The Visual Movement

Carla Kihlstedt: Necessary Monsters

Allegorical characters are vivified in Necessary Monsters, a theatrical concert inspired by the fantastic creatures depicted in Jorge Luis Borges‘ The Book of Imaginary Beings. This new work, co-commissioned by the MCA, is composed by Carla Kihlstedt, a vocalist, composer, and classically trained violinist who is active in numerous groups including Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Tin Hat Trio.

Music written by Carla Kihlstedt
Words written by Rafael Oses
Directed by Paul Bargetto
Costumes by Amanda Bujak

When: Fri-Sat, Feb 29-Mar 1, 7:30 pm
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Running time: 80 minutes, no intermission

Richard Avedon Exhibition Opens
Saturday, January 12 - Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Phoenix Art Museum presents Richard Avedon: Photographer of Influence
An exhibition of photographs of the 20th century’s most celebrated fashion, cultural and intellectual subjects.

Not really so simple: sculpture from the permanent collection

SMoCA’s exhibit is a evocative selection of abstract sculptures from artists: Dale Chihuly, Charles Fine, Howard Ben Tré and Howard Werner, and a monumental drawing by sculptor Robert Stackhouse.

Run: Now through January 16, 2008

Photo: Howard Werner, Ash Bench, 1985, ash, 62 x 55 x 33 inches. Collection of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Gift of the artist.

SOUNDWAVES: THE ART OF SAMPLING
MCASD LA JOLLA
SEPTEMBER 23, 2007 THROUGH DECEMBER 30, 2007
Selections on view through May 4, 2008

Sound has played a significant role in the development of modern and contemporary art, from the visual references of Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian in the early 20th-century to the aural experimentations of Nam June Paik and John Cage in the 1960s.

Soundwaves: The Art of Sampling looks at a specifically late 20th-century manifestation of the conjunction of art and sound, and features artists in MCASD’s collection, such as Tim Bavington, Celeste Boursier-Mougenot, Sean Duffy, Julio Cesar Morales, Dario Robleto, and Steve Roden, who appropriate the musical process of sampling in their work, either through the incorporation of found sound or through visual and material references.

Photo Info:

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, Untitled (series #3), 2001, set of 3 inflatable plastic pools, 3 pumps, water, 93 assorted bowls, water, 21 stem glasses, 3 immersion heaters, Clorox. Museum purchase, International and Contemporary Collectors Funds.

Mapping the Self

Chicago Museum of Contemporary of Art

November 3, 2007 - March 2, 2008

This exhibition is part of the city-wide Festival of Maps, which opens at the Field Museum on November 2, 2007, and is joined by more than 25 cultural and scientific institutions in a unique collaboration that features maps, globes, artifacts, and artworks from ancient to contemporary times….

Since maps can communicate highly complex ideas such as issues of identity, politics, and culture, they increasingly serve as a medium for artists to address socioeconomic and geopolitical issues. In addition, through combinations of traditional maps and high tech mapping systems, the medium allows for a contemporaneous understanding of one’s spatial and temporal place in the world on a personal, local, and global level. The exhibition explores how artists use the medium of maps to decode and re-encode information as a means for personal exploration, artistic expression, communication, and social change. The exhibition is accompanied by a concurrent issue of the local magazine Whitewalls that is dedicated to map making.

Museum of Contemporary Art

220 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2643

The photos above are NOT from the exhibit. The art is unavailable because of copyright retrictions. The photos above are strictly metaphorical interpretation.

Pablo Cano: Viva Vaudeville
Exhibition: October 20 - December 29, 2007
Performances: Oct. 20, 21, 27, Nov., 10, Dec. 1, 8, 9, 15, 22, 29
Miami Museum of Contemporary of Art

Artist Pablo Cano creates marionettes inspired by Russian Constructivism, Dada, and the Japanese and European traditions of puppetry from found object and debris. These elaborate assemblage sculptures come to life through music and choreography in Cano’s theatrical performances. For his tenth production commissioned by MOCA, Cano will present Viva Vaudeville, a musical marionette fantasy inspired by Vaudeville shows from the turn of the century in New York and Europe. Life-size marionettes and rod puppets will characterize some famous magicians, comics, dancers, singers and acrobats from the golden age of vaudeville. Accompanied by an original score performed by live musicians, and recordings of 1920’s American pop songs, each performance will recreate an actual vaudeville performance.

