Escape with American Pre-Raphaelites at the National Gallery of Art

 
William John Hennessy, Mon Brave, 1870, oil on board, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Purchased with Funds given by the Rembrandt Club. This is reminiscent of the works by the British Pre-Raphaelites who were featured in a show at the National Gallery in 2013. Here, the woman mourns her lover, lost to perhaps the American Civil War or the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). The artist, according to the label copy, made this to aid French peasants and includes a memorial cross and wreath with the French "mon brave" ("my brave one") and an iris flower, associated with France. The catalogue recognizes also the symbolism of the laurel leaves on top of the portrait for the soldier's heroism, the white roses included for chastity and love, the forget-me-nots, "lasting devotion." I must admit, at first glance her flowing locks were all I saw, thinking she was kissing herself in a mirror!The catalogue notes she almost appears hypnotized "reinforcing the underlying necrophiliac mood." Note the streaming window treatment continues the mood flow.

Aaron Draper Shattuck, The Shattuck Family, with Grandmother, Mother and Baby William, 1865 oil on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Given in memory of Mary and John D. Nodine, by Judith and Wilbur Ross, Here is the artist's mother and wife with their firstborn in the parlor of their summer home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts which the artist uses to convey the sanctity of a home during war. Paintings on the wall reemphasize his message in this work which omits the father, off to war Beneath the painting in the painting on the right (you have to see the original whose colors are more vibrant than seen here) is a rosary, the catalogue notes, unusual to be found in a Protestant home but which may belong to Mr. Shattuck's friend, the poet, Fitz-James O'Brien, killed in 1862 in the Civil War fighting for the Union. The catalogue notes Mr. Shattuck may have been influenced by Gone, Gone below.

Fidelia Bridges, Laura Brown in a Wingchair, 1867 oil on canvas, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Purchase with American Art Acquisitions Fund. Laura Brown's figure seems much too small for the surroundings, especially the chair which seems to swallow her. The lighting on the carpet does not appear to match the shadows cast by the sun. This is one of six works by Ms. Bridges in the exhibition, the only works by a woman in the display.

Thomas Charles Farrer, Sketching from Nature, 1861, pen and black and brown ink on paper, cut into the shape of an arch, National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Davis Hatch Collection. Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In addition to his brother, Henry, who has several works in the show, Thomas's wife, Annie R. McLane, was an artist, too, but without representation in the show.

Thomas C. Farrer, Self-Portrait, Sketching, c. 1859, pencil on tan paper with Chinese white, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Several works in this exhibition are by Mr. Farrer who was Mr. Ruskin's student at Working Men's College in London before Mr. Farrer immigrated to the U.S. in 1858.  At age 19, Mr. Farrer made this of himself sitting in his boarding house in New York City.  The catalogue says Mr. Farrer was likely influenced by Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait which probably reflects the artist's image in a mirror and which was added to the London National Gallery in 1842.

Thomas C. Farrer, Gone! Gone!, 1860, oil on canvas, The Hon. William Gibson. The title and label copy tell the story behind this work painted just before the outbreak of the Civil War. A window opens onto the Hudson River behind the lady, and behind her is a painting of parting lovers by John Everett Millais which served as the model for Farrer's sad testimony to conflict.

John Ruskin, Fragment of the Alps, c. 1854–1856, watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper, Harvard Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Gift of Samuel Sachs. This is one of Mr. Ruskin's most celebrated works and shows his fascination with geology which he studied from childhood. He "firmly believed that the secrets of divine creation were contained in the rocky crevices and fissures of the earth," says catalogue copy. He was not the only artist intrigued by geology as illustrated by several works in the American Exhibition of British Art  of 1857-1858 in New York and Philadelphia. Rocks became the source of inspiration and subjects on canvas and paper and commanded much attention among these artists. many who were Mr. Ruskin's mentees.  Do you think they would support fracking if they were alive today?  See the youth below studying Mr. Ruskin's masterpiece today at the National Gallery.

