"minutiae" by Nathan Abels: February 2009

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Camera Trap Photos by J. N. Stuart

Check out his flickr page here.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Fin

These are the last works made by each artist before he or she died:

Frida Kahlo, Viva la vida, 1954

Jackson Pollock, Search, 1955

Gustav Klimt, The Bride (unfinished), 1917/18, 99.6 x 104.5cm

Edit: Sun in an Empty Room (1963) was not Hopper's last painting. Two Comedians, from 1966 was his last painting.

Winslow Homer, Driftwood, 1909

Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, oil on canvas, 1882

Edgar Degas, Mlle Fiocre in the Ballet "The Source", 1867-68, Oil on canvas, 51 1/8 x 57 1/8 in

Raphael, The Transfiguration, 1516-1520, oil on wood, 405 × 278 cm

Michelangelo's Rondanini Pieta, photo by flickr user Tigg

Rogier Janssen

Rogier Janssen, Dzban B., oil on canvas 2006

Rogier Janssen, Border 1., oil on canvas 2004

Rogier Janssen, Dzban A., oil on canvas 2007

Rogier Janssen,Waalbruggen, Oil on Canvas, 130x170 cm, 2005

Rogier Janssen, Communist Party Building, Oil on Canvas, 120x150 cm, 2002

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I just read this at Cryptomundo and followed the link to a more recent article about it (from yesterday) - they caught a wild Jaguar in Arizona and are now tracking it. According to ReadItNews, "The male cat was incidentally captured Feb. 18 in an area southwest of Tucson during a research study aimed at monitoring habitat connectivity for mountain lions and black bears."

ReadItNews went on to explain, "Jaguars once ranged from southern South America through Central America and Mexico and into the southern United States. By the late 1900s, jaguars were thought to be gone from the U.S. landscape, but two independent sightings in 1996 confirmed that jaguars still used Arizona and New Mexico as part of the northern most extent of its range."

You can read more about Macho B - the Jaguar - at the Arizona Game and Fish Dept website.

Magpie Turntable

Jeroen Diepenmaat,
Pour des dents d'un blanc éclatant et saines (2005) photo on the Netherlands Media Art Institute flickr page.

Photo by Nathan Abels

On February 22, Minutiae had its two year anniversary. Where does the time go?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

More Music for Your Studio

Maybe this will be a semi-regular segment (thoughts?) - highlighting free and legal downloads of what I deem to be good music for your studio or studies. "Lo-Fi" by Bosques de mi Mente (Forests of My Mind) isn't quite as abstract as the Fiktion album I posted a couple weeks ago - on first listen it's a smoother and quieter album. He's added a bit of soft vinyl record ambiance to the music (slight pops and hazy imperfections) - which I find to be an attractive and nostalgic sound when used in moderation, as it is here. There are well written piano phrases - reminiscent of Dustin O'Haloran - and a gorgeous atmosphere created with strings and synths throughout the album . I highly recommend giving this a listen. You can download it track-by-track or as a whole album, but it is quite fluid from one track to the next so go ahead and get the whole thing ( here ).

The artist writes, "For me is a way to explore concepts like minimalism, climax, repetition, atmosphere, time, silence, stasis, noise, musique concrÈte and many more...Music is art, a subjective expression of reality, and as such it enriches everyone that listen, so I think each form of art should be available for everyone, and that's why my music is under Creative Commons licenses, allowing you to download, share, copy and distribute it."

Veiled

I don't post 3D works very often, but we're going over classical Greek and Roman works this week, so I've been looking at a lot of them. These veiled women are very impressive works:

Marble Head of a Veiled Woman
Greek, late 4th century BC. Image found here.

Statuette of a veiled and masked dancer,
Hellenistic, 3rd–2nd century B.C. - Greek
Bronze; H. 8 1/16 in. Image from the Met.

"Veiled Lady" (Purity) by Antonio Corradini.
1720-1725, made of Carrera marble. Image found here.

