Friday Fish Wrap: August 8th

At the De Young: Kuzich presents Fast Pass, a large mixed media wall installation made of San Francisco Muni Fast Passes and CDs. In addition, Kuzich offers five unique projects that encourage visitor participation. The workshops are inspired by the diverse collections and exhibitions of the de Young.

Widely known throughout the Bay Area, Fast Pass is a multipanel assemblage inspired by Kuzich’s fascination with complex color relationships, his natural affinity for the elegance of design and symmetry, his passion for collecting interesting objects, and his 30-year investigation into the psychology of the human experience. The four panels combined are 5 x 28 feet in size and are comprised of 3,188 graphic elements. The complex surface integrates multi colored stripes, silver and gold holograms, letterforms, and reflective CDs.

Children and adults are invited to participate in the IMAGINATION workshops. The projects are based on works in the de Young and have been styled to generate a greater understanding and appreciation of the collections. “I was stunned and amazed when I was researching the collections. I learned so much and was greatly inspired as an artist. I want others to discover more too,” explains John Kuzich.

5 IMAGINATION projects include:
• King Tut/Egypt stone rubbings
• Africa/New Guinea mask collage
• Wayne Theibaud collage
• Louise Nevelson assemblage
• Inca/Aztec stone rubbings

Participants may create stone rubbings using carved linoleum blocks and colorful oil crayons. Participants may also cut out and incorporate prints with various exotic papers, beads, and shells to create a decorative assemblage.

The Artist Studio is presented by Cultural Encounters at the de Young. The Kimball Education Gallery is free to the public. The gallery is open to visitors from Wednesday through Sunday, 1–5 pm and Friday 6–8:45 pm. John Kuzich is available to provide assistance and instruction during gallery hours. The closing reception for IMAGINATION is on Friday, August 21 from 6–8:30 pm. For more information, e-mail cinaba@famsf.org or call 415.750.3528.

Cultural Encounters: Friday Nights at the de Young Presents Cultural Encounters Commissions Artist Onye Onyemaechi and the Art of Africa from 5 PM -8:45 PM


The Way of Tea: Tea Gathering and Tasting
Asian Art Museum

Watch and learn about the Japanese "Way of Tea" as you are served you own tea sweet and bowl of whisked green tea. Utilizing the museum's traditional tearoom, Bay Area tea people host these tea gatherings, which feature seasonal themes.

Saturday, August 8

1:00 pm and 2:30 pm (pick one seating)

Hosted by Shozo Sato, Dai Nippon Chado Gakkai

http://www.asianart.org/teaartsresources.htm

Oakland Museum: For the first time in its 40-year history, the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) will temporarily close to the public. The break—effective 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 23—will allow the Museum to reinstall the Art and History Galleries, upgrade the common areas, and complete its transformation.

http://www.museumca.org/

And two street fairs:

36th Annual Nihonmachi Street Fair
On Saturday and Sunday, August 8th and 9th in San Francisco's Japantown, the Nihonmachi Street Fair will take to the streets again for another exciting weekend. With the spirit of unity, we welcome back old friends and open our hearts to new friendships.

http://www.nihonmachistreetfair.org/

At Yerba Buena Gardens:
http://www.pistahan.net/

Max Klinger at the Legion: About A Glove

Max Klinger, German, 1857 - 1920
Penelope, 1895
Color etching and aquatint
18.9 x 30 cm (image)
Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts 1963.30.1556

New post up at the Examiner.com on the current show at the Legion of Honor on Max Klinger, the symbolist artist who influenced painters like De Chirico.
http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner

Rotating the collections: Samurai, Part Deux

Light sensitive objects must be rotated to prevent damage. The list of sensitive objects includes paintings, textiles, lacquers, and most other objects composed of organic materials. The Asian is being careful with the mid-point rotation of the Samurai exhibit to fit objects into the existing thematic content and flow of the exhibit. When possible, they try and rotate objects of similar type, function, and subject.


Portrait of Hosokawa Shigekata (1720-1785) (left) will be replaced with a Portrait of Hosokowa Tsunatoshi (right). © Eisei Bunko, Japan.



With so many unique objects, sometimes no direct substitute is available. In such situations they choose replacement objects that support the theme considered in a particular part of the exhibition. For example, the leisure activities of the Daimyo are represented by a Go game board and go stone containers in the first rotation (left), and an Incense ceremony box and implements in the upcoming rotation (right). © Eisei Bunko, Japan.

Some rotations involve objects with similar functions but different forms, such as this Commander’s Baton (saihai) (left) used by Hosokawa Narimori (1804-1860) being replaced by a Folding Military Fan (gunsen) (right). Both objects are used to communicate on the battlefield. © Eisei Bunko, Japan.



Some objects rotate without ever leaving the gallery. For The Book of Five Rings (Gorin no sho), they will change each of the five scrolls to display a new section of text. Rolled up, the previously displayed sections will be safely protected from continued light exposure.

Because they prefer not to close the galleries during the exhibit, the rotations will be done after house. As a result, the rotation will be spread out over several days. Over the next week or so, you may notice that some galleries have been rotated and others are still waiting their turn. You may even find a case to have a temporarily vacant spot. Don’t worry, it won’t be empty for long!

Because of the extreme delicacy and importance of many of these treasures, the rotation process needs to be undertaken slowly and deliberately. They are scheduled to have completed the rotation by the time that the museum opens on Tuesday, August 11. On that date, be prepared for a fresh look at Lords of the Samurai.

