week 7: gallery visit 2

I went to the Burchfield Penney Art Gallery to do this project since i was not impressed when i went to the Albright Knox. I have been to this art gallery before and i think it was better the first time i went, the whole first floo was pretty much projection screen, which did not interest me at all, so i did not even look at them. I chose the exhibt 3- D Wit for this project. The theme of this exhibt was humor and satire. Its main focus was being a pplay on words, or a pun, which to the creator of the exhibt has the greatest impact for its seemingly effortless consideration of philosophy and hidden meaning.
The lighting that was used was dim lighting with spotlights on the artworks. There was a skylight in the room which was covered to darken the room.The surrounding walls were white. Only one work is hanging on the wall, the rest are in cases or on stands throughout the room. The architecture used is drywall and white paint. The room has plenty of empty space to walk. On eartwork is toward the center of the room, and the rest are close to the walls .There was also a bench in the room to sit.
I though the organization was weird and poorly organized. Whereas most exhibts are organized by artist, this one was not, two works by the same artist were on totally different sides of the room. The artworks are all 3-D and were all created to "send a message." They differ in the types of mediums that are used and the styles in which the artist used to create them. I found one artwork called Swept Away, which i did not choose to analyze, because it made no sence to me why it was in the exhibt. I twas just a pile of broom handles on the walll. The artwork to me seemd out of place in style, medium, and position, it was the only artwork hanging on the wall. Some of the artworks are encased, and they are all on white platforms, with the exception of Swept Away. They are all labeled the same way. There is a plaque to the right of each artwork, far enough away so it does not interfere with the viewing of the artwork. The artworks are evenly spaced away, with enough distance in between so that viewers can walk around them and view them from all sides.

The first artwork from this exhibt i chose was Export Crop- Cotton Skiing and Export Crop- Sugar Cane in a convertible made of painted steel and mixed media by Christy Rupp in 1988. These were actually two related artworks in the same case. This artwork caught my eye right away for a weird reason (I call my son chicken wing and one of them was shaped like a chicken so it was funny to me) so i chose to pick it because it was interesting when i looked further at it. These two pieces come from a series called convalesing staple crops and recreational export crops that commented on the plight of American farmers who struggled financially during the 1980s. These people lost families as well as many other resources because exports were favored over domestic markets. The car with the Cane i see as representing the cane leaving. Ant the cotton- chicken skiing to me represents cotton going down due to inflation. The elements and principles used are balance, form, texture, line, and movement.

The second artwork i chose was Four food Groups by John McQueen in 2006. This artwork was made of sticks, strings, bundle ties and hot glue. The words were woven into the sculptor. And according to the information on it, it referenced early renaissance paintings, i dont see how. The birds block the words that are a symbol of contemporary memento mori- which reminds us that we all face death. The words are in the shape of the food pyramid and say bacon, beer, cake, and coffee. it seems to represent assembled crows who are disrupted from their feeding. The elements used are balance, form, and texture.

The last artwork i chose was by Wetley Olmstead created in December 1996 and it was called Skip and Joy. The work was made out of brazed metal parts, painted, and mounted on wood. There were two seperate sculptors that made up this artwork. Olmstead was in the army during the korean war. He was influenced by the art he saw in Europe. The works were assembled with objects that commented, American culture. He had another similiar artwork that used the same method and use of old typewriters and cash registers. The message espoused non violence and spiritual strenght in world chaos and war.The elements and principles used were balance, form, movement, and color. 

I enjoyed this art gallery visit a lot more than the first. I really learned a lot from this exhibit and looked at the surroundings and lighting in a way that i have never looked at before. Normally i just look at the artworks and pay no attention to the surroundings, but this project brought a new perspection to how to go about viewing an art gallery.