Medardo Rosso, bronze, 1906. Image found here.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Adam Lerner - New Director at the MCA

photo by shopcomposition

MCA DENVER Announces New Director

I got this email today:

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that the MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART DENVER (MCA DENVER) has selected Adam Lerner as our new director. This decision comes after a comprehensive, six month, nationwide search. The search committee, working with a search consultant, looked at a broad range of nationally respected candidates in the field of contemporary art. At the end of the process, it was clear that Adam was the ideal candidate.

Adam comes to MCA DENVER after serving as the Executive Director at The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar (The Lab) for the past five years. The Board of Directors chose Adam because of his curatorial expertise and unique ability to advance MCA DENVER's vision for engaging broad audiences and our efforts to explore the intersection of art and ideas. He received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and his Masters from Cambridge University.

Adam is recognized as a leading innovator in redefining the museum experience. He frequently serves as a speaker and consultant to museum and educational institutions across the country. He also has created programming that is being emulated by a number of prestigious contemporary art institutions. MCA DENVER's Board looks forward to having Adam bring his expertise in erasing the traditional boundaries between curation and education in contemporary art.

As part of Adam's acceptance of the director position at MCA DENVER, the Board of Directors of both MCA DENVER and The Lab at Belmar have agreed to a merger that will integrate The Lab's important work and unique programming into MCA DENVER. MCA DENVER has built a reputation in the contemporary art world for exhibiting established, cutting edge artists alongside young emerging talent.

By integrating The Lab programs into MCA DENVER's solid curatorial platform, the museum will continue to move forward as a world-class institution. Incorporating dialog-provoking programs, such as Mixed Taste, will enhance the experience for audiences and promote further understanding of contemporary art. In this way, MCA DENVER will engage people throughout the metropolitan area and advance Denver as an innovative center for arts and culture nationwide.

As we carry out the transition, we will invite members of The Lab's Board of Directors to join the MCA DENVER Board. Members of The Lab will receive comparable memberships at MCA DENVER and will have the same access to MCA DENVER as current members effective May 1, 2009.

We will be hosting a reception for MCA DENVER and The Lab members this spring. At that time, Adam will talk about the programs and exhibitions that will be coming to the museum and his creative vision for MCA DENVER.

We are excited about these changes and will welcome Adam in joining MCA DENVER on March 16, 2009. We hope you will join us in doing so, and we thank you for your past support and continued dedication to the presentation of contemporary art in Denver. We hope that you will welcome the members of The Lab as we begin a new and exciting journey together.

Tauba Auerbach

TAUBA AUERBACH / CAMILLA LØW / EMILY WARDILL
“ALMOST ALWAYS IS NEARLY ENOUGH”
2009

TAUBA AUERBACH

CRUMPLE IV
2009

Acrylic paint on canvas
80 x 60 inches (203.2 x 152.4 cm)

Tauba Auerbach, Crumple II, Acrylic and UV Cured Inkjet on Canvas, 80x60", 2008

Tauba Auerbach, Crumple I, Acrylic and UV Cured Inkjet on Canvas, 80x60", 2008

Monday, February 23, 2009

New Untitled Ink Painting

(Untitled) Acrylic Ink on Paper, 22x30", 2009

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Table Mountain Trail

North Table Mountain Trail, Golden, CO

This trail is just ten miles from Denver in the city of Golden - overlooking the city and the giant Coors plant in Golden. The trail takes you to the top of the mountain/mesa where a huge plain spreads out (second photo - with a glimpse of deer in the distance). Park in the dirt lot on the map here. Well worth the short drive.

Denver seen from Table Mountain last Fall.

View Larger Map

Friday, February 20, 2009

Katharina Grosse

In a lecture by Christoph Heinrich (the contemporary art curator at the Denver Art Museum) on Tuesday he said that Katharina Grosse will be coming to Denver to do a huge installation/painting in the Hamilton building at the DAM as part of the group show called "Embrace". I'm really looking forward to this show - I've been hearing about it for some time now.