Bloomberg Arts and Culture Internship: Art Blog

Welcome to the Bloomberg Arts & Culture Internship Art Blog! Each summer 75 rising seniors from Career and Technical Education high schools in New York City are selected to participate in Studio in a School’s Bloomberg Art and Culture Internship Program. Over six weeks, the power of artistic engagement, real work, and discussions with members of cultural organizations are truly transformative. The program builds skills through authentic work projects, deep arts engagement, and practical assistance with the college application process. Throughout the summer interns engage and reflect on the art they have seen in discussions and in writing, some of which are presented here. View essays by year: 2016 2015 2014 View essays by museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Museum of Modern Art The Whitney Museum of American Art Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Creative Time Organization View essays by artist: Bellocq Beuys Browne Canova Casati & Pozio Close Courbet Cox Cranach the Elder de la Tour Demuth Dubuffet Escobar Gauguin Greene Hamilton Hartley Henri Hopper James Johns Kahlor Klein Lawrence Master of the Dinteville Family Mondrian Onor Parks Picasso Pollock Rauschenberg Rodin Simmons Smith Tchelitchew Twombly van Gogh Walker Zittel Schools the Interns attend: Academy for Careers in Television and Film, Queens Art and Design High School, Manhattan Curtis High School, Staten Island Fordham High School of the Arts, Bronx High School of Computers and Technology, Bronx Midwood High School, Brooklyn Talent Unlimited High School, Manhattan Thomas A. Edison CTE High School, Queens Urban Assembly School for Global Commerce, Manhattan Cultural Partners: Art21 Alvin Ailey Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, Inc. Children’s Museum of the Arts Cool Culture Chen Dance Company, Inc. Dance Theater of Harlem Four Freedoms Park Gibney Dance HERE (Home for Contemporary Theatre & Art) Museum of Chinese in America Museum of the City of New York National Dance Institute National Museum of American Indian New York Hall of Science New York Live Arts New York Theatre Workshop Nuyorican Poets Café Openhouse New York Park Avenue Armory Poets House Pregones and Puerto Rican Traveling Theater Queens County Farm Museum Roulette Intermedium Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden Socrates Staten Island Museum Streb Theater Studio Museum Studio in a School Sugar Hill Children’s Museum Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) Urban Glass Wave Hill, Inc.

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Met

Chuck Close, Lucas I

What are we made up of?  Painter Chuck Close, known for his large photo-realist portraits, alludes to that concept. In his painting entitled “Lucas I”, done in oil and graphite on canvas, Close uses multicolored dots to create a bigger image, employing a technique similar to ones used in his other paintings. When a viewer first glances at “Lucas I,” it appears to be solid shapes and colors, but, as the viewer moves closer, it becomes clear that is more to the painting than meets the eye. The painting is of his friend and fellow artist Lucas Samaras, and, while the name of the painting is casual, the depiction of him is very mysterious. Lucas is sitting for a portrait, because he is cropped from the shoulders up, and his eyes look straight at the viewer. This is not traditional line work; in fact there are no lines in the finished piece, only in the first draft of the under-painting. The smaller circular shapes work together to combine into one big image. The color in the painting is astounding. It’s almost an illusion the way the color changes from where the viewer is standing. The pointillism of the brush strokes is very reminiscent of Georges Seurat, a post-impressionist painter.

From far away, Lucas’s skin tone, hair color, and shirt color seem to be as they’d be perceived by the eye in everyday life. Close up is a different story. Colors like blues and reds and yellows and oranges, which a viewer wouldn’t consider to be part of a skin tone or a solid color, become visible. Close achieved this by gridding a photograph of Lucas, then reproducing each smaller square with the pigment seen in that section of the photograph. That way, color would be more accurate to what the eye sees before turning it into something more recognizable. I believe Close does this so the viewer who is skeptical about the painting has no choice but to come closer. Close wants to draw the viewer in with this tactic. All the elements used by Close work in harmony, so one missing element would not have the same effect on the viewer, or myself in particular.

I chose this painting to look at because I loved the style it was in, and I loved how the painting was technically done but had a whimsical effect. The painting grabbed my attention from far away, and the color kept me wondering about how Close came up with the idea to do this. Although Close could’ve just painted a simple portrait, to me it looks like he was commenting on the idea that although we are all people, there is more to us than what meets the eye. We are multi-faceted. To me, it is also a depiction of how there is a big picture, but smaller parts to that big picture. We mostly focus on ourselves, but we are not just ourselves. There are many parts that make us who we are. All in all, the painting is very beautiful and also makes the viewer question and think, which is what I believe Chuck Close intended. That is what art should make the viewer do.

Nia Chavez

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Met

Charles James, Tree

The Charles James: Beyond Fashion exhibit is infamous due to its creator Charles James’ striking decision to mix fashion design skills with superb themes of architecture. This is made evident by the structure of each gown within this collection. While thoroughly interpreting the whole exhibit, one specific piece of his abruptly captured my eyes, and stole my heart as if it were a thief in the night. This piece that vigorously grasped my attention was The Tree Ball Gown, which James made in 1955. From my perspective, this dress was the epitome of James’ efforts at visual communication.                    

