Outsider Art

Family Band. Jon Serl, American, 1894-1993. Oil paint on fiberboard. All images courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection, photography by Will Brown. 

More than two hundred objects from one of the finest private collections of works by American self-taught artists are on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Great and Mighty Things: Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection presents drawings, paintings and sculptures (1930s to 2010) by twenty-seven artists.  

Boffo. William Hawkins, American, 1895-1990. Alkyd house paint on Masonite with fiberboard horns; textured mane and raised body made of alkyd paint mixed with starch chunks (probably dried glue). 

Outsider art eludes categorization, is not based on established traditions or techniques and is usually produced with unconventional materials such as house paint, wood scraps, shirt cardboard, and roofing tin. It's often associated with Art Brut (European "raw art"), folk, naïve, primitive, and vernacular art. There is no defining term for its practitioners, who have been referred to as visionaries, spiritualists, intuitives, mavericks, isolates, eccentrics, Sunday painters, instinctives, and so on. What they have in common: Spontaneous creative activity, inventive and imaginative.

Runaway Goat Cart, c. 1939-42. Bill Traylor, American, c. 1853-1949. Opaque watercolor and graphite on cream card. 

"This exhibition will demonstrate how works of art of enduring interest and quality can be created by people without formal training, who have limited or no connection to art dealers, critics, galleries, museums, and schools," says Ann Percy, Curator of Drawings. "In this exhibition, I believe that visitors will discover new and surprising aspects of the art of the 20th and 21st centuries in the United States." 

Through June 9 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. 

The Great Gatsby

Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

From Australian director Baz Luhrmann, the new film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. Luhrmann juxtaposes the classic tale with contemporary sensibility, shot in 3D. While the Jazz Age is represented on screen, he uses contemporary music arranged by music director Jay-Z to complement the story's setting of 1922. Costume designer Catherine Martin collaborated with Miuccia Prada to create period outfits. Cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, Tobey Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway and Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom Buchanan. 

Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

The storyline--Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner living in Long Island, grows increasingly fascinated by the lifestyle and mysterious past of Jay Gatsby, his nouveau riche neighbor. Drawn into Gatsby's circle, he becomes a witness to obsession and tragedy.

I wanted to write something new, something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned. --F.Scott Fitzgerald

Photo courtesy Paramount Pictures.

Director Jack Clayton's Academy Award-winning 1974 production, scripted by Francis Ford Coppola, starred Robert Redford as Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy, with a backdrop of Hamptons sets. 

Director Baz Luhrmann on the set. Photo by Justin Ridler, courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

Fitzgerald loved the movies and was a passionate believer in the power of cinema. "The Great Gatsby" has been adapted for the screen no less than four times. Fitzgerald's story defies time and geography. The vision and the goal of our cast and creatives is to do justice to the deftness of Fitzgerald's telling, and illuminate its ideas and humanity. --Luhrmann

It opens May 10 and will lead off the Cannes Film Festival a few days later. Three trailers and stills can be viewed here. 

Stanley Kubrick

The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick (1980; GB/United States). The daughters of former caretaker Grady (Lisa and Louise Burns), copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

A retrospective of Stanley Kubrick shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, co-presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. On display are scripts, costumes, cameras and equipment, props, and set models. The exhibition covers Kubrick's practice from early photography to directorial achievements from the 1950s through the 1990s. 

2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick (1965-68; GB/United States). The astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) in the storage loft of the computer HAL. Copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. 

Kubrick, a 13-time Academy Award-nominated director, writer and producer, won an Oscar for Special Visual Effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1969. The film was a collaboration with sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, adapted from Clarke's short story The Sentinel. Kubrick preferred to adapt novels or stories, filming them with photographic realism. His films differ greatly one from the next, spanning horror to sci-fi to black comedy. 

I can't honestly say what led me to make any of my films. The best I can do is to say I just fell in love with the stories. You can say a lot of "architectural" things about what a film story should have: A strong plot, interesting characters, possibilities for cinematic development, good opportunities for the actors to display emotion, and the presentation of its thematic ideas truthfully and intelligently. But of course, that still doesn't really explain why you chose something, nor does it lead you to a story. --Kubrick

2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick (1965-68; GB/United States). Stanley Kubrick on set during the filming. Copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. 

Every aspect of a film was supervised by Kubrick--costumes, music, advertising, which cities his films opened in. 

Full Metal Jacket, directed by Stanley Kubrick (1987; GB/United States). The instructor Sgt. Hartman (Lee Ermey). Copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. 

Kubrick's perfectionist style required dozens of takes for particular scenes.

