ART MUSEUM CRITIQUE

Name: Claire Nelsen Class period/section: 10 AM

1) Which museum did you visit? Utah Museum of Fine Arts 2) escri!e at least one of the permanent collection e"hi!its on a theme# period# $eo$raphic re$ion# or topic% &ithin the museum' (1)0 &ords*
+he section that , spent the most time in &as the permanent e"hi!it that focused on -uropean art' ,n the si"teenth century# all of the paintin$s &ere focused on .esus Christ and Mary' At first , /ust loo0ed at each individual paintin$# !ut &hen , stepped !ac0# , reali1ed that they all had somethin$ in common: Mary is depicted almost e"actly the same &ay in every paintin$# despite the different mediums and artists' , counted at least seven different artists that portray Mary in a red dress &ith a !lue cape# !ro&n2reddish hair and her head is al&ays tilted' +he artists &ere contemporaries of each other# so did they !ase those ideas off of each other or &ere they all dra&in$ from a different# earlier artist? Fra Filippo di +omaso 3ippi and 4ierfrancesco di .acopo di 5andro Foschi focused on Mary as Madonna and her relationship as the mother of Christ in 6Madonna and Child7 and 6Madonna and Child &ith the ,nfant 5aint .ohn and a 8oldfinch7' ,t $ives a different perspective on ho& it mi$ht have !een to have the responsi!ility of carin$ for such an important fi$ure# and that she played a !i$$er role in his life than one ni$ht in a sta!le' Another -uropean paintin$ that stuc0 out to me in this e"hi!it &as 63e$end of 5aint Cappadocia7 !y an un0no&n artist' 5aint orothea of

orothea &as a &oman &ho refused to $ive up her Christian

faith and &as sentenced to death' +he paintin$ sho&s her !ein$ ta0en a&ay &ith a little an$el offerin$ her a !o9uet of flo&ers' +he description under the paintin$ e"plained that orothea told the an$el to $ive the

flo&ers to her enemy: even &hen she &as so close to death# she &as thin0in$ of others !efore she thou$ht of herself' , loved her story# !ecause she &as firm in her reli$ious !eliefs and she &as selfless in every act until the end' ,n today;s society# it;s not al&ays easy to !e or to find that 0ind of person'

3) 8ive a !rief# one para$raph description of a special# temporary e"hi!it <for help# as0 museum staff &hat these are: they are usually in one of the first rooms%' (100 &ords*
+he temporary e"hi!it on display ri$ht no& is called 6Under 4ressure7' +he first thin$ that comes to my mind &hen descri!in$ this e"hi!it is color' -very piece of art &as !old and easily dre& in attention' -llen 8alla$her;s 6de3u"e7 &as a layout of si"ty frames that &ere filled &ith old articles and pa$es from ma$a1ines &ith some form of added te"ture and color: A year!oo0 pa$e &ith colorful hair# a ma$a1ine pa$e pressed into

aluminum# and colla$es of different people and colors' ,n 6=ull 4rofile 5eries7# artist >oy 3ichtenstein sho&ed the pro$ression from a distinct portrayal of a !ull to a completely a!stract !ull' +he first panel &as a $rayish2 !lue 1inc linecut# the ne"t &as a com!ination of a litho$raph and linecut# and it !ecame pro$ressively more comple" &ith layers of mediums until it &as a colorful# a!stract paintin$ of a !ull' -ach piece of art&or0 in the e"hi!it &as simple &ith many colors that made each stand out in its o&n &ay'

4) What do you thin0 the museum administration and/or e"hi!it curators &ant you to learn or $ain from the e"hi!its you vie&ed? (100 &ord minimum*
, thin0 that art is a &ay to e"press many different emotions and time periods' +he entire top level of the museum is cate$ori1ed !y time periods and $eo$raphic re$ions# so it portrays ho& different 0inds of people vie& those specific moments in history' +he museum administration &ould &ant you to !e a!le to see history from different perspectives# and art is a perfect &ay to e"press the emotion that come from those people' For e"ample# in 3e Conte 5te&art;s 64rivate Car7# it sho&s faceless men travellin$ throu$h the Mid&est !y train' +he men represent the thousands of people &ho mi$rated to the &est tryin$ to find a ne& &ay of life for themselves' When &e learn a!out history &e mi$ht loo0 at the &estern mi$ration as an e"citin$ opportunity for the people &ho moved' +he paintin$ sho&s the an"iousness of the mi$rators# !ut there is $ood and !ad' ,t helped me to see the perspective of the actual people &ho moved# and not /ust $ettin$ a second hand story from a history teacher' ,n $eneral# , feel li0e , $ained a deeper appreciation for history in America and in -urope !ecause , &as a!le to vie& those time periods from different perspectives'