The Tree Ball Gown is an unmistakably bold red, and every inch is consumed by elaborate ruching. The color red has always received connotations of being daring, contaminated, and devious. For instance, seventeenth century puritanical society in Salem, Massachusetts believed that red represented the “Devil.” From their perspective, a woman who dressed in red was often an adulterer, and was doing the “devil’s” work. Furthermore, they perceived a woman wearing anything other than white (which was considered holy) as being an undeniable sign of defiance and non-conformity. The puritanical viewpoint of women in society consisted of women conforming to the molds that the male species had made for them.

The Tree Ball Gown features a sweetheart neckline, which reveals a woman’s cleavage. During the Victorian Age of History in Europe, it was considered indecent for a woman to show any cleavage at all, and high collared necklines became common fashion. Furthermore, this piece by Charles James featured and extremely feminine shape. In fact, anyone who tried on this dress would take on its shape. Could every element of this work that juxtaposes the history of the role of women in society be intentional? If so, one could argue that

The Tree Ball Gown by Charles James was to serve as a telepathic message to women of the past, present, and future to never conform to the narrow minded and bland mold society has made in which they are to appease man. Should women continue doing only what they are allowed by society? More importantly, could this work be considered a desperate attempt to break this mold? In this event, a Charles James woman would be bold and make her own rules. Moreover, she wouldn’t be afraid to step out of her spouse’s shadow and be the daring “lady in red.” A Charles James woman wouldn’t refrain from relaying her inner most thoughts or her ambitions and goals. Would it be logically truthful to infer that this type of woman, a type scarce during James’ time, was the type of woman that he desperately admired?

Chelsea Buckner

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Heritage Studio

Kara Walker, The Sugar Sphinx

Kara Walker’s sculpture, known as The Sugar Sphinx, portrays an African American woman who fails to assimilate into a society dominated by racism and misogynism. Additionally, The Sugar Sphinx is a symbol informing viewers on the inhumane conditions that black workers were subjected to. Walker chose to make her sculpture gargantuan, because it enabled her to prompt her message more dynamically. White sugar was the medium Walker chose to use for the creation of her sculpture, and Walker sculpted African morphological features on her sculpture, to symbolize that it does not matter how assimilated a person of color is in white society; they will always be viewed as savages, and immoral animals. The sphinx’s African morphological features and her white “skin,” express the struggle people of color submit themselves to in America, for respect and equal treatment. Although people of color can completely succumb to white society, they will never be regarded as equals, or “normal.”

Walker emulates The Great Sphinx of Giza’s body position, in an attempt to persuade the viewer to question who in society holds a position of power, and authority. Moreover, the sculpture’s pose reflects the submissive role that people of color and women have been subjected to follow. Since women are the only group in history for whom society has seen domesticity and weakness as ideal traits, Walker exaggerated the sculpture’s female body parts, in an attempt to empower womanhood. By embracing the female body, Walker is accepting the female gender, rather than sexually exploiting it. Thus, Walker is attacking society for its objectifying of women in society. Walker chose to not sculpt any facial expressions on her sculpture, because the oppressed do not want sympathy, rather, they want change.

Robert Berroa Peña

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of Art21.org

Andrea Zittel, A-Z 1933 Living Unit

A-Z 1933 Living Unit by Andrea Zittel urges you to think about what you have in your life that you need along with what you have in your life that you want. The walk focuses in on those absolute necessities, showing that to live one does not need anything but the basics. Zittel had a grip on what life was. She created these pods and small living spaces and customized them by putting what people put within their real "pods," ultimately describing their way of thinking and their way of prioritizing their life. 

A-Z 1933 Living Unit is a small piece in a large exhibit within the even larger home of The Whitney Museum. Zittel's minuscule piece holds a gargantuan meaning. Within this piece you see a small confined space that's large enough to dwell in for a while. Everything you need and some of what you want all in a space the size of a closet. Zittel's piece holds an area to shield from the daily uproar of life, and is a place not to just live in but to survive in. Within this space, the basic essentials are present: bed, soap, and towels. But while observing this piece, I realized there's a lot of what you want as well. One can really get to know what true luxury is when living here. Zittel's piece is a confined area to find the true meaning of life and what we actually need in our lives. 

One bed, or one area to spend your snooze time. A flat thin lifeless blue hammock almost, to rest your head upon, and refresh yourself for the day ahead. A small seat for resting your weary legs on. A black sweater just in case you run into a chilly day. Heating machines; microwave and stove. Then you look around the small living area and notice there are items, even in this miniature area, that are not necessarily a need but rather a want. For example, one does not need two mirrors with in their living space. Vanity has become a thing of such importance to everyone nowadays, looking in the mirror at least 3 times a day to make sure they measure up to the outside world standards. One does not need that many mason jars; you can store everything you need within one to two jars. One does not need that many drawers; you can most likely fit everything you NEED into one drawer.