From the Asian Art Museum Blog: http://www.asianart.org/blog/

Friday Fish Wrap

Friday Fish Wrap: I'm trying to start a regular or semi-regular feature of weekend events and information, culled from various Museum blogs. Let me know how you like it:

http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner~y2009m7d31-Friday-Fish-Wrap

Sad news about New Langston Arts

"It was the worst of times, it was the best of times." Charles Dickens began his "Tale of Two Cities" with those lines which I think a lot of us have memorized. While many have not actually read the book, the saying has passed into common usage. I have thought about that a number of times this summer as I watch gallery after gallery closing - Bucheon, Reeves and Lincart in Hayes Valley and many others throughout the city. Now comes news that one of our oldest non-profit arts organizations is in serious trouble:

http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner

There may be some help for the arts on the horizon. I haven't followed the latest news on that front but I haven't heard about anything like a new version of the WPA. While some people think that it's OK that only the strong survive, I feel that's a harsh attitude to take toward art - any art whether music, painting, poetry or dance. In this country what's considered strong seems to be the ruthless and powerful who have no interest in anything that doesn't make a huge profit. Creativity - other than in manipulating the stock market - is ignored or denegrated. I remember when I read about the the "Society of Six," and how the Depression of the 1930's forced them to chose between their art or not being able to take care of themselves and their families. Only two continued to paint. Will that be true of the current generation?

Memorial to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Up at: http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner

The King and IWe get together whenever Tut is in town

We spent two hours at the DeYoung last Friday for the Tut exhibit. The lines were orderly--no cut at Tut--and things were running smoothly getting in, until it was time to pick up our prepaid audio devices. While there were two people with nothing to do waiting for non members to rent audio, prepaid audio members had to deal with just one new person. Half the Egyptian army marched by us into the exhibit while we waited for things to be figured out.

I liked using the audio 30 years ago during Tut First Visit to SF. This time, I got tired of Omar Shariff after two chats (too much embellishment and praise instead of just telling me what I'm seeing), so I hung the audio around my neck like a breastplate. Also, I would have preferred to see Tut first instead of his 40 relatives, as I came to see Michael Jackson, not Joe Jackson. Seeing the relatives on a separate day, I would have appreciated them more.

The museum did a good job of using the little movie at the beginning like metering lights on the Bay Bridge, so the crowds were not as bad as they could have been. Plus the show was spread out, making it easier to maneuver. Some of the organ storage jars were spectacular, and I was awed by the perfection of the braided hair on small carved figures.

We had a déjà vu moment when we read there were three dozen boat carvings in the tomb with Tut, for travel in the afterlife. We had just seen an exhibit of three dozen boat constructions, by artist Jennifer Ewing, as part of her Spirit Boat series.

There were two Tut stores. They sell everything but the light fixtures in the movie room, which were very cool. Before leaving, we went up to the tower to see a friend who was teaching a class at the museum, but found out the classes were in the tower tummy, not the tower top.

Leaving the show, we nearly joined Tut in the afterlife when we were almost run over by a bus (maroon and creamy yellow double decker, open at the top), which drove right through the stop sign in front of the museum.

The misallocation of resources came up again as we left the parking garage. Two men standing by the exit took my paid parking stub and fed it into the self service exit machine for me. I felt like saying, "Why don't one of you go help at member audio rental, and the other go have a talk with the stop-for-nothing bus driver."

It was a very big show, (really big shew for you Ed Sullivan fans) and took a lot of resources to put on, so the ticket prices for members didn't seem out of line.

By Phil Gravitt
http://twitter.com/PhilGravitt

Favorite items at the Asian Museum

There is a fun discussion going on at the Asian Art Museum blog as to what their favorite items in the collection are. I love playing this game but there are way too many gorgeous objects for me to settle on "just one. " However, I can never resist bringing up one of my favorite, almost contemporary Chinese painters, Chao Shan-An. His brilliant colors, sensitive brushwork and loving images of birds and flowers just make his pieces sing. So often, current traditional Asian ink painting looks stale and bland; his pieces are anything but.

Then, Tom (of Right Reading and 7 Junipers Fame) brought up one of the subtler and understated pieces, one that is easy to over look. The Betty Bogart Contemplative Alcove is located on the second floor near the walkway leading from Samsung Hall to the Japanese art galleries on the south wing. It features a basin (2000) by Masatoshi Izumi, which is made from a single massive basalt stone. The exterior is an oxidized brown color with a rough surface but the top is a dark gray, polished smooth. (The artist polished the surface by hand with a whetstone and water over many months.) Water flows so slowly from the center that it can go unnoticed by visitors who are hurrying by. I remember when I first saw the piece. I didn't quite believe my eyes and had to touch the top (very carefully) to verify that the shining surface was indeed water and not only polished stone.

According to Nico (Nicole Harvey), someone
once mistook the fountain for a seat, creating a completely unexpected result of mindfulness, for where one should and should not sit.

I confess to a mischievous moment when I tried to encourage a teenager to sit on it. He and his friends were text messaging their way through the galleries, not paying much attention to anything but their cell phones. Of course, I stopped him before he could do so. I didn't want him to damage this beautiful object but I did want his friends to stop and look. They all laughed at their clueless friend but they did take their noses out of the current text message of the moment to marvel. It was one small step for mindfulness. Maybe someday, they will be discussing their favorite pieces at the Asian and remember the moment when they almost sat on a piece of shinning stone.

http://www.asianart.org/blog/index.php/2009/07/20/favorite-places/
http://thenicoleharvey.blogspot.com/
http://7junipers.com/log/

Culture on a budget

I just posted an article on all of the Bay Area museums that I could think of that have free days and/or free admission for kids under 12. I never realized that a "simple" newspaper article could be so much work. I had to check and double check my spelling and my facts. The good thing is that I can post to a "real" newspaper web site. The bad thing is that I don't have an fact checker/outsider eye making sure I don't goof up before the fact. I'm reading Lillian Ross' book "Reporting Back: Notes on Journalism" which makes me very nostalgic for the good old days. She had superb editors who helped her develop her skills but she also pays tribute to the fact-checking department of the magazine where she worked for so many years. Remember to click on the link - I'm aiming for one happy meal a month.

