Because Amazing Is Something We Need in Our Lives

This post is about super heroes and food, art and travel.

The last two weekends were filled with quick trips to visit friends in New England and the Midwest. Both trips were extra heart warming for me because they were to see dear friends that I used to see every day, but life has put miles and often busy schedules between us.

To have four full days to talk about everything big and small with those who know you in and out,  is the best way to recharge. Also, to be able to hang out with four fantastic kids and two dogs (who we loved long before Mason) makes for a fun, always shifting time. Follow it up with a dynamic twin duo, one awesome pug and more good friends and August is full of splendor in my book.

I am in complete awe of how my dear friends balance their lives as mother, wife, friend, and colleague. (I can hear them scoffing at the word "balance" right now.) These women are extraordinary individuals who will feign politely when you say to them "you're amazing." But really, truly these women and so many others I know can say to Ann-Marie Slaughter with a voice full of experience "Of course we can't have it all by someone else's definition. The liberating reality is we can have it all when we chose to define our lives and our happiness for ourselves."

This is not a one day, one year actualizing reality. It's a life's work.

Yet, the grace, calm, and humor my friends bring to their lives and the multiple roles they hold is something remarkable. There is no time out when you're raising children and sure ends get frayed from time-to-time for everyone, but each time I'm able to spend time with my friends who are mothers, I leave buoyed and humbled by the sheer range and volume of tasks and cares they handle in a day.

You are modern day super heroes in my book and my life in enriched for having you in it.

Oh, and the World's Fair exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins was tremendous. It is a testament to what can be accomplished when a museum harnesses the power and creativity of cross-functional teams to create a better, richer visitor experience. Well done friends.

And the food? Well, nothing beats Oklahoma Joe's and trying out a few new places too. 

We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, 

we take a little of each other everywhere.

Slipping into Summer

Late afternoon as I dipped my toes in the large fountain at the National Gallery Sculpture Park, I closed my eyes to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, the murmur of people around me and the first notes from the live jazz band drift across the courtyard. This (to me) is Washington in summer. 

There's just something about slipping off your work shoes.

There are a few spots I love to escape to and in the often punishing summer months of our fair city, this is one of them. The cornice of the Archives building in full view, but it's shadow just out of reach. Glimpses of Calder, Paine, Bourgeois appear and fade from view amidst the tightly trimmed boxwood.

Starting a weekend out here seems almost perfect. For as much as I love having the garden almost to myself earlier in the week. Jazz in the Garden brings out melted Washingtonians in droves to perch on blankets and cast aside blazers, to linger over a glass of well queued for wine or sangria. Every piece of grass and pavement is transformed into a private party of friends and new acquaintances.

Taking It All In

Artist Alexa Meade photographs her portrait.

About a month ago, I declared I was selfishly taking the rest of 2012 for me and that if the world wouldn't mind I was just going to enjoy things I wanted to do for awhile and perhaps sit down long enough to enjoy a properly chilled cocktail. (DH very graciously smiled and said, "whatever makes you happy.")

So I've been carving out more time to catch up on the art scene in city and last night I headed over to the National Portrait Gallery to catch their Portraits After 5: Camera-Ready Color organized as a part of their exhibition In Vibrant Color: Vintage Celebrity Portraits from the Harry Warnecke Studio.

Full color and absence of color.

Local DC Artist Alexa Meade created two live portraits that you could interact with and, well they could interact with you. The very definition of ephemeral, these two-hour paintings, merged portraiture, sculpture and photography without missing a beat. To see the work documented on her site is engaging, to see it live is spellbinding. The whole point was to document yourself with the work. To physically interact with the painting.

 It was great to see so many people out to see the spectacle and even better to see people (usually tourists) just happen upon it and get completely drawn in. Bravo to the curators and educators at the Portrait Gallery for finding a great way to bring portraiture to life in a fun and unexpected way, and promoting a local artist to boot. An art hat trick.

Taking in the crowd and canvases at the Kogod Courtyard.

Art Escape

Baseballs by Lutz Bacher @ The Whitney Biennial.

After reading the New York Times review of the Whitney Biennial I began to plot plan a trip to the city to see the show. This quickly evolved into a "how many galleries can I possibly see in one trip" sort of exercise. It was at that moment DH opted to abstain from the experience or "36 hours of art" as I conceived of it. Stepping off the train with the prospect of nothing but art, dinner and drinks with friends, and whatever else I could fit in for almost two whole days was awesome.

Note: I've waited so long to post this that the Biennial is now closed, but I had such a fun time I'm posting it anyway. Sorry.

Excellent meals with lovely friends and family were had at the Beacon Kitchen Counter and Maze by Gordon Ramsay at the London. Two delicious midtown finds that I can take no credit for tracking down. Thanks SH. Celebrating my delightful cousin's college graduation over dinner and drinks was great fun, made me feel very old, and I am very proud of her.

