László Moholy-Nagy: Space, Transparency, Translucency & Opacity

 Many years ago, I wrote several blogs on the Bauhaus School in Germany. It existed from 1919-1933 when the Nazis pressured the school to close. The school's art and designs offered a new way to look at the combination of industry and art. Many of the designs in everyday furniture and furnishings owes its shapes to the Bauhaus. The same goes for art. 

 

Among the artists/teachers, who taught there, was László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) Born in Hungary, he was not only a photographer and painter, but also one of the most influential educators in the United States after WW1. He brought his Bauhaus teaching style to the Chicago Institute of Design.

 

 

His restless nature had him experimenting with different art techniques. Whether he was painting, creating photographs or sculpting with Plexiglass, he was mostly interested in how the elements interacted. His vast curiosity cannot be covered in one blog. I've chosen to feature his paintings here.

 

My selecting his paintings over all his other accomplishments has a personal reason. You see, I was so taken with his style in college that I tried painting a few of them with oil paint - assuming that's what was available to him. 

 

By trying to replicate his works, I came to understand how very complex were his paintings and how much restraint he exercised to leave a great deal of negative space. 

Moholy-Nagy's works are bold, certain and geometric. Yet, there seems to be a rhythm I see that I don't often find in other abstract works. Plus the amount of negative space makes the overall effect more restful.

 

In 2019, there was a celebration of the anniversary of the Bauhaus and 3 years before he received national acclaim with solo shows in 3 leading Art Institutions in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. 

To quote a magazine article in Artland: "His paintings are constructed of simplified, geometric forms that are often overlapping, creating a careful study about space, transparency, translucency, and opacity."

 

The Mark Tobey/ Jackson Pollock Debate...

 

In an art publication, I read that Jackson Pollock, the famous abstract expressionist painter known for his "drip style," took great pains to deny that his work was influenced by the work of Mark Tobey. Evidence suggests otherwise. (Unlike Pollock's non-denial of Janet Sobel, who was the subject of this blog in March, 2022, which you can find in the archives.)

Before describing the evidence, let me introduce you to Mark Tobey (1890-1976). Does the name sounds familiar? If so, he was known as one of the  "4 Mystical Painters of the Northwest" and a founder of the Northwest School (of art style).  (The other 3 were: Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan and Guy Anderson)

As a young man, Tobey had converted to the Ba'hai faith. The study of his faith, as well as his travels through Europe and the Orient, led to his interest in Asian arts. He studied haiku (Japanese essential poetry), Japanese brushwork, and Chinese, Arab and Persian calligraphy. 

 

 

 

He also stayed for awhile in a Zen monastery. In time, all of these experiences would influence his art and not only lead to abstract art work, but also to what Tobey referred to as "white writing." 

  Toby experimented with combining painting and calligraphy for spiritual meaning. He would overlay the painting with white (or another light color) in an interwoven brush stroke style. His method would give rise to what is known as an "an "all-over" painting style.(His "Broadway" painting on left.)

 

Now, dear reader, back to Pollock... ...evidence shows that Pollock attended every exhibition of Tobey's paintings. Often, Pollock would attend an exhibit and then return to his studio and create a very large all-over canvas mural. Below on the right is a Tobey painting and on the left is a Pollock. What do you think? Do you think Pollock really was influenced by Tobey? 

 

Recycled and Other Unusual Art Material...

Last year in a time of frustration with art making, I took  a couple of months off  to allow the muse to show me a direction. Part of my "aha" moment came from the imaginations of those artist who found their inspiration in materials apart from the classical. In a way, you could consider today's blog as a retrospective.

The first artist touched me deeply. His name is Do-ho Suh and he's a sculptor. He made a powerful political statement using dog tags to create "The Emperor's Robe."

http://r-atencio.blogspot.com/2010/05/do-ho-suh-and-haunting-sculpture.html

In a much less social or political way, there was Alexander Caldwell, I love to play and he had a great sense of art as play. He used a wonderfully bright color palette. He also invented the mobile; thereby providing a never-ending source of movement and fascination .
http://r-atencio.blogspot.com/2010/06/calder-artist-who-made-art-fun.html

My last artist, who was featured in a blog, was Simon Rodia. In his own humble way and with found objects, he built the Watts Towers.
http://r-atencio.blogspot.com/2011/02/simon-rodias-vision.html

There is one more artist - someone I've yet to write about - named Eva Jospin. She sculpts in cardboard. I'll be featuring her in a future blog.

