HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We started today with Lorenzo Quinn’s, The Force of Nature sculpture – a series of sculptures he’s placed all over the globe. There are versions in NYC, Monaco, Singapore, Shanghai, Ireland, and other locales. It’s composed of various materials (bronze, steel, aluminum) and the Mother Nature figures are sometimes nude or can be attired in big billowing robes. She seems to be holding on to the Earth so it doesn’t get out of her control. We also looked at Lorenzo’s website to see him working on other sculpts. Son of Anthony Quinn – he definitely inherited his father’s artistic talent. The website is in this blog.
As part of our New Year’s Celebration, we looked at M. C. Escher Fireworks lithograph from 1933. The famed Dutch graphic artist made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Believe it or not, Escher was not incredibly popular during his life until very late. What a treasure he is. A master of form, shape, visual adventure, Escher has inspired artists as well as dreamers all over the globe.
Cai Guo-Qiang’s Transient Rainbow is a 2002 installation sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art & held over the East River between Manhattan & Queens. The reflection of the colorful, rainbow fireworks in the water made some of our group feel like the rainbow became a circle of swirling colors and one of us even saw a monster eating up the hues & smoke! There’s a link to the event from YouTube; you can see this massive artist achievement for yourself!
In 2012, Chicago staged A Butterfly for Pomona, her first firework piece since A Butterfly for Oakland in 1974. Judy Chicago lit up the Pomona College football field with this event. Pomona College Art Museum sponsored her in collaboration with Pyro Spectaculars. This California-based company received an Oscar for their trail-blazing work on the film Apocalypse Now. The fabulous Judy Chicago is a feminist artist who works with so many media & artforms. We’ll have many opportunities to see her work in the coming months.
Abstract expressionist, Helen Frankenthaler used acrylic on canvas to create Grey Fireworks in 1982. This six-foot by almost ten-foot painting is her vision of fireworks. Her fiery bright lights of turquoise, red, white, and carnation are juxtaposed with bursts of cool lavenders, greys, and soft pinks. Frankenthaler was a celebrated artist with a six-decade career. She won multiple awards & had major exhibitions all over the world. She pushed the boundaries of expressionist work, inventing techniques along the way. A very different version of New Year’s Eve, like Ben Schonzeit’s flowers from yesterday.
Finally, we viewed a photo of Sam Bompas & Harry Parr’s multi-sensory fireworks display; a New Year’s celebration technically shown in 2013 & 2014 (before & after midnight!) This London fireworks experience included smells & flavors that their massive audience could experience as each distinct color appeared. The duo started working together through a love of food elements (seriously, it was jam!) and use their backgrounds in Architecture, Environmental Art, Flavor, Cooking, and others to create experiential art & food events. They once built a four-ton punchbowl that visitors could row across as well as drink from! They also floated a life-size steamship, the SS Great Britain, in 55,000 liters of lime green jelly! Real-life Willy Wonkas!!
Links for more information:
Lorenzo Quinn https://www.lorenzoquinn.com/at-work/
Cai Guo-Quiang https://youtu.be/goH0BJEYvM8
Bompas & Parr’s multi-sensory fireworks display http://bompasandparr.com/projects/view/flavour-fireworks/
Today's show:
- Lorenzo Quinn, Mother Nature Sculptures -- link --
- M.C. Escher, Fireworks, 1933 -- link --
- Cai Guo-Qiang, Transient Rainbow, 2002 -- link --
- Judy Chicago, A Butterfly for Pomona, 2012 -- link --
- Helen Frankenthaler, Grey Fireworks, 1982 -- link --
- Bompas and Parr’s multi-sensory fireworks display, 2013–14 -- link --
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