The image on the left is from the current show of Mithila paintings from northern Bihar. For centuries, women’s paintings have been used to consecrate space for human habitation and ritual purposes. The paintings are filled with magical properties and cover the walls near their hearths with images of their gods and goddesses. For weddings and festivals, they embellish the outer walls of their homes with elaborate drawings based on familiar mythological stories. Hence a major theme here is women’s art for the domestic world, and especially art that is found in association with life-cycle events.

Paper was introduced into the Mithila painting tradition in the 1960’s. The changeover to a portable support for the paintings moved the locus of the artists’ efforts out of the home and removed the creation of this art from its ritual setting. Despite the persistence of traditional themes, the change to paper also allowed the women artists to experiment with newer themes, and allowed them a broader freedom of expression. The works at the Asian are a mixture of old and new and even include one work by a male artist. The current show is up until July 26th and then, it will go into storage for almost two years to preserve the fragile works.

http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner

EDWARD CURTIS "REFOCUSED" IN UKIAH

July 11 through Nov 8, the Grace Hudson Museum presents a show of Edward Curtis photos. I have not seen it yet (I expect to within the next 10 days and will post a review), but it sounds like an interesting exhibit: According to the museum's website:

In this exhibition Curtis' work is examined through the eyes of contemporary Native Americans who selected images from his body of work through which to examine issues of authenticity, tradition and relationships between Natives and non-Natives. The exhibition also explores the many challenges that Curtis faced in the course of his project, such as chronic under-funding, challenging physical conditions, inter-cultural mistrust, and marital difficulties ..... Curtis, it turns out, stayed with John and Grace Hudson when he came to the Ukiah area in 1923 to record Pomo culture. Curtis arrived in the summertime, when many Pomo people were scattered about the countryside working, so John Hudson took him around the county and introduced him to key people and families and allowed Curtis to use the Hudsons’ basket collection in his photographs. The Sun House Guild has since purchased and framed a number of Curtis’ original Pomo Indian photogravures. Grace Hudson Museum staff will mount a special section of the exhibit displaying many of these Curtis prints, along with the actual Pomo artifacts pictured in the images.

Art work of the Mithila Region

Art work of the Mithila Region:

The Frey Norris Gallery has been featuring the work of Shalinee Kumari, a contemporary Indian woman artist painting in the style commonly referred to as “Mithila” or “Madhubani” painting. Mithila is a region in Bihar, a state in NE India. Madhubani is the name of a town in this region

Traditionally (and still today), these graphically engaging paintings were done by women as mural art decorating the walls of their homes, often marking an important celebrations, a wedding or the birth of a child, for example, or religious themes. The show at the Frey Norris Gallery shows the transformation of this painting style into a contemporary form of expression on paper and canvas that is now sold to art collectors. While stylistically linked to traditional forms, some Mithila artists are exploring a wider range of issues.

The Asian Art Museum also has a collection of Mithila paintings some of which are currently on view on the 3rd floor. This installation includes a male painter in this genre, who is among those encouraged by the economic success of the women artists to enter this once purely local, folk art tradition. The museum installation of Mithila paintings closes after Sunday, July 26 and conservation policy states that these light sensitive works go into dark storage to rest for five years so that they may retain their brilliant colors for generations to come.

Information from the Asian Art Museum Blog

http://www.asianart.org/blog/
http://www.freynorris.com/
Email Nancy Ewart @ namastenancy@hotmail.com

Some good news in these grim times

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded $1.5 million in stimulus funds to 37 San Francisco arts organizations. The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grant Program and represents 5 percent of all the grants awarded nationwide and 38 percent of all the grants awarded to California.

According to the city Arts Commission, as of January 2008, some 4,837 arts-related businesses were located in the city, employing 29,561 people.

Organizations receiving grants of either $25,000 or $50,000 include: Alonzo King's Lines Ballet, American Conservatory Theater Foundation, Architecture for Humanity, Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco, Aunt Lute Foundation, Bay Area Video Coalition, California Lawyers for the Arts, Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, Circuit Network, Contemporary Jewish Museum, CounterPulse, Cypress Performing Arts Association, Eth-Noh-Tec Creations, Exit Theater, FoolsFURY Theater Company, Frameline, Jess Curtis/Gravity Inc., Joe Goode Performance Group, Kitchen Sisters Productions, Kronos Performing Arts Association and the Magic Theatre.

Also: the Marsh, National Alliance of Media Arts Centers Inc., National Film Preservation Foundation, Oberlin Dance Collective, ODC Theater, Performing Arts Workshop, PlayGround Inc., Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Cinematheque, San Francisco Jazz Organization, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Symphony, World Arts West and Yerba Buena Arts & Events.

Stimulus grants were also announced for the following Bay Area organizations: Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art Association, San Jose Jazz Society, San Jose Children's Museum Theater, Regents of the University of California at Santa Cruz, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters Inc. in Oakland, the Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation in Santa Rosa, Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, the Monterey County Symphony Association, the Monterey Jazz Festival, TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, Kala Institute in Berkeley, Kuumbwa Jazz Society in Santa Cruz, Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, the Crucible in Oakland and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

list from the SF Chronicle

Baldessari at the Legion

I saw the Baldessari show at the Legion yesterday - conceptualism is SO not my thing but as a good junior reporter, I have struggled to put together a decent piece. But struggling with the material was nothing compared to dealing with the cumbersome Examiner template. But, it's finished out and all intelligent comments are welcome! Now, more coffee!
http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner

What's up in Oakland

Grtrude Stein is famously supposed to have said about Oakland that there is “no there there.” Well, in 2009, it’s time to say that Gertrude was wrong. Sorry Gertrude, there is a there, THERE!