A-Z 1933 Living Unit urges you to think about what you have in your life that you need and the things you have in your life that you want. Most everything you have in your life is something you want. And this specific piece allows you to dive deep and separate both your wants and your needs. Everything you have in your life is not everything that you absolutely need in your life. There are definitely certain things in your life that are not a life or death situation if you do not have them. 

Taylor Giraud

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Whitney

Stephen Greene, The Shadow

The Shadow sticks out like a sore thumb in a room filled with many photographs at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The artist, Stephen Greene, is an American abstract artist who mainly focused on pictures of the everyday person amalgamated with abstract expressionism. His work is so abstract that a picture of The Shadow cannot even be found online. For a short while, I almost believed that I had merely imagined the painting into existence.

In a shadowy room leans a skeleton against a wall. The skeleton has no arms, and an unattached leg rests on the wall, possibly ripped off and thrown to the side. To me, this piece feels very melancholic because of the use of just black, white and grey. “Who is this skeleton and how did they get here?” are probably the first questions to enter your mind as you envision the work. That's what makes this skeleton so interesting. There are so many questions to ask, but so little answers to be found. It draws you in and leaves you more confused every time you see it. This gives you the opportunity to create your own story. The skeleton can be anyone or anything you want it to be. A man thrown into a basement and left to starve, who tore off their own arm in a fit of insanity after being left down in the damp and dark for so long. A pirate who was trapped with his loot. A victim of torture who was crudely hidden away from the world.

That is the true beauty of this piece, there is no right or wrong answer. This skeleton is everyone and everything, but no one at all.

Monifa Charles-Osubu

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of MoMA

Robert Rauschenberg, Bed

Since the 1950s, Robert Rauschenberg has shown people how to use every part of an object in an art piece. He felt that each piece had some type of value in art. His goal was to express his ideals, of life and art being one, to the rest of the world.

MoMA was the place to display Rauschenberg's extraordinary combine paintings. Combine paintings are a mix between a painting and a sculpture. From displaying taxidermy Rauschenberg found on the street to hanging a bed on the wall, MoMA has shown it all. Bed is definitely one piece that absolutely no one can sleep on.

In this work, Rauschenberg took a worn out pillow, fitted sheet, and a quilt, and went to work. He scribbled on the pillow and fitted sheet with pencil, and splashed the quilt with paint in a similar style to that of abstract painter Jackson Pollock.

Legend has it that these objects could possibly be Rauschenberg’s own pillow and blanket, which he used to paint on when he could not afford to buy a new canvas. I personally believe that he did this to connect life with art, but to him, in a much more personal level. This displays a form of expressionism by expressing an emotional experience through a personal piece of art.

I perceive Rauschenberg’s piece, Bed, is a failed remembrance of a dream. The pencil markings on the top of the bed and on the pillow represent the blurred memories of the dream that he had in that bed. The splatter marks on the lower section of the quilt represent the bursts of things that he did remember from the dream. Connecting the fact that Rauschenberg possibly could not afford a new canvas, maybe these thoughts about being broke were expressed through the blurred out pillow showing that he didn’t want to remember the idea.

Many of Rauschenberg’s pieces display what the reality of his life was. Using everyday items, he was able to get his point across to the audience. Yet, his work also allows people to interpret them however they please.

Melissa Henriquez

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of MoMA

Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31

Art can come in an infinite number of forms. We see those forms in many aspects of human life. Almost all artwork is able to captivate a particular feeling inside of us that draws us into the art. Art is something that we look at to see not only the mind of the artist, but how other people view and feel about the artist’s work.  In my time of looking at art, I have seen so many incredible creations made from artists all across the world. All of them are unique and possessing their own artistic style. Recently, there is one piece of artwork that piqued my interest when I first saw it. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I saw piece by an artist named Jackson Pollock. Titled One: Number 31, 1950. In my mind this painting stands apart from every other painting I've seen. The paintings I am accustomed to seeing are usually of objects, people, or places of nature or fantasy. This painting was none of that, just splatters of three colors of a massive canvas. It was different, but a good kind of different.

In this piece by Jackson Pollock, there are a lot of things going on. First is the scale of the painting. Most paintings I've seen take up a small part of a wall; this painting stretches the entire length of the wall it is hung on. It is definitely one of the bigger paintings I have seen. Next is the colors; many paintings that I have seen use a plethora of colors to capture your attention. This painting only uses three colors; black, white, and a dark green color as well. They are all splattered about the canvas, just a bunch of drips and splatters all around the canvas, with no sense of order or purpose. It looks as if a child could make something like it. When you get up close you can see that the black is like an inky jet black, the white looks as if it was ripped from the clouds, and the green looks like a dark granny smith apple. All these colors manage to work in harmony to create a much bigger picture. The colors are all layered on the canvas so that one doesn't wash out another. It all manages to flow into one giant splatfest. Looking at it, it gives me the feeling that this wasn't created for a single meaning, but a multitude of meanings. These meanings could all change depending on the person's view.

