Here’s another one from our man in the US of A.
When he’s not busy laying down syncopated rhythms from his box, (Slang for keyboard). And jive-in to the low down bad- ass funk, (moving and grooving to the funky soul rhythm), he’s up to his periscope in ART!
‘What’s Art, you may ask’?
Is it safe?
Is it working with children compliant?
Will it, if unleashed, wreak havoc on innocent citizenry ill- equipped to deal with its paradigm shift?
What is a paradigm shift.
Rest assured Ken will render it safe, it’s entombed in white space, it cannot escape, and fixed, mute, and bolted to the wall. It can be looked at, but NOT TOUCHED! Ken’s the full bottle on ART. And if you need to know in art terms the ‘full bottle’ is a clean-skin on sale at Dan Murphy’s or any other place of worship at 8.99 per bottle. Ken writes……
Being the wealthiest nation in the history of the globe, the Yanks have pretty much cornered the market (apart from Bondy’s Irises) in truly fine visual art, so any visitor is obliged to be impressed and learn and contemplate the mysteries of the stars at this or that venue. It is broadening. And enlightening. So much of it really makes you think.
Mattise’s Piano Lesson, for example:
No wonder the cognoscenti are enraptured by his joyful brushstrokes, that je-ne-sais-quois that only the French find incomprehensible!
Of course, when one is “doing” MOMA, one cannot go past the highlights like –
Starry Night – yes it’s THAT Starry Night, the one in the song, not one of the other 20 that have not yet been immortalised in verse – so powerful that even my modest photography can capture something of its air of hope and awe.
And Picasso: Picasso, Picasso, Picasso everywhere.
The man’s industry, not to mention his marketing prowess, was boundless.
Just one example: Still Life with Liquer Bottle and Kyphosis, from his cubic period:
The eyes do follow you round the room, don’t they?
Understandably, with so much cultural absorption going on in so very many crania at a place like that – whether one’s focus is on Ellsworth Kelly & Jean Arp
or Lee Krasner
or Baranoff-Rossiné’s Symphony Number 1
–
after a bit nothing would be more welcome than a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down
.
Although we left this emporium of refinement with heads brimming, the experience was quite exhausting! Sometimes it’s better to scale things back a bit. Rather than trying to absorb the entire repository of rich Americans’ good taste (remember the Edsel? the Pymouth Superbird?) at one hit, the business of cultural advancement seems to be easier taken in smaller chunks. So, in all, I personally was most impressed by these more modest works from the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, NC:
Shopping Bag, by Andrew Walmart, 1962, and a recent work …
Fountain With Cleaning Lady, by the contemporary American industrial artist, Filtrine.
The quest continues. I hope in time to be invited to write introductions to major exhibitions at Bendigo, the NGV or the even the national portrait gallery.
Cheers
K