Oakland Museum:

Housed in an architecturally innovative three-tiered complex of galleries, gardens, terraces, and ponds, the Oakland Museum of California's collections, special exhibitions and educational programs provide a broader understanding of California's history, art, nature and people.



The African Presence in México: From Yanga to the Present, a look at the little-known history of enslaved Africans brought to Mexico in the 1500s and their contributions to Mexican culture. Organized by the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, the exhibition opens May 9 and continues through Aug 23, 2009.

The bilingual exhibition features paintings, prints, movie posters, photographs, sculpture, costumes, masks, and musical instruments. "It's a fascinating hybrid---a visual arts exhibition based on a cultural history," says co-curator Orantes.

Squeak Carnwath: Painting Is No Ordinary Object
April 25–August 23, 2009

This presentation of Carnwath’s work—the first organized by a major West Coast museum—includes more than 40 paintings not seen collectively since the artist’s last major exhibition, in 1994.As the title indicates, a painting is “no ordinary object” for Carnwath (American, b. 1947). Her recurring motifs—among them numbers, rabbits, and lists—reflect personal and universal themes; each meticulously applied layer of paint carries meaning and inquiry.

Kenneth Baker's review: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/06/DDCD180GNU.DTL&type=art
http://www.museumca.org/

Museum of Children’s Art:

MOCHA provides hands-on arts learning experiencing for children and their families in our museum, in schools and preschools, and in public venues. MOCHA also prepares educators to teach art and integrate arts learning across academic subject areas. They advocate for the arts as an essential part of a strong, vital and diverse community and emphasize outreach to children in low-income communities that do not typically have wide access to the arts.

http://mocha.org/

African American Museum and Library: The African American Museum and Library at Oakland is dedicated to discover, preserve, interpret and share the historical and cultural experiences of African Americans in California and the West for present and future generations.

AAMLO's archival collection is a unique resource on the history of African Americans in Northern California and the Bay Area. The over 160 collections in the archives contain the diaries of prominent families, pioneers, churches, social and political organizations.

http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/aamlo/

Pardee Home Museum: The Pardee Home, including its carriage house and water tower, is a centerpiece of Oakland's Preservation Park Historic District, within a short walking distance of such downtown landmarks as Old Oakland, City Hall, and Preservation Park

http://www.pardeehome.org/

The good, the bad, and the “oh my god I can’t believe it”

The Fisher Museum is a no-go for the Presidio. I wrote at the time:

Even if the Fisher Museum is built, will it be able to generate enough revenue to support itself or will it be a money sink? Very few museums are profitable; they live off their endowments, grants and any other revenue producing properties that they may own. Furthermore, what impact will the construction of all these buildings have? How many building projects have been built on time and within the budget? What about cost overruns? Construction boondoggles? I do not trust the powers that be and perhaps that’s the bottom line. If the door is opened a crack, how much wider will it be forced open? Can we be really looking at a dozen more super-towers of luxury apartments lining up along the bay? We can’t see it now but it’s a real mistake to assume that everybody is honest, ethical and eco-friendly where there’s money to be made.

CM Nevis thinks is a classic case of "not in my backyard" but dismisses the very real issues involved. While the collection may be first class, the choice of site was inappropriate. This wasn’t simply a NIMBBY issue; it was a serious problem involving an inaccessible site without public transportation and a building that would have negatively impacted the existing environment. The footprint would have been huge and while the Fisher’s claim that they would donate the money to build it, what about staffing and future upkeep – and who will ultimately own the complex? Reading through the 521 comments at SF Gate was a depressing exercise. Obviously the park and environmental activists have not done a good job in educating the public because most of the comments were hostile and uninformed. This wasn’t a free gift but a 21st century land grab. The complex would have included a 119-room hotel, meeting space, a restaurant and a bar; two new theaters and a heritage center. Who would ultimately have owned all these buildings and who would have ultimately been responsible for their upkeep? Who would get the revenue, if any? The editorial is severely one-sided since Nevius overlooks the fact that building the museum there would have violate the terms of the Presidio Trust. The ultimate decision was made by the federal government, not San Francisco.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/04/BAKU18ICI7.DTL

The good thing about this is the possibility that the collection (or part of it) might go to enrich SFMOMA, a far more accessible space. If Mr. Fisher wants more public acclaim, maybe they can rename the museum the Don Fisher/San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and put his name in big letters over the entrance?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/03/MNJI18IEQM.DTL
http://venetianred.net/



Kenneth Baker reviews the Tutankhamen exhibit and is haughty dismissive of blockbusters and those who host them. But he raises a number of questions regarding the proper use and funding of museums, which I will attempt to discuss in a future post.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/27/DDS318DH4T.DTL&type=art

An Artist's Reality Show:
When I first read about this, I thought it was a joke, but apparently it’s serious. Richard Lacayo writes that Sarah Jessica Parker and Bravo are going ahead with a Top Chef like competition for artists.

“In each episode of the series, contestants will create unique pieces highlighting art's role in everyday life, while they compete and create in a range of disciplines including sculpture, painting, photography and industrial design (to name a few). In working beyond their preferred mediums, artists will have to adapt quickly in order to succeed. Completed works of art will be appraised by a panel of top art world figures including fellow artists, gallerists, collectors, curators and critics. The finalists' work will be showcased in a nation-wide museum tour.