 Ruskin's Fragment of the Alps attracts 21st century artists, too, July 9, 2019 at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Henry Farrer, Winter Scene in Moonlight, 1869, watercolor and gouache on white wove paper, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Morris K. Jessup Fund, Martha and Barbara Fleischman, and Katherine and Frank Martucci Gifts, 1999. The catalogue has little to say about Winter Scene, the artist's earliest landscape watercolor. which seems oddly out of place, sharing space with flowers and verdant nature likenesses. Winter Scene reminds me of Nordic countries and the Phillips Collection's recent show, Nordic Impressions. Indeed, the wall copy says this nighttime scene is unusual for the American Pre-Raphaelites and may be a drawing of Brooklyn which was still rural where the artist, the younger brother of Thomas Farrer, lived. The brothers have several works in the exhibition.

William Trost Richards, In The Woods, 1860, oil on canvas, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Gift of Miss Mary T. Mason and Miss Jane Mason

Fidelia Bridges, Study of Ferns, 1864, oil on board, New Britain Museum of American Art, Gift of Jean E. Taylor. Ms. Bridges is the only female artist represented in the show which has six of her works on display.

William Trost Richards, Landscape, c. 1863–1864, oil on canvas, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. This is the museum founded by Alice Walton, daughter of the Walmart founder, Sam Walton, which is located at the birthplace and headquarters of Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Admission is free. I inferred from the wall copy that a critic's condescending remarks indicated his belief this was not worthy f Mr. Richards's inclusion in respectable artists' circles, but perhaps I am overly critical of the critic.

William Trost Richards, Path in the Woods, 1861, oil on canvas, private collection.

Henry Roderick Newman, 1843-1917, The Temple Door at Abu Simbel, 1900, watercolor, private collection. Here the artist depicts the temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel in Nubia on the Upper Nile

Henry Roderick Newman, Ramleh, 1893, watercolor on paper, private collection. Ramleh, now a neighborhood in Alexandria, Egypt, was formerly a fashionable resort where Mr. Newman and his wife wintered almost every year beginning in 1887.  After his first trip to Europe in 1870, they settled in Florence in 1874 where their home became a center for artists and tourists.  His Egyptian drawings commanded respectable audiences. If Egyptian art seems out of place here, Mr. Newman was the "last Ruskinian" and, as the wall copy says, the American Pre-Raphaelites "traded picturesque conventions for a quasi-scientific precision that was also charged with spiritual significance."  I still don't get it other than Mr. Newman was a Ruskin student and Mr. Newman liked Egypt and there you have it.  (I like Egypt, too, and that's why these are included here.)  Also, I believe Mr. Ruskin traveled several times to Mr. Newman's studio in Florence. Mr. Newman was also one of the "first significant American painters" to work in Florida.  He was born in Easton, NY. 

With the American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists and the Egyptians at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie
If ever I need a respite from Washington's heat, the National Gallery of Art is a perfect place to find escape and cool down amidst greenery and flowers in paintings by American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists which hang on the walls for a few days more on the ground floor of the West Building.

Like most of the exhibitions at the National Gallery, I want them all to stay so I can return and see the art anew. Especially for the Pre-Raphaelites, whether they are American, who are in the galleries now, or the British who came in 2013.

Whatever does "pre-Raphaelite" mean? Wikipedia says it much better than I:

The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what it considered the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Its members believed the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art, hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite."

The sub-title of this show, Radical Realists, certainly does not conform to contemporary definition of radical, but in the 19th century, they were "radical," we are told.

From the rocks of the Alps to woody wanderings to Egyptian palm trees and monuments, you can lose yourself and travel to faraway places on these walls.
 
The  hardbound catalogue ($65) by curators Linda S. Ferber of the New York Historical Society and Nancy K. Anderson of the National Gallery has 312 pages and 210 color illustrations, with photos and brief biographical notes about the artists and patrons. Save $20 on a $100 purchase.

