Monday, November 20, 2017

Thoughts On the Exhibit "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Part 1)

by Gregg Chadwick

Intimately viewing the drawings of Michelangelo helps pull the veil of fame off of this towering figure. In spite of the title of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to give humanity back to artistic gods is no easy feat. The Met has done it twice in fourteen years. First was the 2003 exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings and now those of Michelangelo in 2017. Both exhibits have given a sense of hope and human possibility back to viewers in times of struggle and uncertainty.



In its exhibition, Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer the Metropolitan Museum has created a temporary museum dedicated to the life, times, and art of Michelangelo. It includes 133 drawings and poems created by Michelangelo that link the artworks to ongoing projects by the artist and his workshop. One of Michelangelo's earliest paintings is included and a small group of his sculptures in marble fill out the show. Also included are drawings by Michelangelo's mentors and artworks by his students and mentees. In a central gallery, a reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling hangs as a canopy above the gallery.




Process and practice 

Like his older contemporary Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo was able to create astonishing works of art out of the simplest means of chalk, ink and paper. In Renaissance era Florence, both Leonardo and Michelangelo learned from established artists. Leonardo was apprenticed to Verrocchio, and Michelangelo was attached to Ghirlandaio's artistic workshop. Complex painting projects such as the Tornabuoni chapel, that Ghirlandaio's workshop was engaged in from 1485-1490 while Michelangelo was there, began with quick idea sketches on paper that were then fleshed out with more involved studies. Apprentices would often pose for these studies. Perhaps the young Michelangelo inspired a figure somewhere on the walls of this chapel? Copying the master's work was also part of the training for young artists. Process and practice were the keys to the growth of a young artist in Renaissance Florence.

The Met's exhibition opens with a group of drawings by Ghirlandaio and then moves on to examples of Michelangelo's studies based on earlier Florentine artists. In many of the works, with quick strokes of the pen coupled with a dense cross-hatching to create shadow and form, Michelangelo sculpts a form out of the paper.


Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564) 
Study of a Kneeling Man in a Cloak Seen from the Rear
pen and brown ink 11 1/2" x 7 7/8"
Albertina, Vienna
(formerly in the collection of Peter Paul Rubens?)




Included with Michelangelo's early studies after the Italian masters is a richly pigmented fantasy based on an engraving by the 15th century German artist Martin Schongauer. ( I wrote about this painting in 2009 when the artwork was first exhibited at the Met as an  early work by Michelangelo - link here.)



Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564)
The Torment of Saint Anthony (after Schongauer)
c. 1487–88. Oil and tempera on panel, 18 1/2 x 13 1/4 in.







Martin Schongauer
St. Anthony
engraving printed on paper 15th-century - German 








Emulation and Personal Discovery

The young Michelangelo absorbed the influence of his predecessors into a rapidly developing personal style based on an exploration of the human form. Moving from a faux antique look such as the recently attributed sculpture The Young Archer to poetically observed life studies, Michelangelo like Leonardo before him learned that "accurate understanding derives from investigation and experience." 


Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564) 
 37" x 13 1/4" x 14" marble sculpture ca. 1490
Lent by the French State, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs






In 1504, Michelangelo received a commission by the Republic of Florence for a grand mural of the Battle of Cascina in the Great Council Hall. At the same time Leonardo was working on his own mural for the grand space. Leonardo's chalk drawings for his battle scene are full of expressive movement and grand drama. After viewing Leonardo's powerful designs, Michelangelo, as evidenced in the Met's exhibit, went back to the well and drew a red chalk artwork inspired by the figures of Adam and Eve in Masaccio's fresco in the Brancacci Chapel. Curiously, in this chapel during his apprenticeship, Michelangelo was slugged viciously by a rival artist. His broken nose was never properly reset. Years later he went back to the scene  and reclaimed the space and Masaccio's art for his own use.



Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564) 
Study of Adam and Eve after Masaccio
1504  red chalk, 12 13/16" x 7 3/8 "
Musée du Louvre


More Like Flesh than Stone

Moving on from his inspiration, Michelangelo began a series of evocative drawings for the planned Battle of Cascina. Jonathan Jones in The Lost Battles writes that "time is included in Michelangelo's vision" in these studies. Jones continues - "There is a tragic power to these drawings. He portrays young men in their full strength and beauty and yet shades them with intimations of ruin."


Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) 
Study of the Torso of a Male Nude Seen from the Back
1504  black chalk with lead white gouache highlights on paper 7 11/16" x 10 5/8"
Albertina, Vienna
(formerly in the collection of Peter Paul Rubens?) 



These drawings are sumptuously beautiful, and set the stage for the rest of Michelangelo's artistic life. Michelangelo's touch is all over these works. The use of chalk in many of the drawings, rather than pen and ink, opens up a sensuous physicality that feels more like flesh than stone. Remarkably to me, in the Met's exhibit, a few of the drawings feature a model sporting a hipster worthy mustache who could have walked out of 21st century Brooklyn.
A map of desire seems to be drawn across the back of many of Michelangelo's figures. In the gallery I think of the poetry and art to come - Cavafy, Isherwood, Bachardy, Bacon, and Hockney.


Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) 
Study of the Torso of a Male Nude Seen from the Back
1504  black chalk with lead white gouache highlights on paper 7 11/16" x 10 5/8"
Albertina, Vienna
(formerly in the collection of Peter Paul Rubens?)

Coming up soon on Speed of Life - Part 2 on "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

*All photos of exhibit and artwork by Gregg Chadwick 2017



Sunday, November 19, 2017

Come Back, Barack - Chance the Rapper on Saturday Night Live






Wednesday, November 01, 2017

2018 ACA Enrollment Begins Today! Don't Miss Your Chance to Enroll In Health Insurance for 2018


Happy Nov 1! 2018 ACA enrollment has begun.


80% can find plans under $75/month. Go to http://www.healthcare.gov  .

Please spread the word.
November 1, 2017:
Enrollment for 2018 health insurance begins.
December 15, 2017:
Enrollment for 2018 health insurance ends.


Please share enrollment deadlines for health insurance.

Friday, October 20, 2017

A Needed Dose of Hope - Obama


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

You Are Invited to Gregg Chadwick's Studio 

Please Join Me This Upcoming Weekend
for the 13th Anniversary of the Santa Monica Art Studios 



Gregg Chadwick

City Lights (Chaplin's Night)
48”x36” oil on linen 2017

In my thirteen years creating at the Santa Monica Art Studios, 
I have opened my studio to visiting collectors, art writers, students, 
local groups, scholars, and international guests. Visitors to my studio
have included a bus load of Japanese nursing students from Tokyo, 
a group of academics from the University of Verona in Italy,
professional art conservators from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam 
and the Getty Museum, a group art meditation session led by noted 
art writer Peter Clothier, as well as numerous visits by Santa Monica
students interested in the arts and culture.
At the Santa Monica Art Studios, I am part of a community of artists - 
driven to create, share knowledge and experience, 
and help the community at large.

This week, I would be honored to have you join the long list of visitors
to my studio #15 at the Santa Monica Art Studios.

Hope to see you soon!

What: 13TH ANNIVERSARY OPEN STUDIOS
            (New Paintings by Gregg Chadwick in Studio #15)
Where: Studio #15, Santa Monica Art Studios, 
             3026 Airport Ave. SM 90405
When:  Opening Night - Saturday, October 21, 2017,
              6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

               Gregg Chadwick's Studio Will Also be Open:
               Thursday, October 19th 12-6 pm
                Friday, October 20th 12-3 pm
                Sunday, October 22 12-5 pm 
Website: www.greggchadwick.com
Link to my recent Clark Hulings Fund podcast with Daniel DiGriz.


Gregg Chadwick

Jazz City (Newark Bay)
48”x96” oil on linen 2017
Find Out More

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Walk with Ai Weiwei through his newest outdoor art project in New York, “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”



Walk with Ai Weiwei through his newest outdoor art project in New York, “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” which tackles issues of immigration and inclusion.Publish DateOctober 13, 2017. Photo by Jean Yves Chainon/The New York Times. Technology by Samsung..

