artofmuseums

[artofmuseums]

My trip to Mystic Connecticut included a visit to some small shops. In an art shop, I traveled around and made my way upstairs. It was when I reached the top of the stairs that I saw a familiar scene, a ship on water. I had never seen these paintings before, and the way they were painted was different from those I had seen of a similar type before. Luckily, the artist was there, so I asked him if he had time for a quick interview for my blog. Though he seemed busy he smiled and agreed. Russ Kramer, this kindhearted artist, has been painting for 20 years. Previously, he worked for a newspaper and was a graphic designer. Since he was a kid, he's dreamed of being a painter. My appreciation goes out to his enthusiasm that he displays in his work. One painting costs him a few months. There is something unique about Russ Kramer's process that sets him apart from the other painters I have researched in the past. First, he does research on the yacht or ship he is planning on painting. Then he builds models of these ships. These models he makes are astounding. From there he sketches. As you can tell he has characters in his paintings. As far as any of his paintings are concerned, he assures me that he does not make use of any photographs of people who have previously been photographed.  For his paintings, he asks his friends, family members, or strangers to model for him. He is very passionate about yachting and its history. From what I have seen and heard from our conversation he is a subject matter expert. He has an incredible eye for detail and a vast knowledge of ships and its components. His paintings are a testament to his expertise and creativity. He has gained recognition both locally and internationally for his work. As a matter of fact, he was working on a commission project after I left.

#photography #local painters #boats #yacht #neighborhood #groton #new london #russkramer

[artofmuseums]

In this photograph Burtynsky creates an illusion of vertigo, as the tires seem to teeter high above the viewer. Burtynsky injects the scene with an incredible sense of grandeur by utilizing a muted palette and elevated vantage point. An estimated 7 million scrap tires are piled up in one of the world's largest tire graveyards. Shortly after Burtynsky took this image, lightning struck the pile, igniting a fire that burned for over 30 days, releasing contaminants into the air and water, and consuming more oil than the Exxon Valdez spill. Despite recycling efforts, roughly 3 billion tires litter the American landscape today. Kuwait has the largest tire pile in the world, consisting of over 42 million tires.

#tires #edward burtynsky #photography

[artofmuseums]

Steps with brightly colored stone patterns zigzag like those in the works of M.C. Escheer. Northwestern India built over 3000 stepwells between AD600 and 1850 to provide access to water for the collective. As a result of their practical value to the community, the structures have survived for centuries.  Water is supplied to the wells through underground aquifers during annual monsoon rains for up to 12 weeks at a time. In the 1850s, British colonizers introduced pumps and communal taps, which ceased to function as social and religious hubs, and stepwells became abandoned or gathered trash. To overcome future water challenges, the importance and viability of stepwells has been seriously reconsidered during severe droughts in recent decades.

#edward burtynsky #photography

[artofmuseums]

Burtynsky's aerial photograph was taken from the window of a small Cessna 185 seaplane. It offers a bird's eye view of the Gulf of Mexico.  An oil spill of unprecedented magnitude was underway on April 20th 2010. Over the next 87 days, 4 million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico from a marine oil rig located 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The spill caused enormous damage to marine habitats, wildlife habitats, and the fishing and tourism industries. Burtynsky captured this image during the first six weeks of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The series is centered on oil's role as a source of energy, as well as its profound endangerment.

#oil spill #edward burtynsky #photographs #photographer

[artofmuseums]

Burtynsky's image of enormous coal piles resembles ancient Egyptian pyramids because of its striking black and white palette and geometric symmetry.

#edward burtynsky #photographs

[artofmuseums]

Burtynsky traveled to central China in the fall of 2002 to photograph the three gorges dam, the world's largest hydroelectric plant. During its construction from 1993 to 2012, over 60,000 workers were employed. There were some positives to the three gorges dam, including flooding control, increased shipping capacity, and electricity, but it has also been a significant cost to large populations, eliminating ancestral lands and homes, endangering wildlife, and encasing the largest evacuation in peacetime history.

