Sean Scully has left the Hirshhorn

Sean Scully at the opening of Sean Scully: Landlines, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept.12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Dear All,

If the Trump shutdown or other reason caused you to miss the fabulous exhibit, Sean Scully: Landline, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, please see images here of the show and of the artist who came to town for the opening and to talk about his art. 

The Landline series made its U.S. debut at the Hirshhorn after appearing at the Venice Biennale in 2015. 

Sean Scully with his Landline: Bend Triptych, 2017, private collection, at the opening of Sean Scully: Landlines, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept. 12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully at the opening of Sean Scully: Landlines, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept. 12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

According to the Hirshhorn, the "Landline paintings show Scully's transition away from his earlier hard-edged minimalism to his current, more expressive style, a style that no doubt elicits the beauty and brilliance of the natural world" which Mr. Scully conveys by watercolors, oils, and sculptures.

Sean Scully, Stack Blues, 2017, private collection, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie 

Sean Scully, Landline Baltic, 2018, Landline Far Blue Lake, 2018, and Untitled (Landline), 2016, all loaned by private collectors, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mr. Scully is quoted at Wikipedia in a 2005 article by Joao Ribas:

I hold to a very Romantic ideal of what's possible in art, and I hold to the idea of the 'personal universal.' This is a complex agenda. My project is complicated in this way, and in that sense I'm out of fashion. I'm going against the current trend towards bizarreness, oddness; as you just called it, the 'esoteric', which of course was around in the 1930s. That's what is being revisited now. In between the two great wars, there was a very strong period, particularly in Europe, of a strange, bizarre, distorted and perverse kind of figuration, with freaks in the paintings. Very disturbing twins, subjects like that. These paintings were mostly coming out of Italy and Germany. Now we have a return to that—again in a strange period, after the end of Modernism.

 Sean Scully, Landline Blue Red, 2016, private collection, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully, Landline Orient, 2017, private collection, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully, Horizon Nine, 2013, private collection, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully, Landline 5.20.15, 2015, private collection, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

At his website, Mr. Scully outlines his life in years: He was born in 1945 in Dublin and grew up in a working class neighborhood in London. He attended Catholic schools and was influenced by the paintings he saw in parishes. As a boy, he wanted to become an artist.  

When he was a teenager, he became interested in American rhythm and blues and started a music club. He continues to love popular music.

Sean Scully with his Stack Colors, 2017, private collection, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept.12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully at the opening of Sean Scully: Landlines, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept. 12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully at the opening of Sean Scully: Landlines, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept.12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully at the opening of Sean Scully: Landlines, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept. 12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sean Scully at the opening of Sean Scully: Landlines, with Melissa Chiu, Hirshhorn director, and  Stéphane Aquin, chief curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept.12, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mr. Scully attended art classes in London where he regularly visited Vincent van Gogh's Van Gogh's Chair (1888) at the Tate Gallery. Its "directness has a profound effect on the young artist," according to his bio.

 Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh's Chair, 1888/www.VincentVanGogh.org

At age 21, Mr. Scully "decides to dedicate himself entirely to art studies" and continues art classes.

He was 28 when, at his first solo show in London, every piece sold, Four years later New York City was the venue for his first solo exhibition in the U.S.  In 1983 his 19-year-old son, Paul, died in a car accident, the same year Mr. Scully became an American citizen.  

In 2015 when the Landline series was featured at the Venice Biennale, Mr. Scully was honored by the Chinese as the first western artist to enjoy a major retrospective there.

Melissa Chiu, the Hirshhorn director calls him "one of the most influential painters working today" and curator Stéphane Aquin comments that Mr. Scully's style stems from abstract expressionism, "inspired by personal memories" of his growing up years in Ireland, especially his time, the Hirshhorn says, "looking out to sea."

Landline next travels to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut where it opens February 23, 2019. 

Sandy Guttman provided curatorial assistance at the Hirshhorn. A catalogue is available.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Tony Podesta's gifts to the Katzen

Nira Pereg, Five Calls (Sun Clock), 2015. American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta who is above, in the left background/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Lobbyist Tony Podesta wants all his art eventually to be up in museums for the public to see, and we the people applaud opportunities to see it!  Thank you, Mr. Podesta.

For decades he has given his art to D.C. museums, and on January 26 at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Mr. Podesta was the star, surrounded by curators, artists, and a moderator on stage who came with several hundred to recognize the donations and the opening of a new exhibition, The Gifts of Tony Podesta.

Gyan Panchal, qqlos, 2009, American University Museum Collection, Gift of The Heather and Tony Podesta Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It is the first major exhibition of Mr. Podesta's donations to the Katzen which are drawn from the museum's Corcoran Legacy Collection.