This leads to a few questions. Are these artists, curators and critics going to issue the snap judgments that judges on Top Chef and Project Runway pronounce? You might be able to get away with that when you're talking about a tuna tartare on a pool of lingonberry foam but I don't think it will work for something, like art, that takes a little longer to process. And where will they find people even willing to try?

Hmmm....Jeff Koons, check your messages.”

Are artists really that desperate for fame and fortune? I'm one and I know that I'd rather have a visit from the Spanish Inquisition than under participate in this humiliating show.

http://cheznamastenancy.blogspot.com/2008/07/sarah-jessica-parkers-art-competition.html
http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com/

Livia SteinPaintings on canvas & works on paperAndrea Schwartz Gallery

Stein's colorful work, often including birds, rocks, and pedestals, is at first playful and childlike. The pieces grow in complexity with each viewing moment, and I found myself looking at each object, attempting to identify and decipher it.

In her artist statement, Stein refers to her work as 'large scale diaries.' The objects and avian models sitting for her symbolize memories, events, visions.
After several days of screeching birds, I had a greater appreciation for her quiet canvas flock.

Also at Andrea Schwartz Gallery through July 31 are paintings by Eric Michael Corrigan.

Posted by Phil Gravitt
http://twitter.com/PhilGravitt

Ankhesenamen-The Lost Queen

One of the strengths of this exhibit is its inclusion of objects from the family, friends and court of Amarna and Tutankhamen. While the golden mask remains in Cairo, being too fragile to travel, the other items give a more comprehensive look at this fascinating period in Egyptian history.

When I was a teenager, I read "The Lost Queen of Egypt." It was a fanciful (but in some ways) historically accurate recreation of the life of Ankhesenamen, the daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and the wife of Tutankhamen. I loved this book, which was filled with exquisite line drawings based on the art of the Amarna period. Starting with her childhood, Lucile Morrison imagined Ankhesenamen's life in Amarna as a princess of the Royal Family and her dawning awareness of the treachery and intrigue surrounding her father. In the book, she is able to escape from the royal palace after Tutankhamen's death and live the life of a non-royal woman with her lover, an artist from Crete. Would that it were so - but her real life history is even more amazing.

Records were found in the Hittite archive outlining a strange sequence of events. In all the 3,000 years of Egyptian history, these letters are the only personal ones from a Queen of Egypt that have been found. After the death of Tutankhamen a queen referred to as Dahamunzu writes to King Suppiluliumas and asks him to send her one of his many sons to marry and become lord of the land of Egypt.

"He who was my husband is dead and I have no son. Should I then perhaps take one of my servants and make him my husband?"

King Suppiluliuma suspects some trick and sends one of his envoys to investigate. After some time the King decides to send his son, Prince Zannanza, to Egypt. The prince dies, possibly murdered, and the King expects foul play. Later, he declared war on Egypt. The last letters in the exchange show a correspondence between Aye and Suppiluliuma. All of Ankhesenamen's attempts to escape whatever fate was planned for her failed. We will never know her motives or why she even thought such a scheme could succeed.

There is some indication that she married Aye, who may have been her grandfather. Amarna family relationships were complex beyond belief with intermarriage carried to a new level, with father-daughter marriages as well as the more common brother-sister marriages. There may have even been a father-son marriage! The elderly Aye was pharaoh after Tutankhamen and a ring with their joint cartouches was found in Aye's tomb. But after that, silence. She disappears from history, her ultimate fate a mystery.

But I love to think that there was true love between her and Tutankhamen and that the numerous images of her in Tutankhamen's funeral goods are not there for solely religious reasons. The four statues of the golden goddesses who guarded his canopic chest are all portraits of the queen. They are shown together in various scenes on the shrines, the chests for clothing. She is languidly handing him as arrow as he hunts along the Nile. She waits upon his pleasure, sitting on the floor beside him, her arm resting on his knee, anointing him with perfume, both of them wrapped up in each other.

The Flower Song (Excerpt)

To hear your voice is pomegranate wine to me:
I draw life from hearing it.
Could I see you with every glance,
It would be better for me
Than to eat or to drink.

(Translated by M.V. Fox)

When Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen, several items showed the image of Tutankhamen's Queen. One of the most famous objects is the golden throne, which shows Ankhesenamen standing before her husband. She is apparently anointing the king. Ankhesenamen is shown wearing a short Nubian wig and her regalia consist of a modius consisting of uraei topped with the horned sun disk and the double plumes. The sun disk and plumes associate her with the goddess Hathor. Above them shines the sun disk of the Aton, its rays ending in hands as they bless the royal pair.

I am thy wife, O great one -- do not leave me!
Is it thy good pleasure, O my brother that I should go far from thee!
But thou remain silent and speak not.

Art Going This Weekend?

Up at: http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner
Of course, this is also Gay Pride weekend so be mindful of the traffic!

The mother of all bling returns

After 30 years, King Tut returns to the De Young with more items and an even larger flurry of publicity and even more hype. There will be lines, there will be expensive tickets and there will be hordes of people trying to see every shiny item. For many, what gets lost are all the complex and still unknown problems of his life, as well as that of his much more important father Akhenaton. But it's a big money maker and museums need that in these difficult times. I understand that much of the profit will be going to the Cairo Museum where I hope it will be spent wisely. So, here's a closer look at some of the precious which you will probably not be able to get a close up of if you attend the show in person.

