Tag Archives: Fine Art

Italian Futurism at the Guggenheim Museum

Tulio Crali, Before the Parachute Opens, 1939, Courtesy Guggenheim Museum
Tulio Crali, Before the Parachute Opens, 1939, Photo courtesy Guggenheim Museum
Ivo Pannaggi, Speeding Train, 1922, Photo courtesy Guggenheim Museum
Ivo Pannaggi, Speeding Train, 1922, Photo courtesy Guggenheim Museum
Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, Speeding Motorboat, 1923-24, Photo courtesy Guggenheim Museum
Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, Speeding Motorboat, 1923-24, Photo courtesy Guggenheim Museum

This spring I attended the Italian Futurism exhibit at the GuggenheimMuseum in New York. I’d read about the exhibit in October 2013, and added it to my ‘must do’ list, even if that meant sofa surfing at a friends apartment. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary. As I understand it, this exhibit is the first survey of this period in the United States, which makes it ground breaking in and of itself.  The easiest way to describe this movement would be to call it  Italian Art Deco, however, the Italian Futurism period dates from 1909 – 1944 and includes other elements. “Their style evolved from fractured elements in the 1910’s  to a mechanical language in the 20’s, and then to aerial imagery in the 30’s”.

I’ve chosen the images above because like Art Deco, there was a fascination and celebration of speed, including planes, trains and automobiles. The image of the train above is more cubist in nature, which was the basis for Art Deco. Before the Parachute Opens was one of my favorite paintings in the entire exhibit. Large in scale, it was the first time I’d seen a painting from this perspective and seemed to exemplify what the exhibit was about. No photography was allowed beyond the signage in the lobby, therefore, I’ve used these images from the Guggenheim web site.

Exhibit closes September 1, 2014

 

Nudes by Phil Bower

Nudes (Couple in Forrest) 2013,  Photo Romi Cortier
Nudes (Couple in Forrest) 2013, Photo Romi Cortier
Nude (Man Kneeling on Towel) 2014, Photo Romi Cortier
Nude (Man Kneeling on Towel) 2014, Photo Romi Cortier
Nude (Woman at Shore) 2014, Photo Romi Cortier
Nude (Woman at Shore) 2014, Photo Romi Cortier

These exquisite  Nudes by Phil Bower on view at the Samuel Freeman Gallery were a remarkable discovery during the Culver City Summer Solstice ArtWalk. I’d seen the latter image, Nude (Woman at Shore) online, but wasn’t prepared for how remarkable she’d be in person. The paintings are billed as photorealism, however, they’re far beyond that in person. In my opinion these paintings are a new form of Impressionism. When viewed up close the images become almost pixelated and difficult to understand… step back about 5 feet, and Voila! Your eye connects the dots and builds the image for you. Bower’s use of color is a true gift, especially when combined with his glazing technique. His images are culled from websites broadcasting voyeur videos from around the world. He then takes a frame grab and works from the low resolution images. While it may sound a bit creepy, these ‘models’ have been captured in a moment of being pure, honest, and completely uninhibited. Standing in front of Nude (Woman at Shore) was like being transported back to the Musee d’ Orsay in front of Alexandre Cabanel’s The Birth of Venus… it took every ounce of restraint to not reach out and touch her life like flesh.

Exhibit closes July 5th, 2014.