Piet Mondrian's Trees

A while ago I got the chance to go to the Art Institute again, love that place.  I think when I'm there, I'm happy.  Period.  Anyway, I ran across this painting and was reminded how much I love it!  Its a painting called Farm near Duivendrecht, by Piet Mondrian.  I love the amazing colors, the beginning of abstraction to the tree and just the way he captures the tranquility of the setting as a whole.  Found some interesting information on this piece here. 

 I enjoy Mondrian's work and thought I would share some more of his paintings I've seen and enjoyed in the past.  I love looking at the progression of works also, see where the artist started and where he ended.  With Mondrian's work, especially as it relates to trees, this progression is really interesting.

The Red Tree

The Grey Tree

Composition No. 11

And some of his last work, completely abstract with no curing lines at all.  

More to come later....a round up of Mondrian inspired clothes, home goods and more!

Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917

I just got the Art Institute membership magazine in the mail yesterday and there is a Matisse show coming!  It opens on March 20th and it sounds like it will be an extremely focused, but really exciting exhibition.  The works that will be on display are only from a certain time in his career (1913-1917).  Sometimes I feel like this dissuades me from attending an exhibit, but in Matisse's case I think it will be fascinating.  More about it here.

 

Monica Bonvicini—Light Me Black

I saw this exhibition back in November 2009 and, as it goes sometimes with contemporary art, it stuck with me for a while.  I've thought about that exhibition rather frequently and am just now feeling like I understand what the artist was conveying and have some thoughts to share.  
Here's a shot of the installation in the Modern Wing of Art Institute.

 This shot really doesn't do it justice because what you can't see very well is that as you're walking around the outside of the gallery, to avoid the massive florescent light bulb sculpture (very flavin-esque) in the center, you're forced to reckon with the large holes in the gallery floor. 

This makes me think about the interaction of the museum space with the artwork itself.  I would say the majority of the time, artwork being displayed in a museum has nothing to do with the museum space itself.  Most it simply hangs, sits or exists within it.  But with Bonvincini's piece here, it instead takes the museum space and changes it, creating what feels like a disorienting affect on the viewer.  Instead of being able to simply shuffle around the square gallery, you have to do more.  This installation becomes very physical all of a sudden when you begin to interact with it, noting where you're stepping, watching that you don't bump into something etc.  I like what the Art Institute's website says about the piece that it can "provoke an acute awareness of the physical and psychological effects of institutional, particularly museum, architecture."

The piece was created specifically for these galleries in the new Renzo Piano designed addition to the Institute.  The largest hype I heard about the Modern Wing Piano was designing was all the natural light it was going to afford the galleries.  And it is true, this wing is full of beautiful light coming through the floor to ceiling windows.  Playing off the Modern Wing's greatest asset, the piece in the center (made up of 144 custom made light fixtures, wow) references the architecture in a very recognizable way. The Institute's website also says "Bonvicini’s project brings together three works that directly engage the Renzo Piano–designed building both formally and conceptually."  I agree, and I really enjoyed the exhibit.