What: American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists 

When: Now through July 21, 2019, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday

Where: Ground floor, the West Building, National Gallery of Art, 4th at Constitution, NW, Washington, D.C.

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com

Last weekend for 'Tintoretto' at the National Gallery of Art

Jacopo Tintoretto, Self-Portrait, c. 1546-1548, Philadelphia Museum of Art. He was a right dashing young chap, don't you think?  Who graces the back cover of the Tintoretto catalogue. Here portrayed by himself around age 28. The label copy says "he describes himself with a bluntness unprecedented in Italian portraiture" who a contemporary compared to "a peppercorn that overpowered other flavors in a dish." This portrait opens the exhibition. See below for a self-portrait made after a life.

Jacopo Tintoretto, Self-Portrait, c. 1588, Musee du Louvre, Paris.  Here we see the master aged 70, about six years before he died, and 40 years after the first self-portrait. See what life can do! Where is that confidence and reassurance brimming in the first self-portrait before he turned 30?  Is all optimism extinguished? Above, the artist seems ready to hang it up; consumed by sadness and gloom.  Somewhere I read he is saddened by the death of his beloved daughter, Marietta, but she didn't die until 1590 two years after Self-Portrait was finished, so...?  Perhaps, she was seriously ill at the time.
This portrait, owned by Marie Antoinette before it went to the Louvre, is found at the end of the exhibition, but I thought it interesting to juxtapose youth and old age to more easily compare them. Edouard Manet called the latter" one of the most beautiful paintings in the world." 

 

Jacopo Tintoretto, Spring, c.1546/1548, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA.  The goddess of Spring, Primavera, is pictured with Summer below, the first time in 25 years the two have hung together, which they do on nearby walls at the National Gallery. Tintoretto drew them and the other seasons for a palace ceiling, but Autumn and Winter are not here. Autumn is pictured in the catalogue as a young man, Vertumnus, privately owned. Perhaps the agreement to lend to the National Gallery could not be worked out which explains his absence from the show. Winter, likely lost to the ages, was probably a white-bearded old man similar to the self-portrait of 1588 above.

Jacopo Tintoretto, Summer, c.1546/1548, National Gallery of Art, together with her "sister" Spring (two above) for the first time in 25 years.

People standing near The Madonna of the Treasurers (above) present an idea of the size of the work/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Madonna of the Treasurers, 1567, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice. This is almost an Adoration of the Magi, says the label, commissioned for a government financial office by treasurers who worked there. Here, on the right, merchants and professionals who are the secretaries in black, present revenue they have collected to the Virgin and Child.  In front of them, the three treasurers in crimson, who represent nobility, bow. Patron Saints Sebastian, Mark, and Theodore stand behind the Virgin and Child, and there is an extra figure who came later/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jacopo Tintoretto, Portrait of a Widow, early 1550s, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.  For a widow she doesn't look that unhappy. Do I detect a faint smile? She is wearing typical mourning clothes of the period which do not disguise her near satisfaction that "it's over and done with!" The truth is in the eye of the beholder (me).  She still wears a wedding ring, a common practice 500 years later. The label copy says Tintoretto made few "high-quality" portraits of women, and Widow and Woman in Red (below) may be the only female survivors from Tintoretto's brush. 

Jacopo Tintoretto, Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1550s, Gemäldegalerie, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.  This is red?  Which means you need to see it in person and/or buy the catalogue to see the rich color.  The label says this straight-laced and tightly-fitting gown is unusual for 16th century Venetian women whose designs featured square necklines to better reveal décolletage. This woman may be from Lombardy.  The tightly-strung garment makes it look like breathing is difficult.  As women, we know. 