Great shows were seen at MAD,  including Swept Away. Yes, that is what you think it is and yes, I do think it's art. It had this lovely quiet quality about it and reminded me of a great presentation the conservation department at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art did a few years back about dust vs. dirt on a Deborah Butterfield piece. Fascinating.

The Biennial itself was interesting, but I fear I either missed out on the most life altering of the installation pieces, or I would have benefited from the curator's insight. That being said there were three artists I really enjoyed. Lutz Bacher, Elaine Reichek, and Nick Mauss. Baseballs by Bacher was strangely captivating. Perhaps it was the audio loop that crackled in the background combined with the dusty lighting, but the purposeful abandonment of the installation was intriguing nonetheless.

The multiple works by Reichek exploring Ariadne's thread made my inner mythology geek totally smile and the use of thread to explore a thread, well, I thought it was well done. Mauss's piece Concern, Crush, Desire, 2011 held the most interest for me over his other work. It may have been more about how it manipulated the space and created multiple viewpoints into the exhibition itself, but interesting all the same.

Mark Tansey, The Innocent Eye Test.

Muse in the Ancient Galleries.

Rain kept me from seeing Tom Saraceno's Cloud City installation on the roof at the Met, but I lingered in the Ancient galleries among the marble statutes I have always loved; enjoyed Oceanic galleries for the first time; backtracked out of the mob scene that was the Schiaparelli and Prada show (OMG); wandered through the modern galleries and then slipped out to go see the Neue Gallery.

An old colleague gave me a peak of the Guggenheim (which is closed on such a random day of the week), and the little bit of the John Chamberlain sculpture show I saw (mid deinstallation) was really interesting and reminded me how much broader his body of work is. There are several prints by him in the Kogod collection, so I had a slightly geek-out moment when I saw the same prints for sale as posters in the gift shop.

The last stop was to see the Cindy Sherman show at MoMA. I completely agree with a friend's assessment that I wish there had a been a broader representation of her work, but all in all a very worthwhile show. Because how can you not enjoy a whole installation of her portraits.

I can't wait to go back this Fall, the list has already started. Sorry DH.

Making Space for Art

Stepping off the metro at L'Enfant Plaza the moving curvature catches your eye before the sound reaches your ears. From two blocks away I was captivated. This was something special.

Late Saturday night (after the Nationals rallied, but still took a beating from the O's) I drug DH to go see Doug Aitken's Song 1 at the Hirshhorn before it closed.  I had seen the work in passing a few times, but I had not yet been able to sit and just watch.

Doug Aitken's Song 1 viewed from Seventh St at the Hirshhorn.

The installation piece envelopes the entire circular exterior of the Smithsonian museum perfectly. The technical is flawless. My inner museum geek simultaneously pondered how hard the installation staff worked on getting the width of the projection just right and the sound levels just so, while taking in the full visual effect of the piece.

This was a happening. Truly. People were casual strewn about the grassy bits and low walls of seventh street. Some in their finest attire, others partaking in full picnics they brought out for the occasion. Seventh Street gave way to slow rolling bicyclists ambling past.

On Jefferson Dr. we perched on the Sculpture Garden wall, dark shadows cloaking the bronze figures several feet below us. The ethereal music of Al Dubin and Harry Warren's "I Only Have Eyes for You" washed over the landscape in a seductive, yet meditative fashion. The layered and shifting loop of sound is by definition repetitive. The same lyrics reworked reached your ears again and again. And yet, the piece never tires.

Fleeting in nature, the installation thrusts both the museum and the Mall into an urgent context that otherwise would pass their evenings quietly and undisturbed by more than ambling tourists trekking between monuments. Yet, the strength of the work is deeper than the novelty of it's limited airing. It literally transforms the concrete 1974 structure from a shrine to modern and contemporary art to a canvas for art. This seems more meaningful than being simply a backdrop for the work. The work and the location become inseparable. Sure you could install it again somewhere else, but it would be a different work, in a different place.

This pushes the boundaries in a way distinct and yet similar to what Quixotic has done in Kansas City with both the Kauffman Center opening and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  Interacting with architecture to make art. But instead of a single performance, there is the opportunity with Song 1 to return again to change your vantage point of the piece.

Creating relevance for the visual arts in a society that is becoming conditioned to consume work quickly and without consideration is an evolving challenge for museums. Developing inspired installations like this are certainly a critical step into bringing new and old audiences to the steps of the museum to be inspired. For people to find out for themselves why art matters.

Walking home from the Mall, I kept turning to catch a glimpse of the piece from across the expanse until it eventually receded and the city noises once again took over.

Curatorial Endeavor

Creating demand and driving interest in visual art exhibitions is something that I love to do. The process of understanding why a curator picked a certain artist, theme, perspective is an endeavor I treasure to be a part of over and over again. So, this spring when I decided to take advantage of a little university perk and take a class to feed my brain, it was a bit of leap to select Curatorial Practice as my course of study.

