Memorable Art of 2008 - A Look Back

A month ago (where did that month go?) I put up my music list of the year and it got me thinking about my favorite art or artists experiences/pieces of the year...here it goes...

• In person:

Damien Hirst at the Denver MCA:



Daniel Richter at the Denver Art Museum:



Jenny Morgan collaborative pieces at Object+Thought in Denver:



The "Manifest Hope" exhibition of Obama art in Denver (Shepherd Fairey and other great Juxtapoz artists):

• Found online this year:

Digitally composed photographs by Beate Gütschown after landscape paintings.



Kaye Donachie, "Your untold dreams I love to see", 2005, oil on canvas



Amy Stein "Howl"




There were many more (Romanticism, Tonalism, etc)- but these stood out to me when I went through my blog posts for the year.

2008 was also a year of many blogging experiments - some of which I would like to revisit this year, including:

• Artist Interviews (Leah Giberson, Ane Graff, and Julian Lee)
• Exclusive Art (Bill Amundson, and Jason Stopa)
• How-to
• Inspiration Walls
• Simulacra

Anything you'd like to see more of in 2009? Leave comments please...

Music of the Year Megapost

I do post about music from time to time, but this is a mostly art-based blog so I decided to pair my favorite albums of the year with the art, video or photos that listening to the album brings to mind.

Best music for gravel roads:
Constantines, Kensington Heights
Richard Serra at Denver Art Museum, photo by fernandor93

Best music for missing someone or some place:

Best music for golden hour sunlight:

Fleet Foxes

Tony Sherman, Near Asolo, Encaustic on Canvas, 48x54"

Best music to listen to while under a fur blanket in an ice hotel:

Portishead, ThirdTacita Dean, Chere

Best music to accompany finding old newspapers in your grandparents attic:

Atlas Sound, Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel

Not Vital, 50 Snowballs, Murano Glass, 2001

Best music to eat cupcakes to:

Chairlift, Does You Inspire YouChristian Holstad, Grasping For Straws, 2005

Best music for scenic vistas - grand, operatic and powerful:

Shearwater, Rook

Caspar David Friedrich

Best music for driving through the desert:

Earth, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull

This photo is from the Four Corners area and perfectly suits the desolate expanses of the Earth album.

Best music for making a huge mess with complete abandon:

Man Man, Rabbit Habits

Daniel Richter, untitled, 1999, oil paint on canvas, 219.9 x 150.1 cm / 86 4/7 x 59 1/8 "

Best music to have an indulgent and somewhat nostalgic party to:

MGMT, Oracular Spectacular

Jeff Koons at Versailles - photo steph90j

The closest sonic equivalent of several weeks of Midwestern overcast skies:

Grouper, Dragging a Deer Up A Hill

Paul Graham, Man Walking in White Shirt, Atlanta, 2002

Stay tuned for my top ten of the year...