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Creation of the Animals, 1550/by 1553, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.  One of my favorites in the show which I think would be a huge draw for all the lucky children whose parents bring them to the exhibition.With the rest of us, they can wonder at the might and majesty of the work. Who doesn't know the story from Genesis of how God created the animals?  It reminds me of Noah corralling the animals into his ark to save them from the flood. Maybe that's where these are headed.  How many birds, fish, and animals do you find?

Jacopo Tintoretto, Standing Clothed Man Seen from Behind, c. 1557, lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the lender, the reason I included this here. Her Majesty also loaned The Nine Muses, c. 1578, which you may see in the show and in the catalogue.

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Origin of the Milky Way, 1577/1579, National Gallery, London. Formerly owned by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, this depicts Jupiter, the king of the gods, putting his baby, Hercules, on sleeping Juno's breast. Hercules is Jupiter's son who was born of a human, Alcmene. Juno is the queen of the gods and the wife of Jupiter who wants Hercules to be immortal. Milk from Juno's breast flows north to form the Milky Way, while the lower stream falls to Earth to become the lily flower. The bottom portion of the painting is not immortal, having been lost to the ages, but is known from a copy, the label says. If Milky Way ever becomes available for purchase, perhaps Jacqueline Mars of the Milky Way family in Virginia can buy it for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and become the Queen of the Milky Way. Just a thought/Photo by Patricia Leslie.

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Virgin Mary in Meditation, c. 1582/1583,  Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di San Rocco, Venice.  When not at the National Gallery of Art, this work, like the one below of the Virgin reading, still resides in its original home where Tintoretto intended it. For San Rocco, he painted 50 works.

Jacopo Tintoretto, detail from The Virgin Mary Reading, c. 1582/1583,  Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di San Rocco, Venice. 

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Virgin Mary Reading, c. 1582/1583,  Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di San Rocco, Venice.  Note the tree on the left which becomes Jesus hanging on the cross. (The photograph of the painting omits the top of the tree which stands out in its symbolism.) The catalogue says she was reading and meditating on the sayings of the prophets.

Welcoming guests at the opening of the exhibition are, from left, His Excellency Armando Varricchhio, the ambassador of Italy to the United States, speaking, and curators and authors Robert Echols and Frederick Ilchman. Between their shoulders, the artist himself peers from his Self-Portrait from 1546-1547 to open the show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The sizes of Tintoretto's works may be more accurately perceived when shown with the guards. Again, that's the artist's Self-Portrait in the center from 1546-1547./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ladies and Gentlemen, this spectacular show by one of "the three great painters of the golden age of Venetian art" is on display through Sunday at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. 

The exhibition celebrates the 500th anniversary of Jacopo Tintoretto's birth (c.1519-1594, Venice) and is the first North American retrospective of his work. It's an opportunity to see almost 50 paintings, some shown in the U.S. for the first time, on loan by institutions and individuals from around the world.

With Titian and Veronese, he is considered one of the three great Venetian Renaissance painters whose followers included El Greco, Rubens, and Velasquez.

He was a radical whom his audience adored and who was envied by his competitors. More than any other artist, Tintoretto's works  filled palaces, government buildings, churches, and other public buildings.

He was a devout Catholic who never forgot the poor, cutting prices for them and their churches. 

And when it came to promoting his artwork, Tintoretto was a master marketer who knew (and developed) a thing or two about selling to the wealthy.To increase recognition of his name and market share, he gave away paintings to future customers who had the wherewithal to afford them:  the rich and powerful. (Did you say "commission"?) 

Tintoretto's figures were super humans, sci-fi creatures with huge arms, muscles, and curves whose bodies filled canvases.

Writer Henry James called him "the biggest genius who ever wielded a brush."  Come and see why and enjoy not only his works on the walls but in the National Gallery’s Garden Café where the chef has fashioned a special brunch with variable selections including grilled salmon, baked frittata, spring pea salad, radicchio salad, orecchiette pasta salad, “old-fashioned bread pudding,” and more ($30).
 
