Dona Nelson, Artist Lecture at UC Davis

On Thursday, February 9th, artist Dona Nelson gave a presentation at UC Davis to a packed lecture hall.  Dona is primarily a painter, with 12 solo exhibition on her resume, and is currently a professor of art at the TYLER School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  As a painter, Dona is interested in the experience of painting.  In her words, “the art leads (she is a process painter)—you’re not going to get a message or become a better person looking at my work.”

There are several ideas that Dona uses as inspiration to create her work.  She is interested in the idea that the viewer is a part of her exhibitions.  As such, this leads her to create two sided paintings, which she started circa 2003, and continues to currently create.  What she enjoys about these two sided paintings are their lack of complete resolution, irreducible contradictions and the awkwardness of the two sides.  In addition to paint, her materials also include muslin, and cheesecloth soaked in gel medium.  She also draws inspiration from a tile museum of a deceased tile maker near where she lives.  She specifically cites the how the tile maker was able to balance both the material with the image.  As it relates to Dona’s work, she wants to posit materiality as equal to image.

One last note that I found interesting, was that she knew exactly when she started creating “mature” work, which she proclaimed was around 1989/1990, while a teacher at UC Berkeley.  As an artist, to be able to know, in the moment, when you are creating mature work must be incredibly satisfying. I can help but wonder how one could truly know, or even know what to look for or sense.  Besides, what constitutes “mature” work?  Unfortunately, Dona could not answer these questions directly; in her response, this recognition came internally.  

Dona's website: http://donanelson.com/index.html

Dona Nelson, lecturing at UC Davis

Lecture room at the Manetti Shrem Museum, UC Davis; post lecture

Art Historian Briony Fer, Lecturing at UC Davis

On Thursday, February 2, Briony Fer, a British art historian, critic, curator and Professor of Art History at University College London, gave a lecture at UC Davis, being an invitee of Davis’ visiting artist lecture series.  Her focus is in contemporary and modern art, with an emphasis on abstract art.

She started her talk by acknowledging that there are questions raised by the artist Edouard Manet that we are still currently discussing in contemporary art.  Her presentation was specifically directed around discussing Manet and the abstract qualities of the numerous flower still life paintings he completed over his career.  Briony was interested in wandering what would happen if we were to think of Manet as a consequence rather than as a precursor to abstract art.  What would he (Manet) get from abstraction, had that movement preceded his time? She seemed to suggest that had Manet come after the abstract expressionism movement, his work probably would have been more abstract than it was.  It is important to note, too, that the series of flower still life paintings that Manet completed, came towards the end of his life.

Edouard Manet, Lilac and Roses

Moving through her slides of Manet’s still life compositions, she speaks to how Manet dramatizes how we experience vision, stating that the “abstraction happens in the vases.”  She points to the patches of color and brush marks, which Manet used to create the forms of the vases, as evidence of abstraction.  When viewing these marks together, they create a recognizable form, but when dissected apart, his (Manet’s) strategy for creating the vases, and their reflections, are rooted deep in the formal elements of how we contemporarily define abstraction.  However, she does clarify that Manet used abstraction in an aesthetic sense, instead of as a way to invoke transcendental meaning.  Regardless though, these vases are examples of pure process, questioning the makability of art.  Interestingly enough, the vases are the only areas in the works in which Manet granted himself the freedom to work this loosely.  The rest of the work doesn’t seem to be addressed in this same manner, but is instead a victim of a naturally rendered piece of art.  In other words, outside of the vases, the rest of the work is still realistically rendered.  Yet, it is within these containers that one can’t help but wonder about Briony’s proposed question.  Perhaps, had Manet lived longer, he might have been able to break through the realistic rendering that bound him, and advanced further down the road into pure abstraction.

Edouard Manet, Lilac in a Glass

Briony Fer

UC Davis Lecture Hall, Manetti Shrem Museum

Briony's Website link      https://www.ucl.ac.uk/art-history/people/academic-staff/briony-fer

Art and Awareness: A Night Dedicated to Mental Health

On the evening of Saturday, January 28th, Retrograde Collective, a Sacramento non-profit art organization, brought together a crowd of people over the topic of mental health at the Red Museum in Sacramento, CA.  For some, the evening may have started a new conversation about mental health; to others, it was an opportunity to continue and expand theirs.  Regardless, everyone in attendance was presented a chance to drink deeply from the performances, art, and discussions regarding and surrounding mental health.  