They [the actors] work with Stanley and go through hells that nothing in their careers could have prepared them for, they think they must have been mad to get involved, they think that they'd die before they would ever work with him again, that fixated maniac; and when it's all behind them and the profound fatigue of so much intensity has worn off, they'd do anything in the world to work for him again. For the rest of their professional lives they long to work with someone who cared the way Stanley did, someone they could learn from. They look for someone to respect the way they'd come to respect him, but they can never find anybody...I've heard this story so many times. --Michael Herr, screenwriter for Full Metal Jacket

Barry Lyndon, directed by Stanley Kubrick (1973-75; GB/United States). Barry Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal) and the Chevalier de Balibari (James Magee) at the roulette table. Copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. 

For his 1975 costume drama Barry Lyndon, with its narrative set in the 1700s, Kubrick used Zeiss camera lenses developed for NASA, originally intended for satellite photography. The modified lenses allowed him to film scenes by natural candlelight, creating diffused light images similar to 18th century European paintings. He gathered a file of period paintings and drawings, which he used as a reference for props, architecture, clothes, and furniture. 

Eyes Wide Shut, directed by Stanley Kubrick (1999; GB/United States). Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Stanley Kubrick during a break in shoot on the set. Copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Photo: Manuel Harlan. 

In 1997, Kubrick began shooting his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, and received two of the film industry's highest honors, the D.W. Griffith Award for Lifetime Achievement (DGA Lifetime Achievement Award) from the Directors Guild of America and the Golden Lion Award at the 54th Venice International Film Festival. One of the most diverse bodies of work in cinema, Kubrick's films were made with great artistry and the exhibition encourages rediscovery of them. 

On view through June 30 at LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. 

Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer, Tuft of Cowslips, 1526, gouache on vellum, National Gallery of Art, Washington, The Armand Hammer Collection. 

A versatile German artist of the Renaissance period, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a painter, draftsman and printmaker from the city of Nuremberg, a prominent artistic center in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Through June 9, the Albertina Museum in Vienna will lend to the National Gallery of Art in Washington 118 works by Dürer for the exhibition Albrecht Dürer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina. 

Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia 1, 1514, engraving, Albertina, Vienna. 

Albrecht Dürer, A Venetian Lady, 1495, pen, gray and black ink, brush and brown ink, gray wash, Albertina, Vienna. 

Late fifteenth century Italian dress. A high-waisted style composed of three layers--chemise, undergown and overgown. 

Albrecht Dürer, Nuremberg Woman Dressed for a Dance, 1500, watercolor, pen and gray-black ink, Albertina, Vienna. 

The pleated outer "kleid" (dress) that women wore in the Germanic countries. 

Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve, 1504, engraving, Albertina, Vienna. 

Influenced by Italian theory, Dürer was drawn to the idea that the perfect human form corresponded to a system of measurements and proportion. In Adam and Eve, Dürer's human form is shown in symmetrical, idealized poses with figures reminiscent of fifteenth century Hellenistic sculpture.  

Albrecht Dürer, Saint Jerome in His Study, 1514, engraving, Albertina, Vienna. 

The exhibition conveys Dürer's talent as a draftsman as well as his artistic development. Sketches, studies, woodcuts, engravings, watercolors, and etchings illustrate a full range of subjects from detailed renderings of the natural world to portraits and landscapes.

National Gallery of Art, on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue N.W. 

Jack Stauffacher: Typographic Experiments

Jack Werner Stauffacher, print from Wooden Letters from 300 Broadway, 1998. Letterpress, LACMA, copyright Jack Werner Stauffacher.

Printer and typographer Jack Stauffacher, founder of the Greenwood Press in San Francisco, has created a series of typographic experiments over the last 40 years, using wooden letters. His prints are featured in an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His 1998 portfolio Wooden Letters from 300 Broadway, an exercise in typography, lettering and composition, forms the centerpiece of the exhibition. 

In 1966, Stauffacher moved his print shop to a building at 300 Broadway in the North Beach area. Shortly after moving, he received a box of late 19th century wooden type from a poster printing company operating in the same building. He utilized the letters in a series of experimental prints. 

With this box of letters and in my own free time I would just work with them, experimenting. So it was a process of doing and making mistakes. I was, in a sense, conservative and I'm still conservative but I like to move the [letter] edges out a little bit, kind of shape them into a harmonious whole. 

Now what you see are all these different, marvelous letters that have become something else and then when you print them, that patine, they're not all perfect, they're imperfect. They got scratches, they've been used and so they radiate. Each has its own life and it's pleasantly connected with another letter that's also had a life. Each one has its own identity yet they're integrated in one image. --Stauffacher

Stauffacher at work. Photographer: Dennis Letbetter. Image courtesy of AIGA. 

In 2004, he received an American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Medal in recognition of his contribution to the craft of printing. His uses of type have ranged from abstract configurations to investigations of the visual portrayal of dialogue. 