Photo of Pablo Cano by Gio Alma

Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary is a special exhibition now showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This exhibition presents some of the most celebrated creations of African masters in a new light…Drawn from the most important collections of African art in Europe and the United States, the more than 150 works featured are from fourteen distinct cultural traditions in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Run: October 2, 2007–March 2, 2008
Special Exhibition Galleries, 1st floor

Photo 1) Fang peoples, Betsi group; Gabon, 19th century
Wood, raffia; H. 22 1/16 in. (56 cm.)

Photo 2) Fang peoples, Betsi group; Gabon, 19th century
Wood, metal; H. 24 13/16 in. (63 cm)

Photo 3) Kota peoples, Mindumu group; Gabon, Upper Ogooué River, 19th century
Wood, copper, brass; H. 15 3/4 in. (40 cm)

Photo4) Kota peoples; Gabon, 19th– first half of 20th century
Wood, copper, brass, iron; H. 19 in. (48.3 cm)

Photo 5) Kota peoples, Mindumu group; Gabon, 19th century
Wood, iron, copper, lead, zinc, feathers, fiber, hide, bone; H. 22 13/16 in. (58 cm)

Photo 6) Kota peoples, Mbete group; Republic of Congo, 19th century
Wood, pigments, buttons, fiber, beads; H. 27 9/16 in. (70 cm)

Photo 7) Punu peoples; Gabon, 19th century
Wood, pigments, hide, fiber, relics, organic matter; H. 11 13/16 in. (30 cm)

BLACK PANTHER: THE REVOLUTIONARY ART OF EMORY DOUGLAS is an upcoming exhibition at MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles at the Pacific Design Center on October 21.
Emory Douglas joined the Panther Party in 1967 and became its Minister of Culture. His politically charged images represented the party’s direction. His art posters were found on the covers of The Black Panther, the party’s official newsletter/magazine. The art of Emory Douglas illustrate revolution, resistance, change, struggle, power, oppression, exploitation, and racism. His art work also celebrates black culture and history. Black Panther Party maintains a web page where you can find a gallery of Douglas’ works, events, and speeches.

Run: October 21- January 20, 2009

MOCA, Pacific Design Center
8687 Melrose Avenue
Design Plaza G102
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Dr. Harold E. Edgerton was a pioneer of advanced photographic techniques such as stroboscopy and ultra-high speed photography—which led to the development of electronic speed-flashes used in modern cameras.

Seeing the Unseen features 50 large-scale prints from the collection of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] Museum. While a graduate student at MIT (where he then taught), Edgerton designed the first electronic stroboscopic device in 1931, in order to accurately measure the displacement of the rotor in an electric motor. His instrument emitted light in controlled flashes and was capable of “stopping motion” on film. Edgerton experimented with set-up shots such as a splashing drop of milk or a bullet cutting through an apple. The resultant images are highly detailed and stop time to a nanosecond to show. His photographs, as scientific records, bestow on us comprehension and increase our awareness. They reveal new forms, subtle relationships of time and space and the essence of motion.

Much of the photography we have today would not be possible without pioneers like Dr. Edgerton. His passion for photography and science allowed us to take the visual art of photography to unexplored places. Myself, I have not had the opportunity to implement stroboscopic techniques, but it is something that I want to begin to use in the near future. Check out his Seeing the Unseen Exhibit at SMoCA.

September 15, 2007- December 30, 2007

Michael and Ellie Ziegler Gallery and Gallery 3, SMoCA

Pic 1: Dr. Harold E. Edgerton, Shooting the Apple,
1964, dye transfer print, 20 x 24 inches.
© The Estate of Harold E. Edgerton.

Pic 2: Title Unknown, Seeing the Unseen Exhibit