Jackson Pollock was an American born artist who developed artwork devoted to abstract expressionism. Abstract expressionism became a wildly popular art movement in America during the post-World War two era. Artists such as Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Pousette-Dart, and countless others all developed art that had multiple meanings and changed the art world by introducing new art forms like Jackson Pollock's splatter paintings. He had a method called the “drip” method in order to make his paintings. He would lay down multiple layers of canvas on a floor, then walk around the canvas and start dripping the paint onto it. His way of painting was also influenced by “action painting.”  This form of painting often emphasizes the physical act of painting, an essential aspect of the finished work of the artist.

Looking at the painting, the meaning that I drew from it is that it represents humanity. The spatters are all spread out and mixed; it's not just one thing. There are also no similarities in splatters throughout the painting. I tied that to how every human is different in mindset and has different traits to make individuals unique to themselves. The scale of the painting can also be how big the human race is now and how much it has grown. Since everything is mixed, I thought of it as everyone having to work together regardless of color. The canvas represents mother earth, and every viewer is a god staring down at humanity. That's the way that I interpret the painting. Although that’s what I may see, everyone else's view will be different from mine. That’s one of the benefits of abstract expressionist work; you can see the near infinite ideas of a meaning from anyone.

I'm glad I got to see a piece of artwork as unique as the one Jackson Pollock created. It took me a while to find a piece of artwork that really spoke out to me. Although I managed to go to new places, not many pieces of artwork were really speaking to me. When I saw this piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I knew that I finally found something that I could say was truly my favorite thing. Though I am still young and haven't seen all the artwork that lies out in the world, I've definitely found something that I will remember for a very long time. Seeing something like that really showed me that art can be anything that you want it to be.

Joshua Gonzalez

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of MoMA

Robert Rauschenberg, Bed

Imagine you are lying in bed. It has been a long day, your body is exhausted, and now your mind is going over what you have done all day. Keep that image in your mind.

Robert Rauschenberg is considered to be one of the most influential artists in American history because of his daring and unique art styles. Rauschenberg was also a big factor in the transition of art from abstract expressionism to modern art movements. Rauschenberg and his experimental ideas changed and opened up the art world forever. He opened the doors to new art styles for himself and for artists of the future.

_Bed _is an artwork by Robert Rauschenberg created in 1955 and is currently being displayed at the Museum of Modern Art. When I first saw Bed it was pretty clear what I was looking at. At first glance, it seemed to be a painting that was almost three dimensional in a way. It was one of Rauschenberg’s first “combines.” A combine is known as artwork with attached objects that are found or bought. Rauschenberg’s Bed was made of oil and pencil on a pillow, quilt, and sheet on wood supports. The pillow, sheet, and quilt, which made it a combine, allowed me to interpret the artwork as a bed. When looking at the piece of art I knew it was a bed although it was vertically hanging on a wall unlike a normal bed which is horizontally on the ground.

The bed itself was extremely messy on the pillow and the top part of the quilt but as you looked downward the quilt was much more clean and organized. Critics suggest that the reason for this is simply because Rauschenberg ran out of canvas and decided to use his bed linings as a canvas, and then he ended up adding the quilt and pillow. Although this seems like such a basic reasoning, I believe there is more to the story than just “running out of canvas.” An artistic genius like Rauschenberg must have some hidden reasoning for why he made Bed look the way it does. I have my own interpretation and theory on what Bed is supposed to represent.

The fact that the pillow and top half of the sheet/quilt, where usually the head and shoulders rest, are extremely messy and chaotic, whilst the bottom of the combine where the rest of the body would be is clean and tidy, leads me to believe that this bed represents the human body when it is sleeping. A normal person most likely works all day and is ready to go in their bed to sleep. While the body is simply resting, which is why the bottom of the combine is clean and tidy, the brain on the other hand is working twice as hard, which is why the top is messy and chaotic. Remember that image? Lying in bed, ready to go to sleep, going over the day in your mind and thinking of a million other things at the same time. I believe Rauschenberg meant for this bed to symbolize how the brain never stops working, while we might feel refreshed in the morning thinking our mind and body have rested, the truth is that only our bodies have rested, our brain has multiple things going on inside and is constantly at work. Dreams, nightmares, memories, ideas, etc. are all being processed, stored, created and disposed of throughout the night while our bodies rest which is why there is so much chaos on the pillow of the Bed.

As a person who has been sadly suffering from Insomnia since high school started, when I saw this piece of work by Rauschenberg, I felt connected to it in a way. The fact that I have trouble falling asleep and then I wake up almost every hour of the night and stay up for a bit until I can fall back asleep each time means that I know how it feels to think the brain is constantly at work. My brain has so many things going through it at once that I am even unable to sleep the hours that I need to. Rauschenberg told the art writer Calvin Tomkins he “learned how little difference there is between sanity and insanity and realized that a combination is essential.” which is why “Bed” is a combine of half peaceful and half chaotic. “Some art tries to transcend messy reality. The combines celebrate it.” The messy reality is that our bodies rest while our brain is constantly at work, and Rauschenberg’s “Bed” symbolizes this.

