Photography in San Francisco

Photography in San Francisco
by Claudia Castaneda

Three photographers, two exhibits, two biographies, two vastly different approaches, The retrospective exhibits of works by Annie Liebovitz and Gilbert & George, held at the Legion of Honor and de Young Museum respectively, are biographies in which the line between art and artist is hard to distinguish.

Annie Liebovitz: A Photographer's Life 1990-2005

The images on the walls of the special exhibition at the Legion of Honor span 15 years of Liebovitz's professional life, as well as her personal life. Many may recall the image of a pregnant Demi Moore on the cover of Vanity Fair as well as other award-winning photographs, in which Leibovitz artistically captured the icons of yesterday and today's popular culture.

The exhibit is a visual biography, in which we are allowed to see the world surrounding the artist, both her professional and private world. Mixed within images of popular culture, hang images of Leibovitz's family and friends, mostly done in black and white. One image stands out, a black and white image of her mother who stands in front of a landscape unsmiling and natural. The image is one of truth, of a captured moment in which we are allowed to see the relationship between artist and subject, between mother and child.

Of the images in color depicting today's celebrities, the December 2001 picture in the White House’s Cabinet Room featuring President George W. Bush, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld is comical in that the image looks as though it belongs on the cover of one of today's popular drama series on TV. As stated by a fellow visitor: "It's like they're just characters that play the people who run our country. Scary huh?"
"I don't have two lives," Leibovitz writes. "This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it."

A SHOW TO EXPERIENCE

SFGate Review

Gilbert & George

"Art for All," although this may be the motto of Gilbert & George, I'm sure that many people would argue otherwise. I'll admit that at my first viewing of the retrospective at the de Young Museum, I wasn't sure that Gilbert & George's art was for me at all. But then I realized it was only because I didn't understand it. Large-scale naked images of the artists juxtapose with fecal matter, microscopic cross sections of male anatomy, and splashed with bright bold colors. The first thing I thought was, "Psychedelic 70s and Austin Powers." With more than 50 pictures, from 1971 to the present, the exhibit "traces the stylistic the stylistic and emotional development of the artists."

After coming to terms with my ignorance, I listened to a nearby docent as she explained the history of these two iconic artists who put themselves at the center of their artwork and identify themselves as "living sculptures." And then I started to understand. The show is not provocative as it is subversive. Once you accept the otherwise offensive and provocative subject matter, you can see that there is more substance in the compositions than naked men, crap, religious imagery, and microscopic organisms.

My favorite work, now that I've had two days to digest, was the monumental "Shitty Naked Human World," a four-panel work spanning the majority of the wall in the main room. Although usage of fecal matter in the art isn't appealing to me, I have to admire the artists' way of making me realize the message of shame and vulnerability and humanness found in their work and in them.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Gilbert & George's more recent work, such as "Shitty Naked Human World" or the image depicting a mouth and anus in grotesque magnification. But, I do wish I had taken a closer look at their older work, like that taken during their drunken-pub phase. Perhaps I'll head back next week, after all I do have until May 18th.

"ART FOR ALL" (Except maybe Grandma Josephine, those easily offended, and people who don't wish to think about what they see).

On The De Young

The first time I visited the museum I didn't pay close attention to the structure of the museum. But after spending an entire day viewing art in San Francisco this past Saturday I came to realize that the De Young hangs art, it does not display it. This may seem like a strong indictment, but the way in which the permanent galleries are arranged is complicated and confusing. In way, walking around the De Young is like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you're going to get.

Perhaps my confusion is was due to lack of sleep the night before (can we say camping?) or the sensory overload I was experiencing from the colorful Gilbert & George Exhibit, but it seems as though the museum's rhyme and reason to organizing works (namely by collection rather than style or era) and the way in which the rooms flow into one another it's hard to distinguish where one is leaving and one is going. The only room in the entire second floor of the museum in which I knew exactly what I'm was looking at was the trompe-l'œil room. and solely for the amazing image of a dead swan strategically placed to draw the eye and subsequently the viewer (it was the only time I had a sense of curatorial influence). It was as though the way in which everything was offered to the visitor was far to overwhelming to digest.

Logo Contest! We Need A Face!

How to Write an Art Review for The Vanishing Point

1. Choose an exhibition that produces a strong enough reaction in you to write about.

2. Begin the review by giving the reader a concise summary of the content.

3. Write an assessment of the content. This involves your reactions to the work: what strikes you as noteworthy, whether or not it is effective or persuasive.

4. Conclude the review by suggesting whether or not the audience would appreciate it.

5. Before emailing your review to the editors of The Vanishing Point, make sure your spelling and grammar are correct. Read your review out loud to yourself to find errors. Give your full, real name and major.

6. Be creative and most importantly have fun! (See what others wrote last semester at http://art-historians.blogspot.com ).

Format:
a. List the exhibition title, artist(s)' names, media,location, and exhibition dates on top.
b. If you discuss a work of art that is not in the show, send in a photo of it with your review.
c. Use 12pt Times New Roman, single spaced, no indentations.
d. 100-150 words. Anything over 150 will be published online. In that case, your name will be listed on the hard copy under "More Reviews."
e. Reviews should be in the body of the email. Do not send attachments. Send in the review by 11:59pm Monday to art.historians@gmail.com

i just want to say...

that copy and pasting onto blogspot is a pain in the ass!