Curators Klaus Ottmann, chief curator and deputy director for academic affairs at the Phillips Collection, and Jennifer Sakai, an instructor in the department of photography at George Washington University, talked informally with Mr. Podesta at the event moderated by Jack Rasmussen, the Katzen director.

Let's discuss Katja Strunz' Form & Mal (in 7 parts)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Katja Strunz, Form & Mal (in 7 parts), 2004. American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta/Photo by Patricia Leslie

"I talk with many people about art," Mr. Podesta said at the beginning of the presentation. "It's not a formal process," and he uses no advisor. "I read a lot and travel around the globe looking for art." (He was headed to the art fair at Bologna and then to meet an Australian artist in Copenhagen for an opening.)
 
"I feel like I'm a steward of the works, and the most important thing is for people to see [the art] within a public institution. Every year I give away a lot of things."

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Rape of Creativity, 1999, American University Museum Collection, Gift of The Heather and Tony Podesta Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie

When the Corcoran Gallery of Art closed in 2014 and the National Gallery of Art took over its collection, the Gallery curators decided to keep half of Mr. Podesta's gifts to the Corcoran and left it up to him to find museums for the rest.  
He contacted the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Katzen, which enjoys "the lion's share." 


"I thought the [Katzen] would be a good house for them," Mr. Podesta said, and he recruited Dr. Ottmann and Ms. Sakai as curators.

At the opening of Gifts of Tony Podesta, the Katzen Arts Center, American University, January 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the opening of Gifts of Tony Podesta, the Katzen Arts Center, American University, January 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ann-Sofi Sidén, Fideicommissum, 2000, American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Said Ms. Sakai:  "It was an exuberance of riches to go through." She curated the photographs, and Dr. Ottmann, the sculptures.  

Said Dr. Ottmann: "Tony is one of these very rare collectors, someone who is really not a trophy collector. He's in a private position where he can see so many wonderful works."  

Dr. Ottmann said he had known Mr. Podesta about 20 years: "Tony is an extremely generous donor. He likes to connect people, likes to connect artists. He does dinners at his house. [It's] an ongoing repertoire.
 
"It's a remarkable collection.
 
"Every time I come to Tony's house and I see things on the wall and I don't know what they are, I ask him.

"Museums today would be in a very bad place without Tony and collectors like him." 

From left, Tony Podesta, Klaus Ottman, and Jennifer Sakai at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

From left, Tony Podesta and Klaus Ottman at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Brothers John, left, and Tony Podesta at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Most of the works in the show are by artists Mr. Podesta knows, "some [who] have become my friends," including sculptor Barbara Liotta, who with Ottonella Mocellin were the artists on stage.  Ms. Liotta said she met the collector 20 years ago when she was doing a show in Italy and Mr. Podesta swooped in and bought every piece.
 
"It gave me security," she said, and they kept in touch. "He kept on buying works from me and other Italian artists."
 
When she and her husband visited Mr. Podesta, "we were astounded by all the works. He's not afraid of buying the wrong thing."
 
Installing the sculptures at the Katzen was not always easy, Dr. Ottman said: "It was pretty challenging," and Mr. Rasmussen agreed: "It was a mystery at times." 

Said Mr. Podesta to audience laughter: "I had nothing to do with the installation."

Dr. Ottmann:  "I always try to create interesting dynamics betwen the works of art."  

Answering a question from a member of the audience, Mr. Podesta said he never tires of collecting.
 
It's "mostly Washington museums" he rewards.
 
Asked if he regretted not buying a particular piece, Mr. Podesta said: "There's always the one that got away. In fishing and in art." But nothing he may have missed keeps him awake at night.
 
"Everything will go somewhere." With his collections, he said, "I take everything down and put up fresh." 

Mr. Podesta recognized his brother, John, in the audience noting that the latter once represented a group of artists.

Other works in the exhibition are by Darren Almond,  Jenny Gage, Mads Gamdrup, Anna Gaskell, Margi Geerlinks, Siobhán Hapaska, Mwangi Hutter, Justine Kurland, Jone Kvie, Clare Langan, Malerie Marder, Ernesto Neto, Anneè Olofsson,  Nira Pereg, Patricia Piccinini, Torbjørn Rødland, Jenny Rydhagen, Janaina Tschäpe, Hellen van Meene, and Tom Waldron.

What: The Gifts of Tony Podesta

When: Through March 17, 2019, Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Katzen Arts Center at American University,4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20016
 
Admission: No charge
 
Metro station: Tenleytown on the Red Line. From there, take a free AU shuttle bus to the museum.
 
Parking: Free in the Katzen garage after 5 p.m. and on weekends.For more information: 202-885-2787

patricialesli@gmail.com

Today is the last day for 'Heavy Metal' at the Women's Museum

This expresses how I feel many days! It is Self-portrait 4, 2005 by Carolina Rieckhof Brommer (b. 1979, Lima, Peru). Read more about her below/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Hurry!  