Ceremonial Dagger and Sheath: There were two daggers found within the king's mummy wrappings. This one is absolutely extraordinary. It and its sheath are of solid gold and the tiny gold granulations and cloisonne work are remarkable. The sheath is especially an indication of the artistic ability and skill of the goldsmith. (Andreas F. Voegelin / Antikenmuseum Basel)


Pectoral With Solar/Lunar Emblems and Scarab: The ancient Egyptian ability to show symbols that are meant for protection with such a creative sense of design is astounding. In this beautiful pendant, the scarab in the center was merged with a hawk, both symbols of the sun. Above the scarab are images that represent the moon. (Kenneth Garrett / National Geographic 2008)

Chased gold Falcon Collar, representing the Pharaoh's status as the Falcon of Egypt. Of all the gods and goddesses of Egypt, the two best known are probably Isis and Osiris. Osiris was regarded as the oldest and, for a long time, the most important god who lead the Egyptians out of savagery, giving them laws and teaching them how to cultivate the land. He married his sister Isis and ruled with wisdom and benevolence. He was murdered by his jealous brother Set but Isis gathered up the sundered parts (including THAT part) and was able to conceive a son, Horus. Horus, represented by a falcon, defeated his wicked uncle and regained the throne. Henceforth, the king of Egypt was called "The Horus," and the falcon became one of the personal totems of pharaoh.

Viscera Coffin (detail), Dynasty 18, Reign of Tutankhamun 1332-1322 BCE. Photo: Andreas F. Voegelin, Antikenmuseum Basel and Sammlung Ludwig

Thou appearest beautifully on the horizon of heaven,
Thou living Aton, the beginning of life!
When thou art risen on the eastern horizon,
Thou hast filled every land with thy beauty.
Thou art gracious, great, glistening, and high over every land;
Thy rays encompass the lands to the limit of all that thou hast made:
As thou art Re, thou reachest to the end of them;
(Thou) subduest them (for) thy beloved son.
Though thou art far away, thy rays are on earth;
Though thou art in their faces, no one knows thy going.

Of all the items in the show, this one is probably the most historically important. Akhenaton was the most radical king in all Egyptian history. He abandoned the old capital of Thebes and built a new one, dedicated to the glory of his personal god, Aton. He ordered his servants to deface and destroy the the name of Amon-Re, the most powerful god (and priesthood) in Ancient Egypt. Other gods were not spared and in some cases, the plural for gods was scratched out. The surviving hymn, while probably not written personally by the king, is unique in the long history of Egyptian religion. A spirit of joyousness and an appreciation of life flow from what we know of faith of Aton; even the temples were open to the sun. Eventually, sadly, the whole edifice collapsed and the faith of the Aton, along with its founder were oblitered for centuries by the powerful and vindictive priests of Amon-Re. None of the important tombs and mummies of the family have been discovered. Tut was a very very minor king and while the treasures of his tomb dazzle, there are still many questions unanswered.

Tut Links
Information about the Ancient Egypt from Barbara Mertz's funny yet informative book: Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs. (Harper Collins, 2007).

Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation
The electronic publication of Howard Carter's records of the excavation of the tomb of King Tut! Brought to you by the Griffith Institute.
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/4tut.html

Eighteenth Dynasty: King Tut'ankhamun
Enjoy viewing some of the treasures from Tut's tomb through this virtual museum site.
http://touregypt.net/museum/tut.htm

The Diaries of Howard Carter
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/4sea1no2.html

De Young Museum Web Site:
http://www.tutsanfrancisco.org/content/about-exhibition
images courtesy of National Geographic

Kalligraphia 2009 at the SF Main Library

In the “Story of Writing,” Donald Jackson remembers learning to write with a pencil and the thrill of actually making an “egg- shaped O. The joy that he talks about is one that is familiar to modern practitioners of the ancient art of shaping beautiful letters. In the east, calligraphy is still a valued art form but it’s not that widely practiced or recognized as an art in the west. Printing eventually dealt a deathblow to the hand written books. In turn, the study of formal letterforms or handwriting has now been widely replaced by computer and computer generated type. But the San Francisco Friends of Calligraphy and like-minded organizations across the United States and Great Britain continue to maintain the traditions of this ancient art. They struggle with inkblots and spelling errors, caused by Titivillus, the patron demon of scribes. There are passionate discussions of ink, pen nibs and paper. They hold conferences, retreats and give demonstrations where the love of fine letters shines through. They sponsor calligraphy shows – the one now up at the SF Main Library - is their 15th show in the organizations’ 30-year history. As Donald Jackson said, “When we make things with our hands, we put into them the energy which comes from our innermost self. ..these marks are an intimate link with the calligrapher’s heart and mind.” The exhibit on the 6th floor of the library is not only a link with our past but a reflection of passion, beauty and energy of an ancient art in our present.

Melissa Dinwiddie: XYS Triptych

"These letters are from a decorated alphabet I made at the 2009 FOB Retread, with letters and icons, based on a square shape, that I can use in unlimited combinations for the Ketubot, prints and cards that I design.”
info@mddesignworks.com

Through Aug. 23. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon. and Sat., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., noon-6 p.m. Fri., noon-5 p.m Sun. Skylight Gallery, San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin St., S.F. (415) 557-4277. www.friendsofcalligraphy.org.

Images from julie michelle at femmefotographie.com

Donald Jackson. The Story of Writing. Taplinger Publishing Co. Inc. New York, New York, 1981. pp. 10-13.
Marc Drogin, Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique (London: Prior, and Monclair, New Jersey: Schram, 1980), 18-19.

Art and Power in the African Savanna

In the past, when the Westerners looked at African art, they brought their own preconceived ideas of the primitive and the savage. Twentieth century artists like Picasso and Matisse found the graphic qualities of African art inspiring but knew nothing of the history, culture or religion of the peoples from whom it was taken. The current exhibit at the de Young remedies some of that ignorance with a small but intense and powerful show of art from four Central African Cultures: the Luba, Songye, Chokwe, and Luluwa. The area represented covers present-day Angola, Zaire and the Congo and much of it was collected, for various reasons, by the 19th century Belgium and Portuguese administrators in that region.