Recent Works by Laurie Lemmon (4 Dec 2007)

Review #1

Colorful chandeliers and Tiffany lamps. A circus. Hundreds of bright streamers at a child’s birthday party. The range of brilliant colors that swirl through Lemmon’s paintings put the 150 count Crayola® Crayon Tower to shame. Only Painter has a limited palette, depicting a distorted figure gripping a paint brush with both hands. The expression on the woman’s face is one of concentration, or perhaps anxiety, as if she is feeling pressured to produce. The tight hold on the brush heightens this feeling, as if she is frantically working. The piece is intriguing to me, and it made me think of the cover art for Joni Mitchell’s Blue, combined with Turbulent Indigo. Some of the paintings contain figures roughly sketched out over a color filled background, such as in Art Student, with a hand holding a brush that is reminiscent of Egon Schiele’s depiction of hands. A personal favorite of mine is Dream’s Beginnings, which looks like a whirlpool of rich and vibrant satin ribbons. Lemmon works better with larger canvases, as they allow her to fully explore the variations and shades of color. Definitely a show worth checking out.

-Susanna Tu

Review #2

When I first entered the Witt Gallery, I was immediately drawn to a blue and white flowing, abstract painting. I could slightly make out a figure that held a paint brush and it was a very warm welcome to the flowing colors and figures that I would soon discover. There were many paintings that were colorful, but I was disappointed that they did not have the element of mystery and configuration of the first that I had seen. They were colorful, but a bit empty. Overall I think that this showing was interesting and bright in contrast to the white walls that cover the gallery.

-Leah Jackson

Review #3

At first glance Laurie Lemon’s buttery and playful paintings are abstract. They are not just a play of colors though, they are like shifting clouds on an alien sky that continuously reveal different forms as you look at them. There are figures, figures within those figures and plenty of fodder for podiatrists and foot worshipers alike. Paintings like Untitled 5 recall the angelic elegance of an El Greco composition. Some of the smaller work is troublesome, with figures clumsily relying on line to create form. The richness of the paintings as a group make for an interesting visit. Will we ever see a Lemmon/ McGowan show? DON’T MISS IT.

-P. Castellanos

Review #4

Interview with viewer Claudia Castaneda

“I really enjoyed the colors, and the unplanned and organic aspect. Some people saw figures that others did not. The sketched out forms were not as pleasant (as in Morning Stretch). Art Student was my favorite. I would suggest music because the work has a musical and lyrical quality.”

“Identity” by Tanya Jenkins (27 Nov 2007)

Review #1

Tanya Jenkins uses intense contrasts, such as precision black and white in her ink drawings, and colors vs. black and white in her paintings. Design intuition is seen through superb arrangement such as the pairing of a large hot painting on one side and a cold painting on the other side of the second room. They are very personal, reflecting beauty in struggle and allusions to the concept of destiny. “Dramatic” is an interesting drawing in that when you cover up the mouth, the forehead is in anguish, yet when you cover the eyes, the mouth is undeniably a smile.

-Mel Netherwood

Review #2

Perhaps after last week’s wide range of artwork for “Art-o-Copia”, Tanya Jenkins’s exhibition, “Identity,” serves as a fresh contrast, with ink drawings and mixed media paintings in simple color schemes lining the walls. Nude female figures wrapped in tree branches or vines dominate Jenkins’s work, which seem to be explorations into the many faces and personalities of a girl- Jenkins herself, I imagine. Whether or not they are self-portraits is irrelevant to me; it is the variety of moods, emotions, and states of minds that the works display which I find intriguing. In Shame, the woman’s face is covered with vines. Cold Indifference has her sitting crossed legged and looking away, while in Unattainable, she wears a distant expression as she lifts her head, almost as if defiance, as vines swirl around her body. Some minor drawing technique flaws may be distracting, but do not take away from the overall impression of the work. “Identity” is a beautiful and intimate look into the intricate world of the female mind.

-Susanna Tu

Review #3

Arbol de la esperanza
mantante firme.

-Frida Kahlo

Tree of life, tree of knowledge, the tree has been a potent and universal image of many things. Importantly though the tree has always been associated with the woman. The late Ana Mendieta’s Tree Goddess (1977) draws upon an ancient and universal association between women and trees in one modern example. The commonness of this association is what makes Jenkins’ work so perplexing. In Unattainable, presumably a self-portrait, she stands nude, staring away with a wistful smirk at something we can’t see. Strangely though she is being caressed by branch like forms that either are restraining or embracing her in some bizarre symbiosis. These recurring entities could be veins or alien beings in their ambiguity since they lack leaves, trunks or even distinct bark texture. But the show’s title, Identity, and the fact that we know the artist’s gender, limits speculation. Always though they are acting upon the woman, never from her. Other portraits are seen through shattered pieces of paper that float over someone’s bad dream of Brice Marden paintings. Fracture, restraint, even death and domestic violence in Dramatic are prevalent. Technical difficulties abound however. In Unattainable, the woman’s left hand appears to be a right hand. Negative spaces won’t stay put and forms appear distorted in ways that don’t betray intention. Using red ribbon to border some of the drawings was interesting but matting them with construction paper was aggravating. SEE IT

-P. Castellanos

whoops

There are still a couple of shows with reviews that weren't posted, due to the end of semester mayhem. They'll still be posted, even though it was quite a while ago.

New semester starts in a little over a week- get ready for more posts and reviews!