Jack  Stauffacher's work in printing books, typography and design combines an informed reverence for the Classics with an insightful appreciation of innovation. --AIGA

Jack Werner Stauffacher, print from Wooden Letters from 300 Broadway, 1998. Letterpress, LACMA, copyright Jack Werner Stauffacher.

Jack Stauffacher: Typographic Experiments is on view through July 21 at LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. 

Japanese Illustrated Books

Ehon sumidagawa ryogan ichiran, vol 2, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Japan, Edo period, ca. 1805. Woodblock printed, ink and color on paper, paper covers. All images: The Gerhard Pulverer Collection of Japanese illustrated books, photos copyright the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian. 

Japanese woodblock-printed illustrated books (ehon) brought reading to the masses during the Edo period (1615-1868). Artists and writers created a range of designs for these books and the compact, paper-bound volumes circulated widely. 

Selections from the Gerhard Pulverer Collection of ehon, one of the premier collections outside of Japan, will be on view in the exhibition Hand-Held: Gerhard Pulverer's Japanese Illustrated Books at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC from April 6-August 11. Volumes exhibited cover several genres--design, crafts, literature, botany, travel, nature studies, scholarly texts, and poetry.

Above, Panoramic Views along the Banks of Sumida River, a woodblock print series of colorful works by Katsushika Hokusai, a well-known artist who studied Japanese, Chinese and European artistic traditions. Hokusai produced images as a print designer, book illustrator and painter, often incorporating striking landscapes into commissioned woodblock prints and books. 

"His genius is really about that remarkable combination of observation of natural phenomena and meticulous attention to arrangement of pattern and color that can't be seen in the work of any other artist in Japan during his time," says Ann Yonemura, associate curator of Japanese art at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.  

Ichiro gafu, Yashima Gakutei (active 1815-1830's), Japan, Edo period. Woodblock printed, ink and color on paper. 

Ichiro's Picture-Album, a woodblock-printed book of drawings of landscapes with figures by Ichiro, a studio name of printmaker, painter and draughtsman Yashima Gakutei. This book includes "kyoka" poems; text and images are created on the same woodblocks. 

Ehon kyoka yama mata yama, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Japan, Edo period, 1804. Woodblock printed, ink and color on paper. 

Mountain after Mountain, a kyoka poem-picture book by Hokusai depicting scenes in and around Edo (Tokyo). In the 1790s and early 1800s, Hokusai often produced images for poetry clubs, illustrating albums and prints showcasing poems. 

Kyoto meisho ehon miyako no nishiki, Kitao Masayoshi (1764-1824), Japan, Edo period, ca. 1787. Woodblock printed, ink and color on paper, added silk hardcover. 

Famous Places of Kyoto, a picture book by Kitao Masayoshi, an artist who produced novelette illustrations, paintings and printed albums. A volume of landscape prints that border between picture and map, combining symbolic and realistic elements. In the Edo period, people increasingly traveled to see famous places and historical sites and these types of picture books served as souvenirs. 

Toto shokei ichiran, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Japan, Edo period, 1800. Woodblock printed, ink and color on paper, paper covers. 

Fine Views of Eastern Capital at Glance by Hokusai, a volume depicting the sights of Edo. Print shown--Theater Street, an image of the Japanese Kabuki theater. 

"Through books, all of Japanese society could learn about culture, literature, science, religion, and distant places even through foreign contact was rare," says Yonemura. "Illustrated books were not only a source of information, but an important medium of artistic expression and entertainment that continues today." 

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, DC. 

The Bay Lights

All photography: Lucas Saugen. Courtesy of Illuminate the Arts. 

A light sculpture on the San Francisco Bay Bridge's West Span, the Bay Lights is designed by artist Leo Villareal. The piece consists of 25,000 LED lights and marks the 75th anniversary of the bridge. 

Leo tests the lights, encoded programming creates random and complex light sequences that shift and change, with no beginning, middle or end. 

I think when people see this work, it's really about creating an experience, a communal experience, and it will transform the entire Bay and turn it into a space. The effect my work has is to bring things to life and to activate spaces. I'm using abstraction, there's no images, there's no text, so people's perception of what the piece is will be highly subjective and no two people will see the same thing but there will still be this point of connection between many, many people. 

During a six-month period from September 2012 to March 2013, a crew of electricians installed the light system at night to minimize impact on bridge traffic. The lights are aligned in strands on the bridge's vertical cables, solar panels offset energy use. The piece will be on display from dusk to 2am for two years, viewable from San Francisco and points north.

The Bay Lights is presented by Illuminate the Arts, a San Francisco non-profit dedicated to the creation and presentation of community-activating public art. 

The Bay Lights is a monumental piece of public art and my hope is that it will unleash all sorts of creativity around the Bay Area, change the way people feel about what can be done and really get art out and into the public realm in a very large way and I hope it will catalyze different arts groups and inspire many different groups in the Bay Area to create, to start making things and sharing and enjoying in a big way.