A highlight of my recent visit to the Met was seeing Vermeer’s painting of The Milkmaid on loan from the Rijksmuseum. The last time the painting was seen here was 70 years ago, so it’s been a while. NYC is no stranger to Vermeer, there are 5 of his paintings in the Met and 3 at the Frick, but this is something else. The picture of a solitary woman pouring milk from a jug into a bowl with a tabletop of breads simply stuns. The colors are radiant, her apron is a pure ultramarine blue, and the details are phenomenal. The stitching in her bodice is so finely portrayed you can see the darker fabric in the individual stitches that haven’t been bleached by sunlight. Her face and arms are a ruddy, fleshy, red but her upper forearms are a doughy white. The crusts of bread sparkle in the sunlight. See it yourself before the weekend is over, otherwise you’ll have to pay for a trip to Amsterdam.
Work in Progress
I’ve started taking pictures of work in progress at the end of painting sessions. It’s interesting to watch the development of a piece since I work intuitively. One of the real pleasures of painting is getting involved in the process and letting the work have a life of it’s own (instead of planning everything ahead of time). The link below shows a series of images from my latest piece which is still unfinished.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesorgatz/sets/72157622762103982/
Random NYTimes Quote of the Day
If all goes the way it’s planned, as fragments of crust fly and a partisan crowd shouts, Mr. Gendusa will beat Mr. Fogle with a loaf of stale bread.
Objectified
Objectified is the new film by Gary Hustwit, maker of Helvetica. In this one he looks at the job of industrial designers, the people responsible for creating every manufactured item in the world – from computers and cars to toothpicks and gardening shears. Featuring interviews with top design stars and exploration of key issues such as sustainability and rampant consumerism, the movie is a thoughtful investigation of the people who create the objects that populate our lives.
Mary Heilmann on Art:21
There’s a new season of the PBS art show Art:21, saw an episode featuring abstract painter Mary Heilmann. Heilmann views her works as icons that can lead to transformative states of thought. Her paintings use intense, jeweled colors and self-referential marks such as the “post-modern drip”. Beautiful, fun, and thoughtful paintings.
Annual Gowanus Art Studio Tour This Weekend
Time for the annual Gowanus studio tour, info at http://www.agastbrooklyn.com/. I also put together a special post listing artists that have been featured on http://www.artinbrooklyn.com and are participating in the tour.
CreatureBox Full of Monsters, Spacemen and Storytelling
Interview with the founders of CreatureBox, the great illustration team of Dave Guertin and Greg Baldwin, who also work at Insomniac Games.
http://area.autodesk.com/inhouse/bts/creaturebox_full_of_monsters_spacemen_and_storytelling
Red Hook Film Festival
The Red Hook Film Festival opens this weekend featuring movies from Brooklyn filmmakers. The screenings begin at 1pm on Saturday Oct. 3rd, with a special tribute film titled “Robert Guskind: 1958-2009” by Blue Barn Pictures, followed by a 10th anniversary screening of the seminal Brooklyn documentary “Lavendar Lake: Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal” directed by Alison Prete. The rest of the weekend will feature several blocks of short film gems from Brooklyn, New York City, and beyond. Films include pieces about a Bushwick tailor, rooftop farms in Greenpoint, the Atlantic Yards boondoggle, Coney Island’s lost roller coaster, Williamsburg industry, Urban Explorers under Queens, lesbians in the Bronx, a Manhattan balloon deliveryman, an abandoned Connecticut insane asylum, and a city symphony set in L.A. More info at http://www.redhookfilmfest.com
DUMBO Art Fest This Weekend
Looking forward to this weekend’s art festival in DUMBO, always a lot to see and do. More information is available at http://dumboartfestival.org/press_release.html. I’ll be putting together a special photo essay at www.ArtinBrooklyn.com next week. Be sure to stop in and see the work of Randall Stoltzfus who I profiled earlier this year. He’s located at 89 Bridge Street, maps are available on the street during the event.
Museum: Behind The Scenes At The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Just finished reading the book Museum: Behind The Scenes At The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Danny Danziger. Danziger interviews museum employees, from maintenance staff to trustees, creating a uniquely intimate profile of the institution. Many people talk about favorite works and exhibits but they also reveal their personal stories and paths to working at the museum. More than just caretakers, they bring life and vibrancy to one of the city’s most popular venues. Very interesting and absorbing read, great for the subway.