New work by Ane Graff

 Your Groundwater. Ane Graff

Opening Saturday February 2 at 14.00 p.m.
The exhibition will be opened by Karin Hindsbo, dir. Sørlandets Kunstmuseum,
and will be on display until April 28th 2013. A new essay by Norwegian writer Johanne Nordby Wernø on Ane Graff's art will be published especially for this exhibition.

You can view more of her work on my blog here - including a short interview she did with me way back in 2008.

Constanza

When we visited Florence a couple weeks ago we made a special point to visit the Bargello Museum to see Bernini's bust of Costanza. For that matter, we made a special point to visit as many Bernini sculptures as we could in our time there. The history of this piece is quite dramatic. Quoting Ingrid Rowland:

Bernini was not a nice man; he paid a thug to slash the face of his mistress Costanza after catching her in bed with his brother Luigi. [He also broke two of Luigi’s ribs with an iron rod] Before that incident, however, he had carved a portrait of Costanza, plump and tousled, looking as if she has just risen from bed; it is perfectly clear what both Bernini boys saw in her.

Our own desire to see Costanza was also thwarted - as the gallery she stood in was being restored. On our quest to see as many Bernini's as we could in Rome, this wasn't the only time we had a door shut. One morning after walking a long way across Rome to see a Bernini sculpture in a small church, the gate shut right in front of us for the afternoon hours. Another time (the Ufizzi) -the Bernini was in a room reserved only for special tours. For more information on Costanza and Bernini, you may refer to this new book:

 

Bernini's Beloved, by Sarah McPhee

Brancusi

 Brancusi at the Philadelphia Ar Museum (photo by me)

Sleeping muse — Brancusi — 1908 (photo by me)

Robert Longo, Untitled (After C.B.), 2006. Graphite on paper.

Porcelain and Wood Axe by Aleksandra Pollner & Emmett Smith

Porcelain and Wood Axe by Aleksandra Pollner & Emmett Smith

Liberty

Me in front of lady Liberty in 1987 and again in this year.

Art by Danh Vo at Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel

Sculpture Now

via Contemporary Art Daily

More NY Highlights - from the High Line

Sculptural billboard works by Kim Beck

both images from Aokigahara.

Simulacra

Still from Andrey Rublyov

Daphne Wright, Stallion, 2009, Marble dust and resin
160 H x 380 L x 140 W cm

small drawing I did called "After Andrei Rublyov" (obviously)

Rachel Whiteread - Torso

Whale Vertebrae furniture

Ever since a visit to Wartburg castle in Germany in 1999 the image of Martin Luther's footstool stayed with me. He used a whale vertebrae as his footstool while translating the Bible (pictured below). It has a beautiful sculptural quality to it and for reasons I'm having trouble articulating, using the backbone of a whale as a footstool while translating religious texts seems poetic.

On a related note, I came across a great modern stool inspired by the whale vertebrae - by Alda Hall.

Langreyður - kollur


Langreyður - kollur


Langreyður - kollur

Natural Wonders

This photo of light hail on Loch Lomond by Lorna Cochrane.

We recently got a membership to the Denver Botanic Gardens and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Denver - certainly my favorite place in the neighborhood. The gardens are a lush, sprawling oasis that offers a degree of natural solitude without having to drive into the mountains. The Gardens currently have a beautifully installed collection of Henry Moore sculptures on view.

Jordan Tull

Jordan Tull

Dylan Stantham

Dylan Stantham (via Dragonaut)

This piece covers a lot of my favorite things in art - elements or images of the natural world, minimalism, asymmetry, and nice surfaces.

Steeper Than Expected

Steeper Than Expected, by Calvin Ross Carl - originally uploaded by Half/Dozen Gallery.

Thom Puckey - Cloud Airplane

Thom Puckey, "Cloud Airplane"
Location: Stadshagen, Zwolle, the Netherlands
Material: Carrara marble.
Length, bottom to top: 5 meters. Width: 4,5 meters.

Ane Graff, "Sliding"

I'm really late on this one, but enjoy these images from Ane Graff's most recent show, "Sliding" from a few months ago. I interviewed her in the fall of 2008 - you can read it here. The installation of this show is very inspiring:

Enrique Martinez Celaya

Enrique Martinez Celaya, The Immigrant, 2005, Bronze, 93 x 24 x 17 inches

The painting below and above bronze work can be seen in the Denver Art Museum's modern and contemporary art collection.

Enrique Martinez Celaya, Distance. 2002, 100 x 78 inches, Oil and tar on canvas

The rest of his work is also quite good and worth a look (thanks for the tip Alan):

Enrique Martinez Celaya, Invierno (Winter), 2007, 116 x 150 inches, Oil and wax on canvas

Enrique Martinez Celaya, The Ice, 2008, 46 x 50 inches, oil and wax on canvas

Enrique Martinez Celaya, The Orchard, 2009, 78 x 100 inches, Oil and wax on canvas