ART
review: Museum exhibits similar artistry,
contrasting mediums
Museum:
Two veteran artists display works on canvas
and video that were decades in the making
at the University Art Museum.
By
Porschia Baker
On-line Forty-Niner
The
University Art Museum, located in the Steve
and Nini Horn Center is currently exhibiting
the artwork of Tom Wesselmann and Euan Macdonald.
Both artists use the medium of canvas and
video to express their view of life.
Wesselmann
worked with oil, liquitex, acrylic paint
and colored pencils on a flat canvas, while
Macdonald used video in addition to painting
and drawing, to demonstrate the dimensions
of life in real time.
Wesselmann's
exhibition, "The Intimate Images,"
is a beautiful mélange of colors
that compliment each other. The display
gives a voyeuristic peek into the collection
of works that began in 1961.
"Wesselmann
is one of the five most famous pop artists
of our time," said Connie Glenn, the
founding director of the museum.
In
Wesselmann's painting, "Study for Bedroom
Painting #43," which was created in
1977, there is a young woman with a fair
complexion and flower pinned in her charcoal
color hair, who is reclining her head on
a pillow and staring directly at her audience.
Her brown eyes create a calming ambience.
Red tulips surround her. Some recurring
elements in Wesselmann's work include a
bowl of gold fish beneath a lamp. All of
these elements create a feeling of peace.
Macdonald's
exhibit, "Some Summer Day," includes
a collection of three DVD projected images
on a white wall, which all encompass the
theme of elapsing time.
"House
(everythinghappens-atonce)," created
in 1999, is a 15 minute film in which a
dirty white house appears as if at any moment
it will plunge into the lake, or will be
blown back into green woods, but neither
happens.
When
asked why she chose to display the work
of these artists, Glenn said, "you
can't achieve a well-rounded education without
the visual arts."
Wesselmann,
born in 1931, began his artistic career
as a gag cartoonist while in the Korean
War about army life. After the army he went
to the University of Cincinnati and earned
a degree in psychology. He continued his
studies in New York and eventually made
a mental shift from cartooning to painting.
His earliest works -- collages-- were put
together with glue. Wesselmann also works
with pastels and charcoal.
Macdonald,
born in 1965 in Scotland moved to Canada
while in his teens, and eventually studied
painting for one year at McEwen Community
College. Later, he did some independent
studies and finished at Ontario College
of Arts. His work has been displayed in
Los Angeles, Munich, Tokyo, and other places
around the world.
A
reception for the exhibit will be held at
5 p.m., Sept. 18, with a gallery presentation
from Macdonald from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m.
on Oct. 7.
"Wesselman
is one of the five most famous pop artists
of our time."
-- Connie Glenn, founding director of the
University Art Museum
What:
"Tom Wesselman:The Intimate Images,"
"Some Summer Day"
When: through Oct. 12
Where: University Art Museum
(562) 985-5761
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