Actually being a curator is a path that I considered and actively abandoned years ago, but I thought this effort might improve my understanding of what makes a curator tick and improve my capacity to support them and tell their stories. To that end, I thought I would share a little about why I selected Joseph Lappie as the artist in the class developed show Like. Comment. Share opening this Saturday, April 28 at American University.

Joseph Lappie is incredibly talented artist based in Davenport, Iowa and currently a professor at St. Ambrose University. But my appreciation for Joseph's talent began long before he garnered global accolades as a printmaker. It began (I think) in the back of Mrs. Walrath's eighth grade class at Broadmoor Junior High School. I have vague recollections of Joseph drawing dinosaurs and other figures while we were in class. We went on to high school and Joseph expanded his talent exponentially as an artist, always having a talent to entertain both on paper and in person. We lost touch as he went onto earn his BFA and MFA, but then images of his MFA Thesis exhibition crossed my path. That was 2008.

For four years, I've recalled the work from time to time as an important departure from the traditional approach to printmaking. The scale, the figures, the sculptural evolution of the print blocks, all represent truly original thinking in printmaking. Stretching the boundary between printmaker and sculptor, the work commands consideration both as a technical achievement and artistic representation.

There is a depth of sadness and inward reflection in many of the figures Lappie illustrates. In his piece There Is Always More Than One When There Is Always Only One (2008) the stature of the figures-- shoulders slumped, faces tightly drawn, conveys a heaviness, a burden that feels isolating even when among a group. The carved surfaces appear deeply marked and worn with life. Lappie speaks of this series as being pieces of himself. An external display of an internal examination of his motives as a human and a man.

Courtesy of the Artist. All rights reserved.

Layered with information, the figures' emotional forms take shape as shadows that shift between changing shapes and text. Lappie seeks to create comfort with discomfort. The more the viewer is willing to interact with the piece the more they will see of the work and perhaps of themselves.


Most compelling is that Lappie's point of view as an artist is as powerful in full scale at over six feet, as it is in a few precious inches in a handmade and bound book or print.

For the installation at American University, there are four of the matrix figures from the piece There is Always More Than One When There is Always Only One, Determination, Predatory, and Fear and Dependence in full sculptural form and three as full size relief prints, Love, Doubt, and Sexuality. Select artist books will also be on view.

There is far more to say, but perhaps it is best to let the work speak for itself. I understand now how a curator can consider and work towards an exhibition idea for years and never grown tired.

Exhibition: Like. Comment. Share.
Location: American University Museum at Katzen
Dates: April 28- May 20, 2012
Hours: Free Daily, Tuesday-Sunday
Exhibition Website: http://www.lcsartshow.com
Twitter: @LCSArtShow
Hashtag: #likeart
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curatorialpractices

Planning an Escape

http://pinterest.com/pin/96679785/

In one month we will officially be in possession of our new place. In two months we'll be leaving for Paris. Kinda feeling like the luckiest girl in the world right now. Just about the time we'll be completely tired of unpacking, we'll pack our bags to celebrate our 10 year anniversary in the city of lights. Giddy happy.

So with a week or so to explore and brisk November weather sure to keep us bundled, I'm looking for good suggestions about where to go and what to do in the city. We're hoping to hit the flea markets to look for a few things for the new place. Our apartment rental place gave us great tips on shipping large items back, so I'm prepared to hit the stores for items of all sizes.

And of course, I could spend years of my life looking at art, so big and small I'm on the hunt for the best shows and galleries to go see, since I can't spend the whole week in the Louvre.

What do you suggest?

Well Appointed

There's a quiet beauty in a well composed still life.Through 3191 Miles Apart, I peer each week into a seemingly effortless moment of two talented, creative individuals. For a moment I escape and think about a serene well-paced morning. The kind where the crisp air inspires warm, soft pajamas to be worn a little longer. Coffee scented steam seeps from the kitchen and fluffy pancakes beg to be made. Sweet syrup swirling with melted butter creating breakfast perfection on a plate. The sky is wide and bright, the view expansive and whole.

So I'm seeking to capture more of those moments. On film and in life. Well edited groupings of personal belongings does not need to be an endeavor left to professionals. Items with stories, tables carefully laid, cheerful yellow shoes. These are all edited pieces of expression. I haven't decided if or how to catalog the images I snap, but I am starting with a fresh look at my walls. Specifically what's hanging on them.

I love a good Target  wall piece as much as the next person. But, I'm starting to edit commercial art out of my life.  It's not a finite, never ever will I own something that's mass produced. Rather, I want to try to know the artists that created the pieces on my walls or even better create some of it myself. Purchased and hung because it was the right piece for the space and because I like the color, the image.

Local art. Student art. Etsy. All great places to find artists just waiting to share their talent. My one exception? Is do still love The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.