Jesus Hernandez

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Whitney

Robert Henri, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

A woman sits with great posture and beauty on a couch. Her head is straight and her hand is positioned in a way that shows off her wealth and personality. Her face is stern yet focused and her legs are crossed. She is none other than Gertrude Whitney, the founder of the Whitney Museum of Art. While observing Robert Henri's portrait Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney I noticed Henri's use of cool colors not only for Mrs. Whitney’s clothes but also for the scenery, which evoked a calmness I immediately felt. Henri used cool colors like blue, green, and purple. The blue is like an ocean blue, calm and nicely painted inducing an inspirational feeling. She has a lot of jewelry on her hands, some of which are a part of white pearls, which expresses her status as a wealthy woman. The background of the painting seems rather dull. It is as if Mrs. Whitney is turning her back to society and paying no mind to them, bringing the viewer's eyes to her and nothing else. 

The painting is one-hundred years old and it was made before the 1920s, the decade of change and Women’s Suffrage. Before the 1920s women were always overlooked and seen as inferior. Women had no equal rights to men. Women were not allowed to vote, did not receive equal pay, had no property rights, and were not given positions of power. Therefore, women weren’t expected to be much of anything in society other than being a housewife where her sole responsibility was taking care of her house, her children, and her husband. Yet Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney challenged all of these expectations. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney not only challenges these stereotypes about women, but also what contemporary art and society is by showing what it could be through this portraiture of Mrs. Whitney. 

I continued observing the painting in depth, noticing her outfit. Instead of being painted wearing the typical long dresses and skirts women before the 1920’s were expected to wear, Mrs. Whitney is portrayed wearing pants. Women were also expected to have long hair, but Mrs. Whitney’s hair is shown to be short. Her profession is as an artist, instead of a housewife. Her facial expression and body language show a demeanor that is calm, collected, and confident. The structure of her body illustrates how she’s willingly putting herself out there. Her face is serious but continuously expresses her confidence. Through her eyes, Henri shows how collected she is because she’s very focused. To me, her whole demeanor shows Mrs. Whitney as being a woman who is very rebellious against things she believes are not right or unjust. It is clear that Mrs. Whitney is confident in what she’s doing and how she portrays herself to society. She knows that she is defying society’s expectations from her outfit, her appearance, and the actions she has taken. Not only is she showing herself off, but she is also inspiring others in a way to stand up against society for what you believe in. From background knowledge of Mrs. Whitney, she was often shamed and looked down on for her looks, but she didn’t care, and carried and expressed herself the way she wanted to, and felt comfortable doing so. Henri did a marvelous job expressing her sense of character to viewers through this painting.

During the early twentieth century, it was very hard for artists to sell or show (exhibit) their artwork. Mrs. Whitney was aware of this and wasn’t able to sell her works of art so she began to showcase her and other artists’ works. By doing so she broke the norms of society, not only by doing so, but also by changing her appearance. Mrs. Whitney was not going to tolerate society turning her and other artists’ artworks down. Thus, Mrs. Whitney was not going to let that become an obstacle or alter her ideas from getting put out there. In addition, she wanted other artists to have the opportunity to get their ideas put out there as well. Instead of continuing to get turned down, she took matters into her own hands and took action. She was able to not only accomplish having her own museum, but she was also able to get people to be inspired by her and have other artists be put out there and noticed. Mrs. Whitney has impacted the lives of women today because she proved that women are capable of doing anything a man can do, is capable of proving and opposing society for herself and others, and that they are worth more than what society has thought of them for decades.

Fatoumata Koita

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Whitney

Robert Henri, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

During my tour of the Whitney Museum one of the many portraits that I saw stood out from the rest. The piece I am referring to is Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, an oil painting Robert Henri commissioned in 1916. The painting itself is hung on the seventh floor of the museum near a door opening with bright colors that catch the eye of all who walk in. This piece was considered modern in its time era because American art was seen as being "lesser" to European art. This very fact is what inspired Gertrude to open up the Whitney Museum.  

Mrs. Whitney was a sculptor and an avid supporter of American Art. Both her and Robert Henri shocked New York by displaying images of common city life and regular people. Robert Henri transformed the traditional genre of Victorian era-like women into modern women.  For example, when his piece Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was made, it was nearly unheard of for a woman to be portrayed the way Mrs. Whitney was. Her wearing pants, something traditionally linked to masculinity, was the upstart of the 1920s -- a time of daring feats and even more daring women. From the fashionable cool-colored clothing of various blues and light greens, to her short bob and the numerous rings on her fingers -- Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney demonstrates how revolutionized women were becoming. Her lying down on her burgundy vanity chair wearing pants instead of a flowing gown demonstrated a proud, confident, and powerful woman who was not afraid of stepping away from the traditional expectations of women for this time era. Even with more "masculine" attributes, she still retained her feminine beauty.