Enjoy and feast your eyes and other senses on all things "Tintoretto" before he leaves for home.

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, with the special cooperation of the Gallerie dell’Accademia, organized the exhibition.

To the organizers and donors who made the exhibition possible, the people are grateful. 

Film:  19 minutes, noon, July 5, 2019, East Building Auditorium

Catalogue: 312 pages, 240 color illustrations. By Robert Echols and Frederick Ilchman, available in soft ($45) and hard ($65) covers, 2018. (Spend $100 or more at the gift shop and save 20%.)

What: Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice

When: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Open on July 4.

Where: The West Building between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission charge: Never at the Gallery.

Metro stations closest to the National Gallery of Art are the Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives and L'Enfant Plaza.

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com

Women's Museum hosts art book fair July 7

One of the titles at the upcoming Art Book Fair at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Attention:  art book lovers! Save the date; July 7, 12 - 5 p.m. for the third annual DC Art Book Fair to be presented in the Great Hall of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

More than 40 male and female artists, chosen by six judges, will have their independently published works available for browsing and sale at the family-friendly event. The formats range from zines (?) to books to comics to prints and more.

It's free admission day, too, which, since it's the museum's monthly no-charge "Community Day," means guests get six for the price of none!

At a DC Art Book Fair in the Great Hall at the National Museum of Women in the Arts/Photo by Emily Haight, NMWA

The collection and exhibition galleries of the museum's current shows will all be open for viewing including Ursala von Rydingsvard,  More is More: Multiples, and in the library, Power in My Hand: Women Poets, Women Artists, and Social Change.

And, don't forget what's outdoors just beyond the museum's entrance: the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, the only public art space with changing installations by contemporary women artists in Washington, the NMWA is proud to claim. 

The DC Art Book Collective organized the fair.

What: DC Art Book Fair

When: Sunday, July 7, 2019. Usual open hours at the museum are Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sundays, 12 - 5 p.m.

Where: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
 
For more information: 202-783-5000 or visit nmwa.org.

Metro stations: Metro Center (exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north) or walk a short distance from McPherson Square.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Cato's first art exhibition ends on Flag Day

 Allen Hart, The Harpist, oil on canvas, 2006

Giuseppe Palumbo, Sword vs. Pen, bronze, 2016/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In the first, but certainly not the last, Cato Institute's art exhibition with works by 76 artists will close on Flag Day, two months after opening for public viewing.

Entitled Freedom: Art as the Messenger, the curators invited artists to explore the meaning of freedom and identity, embracing "manifestations through art." 

It is fitting that the exhibition closes on June 14, a time which coincides with the think tank's mission to follow the principles of Cato's Letters of the 18th century "that presented a vision of society free from excessive government power." 

The show's contents are not the extreme, harsh examples by contemporary artists as one has grown to expect and often observes in public and private galleries, but the artists here offer more promise in attempts to evoke personal reflections upon the theme.

Still, the connections between art you see and theme are frequently hard to discern. That the artists could be present to explain or have available their intent and meanings would be welcome guidance, but as with most exhibitions, "beauty" and meaning belong to the viewer.

Two of the most interesting works (at least to this beholder) are shown above, and all may be seen at the website. The curators received almost 2,200 submissions from 500 artists in 40 states, a much larger response than they anticipated. (Why the U.S. was only represented is a question.) 

Brief essays by Cato's president and CEO, Peter Goettler, and the curators, Harriet Lesser and June Linowitz, are included in the softbound 76-paged, free, color catalog printed on glossy stock. (Do 76 pages and 76 artists have anything in common with 1776?)

Ms. Lesser writes the purpose of the exhibition at Cato “is to provide a medium for conversation about freedom through art” since the two "have always been allies" and fit Cato's dedication "to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace."

She believes each selection “has something special and unique to say about freedom."