5) What 0ind of information is provided a!out the &or0s? Where mi$ht you loo0 for further information if you &ere interested? <Name three possi!ilities%
5ome of the pieces had para$raphs e"plainin$ the story of the paintin$ or the !ac0$round of the author &hile other pieces simply had the title# artist# medium and time period' +here are plenty of tour $uides and museum staff &ho are filled &ith facts a!out each part of the museum' , listened in to a tour $roup for a fe& minutes &hile the $uide e"plained one piece of art# and she &ent on for at least ten minutes findin$ different thin$s a!out the piece and &hat the $roup thou$ht a!out the paintin$ itself' +he paintin$s also had the scan code ne"t to them# so if you &anted to learn more a!out it# you scanned your phone and it $ave you more information' Unfortunately my smart phone isn;t smart enou$h to fi$ure that out# so , &asn;t a!le to ta0e advanta$e of that opportunity' , also don;t thin0 it;s a !ad idea to ta0e advanta$e of the

internet' Wi0ipedia pro!a!ly isn;t the !est idea# !ut there;s the Museum of Fine Arts &e!site that e"plains the temporary e"hi!its at http://umfa'utah'edu'

6) Choose several &or0s that particularly appealed to you' -"plain &hy you &ere dra&n to these &or0s' Comment on the su!/ect# style# medium# time period# etc' Who &ere the artists? What messa$e do you thin0 the artists &ere tryin$ to convey in the &or0s you chose to discuss? +his 9uestion must !e ans&ered in its entirety' (+his should !e at least )00 &ords*
,n the temporary e"hi!it 6Under 4ressure7# there &as a screenprint !y 5arah Morris called 64ools? Carillon <Miami%7' , &as dra&n to it !ecause of the colors and lines that stood out to me' At first it loo0ed li0e she had put tape do&n on a canvas# painted over it# ta0en the tape off to create the lines# and /ust repeated it over and over a$ain &ith different colors' ,n reality it &as a screenprint that &as part of a !i$$er collection' ,t &as also really interestin$ !ecause &hen , loo0ed at it strai$ht on# it had a @2 perspective and the !old colors seemed to pop out' My friend and , tried movin$ around to !e a!le to see it in more of a A2 perspective# !ut found that &e could only really do this !y loo0in$ at the ed$es and corners' ,n the description ne"t to the piece of art# it descri!ed it as an Ba!stract notion of a comple" city7' +he artist used the colors to represent the tropical sunli$ht that fills the city of Miami and used the lines to sho& the !usiness of the streets' , li0ed it !ecause it;s one of those paintin$s that you can loo0 at and thin0 it;s /ust a !unch of lines# !ut &hen you see the author;s perspective it starts to ma0e more sense' Carl 5tanley =en/amin;s paintin$ 6DE7 &as another one that captured my attention !ecause of the colors' +he medium used &as oil on canvas' +here &ere )FE trian$les that made up a $iant s9uare' ,n the middle there &as an oran$e diamond made out of the same small trian$les that made up the &hole paintin$# and it &as the only section of the paintin$ &here t&o trian$les of the same color &ere touchin$' Gonestly the only reason , &as attracted to it &as !ecause of the color' irectly opposite to =en/amin;s paintin$ &as Hayoi Cusama;s 6,nfinity Nets7' ,t &as acrylic on canvas and painted as a surreal and e"pressionist paintin$' ,t &as !lac0 and yello&# and dependin$ on &here you &ere standin$# there &as more of one color than the other' From far a&ay it loo0ed li0e it &as !lac0 &ith so many yello& dots that the !lac0 !ac0$round could !arely !e seen' As , &al0ed to&ard it# the !lac0 spaces !ecame lar$er and the yello& dots seemed to simply complement the !lac0 !ac0$round' +he yello& dots made a lace pattern that created the illusion# &hich made it more of a surreal paintin$' Ine of my favorite pieces that sa& in the permanent e"hi!its &as in the American West section' Minerva Cohlhepp +eichert painted 6=attle of the =ulls7' ,;m not usually a !i$ fan of the history of the &est# !ut

