Sleeping under Statues

misswallflower:

A screenprinted room installation simulating the Hall of Mirrors from the Palace of Versailles

In LOVE with this one.  Click through to see more installation shots.

amare-habeo:

Max Ernst - The Yellow Sun (Soleil jaune), 1964

Oil on canvas

Galerie Ludorff

This is quite lovely.  That Max Ernst really doesn’t have a signature style, does he?

Vermeer. Woman Holding a Balance. 1664.

I have a real fondness for Vermeer. One of my first courses in graduate school was based on his work. Of the Dutch Golden Age artists, he is certainly my favorite. I do really appreciate his ambiguous iconography and particularly his color sense. His paintings have a lot in common—like that window to the left, and a focus on a female figure—but somehow, he keeps me entranced. 

This work is particularly great because of the parallel symbolism. The woman holds up the balance (which is level for the moment) and there is a painting of the last judgement hanging behind her (the ultimate measure of a human’s character in the eyes of Christians). Some have suggested that the whole painting is symbolic of predetermination, because the woman’s unborn child (although it’s unclear if she’s actually pregnant; see Van Eyck) is already having his/her fate decided before entering the world. 

Yves Klein. Here Lies Space. 1960.

This was one of my favorite pieces in the Klein show a couple of years ago. I really like it for what it represents more than the aesthetic itself. At first glance it looks a bit kitchy. But the elements of the work were very symbolic for Klein. The three colors—rose, gold, and blue—are those that he represented most often in his work, generally in paintings that solely feature that color. The three together represent a kind of spiritual trinity for the artist. And this piece, displayed horizontally and low to the ground, is intended to represent a kind of grave stone. Thus the title “Here lies space.” Because he saw himself as the “painter of space” this is many ways represents Klein’s own tombstone. And I think that’s quite profound. 

I’ll post more tomorrow but for now, I’m just going to post this gorgeous installation shot of the Yves Klein show at the Hirshhorn. I really like this one.

Karen Knorr. The Return of the Hunter. 2012.

Just stumbled across this on flavorwire and I think it’s fantastic. I love the juxtapositions of the natural pattern of the animal and the manmade patterns of the setting. What a gorgeous setting at that. Really great.