Gertrude was an anomaly during her time favoring American artists over European, she used her wealth and her status to open doors for American artists who were unable to have their art showcased in regular museums. When the museum first opened to the American people, it branded itself as being a museum with a new take on art. Gertrude's museum was revolutionary. Despite all odds, Gertrude opened her museum not just for her beliefs but for new artists to show their visions. 

Faith Chea

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of MoMA

Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night

Throughout most of his life Vincent Van Gogh remained poor and unknown. He was a self-taught artist and used his art to keep himself emotionally balanced. Van Gogh suffered from both physical and psychological illnesses but he still turned to painting for hope. Van Gogh’s painting Starry Night is said to have been painted in the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole Asylum, where he admitted himself after being declared dangerous by the people of Arles. Starry Night is the perfect reflection of Van Gogh’s feelings through this time. It was a time when he felt hopeless and out of place. Nevertheless he was successful in portraying it in this painting.

Vincent Van Gogh painted Starry Night in 1889. The painting is bright and vibrant. Although Van Gogh is depicting the night, his use of yellow hues for the stars makes the night sky and the town stand out. He balances these bright colors by using large masses of dark colors. The technique used was very clever because the warm colors against the cool colors helps the painting become more vibrant and rich. On the bottom of the painting Van Gogh shows us a town. The town much like the sky has a variety of both bright and dull colors. What makes this painting really amazing is Van Gogh’s brush strokes. Van Gogh was an impressionist artist. Instead of giving an accurate depiction of what he saw he captured the feeling and experience of the night. His brush strokes in this particular painting make it seem as though you can actually see the night wind moving. It is what makes the stars and the moonshine more than how they normally shine. With all of this depicted it can be hard to find out the true meaning behind the painting.

The main reason why I adore Starry Night is due to the fact of who Vincent Van Gogh was. This painting shows how he felt like an outsider to the people around him. While the painting is bright the message received by the viewer can be dull and gloomy. The painting relates to how every individual, including myself, sometimes feels out of place or forgotten. People would distance themselves from Van Gogh and he is able to represent this within the painting. When looking at the painting one sees how distant and isolated the town is. Van Gogh is showing us his views and is helping us understand how he felt. He is connecting his feelings to those that one might feel and relate to.

Esther Gomez

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Whitney

Chuck Close, Phil

Walking through the Whitney museum one afternoon with my friend, I was in awe. I had never seen a museum with such a great collection of work. Getting off the elevator, I made a right to see what it was that everyone was staring at. A huge canvas was hung on the wall and instantly took my breath away. My first impression was that it had to be a modern photograph enlarged. I stood in awe staring at it for what felt like an hour but must have been a few minutes. Even though it was just a close up image of a man's face, I was greatly intrigued. I went closer to read the description and was blown away that it wasn't a photograph, but it was acrylic and graphite pencil on a canvas that was 108 1/4 inches x 84 inches. I was left with so many questions and wished the artist Chuck Close was there with me to answer them all.

This simple yet extraordinary painting entitled Phil truly captivated me. It opened my eyes to art. I already had a great appreciation of art and visited museums frequently, but this piece still managed to change my mind. I never realized something so plain could be so extravagant. Through intense detail you could see every wrinkle on his face and hair on his head. I was confused as to why I was so drawn to this piece. It wasn't a classic such as Van Gogh or Picasso; it was much more unconventional and unexpected. I stared at Phil with confusion and appreciation. Every tiny detail was amplified in ways I didn't think possible, especially since it was created in 1969 and not more recently. The image resembled a mugshot and Phil isn't the most attractive subject, but your eyes are still glued to the canvas. I had no idea an image so strange could move me so much. From this point on I began to look at art differently. I began to acknowledge the tiny details and differences between each medium. I encouraged myself to read more into each piece of art I look at instead of just hopping to the next. Sadly, Phil isn't in the Whitney Museum anymore. I hope to see it in person again someday.

Erin McGowan

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Met

Jasper Johns, Flag

Art is a form of expression that allows humans to put aside reality for a moment and focus more on imagination and creativity. Personally, I define it in a different way, which is making sure our world has the potential to create a unique history. If you think about it, many art works have been composed using compelling aesthetics while also hiding their context or message behind it. These types of projects are essentially creating a piece of our history that can help us to better understand not only our creativity, but the way creativity helps us picture the chapters of our lives. The artwork Flag by Jasper Johns features a collage of stars, stripes, and colors. It’s almost like looking at stars and stripes of cut out shapes on a white construction paper like you would do in a typical art class. The flag itself can be explained, as the stars represent the number of states, the 13 stripes representing the number of colonies, and the whole flag representing our independence from Britain. However, there's some history concealed behind this painting, so I decided to go deeper into how Jasper came up with this creative arts and crafts flag.