#edward burtynsky

[artofmuseums]

“I tried to find landscapes that literally looked like black and white images in the real world, with small bits of muted color coming through”

- Edward Burtynsky

#edward burtynsky

[artofmuseums]

New Britain Art Museum

On February 17th I took a trip down to New Britain Connecticut. When I arrived there was a group waiting to see Edward Burtynsky’s photographs, since I too signed up for the tour I waited with them. We walked up to the top of the museum and I was immediately impressed with the photographs. Edward Burtysnsky is a Photographer who takes pictures of earths scabs and manmade projects. He originally worked at Ford Motor Company cleaning up after messes that the company and its employees made. It is my opinion that this is what sparked his interest in his photographs. He was born in Onterio Canada. For his photographs he uses drones, an 11 year old camera, and hires pilots to fly him over a selected area. Before embracing color, he worked with black and white photography, and you can see that in his photos he still focuses on grayscales. In addition to reference art history, he also uses abstract painting to emphasize the dual love he holds for photography and painting in his compositions. As well as referencing art history, he also incorporates abstract painting into his compositions to emphasize his love of either photography or painting.

#edward burtynsky

[artofmuseums]

Lorraine O' Grady born in 1934, is still here with us today. She showed her muse after she traveled to Egypt for a vacation. Lorraine O' Grady then realized that there was a resemblance between her family and many famous Egyptians like Queen Nefertiti. Her sister Devonia Evangeline who is shown in these photos, unfortunately passed but her collection served as a memorial to her. Her work explores identity issues as a conceptual artist. The format of the pictures shows a comparison type of layout and in my opinion it manifests flawlessly.

#Loraine O' Grady #queen nefertiti #Devonia Evageline

[artofmuseums]

Marik Goma is a photographer that uses his previous knowledge of film lighting and stage set up to make his photographs unique and specific to him. You can see that each of these photos have a before and after shot, one light, one dark. He did this on purpose to distill a quiet moment and show how important that quite moment is. Marik Goma creates his own studio as well. Everything is manifested by the photographer. What I like the most is how he uses the light to tell stories. It is told that Marik Goma tells 3 stories in each group of photos yet is left up to us to find out the meaning. He is very creative and uses his past experiences to make amazing photographs.

#Marik Goma #light photography

[artofmuseums]

"Through this window into the past, I saw the generational vastness of the Black diaspora and was inspired by everyday life. There and then, I found the inspiration for the series My Heart is Light in the Void, " -Marik Goma

#Marik Goma

[artofmuseums]

The photographer who took these amazing apocalyptic photos is Justine Kurland. She named this collection Girl Pictures. They are located in The Wadsworth Atheneum of Art, it's amazing that the museum dedicated a whole room to this collection. Justine Kurland stages the girls in this way, she wants to portray them as being independent. There are not a lot of photos of just women either, she must have wanted to do something different. Either way knowing that these women were not naturally like this when she took the pictures makes it very interesting and unique.

#Justine Kurland

[artofmuseums]

The Wadsworth part 2

The trip to my first museum since the MET in NY, almost 2 years ago. I saw a lot of new type of art including sculptures and even an old bathtub that was used in the late 1700's. I took a tour so I could learn more about the interesting photos, art, and statues that surrounded me. I was told on the tour that Atheneum to them means documented history. There was past and present art pieces and documents even photographs too. Photos will be to come, next trip I will do more. Like I always say, practice makes perfect.

#wadsworthmuseum

[artofmuseums]

The Wadsworth

Today I start my first review of my rounds. The first museum I will visit, review, and snap a few pictures of is the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. My first thought when I saw this name was what does Atheneum mean? According to Merriam Webster a famous dictionary, it is "a building or room in which books, periodicals, and newspapers are kept for use or a literary or scientific association" (merriamwebster, 2023). When I go to the museum, I will find out which one it is. I am excited to see what it looks like in person. When I decided to go to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art first, I went to their website. It showed a marvelous selection of art including photorealistic paintings, sculptures, and historical paintings. If is one thing I love, it is history. There is one room I look forward to being in at this museum. It is the full room top to bottom paintings, to be surrounded by so much history and art seems like a dream. I look forward to this relaxing evening of history and paintings maybe even some photos.

#thewadsworthatheneum