, really li0ed the &ay this one told its o&n story' ,n my A4 American Gistory class in hi$h school# my teacher informed us that the Wild West &asn;t nearly as e"citin$ as &e sa& in the movies or !oo0s' +hat 0ind of crushed my idea of some parts of history# !ut this paintin$ !rou$ht !ac0 the e"citement and romanticism of the Wild West' +here &as a co&!oy on his horse in the middle# then the at least t&o !ulls comin$ to&ard him &ith his rope' =ehind him &ere the covered &a$ons and a fe& more horses' +here &as so much $oin$ on in such a little space# and the circular stro0es $ave the paintin$ life and movement' , thin0 the artist &as tryin$ to sho& that there &as a lot of e"citement in the mi$ration and e"pansion of the &est# and that it truly is an important part of our American history'

7) How did the art&or0s you loo0ed at relate to material &e have discussed in class? <+hey do relate in many &ays# you /ust need to loo0 for those relationships%' (Minimum of 1)0 &ords*
+here &as a paintin$ in the temporary e"hi!it that directly related to &hat &e tal0ed a!out in class last &ee0' We tal0ed a!out the .apanese internment camps and ho& orthea 3an$e and Ansel Adams &or0ed so hard to e"pose the ridiculousness of the entire situation' >o$er 5himomua painted si" paintin$s and called it 6Mista0en ,dentities7' -ach paintin$ &as attri!uted to a different person or $roup' 6for orothea 3an$e7 &as a picture of a little .apanese $irl loo0in$ to the ri$ht &ith almost no emotion: 6for Ansel Adams7 &as a !oy# a little !it older than the $irl# &ho had a!out the same amount of e"citement on his face as she did: and 6for Gatate Family7 &as a picture of a little family sittin$ on a pile of !elon$in$s# &ith an electric fence and mountains in the !ac0$round' , felt li0e it &as tryin$ to e"pose ho& the era of .apanese internment often $ets overloo0ed# !ut it still had such a ne$ative impact on children and families' +here &asn;t one person in any of the paintin$s that 5himomua painted that loo0ed e"cited to !e there' ,n the Asian Art e"hi!it# there &as a sandstone sculpture called 6Jishnu &ith Avatars7# &hich sho&ed Jishnu in the center in his state as the preserver of creation' ,t sho&s ho& Jishnu isn;t /ust one person# !ut has many different forms that he possesses in order to !e the e"ample to all the Gindu follo&ers' +here &as also a $ranite version of 68anesha7 &ho is the 8od of ne& !e$innin$s' +hese t&o sculptures stood out to me in particular !ecause &e started off the class &ith 5acredness and 5pirituality' ,f , had come to this museum three months a$o# , honestly &ouldn;t have had any idea &ho Jishnu or 8anesha &ere# !ut they popped out at me !ecause &e had tal0ed a!out their roles in Ginduism early on in the semester'

8) What &as your personal reaction to this e"perience? Would you en/oy attendin$ this type of event a$ain? Why or &hy not? (Minimum 100 &ords*
, tend to thin0 of art in the same &ay that , thin0 of poetry' 5ometimes , stare at a poem and , can;t seem to $et anythin$ out of it and ,;m really frustrated# !ut as , ta0e time to understand the perspective of the poet and &hat they;ve !een throu$h# , can see &hat it means to them and apply it to myself in some &ay' Art is the same &ay: , &asn;t too e"cited at first# and the first fe& paintin$s , loo0ed at &ere hard for me to &rap my !rain around# and my notes reflect that' =ut ta0in$ the time to loo0 at the little details and ta0e somethin$ out of it that meant somethin$ to me# it ended up !ein$ a really interestin$ e"perience' , thin0 it;s interestin$ to see ho& people e"press themselves and the ideas they use to create that' , &ouldn;t have thou$ht as deep as 5hi$eyu0i Cihara# &hose dance and dress reflect everythin$ she feels a!out her culture' +o her# her !lac0 dress represents the loss of her authentic 5amoan life since she moved to Australia# !ut the dance itself represents the confidence of the 5amoan people' , love seein$ &hat people have !een throu$h and &hat they choose to e"press that to the &orld' -ven thou$h at first it &as /ust another hard poem to decipher# , came out feelin$ really $ood a!out myself: it;s interestin$ to see into other people;s lives &ithout technolo$y'

As al&ays remem!er that , &ant to see reflective thin0in$ on your part' 5ho& me you are a&are of your limitations# your !iases# etc' 5ho& me that you are thinking a!out your o&n responses and &hy you respond the &ay you do'