The history of Earth just gets harder and difficult to discover as we trace back farther away until we reach to the Big Bang Theory. Taking a magnifying glass and observing it would not really contribute much in terms of knowing what’s going on. Apply this method to art, and you will get the same result. If you use a magnifying glass on any art work, it will most likely not do very much, as you would be just staring at a six year old’s drawing full of trees, grass, and sun paintings. The only way to get around this is to READ. Reading is one of the fundamental ways of getting to know the world better. You can’t just assume the Big Bang Theory occurred due to random explosions. There is always a reason why it is called that, and today, I am going to show you why Jasper Johns titled his project Flag.

As I continue to understand who this “Jasper Johns” is, I was able to better grasp the reason as to why he drew the American flag in his own style. He was told to serve in the military for two years in the Korean War. After passing those years, he went back into the arts. The American flag is now one of Johns' famous paintings, as it incorporates many other subjects, like the Star Spangled Banner, and the Pledge of Allegiance, to show how proud we are as an independent and strong country.

In the end, this is how art can change the world into a better place. It is amazing that small pieces can make a huge difference, like Johns’ Flag media along with similar art works like Maps, which depicts the United States in a weird map shape that a “kid can draw similar to.” So I decided that it would be my turn to support this idea, by improving my photography skills and drawing skills as well. Just one picture can have a thousand words.

Edwin Palma Solis

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of The Met

Vincent Van Gogh, Olive Trees

Over the past two years, my interest in art has expanded enormously. I find myself looking at an abundant amount of art pieces and artists. Vincent van Gogh is one of my favorite artists because of his style and technique when creating each of his paintings. The majority of his paintings that I have seen incorporate various tints and shades of colors, and quick, short, choppy brushstrokes. You can see his brushstrokes rather than it being a plain smooth canvas, which is also one of the reasons why I admire his work. Vincent van Gogh was a part of the Post Impressionism time period, wherein some French and Dutch painters wanted to expand the meaning of color and light by adding their own style and technique. It was a significant moment because artists used to conceal their brushstrokes. But in this scenario, they were revealed. I sometimes can feel his brushstrokes and follow the paths of paint with my eyes. To add on, I think his paintings have so much vivid detail that a story or reference acted as his inspiration for that specific art piece’s development.

For example, Olive Trees is a landscape painting that was made in 1889. It is beautifully filled with a light blue sky along with numerous green trees growing out from a mixture of a brown and purple land. My first look at this painting was of the picture as a whole. There is unity amongst each element van Gogh added due to the transition of colors from top to bottom. From a distance, however, all of the colors blend together making it look like somewhere I would like to visit one day. I then moved closer to the painting to where the brushstrokes could be seen. I examined the areas where the paint was layered as well as the different colors he used. In addition to this, there is a halved trunk painted green, causing it to look short and in need of nourishment. The roots from the same trunk are painted beige. There isn’t any color added on, which causes it to look like it was left incomplete. I noticed it didn’t compare to the other trees that were side by side, near and far.

Subsequently, I wondered why this one trunk in particular was left half way having no height, leaves, or branches. I thought it could be a process to see how this one tree needed to be developed and taken care of to look like the rest. Another explanation could be to show that sometimes situations are left unhandled, but only you can fix it. Nonetheless, you can still say that this specific trunk stands out, it’s unique, and it doesn’t look like the others. It needs to be developed and with time things may happen, but for now it will remain the same. Vincent van Gogh’s style is unique to me in several ways. The majority of his paintings tell a story or have enough elements to let the viewer make their own.      

Dyann Beer

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of MoMA

Cesare Casati & Emanuele Pozio, Pillola Lamps

In the Cooper Hewitt I saw an interesting piece featuring four giant structures in the shape of pills. I would only later find out that Cesare Casati and Emanuele Pozio, the artists responsible for this work, had made the structures into workable lamps. This art was made in 1968 as part of Italy’s Anti-design movement and the purpose behind these pill shaped lamps was purely to humor anyone who had set their eyes on them. However, I had a different take on this work.

Each pill was the same size, shape, and symmetry, however, each had a distinctly colored cap. One was blue, one was red, one was yellow, and one was green. All simple, innocuous colors that were attached to something with such a disastrous meaning. A pill. As in a drug. As in a pathway to addiction. As in losing control. As in a lifetime of suffering. As in what tears apart families and crushes the future of promising lives on the daily. Something barely the size of a peanut has the power to swallow someone’s life whole just like they had once swallowed that pill. How something so small can have such a gargantuan impact on a plethora of lives is baffling to me.

The representation of the pills in the work of art was spot-on. The various colors of the caps signified different types of medications and the simplicity of each pills’ placement felt almost like a slap in the face. A slap for ever thinking that something that can fit on the tip of a finger almost undetectably, could be so vile. Although the artists attempted to showcase the lamps comically through their portrayal as pills, what resonated with me most was the meaning of the pills that they left out of the art: their lethality.