By HILARY SWIFT, JEAN YVES CHAINON and KAITLYN MULLIN 


Saturday, October 14, 2017

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Stand Up Against @realDonaldTrump 's Cynical Sabotage of Our Health Care

After Congress failed to repeal Obamacare, the Trump Administration is now taking matters into their own hands and sabotaging the Affordable Care Act through executive orders. Their latest action will raise premiums and create junk insurance policies with none of the protections that families need.
Watch this video and then call your representatives and tell them to stand up to Trump's sabotage of our health care: 202-224-3121






Stand Up Against @realDonaldTrump 's Cynical Sabotage of Our Health Care  #SaveTheACA #Health #Nursing


These back-door moves to undermine health care are stacking up and quickly taking their toll on our health care. President Trump's actions are intentionally causing premiums to skyrocket and could end coverage for those with pre-existing conditions -- threatening the health care of millions of everyday Americans.
Call your Member of Congress and tell them to stand up to sabotage, and we'll hold them accountable for their votes: 202-224-3121
We were successful in preventing Congressional Republicans from stripping away our health care, but we can't let up. We must stop these new attacks and continue to protect our care.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Monday, October 09, 2017

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day - RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World – Trailer





Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day. If you're in the Milwaukee area this evening, there's no better way to celebrate than catching tonight's screening of RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World, the new documentary about the indigenous influence on American popular music. See the official trailer above, and click here to buy tickets for tonight's screening.

"This is what systemic oppression looks like." - Eric Reid




Statement by regarding the Vice President's brief appearance at the game. "This is what systemic oppression looks like."



Springsteen on Broadway, The Wish

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Take a Knee

"... I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world." - Jackie Robinson, 1972















New Biography of Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson





“Walter Isaacson is at once a true scholar and a spellbinding writer. And what a wealth of lessons are to be learned in these pages.” —David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Walter Isaacson, author of a new biography of Leonardo da Vinci, discusses the Renaissance genius' wildly eclectic notebooks that contained everything from landscape sketches to math equations to 'to do' lists.

For more about
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson http://ow.ly/cHwn30d8Yrg

Book available for purchase at Amazon and Powell's


Also by Walter Isaacson
Steve Jobs

Einstein

Benjamin Franklin

The Innovators

Friday, September 22, 2017

Jhene Aiko's new album! Listen to 'Trip' here




"Laced with 22 tracks, Trip shreds the public's perception of Aiko and allows everyone to walk into the life of Penny, a nickname she was given by her great-grandfather when she was a child. For the first time, Aiko gives listeners a front row seat and allows them to watch her undergo a whirlwind of emotions, including love, pain, depression and, ultimately, triumph."
- Carl Lamarre, Billboard




RIP Miyagi! 

Saturday, September 16, 2017

What A Night!

by Gregg Chadwick

Sergio meets Sergio!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Santa Monica Art Studios last night to see my exhibit Luchador's Dream which was inspired by the incomparable Sergio Arau.


Saturday, September 09, 2017

Please Join Me at Art & Home 2017: a Benefit for LA Family Housing

by Gregg Chadwick


Gregg Chadwick
Generation Pink
14”x11” oil on panel 2017

 Generation Pink, inspired by the Women's March held on January 21, 2017, will be exhibited at Art & Home 2017: a benefit for LA Family Housing - hosted by Room & Board in Culver City. 

Along with around 750,000 others, I marched with my family and friends in Los Angeles to show the world that we stand for love, inclusion, diversity, and social justice. Generation Pink is part of a series of paintings exploring the Women's March and the continuing protests in this volatile time. As an artist, I often use my creations as a sort of reflecting device that mirrors and focuses attention on social and political change. As Marvin Gaye sang so poignantly- “What’s going on.” 

 In collaboration with Angeleno magazine, please join us for a special art show at Room & Board in Culver City on September 13, 2017.
Over 100 local, contemporary artists have donated artworks in support of LA Family Housing. (LAFH).
Dedicated to helping families and individuals transition out of homelessness and poverty, LAFH offers a range of housing opportunities enriched with supportive services.

Artwork on display in the showroom will be available for purchase for $400!
If you have always wanted a Chadwick, this is a wonderful opportunity to get an artwork at an affordable price and to support an important cause.

Please RSVP at https://lafh.org/artandhome

Wednesday, September 13 at 7 PM - 9 PM
Room & Board
8707 Washington Blvd, Culver City, California 90232


More at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1864796443838619/
https://lafh.org/


Don't forget my recent Clark Hulings Fund podcast with Daniel DiGriz.

