Knox Gallery Visit

I had a pretty enjoyable time at the gallery, although I must admit that contemporary art is not my preferred type and there is quite a bit of this abstract in the gallery.

I had a couple pieces that I found a connection with, which actually surprised me because I have somewhat  of a hard time 'feeling' art.

One piece was this painting Electric by Edward Ruscha.  It is an oil painting on canvas.  I am a worker in the electric field, and this caught my eye and seemed to reflect the 'modern' view of electric from the past, like a throwback.  I was surprised to realize that it actually was from way back, 1963

Another painting that I felt a part of was of a man on a bridge in a small seemingly empty town. Again, it was the power structures in the backround that got my attention and interest.  I wondered about how the lines were installed and the ordeals that people had gone through.  Although the painter probably wasnt knowledgable in electrical utility work, it was neat to see how the painting pretty accurately reflected current practices....i.e. old equipment that is no longer used has been stripped, but the supports that used to hole it remain.

For some reason that I cannot figure out, this random picture caught my attention and I keep thinking about it.  The piece is Scrambled Eggs, and it's a bunch of randomness with an egg-looking thing on it.  The 'egg' (cooked over-medium possibly) is what actually caught my attention and I laughed when I saw the name of the piece.  I didnt particularly like it, but it definitely left an impression on me.

I was also impressed by a sci-fi kinda painting called La voix des airs (The voice of space), 1928.  The painting almost looks like a technological pacman surrounded by darkness.  It gives the impression of something in the midst of nothing.  I like sci-fi stuff and thought it was interesting.

There were two seperate pieces that seemed correlated to me, one was a sculpt and the other a painting titled George Segal with Cinema, by Fred McDarrah.  When I saw the sculpt initially I was impressed.  The light of the cinema board really grabbed my attention.  As I looked to the figure and the empty board I began to wonder.  With just an 'R' on the board (okay I guess not empty then!) I thought about what movie might be being shown at the theater, what letters might the man be putting up next?  I wondered if it was his first time setting up the lettering on the board, or if he'd done it before and knew a good way of accomplishing his task.  I wondered if there were many cobwebs and bugs in the sign and around it, and it the man liked his job.  When I was the painting (Gelatin silver print) There were two men.  Possibly the other man was out getting his ladder while the first (guy in the sculpt) started the lettering, but then I could see the mans arm was still outstretched, so he wouldn't stay in that position waiting for the other man.  Then I wondered back to the sculpture itself....what if the sculpture was a capture of the mans psyche at that exact moment....even though the other man was there the whole time, the first man did not think about him or 'realize' him.... instead, he just went about his work and his thoughts in his own mind.  :)

Lastly, Emily Bouchards oil on canvas of the scene Winter.  While the piece is very desolate and empty,  the road itself tickled my imagination.  Where did it go?  Who had kept it clear of the snow?  Did the author even think that someone must have cleared the snow, or did they just paint a winter scene that was in their mind and not give any of this a second thought.

I've always thought that artists should publish documents with their art detailing the inner workings of their minds when they do their works.  On that note though, I can understand why many would strongly disagree with this notion.  Often we like to see what we want in art, regardless of the authors intentions.  I think this ability to interpret a lot allows an artists work to reach a much wider audience, and really allows them to 'talk' to each person that views their work separately, and in a sense very personally. :)