The Art of Seeing The Seeing of Art

The Art of Seeing The Seeing of Art

You may recall from some of my other posts, I’m a creature of habit, revisiting places and locations, sometimes just to see familiar works or new exhibitions in favorite galleries. On more than one occasion I’ve had that sense of déjà vu, when in a specific location, coming to the realization that, oh yes, I’ve been in this place, seeing a different exhibition, sometimes in a reconfigured gallery, usually leading to an enhanced or new appreciation/understanding. Then there are intentional visits to search out specific works of art, to see how they look, sometimes with years between viewings, with layers of experience between visits added to the mix.

During our walks in Chicago, we made several visits to see specific outdoor works, especially Magma by Mark di Suvero and Flamingo by Alexander Calder. Even Continue reading →

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Chicago Exhibitions – spring/summer 2019

Chicago Exhibitions – spring/summer 2019

Among the exceptional exhibitions that I saw in Chicago, here are several that continue till July 7th and August 25th:

I’ve written about Theaster Gates’ Stony Island Arts Bank in a previous post, and this time the current exhibition is Rob Pruitt: The Obama Paintings. This series, a painting each day that the President was in office, make for a moving tribute and a reminder of the dignity of the presidency and the many truly great advances that occurred during Obama’s time in office. Each painting is a 24” square canvas Continue reading →

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Art Institute of Chicago – Exhibitions Spring 2019

Art Institute of Chicago – Exhibitions Spring 2019

We were in Chicago recently (late April-early May) during the change of seasons; several warm sunny days, ideal for walking and exploring, one day of wet snow and another of spring rain; the snow took everyone by surprise, confirming Chicago’s bi-polar weather, and another example of climate change – snow in late April. Nonetheless, they were good days for walking in the city and exploring exhibitions. And now, as of this posting, spring is in full bloom and people are out and about. This post is the first of three in which I’ll share thoughts on some of the art we encountered.

On one of our walks we went to Millennium Park to see Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate and Frank Gehry’s band shell Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Gibson – Like A Hammer

We were in Seattle recently, on one of those rare March days when many people were outside, enjoying unusually warm sunny days with the arrival of spring, having left their jackets and sweaters home. As such, many indoor activities were calm and quiet. It was a perfect afternoon to venture indoors, no ticket lines, no crowds, just the right amount of space amongst an appreciative art audience. Regular visitors to this blog know that I occasionally write about some of the exhibitions that I see, though not all, especially if it’s too near the closing date. If you visit my IG account you’ll see occasional posts from some of those exhibitions. Continue reading →

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, Words, 1 comment

Reading

Yes, a book, but obviously that isn’t the main topic of this picture, but it is an added bonus. The inspiration for this picture was playing with space, both in the division of the rectangle and also the emphasis of the spatial depth. This was further enhanced by the choice and characteristics of the lens and aperture, focussing on the cactus in the foreground while leaving elements beyond the plane of focus to dissolve into the out of focus bokeh.

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, Words, 4 comments