to sho& that there &as a lot of e"citement in the mi$ration and e"pansion of the &est# and that it truly is an important part of our American history'
7) How did the art&or0s you loo0ed at relate to material &e have discussed in class? <+hey do relate in many &ays# you /ust need to loo0 for those relationships%' (Minimum of 1)0 &ords*
+here &as a paintin$ in the temporary e"hi!it that directly related to &hat &e tal0ed a!out in class last &ee0' We tal0ed a!out the .apanese internment camps and ho& orthea 3an$e and Ansel Adams &or0ed so hard to e"pose the ridiculousness of the entire situation' >o$er 5himomua painted si" paintin$s and called it 6Mista0en ,dentities7' -ach paintin$ &as attri!uted to a different person or $roup' 6for orothea 3an$e7 &as a picture of a little .apanese $irl loo0in$ to the ri$ht &ith almost no emotion: 6for Ansel Adams7 &as a !oy# a little !it older than the $irl# &ho had a!out the same amount of e"citement on his face as she did: and 6for Gatate Family7 &as a picture of a little family sittin$ on a pile of !elon$in$s# &ith an electric fence and mountains in the !ac0$round' , felt li0e it &as tryin$ to e"pose ho& the era of .apanese internment often $ets overloo0ed# !ut it still had such a ne$ative impact on children and families' +here &asn;t one person in any of the paintin$s that 5himomua painted that loo0ed e"cited to !e there' ,n the Asian Art e"hi!it# there &as a sandstone sculpture called 6Jishnu &ith Avatars7# &hich sho&ed Jishnu in the center in his state as the preserver of creation' ,t sho&s ho& Jishnu isn;t /ust one person# !ut has many different forms that he possesses in order to !e the e"ample to all the Gindu follo&ers' +here &as also a $ranite version of 68anesha7 &ho is the 8od of ne& !e$innin$s' +hese t&o sculptures stood out to me in particular !ecause &e started off the class &ith 5acredness and 5pirituality' ,f , had come to this museum three months a$o# , honestly &ouldn;t have had any idea &ho Jishnu or 8anesha &ere# !ut they popped out at me !ecause &e had tal0ed a!out their roles in Ginduism early on in the semester'
8) What &as your personal reaction to this e"perience? Would you en/oy attendin$ this type of event a$ain? Why or &hy not? (Minimum 100 &ords*
, tend to thin0 of art in the same &ay that , thin0 of poetry' 5ometimes , stare at a poem and , can;t seem to $et anythin$ out of it and ,;m really frustrated# !ut as , ta0e time to understand the perspective of the poet and &hat they;ve !een throu$h# , can see &hat it means to them and apply it to myself in some &ay' Art is the same &ay: , &asn;t too e"cited at first# and the first fe& paintin$s , loo0ed at &ere hard for me to &rap my !rain around# and my notes reflect that' =ut ta0in$ the time to loo0 at the little details and ta0e somethin$ out of it that meant somethin$ to me# it ended up !ein$ a really interestin$ e"perience' , thin0 it;s interestin$ to see ho& people e"press themselves and the ideas they use to create that' , &ouldn;t have thou$ht as deep as 5hi$eyu0i Cihara# &hose dance and dress reflect everythin$ she feels a!out her culture' +o her# her !lac0 dress represents the loss of her authentic 5amoan life since she moved to Australia# !ut the dance itself represents the confidence of the 5amoan people' , love seein$ &hat people have !een throu$h and &hat they choose to e"press that to the &orld' -ven thou$h at first it &as /ust another hard poem to decipher# , came out feelin$ really $ood a!out myself: it;s interestin$ to see into other people;s lives &ithout technolo$y'
As al&ays remem!er that , &ant to see reflective thin0in$ on your part' 5ho& me you are a&are of your limitations# your !iases# etc' 5ho& me that you are thinking a!out your o&n responses and &hy you respond the &ay you do'