Ms. Linowitz hopes the show leads each viewer “to contemplate what freedom means.” She decided that, although her own political philosophy differs "notably" from Cato's, she and Cato would make a good match since the institute exhibits its own tolerance and respect for views and expressions in the show which it doesn't necessarily hold.

Mr. Goettler trusts that the exhibition “may teach us a lot about what freedom means to us and to others.” The essence of Cato is “freedom of speech and expression" which "are among our most cherished values and only with them can art prosper.” The “unconventional, the controversial, and even the distasteful” may call for limits on our freedoms which need to be protected. 

What:  Freedom:  Art as the Messenger

When:  10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closing June 14, 2019 

Where:  Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20001

Closest Metro station:   Green, Yellow and Orange lines all have stops close to Cato. Check Metro.

For more information:  Call Cato at (202) 842 0200.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Give your pulse, your heartbeat and fingerprints for a Hirshhorn show

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (b. 1967), Pulse Room, 2006, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

An exhibition in Washington will leave its perfect home here tomorrow.  

Pulse by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer has been up at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden since last fall, during which time it has collected thousands of heartbeats, pulses, and fingerprints from visitors who have stopped to wonder and add their own identities to produce the display.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (b. 1967), Pulse Index, 2010, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Some of the latest technologies in yet another interactive art show (isn't that what most contemporary shows are these days?) are combined with voluntary contributions with results to be seen pronto. 

Water, lights, human movement, sensors, touch, and vital signs mix in huge galleries to show a little bit of just who you are in the grand population, physiologically speaking. (Not that you can pick out your own pieces in the show since they all look and sound alike!)

Three Pulse installations fill the museum's second floor, the first, Pulse Index records fingerprints and heart rates when visitors insert their fingers in a sensor. 

That information enters a large grid cell of 10,000 others while simultaneously discarding the oldest record, somewhat like the grand scheme of life. ("Out with the old and in with the new!  Fare thee well!")

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (b. 1967), Pulse Tank, 2008, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The second installation, Pulse Tank (2008) finds visitors interacting with sensors on water tanks. Computers detect pulses, sending ripples on the water which reflect shadows to fall over walls in a combination of unidentified human offerings and links.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (b. 1967), Pulse Room, 2006, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Hundreds of light bulbs electrified by visitors touching a sensor, hang from the ceiling in the third installation, Pulse Room (2006).  Heartbeats and the concomitant sounds are heard throughout the space.  As more people come through the gallery, new beats become the latest part of the bulb sensation and move on down the row or line, making a pattern of movement until they, too, exit the story at the last bulb or end.  (Question:  How long does this journey take? It would seem to depend on the number of people in the gallery.  A lot would mean a fast exit.)


Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was born in 1967 in Mexico City and graduated from Concordia University in Montreal with a B.S. in physical chemistry. In 2003 he founded the Antimodular Research Laboratory in Montreal where engineers, architects, programmers and artists from around the world study, create and make. Now he and his team are at work on more than 20 permanent installations, commissioned by global "new age" electric collectors.

In 2007 Lozano-Hemmer's art took him to Venice and the Biennale where he was the first artist to represent Mexico. 

Large interactive Lozano-Hemmer displays may be found in New York, Vancouver, Berlin, and museums around the world.

From his website:

His main interest is in creating platforms for public participation, by perverting technologies such as robotics, computerized surveillance or telematic networks. Inspired by phantasmagoria, carnival and animatronics, his light and shadow works are "antimonuments for alien agency".

Whether the FBI, the CIA, the FSB, or the North Koreans would okay their employees engaging in Pulse is debatable, but, on the other hand, maybe they are the ones behind it all. Could be a joint venture.


What:  Pulse by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

When:  Now through tomorrow, April 28, 2019, from 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Where:  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on the National Mall at Independence Avenue and Seventh Street, S.W.

How much:  No charge

Metro stations:  Smithsonian or L'Enfant Plaza (Maryland Avenue exit)

For more information:   202-633-1000

patricialesli@gmail.com