Songye female figure - embedded with bass pins to signify the desire for a male child

The power objects blended art and religion and were originally created as a vehicle to mediate between the worlds of the spirits, the earth and the ancestors. But, according to Constantine Petradis, the curator of African art at the Cleveland Museum of art and curator of this exhibit, the power embodied in the nearly 60 sculptures and masks on view was not only religious but political as well.

That fusion of worldly and spiritual purposes explains why "power objects" — formerly called fetishes by scholars — came to be large, elaborately carved sculptures that showed "great refinement in anatomical and decorative details," he says.

The sacred royalty of these tribal cultures incorporated religious elements into the justification for their rule. Like the monarchies of Western Europe, the position of the kings was seen as divinely inspired. The complex coronation ritual involved religious confirmation from the spirits. The objects used in the coronation rituals were seen as containers for spiritual and earthly power. The staffs of kingship– several of which are displayed in the show – were to be read from top to bottom and contained emblems of sacred knowledge. Among the Luba, women of the royal family served as custodians of the sacred and secret objects; sometimes they were even the power behind the throne. But the power they were allowed to exert was indirect and bound up with rituals of kingship, renewal and the spirit world.

Songye male figure; the beads are a mark of status as is the skirt/kilt made of rare leopard skins.

Many of these earlier objects have never been exhibited. Dating mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries, the works on view were borrowed from private and public collections in the United States and Belgium, a former colonial power in Central Africa.

Though Westerners were often taken with the beautiful carving of the later works, what Africans believed empowered them were the mineral and plant substances, feathers, animal skins — even human hair and nail clippings — that were either inserted into their cavities or, in the case of oils and ointments, rubbed onto the objects.

Chokwe Male Mask, Angola

Those accouterments were meant to "transform (the sculpture) from an empty, useless piece of wood to a power mediator — to a powerful transistor, so to speak, between this world and the world of the spirits," Petridis says. The power embedded in these figures worked to assist the community in times of danger and to glorify political authority.

Other, smaller figures served more personal purposes. Some, like the female figure almost entirely embedded with bass tacks suggested a desire for a male child or perhaps even protection against smallpox, a much feared disease. Other figures and masks glorified the culture’s idea of female beauty or venerated dynastic heroes and founders of the ruling dynasties. The Nkishi were prayers to the spirit world for a healthy birth, a successful hunt, or a triumph over an enemy. In the past, when the figures had served their purpose, many (those not associated with the royal families or the rituals of sacred kingship) were thrown away. This venue gives a much more nuanced and complex view of African art, organized by a knowledgeable Western scholar and without the colonial patina of ignorance and prejudice toward “darkest Africa.”

The exhibit was originally on view at the Cleveland Museum of art, as well as the Menii Collection, Houston, Texas. The de Young is the final venue.

at the de Young from June 20-October 11, 2009
http://www.famsf.org/deyoung/exhibitions/exhibition.asp?exhibitionkey=1030
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/features/6016352.html

Matisse at SF MOMA

New piece up at the Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-13996-SF-Museum-Examiner~y2009m6d17-Matisse-at-SF-MOMA

Rock and Roll at the Old Mint

Backstage Pass: A Sweeping History of Rock 'n Roll at the Old Mint

June 10 through 14, 2009: 12 Noon to 5 PM

The Old Mint, Fifth and Mission Streets

SFMHS, in conjunction with Wolfgang's Vault, is proud to present Backstage Pass: A Sweeping History of Rock 'n Roll at the Old Mint.

This limited engagement will exhibit select works from Bill Graham archives from Wolfgang's Vault, the world's largest collection of live concert recordings and music memorabilia. More than 100 rarely seen historic banners, posters, photographs and videos of rock legends and concerts, including Carlos Santana, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Huey Lewis and The News, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Linda Ronstadt, to name a few, performing at San Francisco's top concert venues will be on display.

Admission is $10 per person
All proceeds will benefit the SFMHS education programs and facilities.

Lords of the Samurai-opening Friday

“Lords of the Samurai reinforces the Asian Art Museum’s reputation for providing quality exhibitions compromising outstanding artworks that tell remarkable stories,” says Jay Xu, director of the Asian Art Museum. The current exhibit continues the Asian’s remarkable series of stunning exhibits; further cementing its status as a world-class institution. The works displayed come from the collection of the Hokosawa family, one of Japan’s most respected, erudite and long-lived military clans. They strove to embody the ideal characteristics of the warrior elite by pursuing achievements in two areas: culture (bun) and arms (bu).


The current head of this 700-year old family, Hosokawa Morihiro attributes the preservation of their collection to luck. However, a great deal of the credit must also lay in past generations' politically astute choices. There are over 160 objects in the exhibit, seven of which have been designated important Cultural Properties, the highest award given by the Japanese government. None of these objects have been seen outside Japan; the depth and breadth of the collection is spectacular.

