Link to Post:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/murals-discovered-at-former-home-of-german-artist-otto-dix-a-874139.html
A report on an interesting group of six recently discovered murals by Otto Dix.
The article notes that "Dix most likely made the artwork for a Karneval, or Mardi Gras, celebration on Feb. 19, 1966. In total there are six major pieces and painted door frames. The drawings include a monster, whose appendages each play a different instrument in a jazz band; figures from the region's traditional carnival festival; and scenes from the 1958 movie 'The Horse's Mouth,' in which Alec Guinness plays a painter. Previously, only small painting in the entry to the cellar that had apparently been done at the same time were known."
Link to Post:
http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/09/aaron-parazette-keeps-you-off-balance.html
Robert Boyd reviews the exhibition Aaron Parazette: Flyaway at the Art League, Houston, Texas, on view through November 2, 2012.
Boyd writes: "Flyaway wraps around two walls. Each wall has a focal point where several lines converge. The intersections of these lines, and the edge of the painting itself, form flat geometric shapes... Size matters. At this scale, the straight lines of the wall painting engage with the straight lines where the floor and ceiling meets the walls, and where two walls meet each other. The triangles and trapezoids echo the perspective space of the room. You are enveloped by the painting just as you are enveloped by the gallery itself. Flyaway loses the autonomy of an individual easel painting, but gains a dialogue with the architecture."
Link to Post:
http://altoonsultan.blogspot.com/2012/06/bleak-vision-orozcos-epic-of-american.html
Altoon Sultan visits José Clemente Orozco's fresco cycle The Epic of American Civilization at Dartmouth College.
Sultan writes: "I first saw [the cycle] about 15 years ago and was taken aback by its aggressive form and structure and its fierce imagery. At the time, the college seemed almost embarrassed by the murals: tables were drawn up close to the paintings; no one seemed to be paying them any attention. When I revisited them recently, this had changed; the paintings were roped off so you could see them clearly... One of the great treats for me in seeing this emotionally difficult mural cycle was getting a close view of the free brushstrokes, and seeing the boundaries of each day's work as evidenced by raised lines moving across the surface."
Link to Post:
http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/03/13/a-tour-of-new-york-with-diego-rivera/
Jodi Roberts traces New York City's impact on the work of Diego Rivera.
Roberts writes: "Fascinated by modern technology, [Rivera] felt an immediate connection to the city, which at the time was in the throes of one of the largest construction booms in U.S. history, known as the skyscraper race." She continues by noting that "Rivera [also] combined his homage to the city's physical makeup with a stinging critique of its social and economic inequity.
Diego Rivera: Murals for The Museum of Modern Art is on view at MoMA through May 14, 2012.
Link to Post:
http://blog.massmoca.org/2011/12/21/sol-lewitt-here-there/
Mass MoCA blogs a compendium of Sol LeWitt wall drawings, highlighting the rich and varied possibilities allowed by LeWitt's instructions.
"Every time a Wall Drawing is put on display, a group of draftsmen paint or draw a new interpretation of the piece... Only one official interpretation of a Wall Drawing can exist at one time; once the previous one has been painted over, the draftsmen are free to start their work. The draftsmen then use LeWitt’s directions to create their interpretation. However, every draftsman and every space is different, meaning that each time a Sol LeWitt is put on display, it is inherently unique."
Link to Post:
http://ilikethisart.net/?p=10553
Installation images with text from Nicholas O'Brien about a new collaborative mural by Frank Stella & Santiago Calatrava Mural Collaboration entitled The Michael Kohlhaas Curtain recently on view at the Neue Nationalgalerie.
O'Brien writes: "The neon colors of the 98 foot mural immediately jump out and clash against the surrounding stoic tones, while the gridded donut enclosure acts as an update the stagnant flat grid of Late Modern architecture.... The Curtain certainly takes cues from early 20th century murals, but instead of opting for a figurative approach, this collaboration tells an abundantly abstract story of the reciprocating influence that painting and architecture have had upon one another, as well as point toward a vivid future where both disciplines can merge into one grand gesture."
Link to Post:
http://blogs.artinfo.com/modernartnotes/2011/08/augustus-vincent-tack-and-the-phillips-collection/
Tyler Green blogs about a new installation of Augustus Vincent Tack's abstract paintings commissioned by collector Duncan Phillips on display at The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. through December 31, 2011.
Green writes that "It could be argued that Tack’s abstractions also seem to anticipate Clyfford Still... they show a reluctant modernist pushing himself away from straightforward representation." He also notes that "The 12 panels on view now are actually studies for murals that were never realized. Painted in 1929 and 1930, Tack considered them the apex of his career."
Link to Post:
http://experimentstation.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/functional-splendor/
In a post entitled "Functional Splendor" Sarah Osborne Bender blogs about a visit to see August Vincent Tack's (1870 - 1949) last abstract painting - a mural. She writes: "In 1944, as a commissioned project facilitated by Duncan Phillips, Tack created a beautiful mural, called Time and Timelessness (Spirit of Creation), to be used as a fire curtain in [George Washington University’s] new auditorium." Tack saw his subject to be the pursuit of knowledge embodied in the "astronomical" and the "microscopic." As a fire curtain, the painting and the knowledge it depicts also form a protective barrier, shielding the audience from potential oblivion.
Link to Post:
http://artobserved.com/2010/12/go-see-rome-takashi-murakami-at-gagosian-gallery-through-january-15th-2011/
At Gagosian Gallery, Rome Artist Takashi Murakami exhibits "two epic paintings... Dragon in Clouds- Red Mutation (2010) and Dragon in Clouds- Indigo Blue (2010) each comprise of nine panels, measure eighteen meters in length and depart from the artist’s usual technicolor palette to revert to more traditional Japanese influences."