It's a feast for bored art eyes ending today at the National Museum of Women in the Arts at 5 p.m.  

Metal is the medium of choice for women artists who have "heavy metal" in the show.

My hair in the morning?  No, it's Self-portrait 3, 2004 by Carolina Rieckhof Brommer (b. 1979, Lima, Peru). The artist's experience as a costume designer made her aware of restricted and uncomfortable clothing many women wear. This is an example of wearable art which can be "empowering and protective-often all at the same time," according to label copy/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A museum press release says one purpose of the exhibition is to disrupt the common believe that metal belongs to men only, despite women working in the field for centuries.
 
The presentation is the fifth of the Museum's Women to Watch series, shown every two to five years which features works by underrepresented artists from states and countries where NMWA has outreach committees.

To gain more attention at that next party, wrap this snake around your neck and record your responses. Made of stainless steel, 14-karat gold solder and Mediterranean coral, it's titled sacredheartknot, 2015 by Lois Brooks (b. 1969, Ann Arbor, Michigan).  The label says Ms. Brooks tries to create a sense of unease and finds inspiration in fairy tales and nursery rhymes "which often have macabre undertones."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This reminds me of the Titanic, but this creation depicts a smaller iceberg  above the ship, not below, and this, on second glance, looks to be a city in the hull of a helmet. Somewhere there is oil, so maybe this is the Titanic in Texas? Or, the evolution of a city in Texas. Kelsey Wishik (b. 1990, Charleston, S.C.)  is the artist who made Space City, 2012 of mild steel/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Ho hum, unlike most who are smarter than I, I still do this! Holly Laws (b. 1963, Savannah, Georgia) says the caging unfolds the story of this domestic chore, mostly done by women. It is a respectful presentation of notorious "women's work," which many resent (ahem) having to perform.  The titles are (from left) Placeholder and Three Eastern Bluebirds, both, 2017/Photo by Patricia Leslie

From committees' submissions, NMWA curators selected 50 works from 20 artists including Cheryl Eve Acosta (b. 1980, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) who has 17 different pieces of jewelry on display.

Some of the artists used recycled materials such as can tabs (Alice Hope).  Charlotte Charbonnel used iron filings and a singular sound from the Pacific Ocean (not metal), however, the sound echoed that of a train (which qualifies) and is titled Train End. Leila Khoury makes monuments to places affected by the war in Syria. Artists used tin, aluminum, steel, bronze, brass, pewter, silver, and gold.

This is a portion of Grandfather, Cricket and I, 2016 by Carolina Sardi (b. 1967, La Plata, Argentina) which is plated steel over a painted wall which look like luscious jewel pieces to me (earrings, necklace, brooch, anyone?)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A beehive of porcupine quills? Or, a fancy chandelier made for the lobby of the World Wildlife Fund or other animal lover? Not to make light of any of these pieces but just to show what they can suggest! Alice Hope (b. 1966, Hong Kong) made this untitled piece last year of steel ball chain, used fishing tackle, and found netting, one of three works she has in the show. The wall label says the artist repeats processes in making art, like that required in "women's work" (sewing), all ending in "deep texture and movement."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Does this suggest slinkys to you? They are still available on the Web.  The Second Part, 2014, one of four works in the show by Paula Castillo (b. 1961, Belen, New Mexico), is made of fencing nails and auto-body finish.  Ms. Castillo "finds beauty" in industrial remains which help her visualize "how human-made and natural forces perpetually remake the world we inhabit," according to the wall copy/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A close-up of another by Alice Hope (b. 1966, Hong Kong), also untitled and made in 2004/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It is fun to admire the ingenuity of these artists and wonder about the sources of their inspirations. The museum is an excellent place to bring children who can join their parents to admire the wonders of creativity, and come up with their own ideas about just exactly what is here and what they can make from it.

A catalogue ($21.95) is available in the shop or online.  

What: Heavy Metal-Women to Watch 2018
 
When: Through today. The National Museum of Women in the Arts is open Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sundays, 12-5 p.m.
 
Where: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
 
Admission: Free on the first Sunday each month. Otherwise, fees are $10, adults; $8, seniors and students; and free for members and children, 18 and under.

For more information: 202-783-5000
 
Metro station: Metro Center. Exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north. 

Patricialesli@gmail.com



 

Women's Museum celebrates black female art

 Mavis Pusey (b. 1928), Dejygea, 1970. Courtesy of Brock and Co. This piece debuted at the 1971 "Contemporary Black Artists in America" exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It illustrates Ms. Pusey's embrace of old, dilapidated New York structures and their architecture.  The museum label notes that early on, Ms. Pusey's work was frequently mischaracterized by museum curators as about "self" rather than the artist's environment she chose.