Adding the inspiration of these artists to the desires of my muse, I began a series titled, "Textures and Dimensions." They combine found objects, recycled cardboard, recycled wood, paper and foamcore,

"VERTICALS": (cardboard, cork, styrene)

"EROSION": (Recycled wood door)

"THE EQUINOXES": (Cardboard, clay, and recycled doors)

The processes proceed very slowly from finding the right materials, cutting, pasting, gluing, drying and painting. That's in a way of explaining why I've been absent from this art blog. Nice to be back!

In Beautiful Cordoba

When we next find our much healthier traveler... the train is entering the depot in Cordoba. The days are very warm in this ancient city where there are still Roman ruins, reminders of the Visigoths and Moors and a mixture of all past cultures and conquerors.

This is the first stop in "Al-Andalus" (Arabic for the region of southern Spain) and the seat of the Moors empire in Spain. Small city by today's population, in

the 10th century it was the most populated city in the world. It was the vibrant center of education - medical, mathematics, astronomy - and the intellectual center of Europe.

It was a time of tolerance between Muslims, Jews and Christians. It excited me to be on the trail of what remains of the Moors' art and architecture.

You see, I've long been fascinated with the stylized representations of nature and the beautiful calligraphy at the height of the reign of the Moors in Spain. I took an art history class on Islamic Art and Architecture in college and vowed someday I'd visit the region in Spain and now... Wow! I had arrived!

My hotel was perfectly located to everything. It was in the "old" portion of the city- an easy walk to the Guadalquivir River, transportation, and the famous Cordoba Mosque. I had only 3 full days and nights with so much to do.

To get my bearings, a bought a ticket for the city tour bus and a ticket for the ruins of Madinat al Zahra. The bus was a wonderful idea. I saw so many areas and that gave me an overall feeling for the city. Next, was one of the goals on my list.

For the final in that art history class, I wrote about Madinat al Zahra( "beautiful town" in Arabic). This walled city was built by the caliph about 13 kilometers outside of Cordoba as the administrative, governmental and palace for the region and to rival the caliphates of Damascus and Baghdad. The gardens, buildings and location accomplished all that the caliph desired to display the power and richness of his kingdom and more. Sadly, it would be sacked and almost disappear within 80 years. Now, about 10% of the entire complex has been restored. 

A tour ticket to the site includes transportation to a low-build building where you find the theater featuring a 15-minute film with wonderful animations picturing how the city must have appeared. You see an ambassador and his aides entering on horseback completely in awe by the splendor of the gardens and buildings against the backdrop of the Sierra Morena mountains. Then, the scene dissolves and shows the viewer where it is in the restored area at the ruins. Very well done. With those images in mind, you board buses to go to the site. 

On my final day, I visited the famous Cordoba Mosque. Let me say that no photos or paintings can prepare you for its size and grandeur. I was so awestruck that even thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. What magnificence! I kept thinking I was experiencing one of the wonders of the world. I shot photo after photo in the hope that somehow I could capture the scope of it. (Everyone who's seen it comments on the size. I read that at the city's zenith 20,000 worshippers prayed there!) 

When the Christians conquered Cordoba, they plopped a church in the middle of it. At least they had the good sense not to destroy and replace it. I'd like to think that they realized how extraordinary it was.

That evening, as I sat at an outdoor cafe enjoying my dinner, I realized that there was one more thing I wanted to do in Cordoba. I paid my bill and hurried to the river just in time to photograph the sun setting over the Guadalquiver River which passes through to

the next stop on my journey - Seville. Yet, saying good-bye to Cordoba wasn't easy. 

Pierre Soulages at 94: Painting Reflective Beauty

On the previous blog posting, "Is it REALLY Black?" I mentioned that the next posting would be about an artist who has been painting black art pieces since the late 1970s. If you haven't heard of him, his name is Pierre Soulages. (1919-)

Pierre Soulages was born in Rodez, France and moved to Paris to study art. However, he decided not to go to art school and returned to his home. In 1940, he was called to serve in World War II. After the war, he returned to Paris, found a studio, and had his first exhibit at age 28. Since then, he has received many awards and recognition. One of his outstanding achievements is to be the first living artist to exhibit in the The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia.

During his long career, Soulages has dabbled in many different media. His works range from stained-glass windows to lithography, engraving, set designing and painting. He is most famous for his black paintings.

According to his bio, Soulages has always been fascinated with black. Even as a child, he used black to express himself in his paintings. (He doesn't find any of this strange because even the ancient drawings were made with charcoal.)

While traveling in East Asia, he was taken back to his childhood painting by the beauty of the Japanese black calligraphy on white paper. It was part of what influenced Soulages to paint a series in black which he titled, "Outrenoir." This series would mark a turning point in his career.

To quote Wikipedia: He sees light as a matter to work with; striations of the black surface of his paintings enable him to make the light reflect, allowing the black to come out from darkness and into brightness, thereby becoming a luminous colour"

Now it's your turn. Do you agree that black can be a luminous color ?