Deanna Andreyev

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of MoMA

Richard Hamilton, Pin Up

Pin Up by Richard Hamilton caught my eye, and, like most people, I was shocked by the piece. What I saw was a piece with a simplistic and clean art style, drawing one’s attention to the subject of the work—the nude and provocative woman. The artist chose to omit many details from the work, instead relying on shapes and colors to paint the picture for the audience. The few details that are included, though, are the thigh high pantyhose, one of her classic heels, and her lacy bra—which seems to be strewn aside indicating a recent undressing. Splat in the middle of the canvas are the actual breasts of the woman portrayed in a three-dimensional manner, literally sticking out from the piece.

What the artist does with this work is that he keeps the aesthetic and color scheme minimalistic. The reason he does this is to draw attention to the one place you don’t want to look—the breasts! Not only are the other aspects of this work blurred away, but the breasts literally pop up. This artistic choice is a unique way of conveying many unsaid messages. Not only were these choices imperative artistically, but also metaphorically. Hamilton wishes to draw the viewers’ attention towards the woman and her sexuality. This piece reflects the time period it was created in: the “sexual revolution.” The 1960s was a pinnacle time period where women embraced their sexuality. The social and moral attitudes towards sex were liberalized. Although social conservatives were dissatisfied by the provocative actions of the women, feminists took it as a period of empowerment and strength.

To me, Pin Up is a symbol, an open representation of women reclaiming their sexuality. Society, for decades, has pushed a shaming double standard upon women. This mindset being that they can’t be provocative, that they can’t be sexual in the way that men are. This work is a representation of the ‘60s, showing women rising against those standards.

What makes this piece so powerful to me is that it still holds relevance today. Regretfully, the slut-shaming in our society still lives on; women who are sexually confident often draw criticism from others. Our society holds strong hostility towards these women and says that flaunting skin is inherently sexual and improper. Because our society has been conditioned to be uncomfortable with sexuality, our women are shamed into covering themselves. Although it is sad to say that our society has not rid itself of problematic behaviors, it is good to see that women still fight back. Women still carry on with their pride, exuding what they are told not to, acting in ways that shock others. Women still carry on, because being sexual is not a flaw or a must, it is a choice.

Women are powerful, especially when they are confident. When women own their bodies, when they can be comfortable to choose what they want, and when they can live unapologetically, they are both confident and powerful. And to me, that is what Pin Up represents: all women, with both power and confidence.

Deana Yu

[bloombergarts]

Image Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt

David Cox, A Million Times

Time is mysterious. There are a million ways to define time. It is both a blessing and a curse; it is what separates the past from tomorrow and what is between that makes time valuable. It is a force that cannot be contained; it is unstoppable. There are so many ideas about time—we can’t just place one meaning to it. Yet it how we use our time that defines us as people.

This piece of artwork known as A Million Times was designed by an engineer known as David Cox. It really spoke to me because time is an illusion, full of millions of ideas. From left to right, time is going in different ways like a clock. But together the piece forms a mind-bending vortex that got me really deep into the concept of time and what the artist was trying to communicate. I believe time in this artwork contains two messages: a symbolic meaning of life and how our daily use of time connects us with one another. The symbolic meaning of life means that the minute we are born, time is counting down and what we do with that time can either shorten it or allow us to enjoy it. It is what we seek that allows us to use it in countless ways. It is astonishing how nothing can escape time—that is why it is so significant that we use it wisely. Time also plays a role in our daily lives: we wake up and start our day, doing what we do. For me it is wake up, shower, brush my teeth and press my clothes if I have to. This is followed by a day in which I do not know what will happen next. Will I take the train to reach my destination or will I call a cab to leave me there? Which takes less time? This really stood out to me in this artwork because I can relate personally. We can’t predict what will happen next; we can’t tell whether time is in our favor or will it not go as we wish.

What if we could control time? See what lies ahead of us or relive a past of ours? So many questions, so many questions without answers, so many answers waiting to be answered. People can only take in what they know, but there is a whole world full of so many things we want to know. By using time it allows us to access those wonders we dream of. In order to access these ideas, we must think as a child would think; they have such an imagination that gives them the natural gift of life. For kids time is bendable, which is what changes their world from being reality to being a dream. As a child, a box can become a rocket ship or a bunch of pillows and blankets can turn into a fort. What goes on inside a child’s mind is like having the universe within reach; they are able to create what they want and what they feel. This is what is shocking about the image: when I look at the artwork, at first I can just see clocks on a wall moving. But I saw my life on that wall like a reflection of who I was. Realizing that time is flying by and a matter of seconds can turn into minute a minute can turn into hours. By the time I realize, years go by and I ask myself: what have I used my time for?          

The concept of time is extraordinary and complex; it is one of those ideas in which has no limit. The only limit is what we make of it. This artwork really stood out due to its wide range of possibilities of definitions. Maybe the artist didn’t intend on a meaning, but we give it our own meaning based on how we use our time. Billions of people living under the same sky but using their time in many different ways. I recognize people may not see what I see. That is the beauty of this artwork--it is intended to allow us to determine what it means. Time isn’t just a word with a meaning we give it; time is a fantasy we choose to be a part of.

Christian Villela