Looking for an indoor place to take your brood over the holidays?  Children (and adults) will be intrigued by what lies in front of them at the National Museum of Women in the Arts' new show, Magnetic Fields:  Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today.  There discussions may be piqued by renderings which can trigger emotions and senses to include, but not limited to, humor, sadness, awareness, contemporary times, and whatever else one can detect and extract.  

I guarantee you no one will find it "boring," not the young, not the "don't bother me" teenager, nor the dragged-along Uncle George who doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything. 

With representations by 21 contemporary black female artists, the museum is proud to present the first U.S. exhibition by abstract artists of this genre.  Reading the labels and hearing the voices of the women who describe their backgrounds and experiences make attempted comprehension much more enjoyable.  

The artists' lives span 90 years, from 1891 to 1981, and several of the works are on public view for the first time.

They are "under-recognized" and "marginalized," says museum literature. The museum director, Susan Fisher Sterling, writes: "This exhibition shifts our attention to key practitioners who have not received their due" and are important to contemporary art history.

Named after Mildred Thompson's Magnetic Fields (in the show), a November 28 event will present two of the artists, Susan Snowden and Shinique Smith in public discussion. (See below.)

 Maren Hassinger (b. 1947), Wrenching News, 2008, courtesy of the artist. Twisted and torn pieces of the New York Times convey the artist's representation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and its aftereffects which evoke "the poignant sociopolitical issues exposed in the wake of this natural disaster." Call 202-747-3417 and dial 205# to hear the artist speak about it/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A close-up of Maren Hassinger's Wrenching News, 2008, above/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Howardena Pindell (b. 1943), Autobiography: Japan (Shisen-do, Kyoto), 1982, courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. Using paint, collage elements, and hole-punched paper, the artist depicts her seven-month sojourn in Japan on a "friendship grant" and her attempts to save her memory after a serious car accident in 1979. Call 202-747-3417 and dial 209# to hear her/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A close-up of Howardena Pindell's Autobiography: Japan (Shisen-do, Kyoto), 1982, above/Photo by Patricia Leslie

From left Chakaia Booker, El Gato;  Mavis Pusey, Dejydea; and Abigail Deville, Harlem Flag/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Abigail Deville (b. 1981), Harlem Flag, 2014, courtesy of the artist. Made from objects the artist found in Harlem and arranged to contrast and compare parallels between past and present/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Chakaia Booker (b. 1953), El Gato, 2001, collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Since the early 1990s, Ms. Booker has used rubber tires which represent travel, industry, ecology, skin and muscle as her primary medium.  Here the "regal pose and aura of a feline" is depicted in The Cat. The artist sculpts herself daily with wearable art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The name of Barbara Chase-Riboud (b. 1939), Zanzibar/Black, 1974-75, may be better known as a poet and author who wrote Sally Hemings, 1979. This is courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery and "exemplifies the artist's interest in developing monuments dedicated to transformative individuals and places."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sylvia Snowden (b. 1942), June 12, 1992 is the wedding anniversary of Ms. Snowden's parents who, with Howard University, the artist credits for helping her succeed in the art world.  This was part of a series which was on exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 1992 and is hung courtesy of the artist. Call 202-747-3417 and dial 214# to hear Ms. Snowden speak of this work/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Shinique Smith (b. 1971), Bale Variant No. 0017, 2009, Denver Art Museum Collection.  Fabric, wood, ink, twine and ribbon comprise the sculpture. The artist weaves her own clothing and pieces she finds "to visualize the tension of accumulation and consumption."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the exhibition's opening Virginia Treanor, NMWA associate curator, called the museum "a natural platform for an exhibit like this." Several of the artists were born in Washington and Baltimore where some reside. Some graduated from Howard University.

"This is not a survey," Ms. Treanor emphasized in her opening remarks, or "meant to be comprehensive."

Curators were Melissa Messina and Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri. 

In conjunction with the show, Sylvia Snowden and Shinique Smith will speak at the museum November 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Guests pay $25 ($15, members, seniors, and students) to mingle with the artists, see the exhibition and other collections, and enjoy food and beverages. It is close to a sellout. Make required reservations here.

A 144-paged illustrated catalogue is available in the museum gift shop and online.

Other artists in the show are Candida Alvarez, Betty Blayton, Lilian Thomas Burwell, Nanette Carter, Deborah Dancy, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Gilda Snowden, Kianja Strobert, Jennie C. Jones, Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery, Alma Woodsey Thomas, and Brenna Youngblood.


What: Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today

When:  Now through January 21, 2018. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sundays, 12 - 5 p.m. 

Where:  The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005

Admission: Free on the first Sunday of the month (December 3, 2017 and January 7, 2018 for this show) or $10, adults; $8, seniors and students; and always free for members and children, 18 and under.

For more information: 202-783-5000

Metro station: Metro Center. Exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north.


patricialesli@gmail.com