Defining the Art of Valeri Tsenov

You may have noticed that recent blogs have been more about contemporary artists. This blog is to introduce  Valeri Tsenov (1961-).

Tsenov is a Bulgarian artist who studied painting, illustration, book design and graphics in his native country. His art reflects the influence of his homeland and his art education.

As I thought about Tsenov's work, I was struck with how many ways I could describe his style and his technique. Yes, there are the details of an illustrator and a certain classicism. Yet, his subjects reflect an inner world that at times can be surreal or iconic, mythic or modern, and symbolic or literal. How to define Tsenov?

You be the judge. What do you notice when you look at his works?

Lois Mailou Jones: Extraordinary and Original Artist

It's black history month and, as in past blogs (Archive: Henry Ossawa Tanner, Feb., 2012), it's a pleasure to recognize a very distinguished artist, who preferred to be known as an artist - not a "black artist" or a "female artist".

Her name was Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998). She started painting at an early age. After high school, she won a scholarship to the Boston School of Fine Arts. Upon completion of her education, she applied for a teaching position at her alma mater. She was refused due to her race.

She took a teaching position at Palmer Memorial Institute. (In time, Jones founded their art department.) While at Palmer, Jones was offered a teaching position at Howard University as professor of design and watercolor painting. She remained at Howard until her retirement in 1977.

On a sabbatical from the university, she attended art classes in Paris and came to understand how very talented she was. In her own words:

"The French were so inspiring. The people would stand and watch me and say ‘mademoiselle, you are so very talented. You are so wonderful.’ In other words, the color of my skin didn’t matter in Paris and that was one of the main reasons why I think I was encouraged and began to really think I was talented."

France allowed her the opportunity to paint with complete freedom. She began to combine African motifs with Western techniques. Her first internationally recognized painting was titled: " Les Fetiches" (1938) (Smithsonian American Art Museum.)

 Below is a small sampling of Jones' works and her artistic evolution:

"The Ascent of Ethiopia" (1932)

"The Lovers" (1950)

"Ubi Girl from Tai Region" (1972)

"Initiation Liberia" (1983)

 One last note:  Jones was honored by President Carter for her achievements in art, her works are found in major museums and collections, and there's a posthumous biography titled, "Lois Mailou Jones: a life in vibrant color." All serve to confirm her as an extraordinary and original artist without regard to gender or race. Agreed?

Thinking 2012...

Have you heard the expression, "Time seems to go faster as you get older?" Yeah, me, too. I could scarcely imagine that 2012 was over and what had I accomplished? What did I learn? How did it go?

BLOG: My first art blog was in April, 2009. Since then, 172 pages have been posted and those pages have been viewed over 94,000 times. According to Google, the top 3 viewed were:
(1) "Magritte: Son of Man" (archive: March, 2012) with 5,450 views,
(2) "Do-Ho Suh: Part 2" (Oct., 2010), 3560 views - although I have a personal preference for "Do-Ho Suh: The Coat" (May, 2010)
 (3) "Monsieur Monet" (June, 2010) with 3151 views.

Interesting that Magritte gained so many viewers in less than one year. I wonder if he's required reading in art classes.

EXHIBITS: "Progressions" was exhibited twice during the year and various individual pieces were included in other shows.

ART: In the "Access: Greek Isles" 4 new pieces were added - there are now 16 in the series.One piece is almost finished and 4 more are in progress. (You can see the finished works at: http://www.r-atencio.com/gallery/landscapes/access_greece.html

For the "Walkers, Waders and Wondrous" (birds) series, I held a contest to name a piece made with ceramic tiles. The winning title chosen by a panel of interested friends was: "Wind Dancer."

A little Parula was completed for a commission. (All of the finished birds can be seen at: http://www.r-atencio.com/gallery/birds/waders.html

I took an art workshop from Rogene Manas on paper clay. From it, I made a delightful cat/bird birthday gift for a friend.

My confidence to work with paper clay on canvas increased with 9 small birds. The sculpting is finished and I'll paint them as soon as they're dry enough. (On the right is a large clay tile of another bird in progress).

ANNEX:  "Atencio Annex" was named to distinguish items made for reproductions of fine art designs. To the mix of glass cutting boards/trays, mugs, recipe markers, and note cards, there are 4 new coaster designs. You can view all on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/AtencioAnnex

This posting has been a fun exercise. Sometimes I think that I should work faster and create more, but this look back makes me feel that everything is happening just as it should. Try this exercise and you, too, might be happily surprised. Oh, and let me know what you discovered. Happy New Year! R. Atencio