For a guy take on the exhibit plus photos of the absolutely fabulous armor, guns and weapons, read:
SF Mike: http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/
Matty Boy: http://lotsasplainin.blogspot.com/
For further reading: Ruth Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. Patterns of Japanese Culture.
For background on the culture that preceded the Shogunate: Ivan Morris. The World of the Shining Prince (The Tale of Genji)

Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St, San Francisco. 581-3500
http://www.asianart.org
other images courtesy of the Asian Museum

Matthew (http://lotsasplainin.blogspot.com/) pointed out to me that at one time the samurai were a completely exotic concept to most Americans. But now, thanks to a generation of samurai movies and the popularity of recent of movies like “Kill Bill,” samurai are as common as cowboys and Indians in American pop culture. However, the popular image of slice and dice warriors hardly does justice to the complexity of the samurai or their real place in Japanese culture. Samurai means “one who serves” and for over 600 years, the government’s political authority depended on the skill and loyalty of these warriors. The historical tale of the Forty-Seven Ronin who avenged the insult to their lord and then committed ritual suicide (or seppuku) is still part of the living culture of Japan. For 700 of those years, the Hosokawa clan has been intimately linked with not only the highest levels of government but also with the arts of calligraphy, poetry, the tea ceremony, painting and pottery.

Did an age slip by
During those fleeting moments
When I dried my sleeves
Drenched by chrysanthemum dew
On the path through the moundains?
Hosokawa Yusai (1534-1610)

Nine Planet Family Crest

"The “nine planets” in the Hosokawa family crest are actually not all planets or even all celestial bodies. The concept comes from Indian cosmology–the nine grahas. See Wikipedia entry on same. The specific planets (or not) are listed toward the bottom, next to the deities who represent them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navagraha

Melissa Rinne, the museum’s assistant curator of Japanese Art.

http://www.asianart.org/blog/index.php/2009/05/27/the-nine-planet-hunt/

Daiymo for a day

The museum has created another one of its delightful interactive educational resources. To emphasize the artistic side of the samurai, you can play at being one of the daiymo for a day, wear a robe, sit on a tatami mat in beautifully recreated room and play Go. There's also a writing desk where you can try out your hand at writing poetry.

images courtesy of SF Mike: http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/

The current head of the main family line, Morihiro Hosokawa continues the family's long tradition of interest in the arts. A former Prime Minister of Japan, he is now a noted potter and calligrapher. As a potter, his tea bowls exemplify the Japanese principles of Waba-Sabi, small, earthy and unpretentious, simple but not simplistic.
images courtesy of SF Mike: http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/

Sunday at SF MOMA

Today, I went to see the various shows at SFMOMA. So many people have written about the Robert Frank show that I don't think I have anything new to add. The photographers that I respect the most are the ones who were politically progressive, starting with Jacob Riis and his images of the urban poor in turn-of-the-century New York, continuing through Walker Evans, Paul Strand and Margaret Bourke White - all of whom produced what are now iconic and critical images of America. I appreciated the display of his working materials and the acknowledgement of his influences. But it's a pity that the gallery didn't display his photos in the sequence he intended in his book, The Americans; that might have given it a loose narrative sequence and more of an emotional punch.
But the show that just knocked me over was the show comparing the affinities between Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams. Our local art critic had slyly panned O'Keefe for what some other critics saw as the sexual symbolism in her work and for having the burden of being seen as a feminist icon - something which she rejected. However, I fail to see why this means her work is somehow lesser; surely she's not responsible for what the critics say. But, since she is commercially overexposed, I wasn't expecting much. I was wrong. In person, her art is still memorable with startling combinations of size and color, a disciplined painterly technique and a unique artistic sensibility. Even her very smallest works - and there are many in the show - display her emphatic color and delicate brush work combined with striking compositions. The best of her works cross over to abstraction ("that dream thing," as O'Keeffe called it), and then loop back to the figurative, engaging the imagination on many different levels.
In search of the marvelous, she advised Russell Vernon Hunter, "Try to paint your world as though you are the first man looking at it-The wind and the licat-and the cold-The dust-and the vast starlit night ..

Ignore the critics; she's been a target since the beginning and the current review in the Chron is no exception. Instead, go and marvel at her wonder, her razor-sharp vision, and her response to that vision and be astonished. The show is the largest one of her works that I've seen in years and contains many pieces from private collections which are not normally on view.

Oh, and look at the photos by Ansel Adams as well. A close look will reveal that there are, indeed, affinities between the two. It's a show worth the extra surcharge to get in.

Another great review up at Civic Center: http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/

Ujima Artists Collective

D.A. Arts is proud to present the work of the Ujima Artists Collective – four Tenderloin artists making their debut with an eclectic collection of colorful paintings. Ujima is Swahili for “collective work and responsibility,” and the four artists have brought together their diverse talents and cultures for this project. Harvey Rushing, Kenneth Beasley, and Brock Bates have worked together for four years in an art studio at Central City Hospitality House. They have teamed up with Michael Berninger, who works at the Pearl Art & Craft Supplies on Market Street. “One thing that’s very unique about us,” said Beasley, “is that we’re a multicultural band of artists. We bring all the ingredients of our artistic talents into one canvass.” Ujima will host an art gallery opening on Friday, June 12th at 6:00 pm at D.A. Arts, located in a window display gallery at 135 Sixth Street. The paintings are all by self-taught artists, considered "outsider art" in today's art market but their work is anything but crude. The vibrant colors strengthen, not weaken, the powerful cry against historical and political injustice.
Come to Ujima’s art display opening next Friday – and meet the four artists (who are all excited about making their debut) and ask them questions. D.A. Arts is a project of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, to promote the work of local artists in a Sixth Street window display.

Opening: June 12th
135 Sixth Street.

http://www.hospitalityhouse.org/
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7002#more

photos from Beyond The Chron website

More On Robert Frank

Elson Lecture 2009: Robert Frank at the National Gallery of Art.
Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans," an exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Art, is the most comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the single most important book of photographs published since World War II. In this podcast of the annual Elson Lecture, recorded on March 26, 2009, Greenough speaks with the renowned photographer about his career before, during, and after "The Americans."

The lecture can be downloaded via iTunes at http://www.nga.gov/podcasts/index.shtm