Friday, September 08, 2017

You Are Invited - Sept 15, 2017 : Luchador’s Dream - Inspired by Sergio Arau (New Paintings by Gregg Chadwick)

by Gregg Chadwick



Gregg Chadwick
Flor De Asfalto (for Sergio Arau)
56”x86” oil on linen 2017




With his music, words and images, Sergio Arau has inspired me to create a series of paintings that feature him as the main character in my painted movies. Rock Star, actor, director, screenwriter, and artist Sergio Arau has often performed while wearing gear honoring Mexico's most famous wrestling star El Santo (The Man In the Silver Mask). Known as lucha libre, Mexican wrestlers such as El Santo are defenders of the poor and vulnerable. By taking on the persona of the Luchador (wrestler), Josh Kun writes in Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America, Sergio Arau and his bands have mixed "the traditional with the contemporary, the rural with the urban, the American with the Mexican, the charro with the rockero." 

My paintings in Luchador's Dream carry Sergio Arau into a Los Angeles seemingly pulled from the lyrics of his songs or gathered from scenes of his films that were left on the cutting room floor. 

Gracias Sergio!


The exhibition runs from September 7 - October 7, 2017

(Luchador's Dream is, in true rock n' roll fashion, a completely unaffiliated, and unofficial satellite exhibition of 2017: Año de México en Los Ángeles / Mexico in Los Angeles 2017)


What: Luchador’s Dream - Inspired by Sergio Arau (New Paintings by Gregg Chadwick)

Where: La Galería de la Cocina - Santa Monica Art Studios, 3026 Airport Ave. SM 90405 
When:  Opening - September 15, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm



Happy International Literacy Day!


Thursday, September 07, 2017

Happy 100th Birthday Jacob Lawrence!

by Gregg Chadwick



100 years ago today, the seminal artist Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When Lawrence was in his teens his family moved to Harlem in New York City, where he studied art with Charles Alston at the Harlem Art Workshop.

When Lawrence graduated from the American Artists School in New York he became a participant in the WPA Federal Art Project.  The young artist broke new ground in 1941 with The Migration Series which garnered national attention.



I find the video below from the Phillips Collection in which Lawrence discusses The Migration Series fascinating:



During World War II, while in the United States Coast Guard, first as a public relations specialist on the USS Sea Cloud, and then as a combat artist on the USS Gen. Richardson, Lawrence created a series of artworks documenting his vantage point on the war.

 
Jacob Lawrence
No. 2 Control Panel, Nerve Center of Ship,
gouache and watercolor on board
Collection USCG Museum
Shipmates and Jacob Lawrence with one of the paintings
he made while serving in the US Coast Guard during WWII.


After the war Lawrence was invited by Josef Albers to teach painting at Black Mountain College. Lawrence's exposure to Albers’ Bauhaus-inspired theories and teaching methods greatly influenced his artistic explorations.  Lawrence wrote, “When you teach, it stimulates you; you’re forced to crystallize your own thinking … you’re forced to formalize your own theories so that you may communicate them to the students … you go back to your studio and think about this again.”


Faculty of the 1946 Black Mountain College Summer Art Institute,
including Jacob Lawrence and his wife Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center collection


In 1949, Lawrence  and his wife Gwendolyn returned to New York where Lawrence continued to paint. Lawrence, aware of his depression, checked himself into Hillside Hospital in Queens, where he stayed for 11 months and painted as an inpatient.



Jacob Lawrence
Depression
Tempera and Watercolor on Paper  1950
22 3/4"x31"

Whitney Museum



 After many years in New York, in 1970 Lawrence and Knight moved to Seattle when he was invited to teach at the University of Washington. Lawrence was an art professor at UW until his retirement in 1986.  He continued painting until just a few weeks before his death in June 2000 at the age of eighty-two. Lawrence's last commissioned public work, the mosaic mural New York in Transit, was installed in October 2001 in the Times Square subway station in New York City.

 Lawrence's powerful artworks grace numerous collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum. The vibrant paintings of Jacob Lawrence tell stories of liberation, resistance, and resilience.

More:
Why the Works of Visionary Artist Jacob Lawrence Still Resonate a Century After His Birth