Hung salon style, the walls featured artwork by many local artists.  There were a range of styles, from non-representational abstraction to realism to video art, incorporating many different mediums on many different supports.  In addition, I also enjoyed a dance performance, several music performances, personal stories of mental health, and a panel discussion before I left for the evening.  

Overall, I really appreciated what the art was there to do, which was support mental health awareness;  it added to the ambiance of the evening.  Plus, I would assume most of the work was created by those living with a mental health disorder, which created a deeper content within the work—there was an honesty about them.  One of the works that I found the strongest, and was most excited about, was a video installation by Tammy Helsinke.  I personally know Tammy, however, I was unaware of what her work was about because at the time when I met her, she was still in the process of figuring out what kind of work she needed to make.  However, in speaking with her about her current video installation, she revealed to me that her work now addresses her life with schizophrenia.  The video she created displayed people entering and exiting a space, some wearing masks, others just poking in their head.  Her video really imbued the viewer with a sense of uncertainty regarding what they were perceiving.  The work created a space that seemed to be recognizable and grounded in reality, but as a viewer, one had to question if the people in the feed were really there or not. Her choice of media supported her content very well; in video, or photography, do these people, or images, truly exist?  And if so, in what realm and in what capacity?  How do we know what is real and what is not, especially in a time of increasingly improved technological advancements?  When watching video, we are merely seeing digital files and colored pixels describing reality; but can’t files and pixels be altered?  Corrupted?  I digress, but regardless, Tammy is created some really great work.  Personally, I am very much interested in the brain and its functioning, so getting a glimpse into a mind battling schizophrenia was quite moving; it made me appreciate the brain’s power even more.

Events such as this one show how powerful art—regardless of what kind of art (fine art, dance, music)— can be in activism.  Art has the ability to teach and to educate, and should be looked at and supported in such a way.

A photo of the opening performance dance piece 

A photo of the opening performance dance piece

Laura Marie Anthony performing on stage

Tammy Helsinke, reading her story to the audience about her life with schizophrenia.

Patterns of Disorder, Installation Shot, The Red Museum

Patterns of Disorder, Installation Shot, The Red Museum

The Red Museum, Sacramento, CA

Art, Business, and Awards

I had the pleasure of attending the Arts and Business Council of Sacramento’s annual Interlude to the Season, co-produced by the Blue Line Gallery, at Sacramento State University on Wednesday, January 25th.  The event brought together local artists and art activists working in the Sacramento area, with awards given to recognize outstanding achievements from this past year in the arts.

The evening starting with a speech delivered by newly elected Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, addressing not only the city’s need for art and the support of the arts, but also his enthusiasm for the arts; I hope he sees this through.  PBS Television Host and Executive Producer Rob Stewart hosted the evening, announcing the awardees and introducing the entertainment acts during the program.

There were two performance art acts during the ceremony. The first, a musical act—Vox Musica— and the second, a dance number by performers of the Capital Dance Project.  In describing Vox Musica, they featured a choir of women, supported by a tribal-like drum rhythm on a bass drum.  Both of the songs they played evoked a sense of spiritual and tribal elegance; the second song they performed more successfully integrated these two ideas.  The combination of a deep pounding drum complemented the harmonies of the voices by providing a contrasting pitch—in essence, allowing the softness of the tenor and alto vocals to soar above the bass of the drum—which created an entrancing mood, transporting its listener to a different place, both emotionally and cognitively.  Equally impressive was the dance number, though I will confess that I am not as familiar with critiquing this art as others.  However, I can appreciate the synchronicity of the dance and the physical skills of the dancers themselves in completing all the various lifts and spins.

There were numerous awards handed out over the evening.  On a side note, all the awards were hand blown glass sculptures in the shape of an upside down teardrop with a colorful core, which can be thought of as symbolizing the inner flame and passion that burns within an artist.  Though many awards were handed out during the evening, below is a short highlighted list from the night’s ceremony....

• Artist of the Year, given to Gale Hart, for her installation at the Golden 1 Center; 
• Arts Journalism, given to Beth Ruyak, host of Capital Public Radio’s weekday Insight program; 
• The Muriel Johnson Award for Arts Advocacy, given to Shelly Willis, director of the City and County of Sacramento’s Art in Public Places program;
• The Lifetime achievement Award, given to Marcy Friedman, local artist and art activist

University Union Ballroom, Sacramento State; a photo of the pre-awards ceremony, just as the guests started arriving.