Maya

This piece by Jarvis Rockwell is an 11' step pyramid filled with thousands of action figures. The action figures displayed on this pyramid vary from Star Wars figurines to Bart Simpson. Rockwell was inspired to make Maya from Hindu temples that he saw on a trip to Madras/Chennai in India. These Hindu temples are covered with sculptures of gods that make up the Hindu pantheon. Instead of filling the pyramid with Hindu gods, Rockwell uses dolls. For Rockwell these figures stand in for the abundance of desires found in contemporary culture. These action figures tell a story to viewers. The viewers are astounded by these stories because they can make a connection to these fictional characters. Rockwell began collecting action figures in 1979. His collection grew into hundreds, and then thousands. After about a decade he began grouping the action figures, articulating the relationships that he saw between the figures. This hobby of Rockwell that began in 1979 eventually led the massive display shown in Maya (1997).

Carroll Dunham Art Gallery

I viewed the Carroll Dunham art gallery at The University of Albany. This gallery consisted of many different types of art including paintings, sketches, as well as cut drawings where a knife was used. Overall I felt that this gallery was set up well, forcing the viewer to walk a certain direction to get the ultimate analysis of Dunham's work. My favorite piece was titled "The Wave" and incorporated bold light colors on a large scale. I found myself continuously looking from center to the right and left of the painting. A large wave shaped object is the focal point of the painting with outlying objects making up the background. The Carroll Dunham gallery had an uplifting and revitalizing feel that could turn anyone's mood around. I enjoyed the trip and would definetly recommend this exhibit to others.

Painting

This piece from Alex Grey displays a man painting. Grey specializes in spiritual and visionary art. This particular piece deals with the Third Eye concept. The Third Eye, also known as "Inner Eye" symbolizes a state of enlightenment. Both Eastern and Western traditions believe the Third Eye as a gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. It is often associated with visions, clairvoyance, precognition, and out-of-body experiences. In this particular piece you see the man using his right hand to paint. There are four aura's going from his body to the painting. Two are going from his eyes to the painting. Another is coming from his chest. I believe that symbolizes his heart, probably because he is doing what he loves. The fourth aura is a different color than the others. It is coming from the man's forehead. This represents the man's third eye. There is also a fifth aura going from the top of the man's head and spiraling above. The aura coming from the man's Third Eye is also viewed as a spiral. However his two actual eyes are just represented as rays of light. Behind the man you can see a being who is looking at the man. He has two rays of light that are shooting into the back of the man's head. It almost appears as if he is helping the man use his Third Eye. In other words he is helping him attain enlightenment. That same being also has a shiny circular ball on his forehead which may represent his Third Eye. Then there are the group of people in the back of the painting watching over. I think these people represent those that have passed on, but are enlightened, showing us that we are all one and connected.

Juvisy, France

Henri Cartier-Bresson's photograph "Juvisy, France" was taken in 1938, and printed in 1947. I really like this photograph because it is very good quality for the time period. You can also see that Henri is able to capture a sense of realism. Everyone in the photograph is looking out at sea with the exception of the man pouring a glass of wine. This gives you a sense that these people were acting natural, and not posing for this picture. Since this is such an old photograph, and because it is black and white you can't actually see what the weather is like. Is it sunny? Is it cloudy? But Cartier-Bresson is able to make you see from this photograph. The five people in the photograph are sitting down and appear to be comfortable. The man pouring the glass of wine has a hat on which would make you think it must be a nice day outside. The older gentleman in front of him has a t-shirt on, and a hat as well. The woman on the right has a tank-top on which reveals that it must be very hot outside. Now if you look at the boat you can see the shadow of the boat is not very oblong. So it must be around mid-day when Henri took this photograph. He did an amazing job of taking this photograph because you can almost tell that the sun is in front of him, and giving him the right amount of light for the picture.

Primary Separation

This piece by Don Gummer I found very interesting. In the photograph you see a rock that is split in to two pieces. The way the rock is split caught my attention because it is such a clean split. The two rocks are being held above the ground by a series of metal poles and wires. The way Gummer keeps the rocks above ground almost makes them appear as if they are floating. This allows the rocks to stand out more. I found the color of the rocks to be very appealing. The two rocks seem almost exactly the same making you believe someone or something separated the two. On the other hand the cut appears too perfect to be true. This made me question if the rock was split, or if Gummer pick out two similar rocks of shape, size, and color. I then looked at the title of this piece "Primary Separation". I asked myself why use the word primary. Primary of course you should know means first or chief. I then did research on the word primary and I found out that there is chemistry meaning for Primary. Primary can also mean noting or containing a carbon atom united to no other or to only one other carbon atom in a molecule. So by using the term Primary Separation is Don Gummer trying to display an atom splitting? If that is the case then you could say that Gummer is showing through art something that is unattainable.

The Painter Surprised by the Naked Admirer

This painting caught my attention because of the lack of rapport between the two and the invasiveness of the naked person. This piece is called "The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer," and that is exactly what is happening. The painter’s posture shows that he is uncomfortable while the admirer sits at his feet like a child. The painters name is Lucian Freud and I believe he is the man in this painting. There is also a painting inside this painting and in that painting there is a painting of the scene and so forth. It is interesting how he has painted the pose that he is in right now because he obviously must not have been where he is standing now to reach the easel and paint that picture. The colors in the painting are very bland and the two people are almost be hidden in the background. I noticed that both of the people in the picture have somewhat distorted faces and bodies. They are not made to look perfect. Actually, both of them look old and wrinkly. That is a common theme in all of his paintings. I also did some other research and the painter Freud is actually the grandson of the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud. It is very interesting to see that he painted a picture that focuses on this naked and possibly psychotic admirer.

Pictures from Home "My Mother Posing for Me"

Larry Sultan.
American (Brooklyn, New York, 1946 - 2009, Greenbrae, California)
This piece of artwork is interesting because it looks like a normal photograph that anyone can take haphazardly during the day. However, this photo tells more than you think at first glance though. The photographer is obviously older because the woman has white hair and that is his mother posing for him. He was born in Brooklyn but died in California and it looks as though they are in California here because of the clothing that they are wearing. The television and lamp are older models so we can tell that this photo was not taken very recently. The man who’s back is towards us (who I assume is the photographer’s father) sits very relaxed so we get the feeling that this is his home. The woman wears a long sleeve shirt yet the man wears a short sleeve shirt. They both are wearing white pants so I assume that it is warm out and probably the summer time. The man is watching a baseball game and the woman is tense and probably nervous. This picture is from a series of pictures from home so she must have been doing quite a few poses around the house for a while. From this picture we can assume many things because of what we typically see and how we perceive and make judgments of what we see. This photo has many possibilities of different scenarios but I’d like to think of the most reasonable one from what I can observe in the picture.