Exit Through the Gift Shop

                                                    

A few days ago I finally watched the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. I had heard a little about it but wasn't quite sure what it was all about.  The film documents a man enthralled with the world of street art. Thierry, a French man, films graffiti artists as they paint their works throughout LA. He is absolutely obessed with documenting and filming everything in his life.  He eventually meets Banksy, anonymous British street artist. This is when the film turns a little crazy!

Banksy encourages Thierry to create his own artwork. He uses all his money to hire assistants to create his work and a huge exhibition. What amazed me about this film was the sheer amount of work "Mr. Brainwash" creates.  Well, more like guides others to create.  The show drew large crowds due to Banksy's announcement of Mr. Brainwash.  The exhibition displayed an array of pieces, mostly using famous icons as the subjects.  It left me wondering if Thierry's art was really art at all.  In fact, he pretty much ordered around a group of people, directing all their steps in the creative process.

At the end of the film, many of Thierry's employees finished works and made their own decisions because of Thierry's lack of decisiveness.  All in all, the movie is a must-see! It definitely exposed me to more artwork within a field I am not very knowledgeable of. 

Get rid of modern art?

                                                        

Everyone has their own opinion about art. Some love it, some hate it, some don't even try to understand it. Some people think art is a Thomas Kinkade poster hanging in their office, others think it's limited to works of Michelangelo or Titian. Whatever your opinion is, you have the right to believe it. However, what if we all were a little more open-minded to art? Can we at least take the time to view it, try to understand the artist's intentions and process behind creating it? I wish we lived in a world where everyone could at least agree to attempt to understand art before making a strong decision on whether it is good art or not. Alas, this is not that world.

Just yesterday I spoke with someone that had a very strong opinion about art. They basically did not want to see what they called "modern art" at all.  While working at the museum, I hear many opinions. Some are well-thought out, helpful, and valid, others like what I heard yesterday, were quite extreme.  While listening to this individual, I kept my opnions to myself.  My thougths were the complete opposite against his.  Gathering from what the man said, he basically wanted to remove a whole genre and art movement from the museum so he could see more of what he enjoyed.

I thought this was quite absurd. In fact, when he said "modern art," I think what he actually meant to say was "contemporary."  From other comments he made, I believe he was referring to contemporary artworks in the museum that he did not like.  I understand many people are not aware of the differences between modern and contemprary.  (Modern-think Picasso, Mondrian, Matisse, Contemporary- current-day artists like Banksy, Nick Cave.) It is completely ok that not everyone knows the difference, but I think if you are going to make such a fierce argument, you need to be educated in that area first. 

How could someone completely dismiss a whole time period in art history?  To me, this is like taking several chapters out of history books. If we were to take out information like  September 11 or  the current war on terrorism. History affects everything in the future and this also applies to art history.  If a museum or text book chooses to focus on one specific time period or movement, that is valid. However, removing one area from the grand scheme of history does not prove beneficial. Just because someone does not enjoy specific artists and/or art movements, does not mean we should completely dismiss them.

The more I thought about this man's comments, the more infuriated I became.  Of course, there are many pieces of art that I do not like but I still deem them as great works of art or at least respect them in their place in history.  As in many other areas of life, people close their minds to what they can't understand or frightened by.  For me, it's ok to not understand everything. How could we? But, we should at least allow those things to be discussed.  What are your opinions on viewing artwork? Should a general art museum showcase artwork from all time periods, genres, and art movements?

I'm an Aunt!

Look at this little precious one! About a month ago I became an aunt to my neice, Lily. Words cannot express how excited I am to enjoy this little babe.  Claudio and I traveled to see Lily a few days after she was born. I had forgotten how tiny babies are when they are newborns. According to my mom, I was even smaller. I held her, watched her sleep, and delighted in the fact that I am now her aunt.

I am so thrilled to have this opportunity to love this child and watch her grow.  She is and will be a true blessing to my family and me. She is already growing so much and so fast!

Doodley Dee

After being quite busy with work, graduate school applications, and sleeping, I finally found some free time. A lot of free time actually.  I finished my server training at work and with that, my schedule has changed quite a bit. This week I didn't work a ton and found myself being extremely bored at home.

Tuesday I had the whole day off.  I worked on some more graduate applications and then decided to do some painting.  I started a painting a few days ago, just playing around a little.  Many times I forget how much I really enjoy painting.  Last night I worked on an oil painting and I started to remember how it felt to paint.  There's something about oil paint that I just love.  I love the texture, the vibrance, the smoothness along the canvas.  If it weren't for the fact that I did not have enough canvases, I would have kept painting. The trouble with oils is that you have to let them dry, and that is not a short process.

This takes me back to my college days (yeah, sooo long ago!). I had a huge studio at my disposal, to share with other students.  Compared to my small apartment now, the studio was very large.  I miss being able to paint and not worry about getting something dirty, or leaving something on the floor to dry.  Many times I make myself feel bad about not painting as much as I used to.  I feel as if it is my duty, to create art that means something.

I realize now that I don't have to pressure myself to paint.  I know that does not create great art, if any at all.  I have come to find out that if I just play around with my paints I will end up creating something I am more proud of than I would painting something I pressured myself to do.  I hope my schedule will allow me to paint a little more than usual in the next few months.  I know the more I paint, the closer I am to a "breakthrough" if you will.  I come to a point where I will create a body of work that I actually want to show others and talk about.