Tang Teaching Museum

On Saturday February 13th I visited the Tang Teaching Museum in Saratoga, New York to view work from Fred Tomaselli. I found Tomaselli's work to be very interesting and moving. To the right is one of Tomaselli's more recent pieces "Avian Flower Serpent" 2006. In this exhibit there were a couple of other paintings similar to this one.

This art piece really grabbed me because of all the different colors that were used. I am also someone who happens to be colorblind, and the colors still stood out for me. Another thing that I really enjoy about this piece is that when you look from far away all you can really see are the colors, but as you move closer you start to visualize the detail and precision that Tomaselli contributes.

It almost appears as if the bird is living, and looking right at you. And as you move closer you can see a myriad of objects and visualizations inside the bird, and the snake. There are snakes that are inside the snakes. The bird also has more than one eye. That really intrigued me.

Then if you begin to look at the tree the bird is perked on, and if you concentrate enough you can see that there is not one leaf that appears the same as any other leaf. I feel this adds to the detail of the art piece. It seems to almost collaborate with the different colors, and objects used to represent the bird and the snake. This idea of having so many different objects gives an illusion of imperfection, but it somehow made me feel that I am looking at perfection.

Tomaselli's exhibit was truly liberating for me. I must have taken a good hour to view all of his pieces in the gallery, then I spent another hour perusing through a book consisting of his art discography. This experience has made me feel eager to visit more art museums this semester.