Radcliffe Bailey's Ships and Sea

In the Garden, 2008

Atlanta has this interesting past that makes you want to dig deeper and understand what was once there, even though it may be covered...Sherman burnt down the city. They say when you want to get rid of something, you burn it, but you don’t really get rid of it. I can look out my back door and see a lot -- Radcliffe Bailey via NY Times

Radcliffe Bailey's work Seven Steps, above, was on view at the Georgia Museum of Art when I went recently, and I love the layered colors and use of materials offset by the sepia photograph. It was recently part of an exhibition at the High Museum in Atalanta that I just missed, Radcliffe Bailey: Memory as Medicine, showcasing the Atlanta-based artist's work on its biggest level yet. Bailey uses a variety of materials to explore history both personal and collective, and he engages memory as a device to encourage healing through art.

Tricky, 2008

Bailey is maybe better know for a layering of imagery, culturally resonant materials, and text that began when he was given some old family photographs to work with. But looking at the images from the exhibition, I was really drawn to some of his more sculptural pieces, like Tricky, above. A textured black surface juxtaposed with the jaunty tilt of the hat encase a slave ship. In The Antelope, he again presents a black ship, this time encased in glass like a fossil and sailing over white cloth/paper. 

The Antelope, 2010

The large installation Windward Coast creates a rolling ocean of piano keys harvested from some 400 pianos, suggesting the oceans traversed in the slave trade and in their midst a lone black head, the same glittery texture as the ship in Tricky, appears.

Detail view of Windward Coast

The artist does not consider his work to be solely dark or only about slavery however (as you might not realize by the pieces I'm showing here). Regarding Windward Coast, he told the New York Times, “I think about all the music that was probably played on those keys. An ocean is something that divides people. Music is something that connects people. Duke Ellington or Thelonious Monk -- it’s a different sound that takes you somewhere else. It’s also about being at peace.”

Installation View, Memory as Medicine at the High Museum

More about the exhibition here and images of the artist's work here.

Ravels in Review: 4th of July Weekend!

Thank god it's finally here. I mean, aside from some techincal snafoos, it's been a good week-- but I rather be off on a long weekend. Jasper John's Three Flags, above, is as close to patriotic as I get. I've been on a mental vacation everywhere but NYC USA this week.

There was a video post about the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, and then there was Hungarian art past (Tamas St. Auby) and present (Peter Forgacs) plus the current cool festivities at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest.

There was a crazy sky last weekend, which led to some good sailing weather, and hopefully there'll be more of it for this upcoming weekend: we're sailing over to Fire Island. It'll be nice to have some good ol' Americana in my life. Enjoy the long weekend!

High Times in Georgia

Consider this a temporary reprieve from another post about Hungarian art. For a change of pace and scenery, check out my belated video chronicaling my trip to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, its lukewarm exhibitions and its nice developing collection of contemporary art.



There's more on Richard Misrach here.

And yes, exhibitions can be described as lukewarm...I just can't think of another adjective right now...they're all being used on this stupid attempt at a novel.

Stupid novel.

Calm Before the Storm: Richard Misrach at the High Museum

I was trying to think of some calming art work, because somehow it's only 10 am on a Wednesday and I'm stressed out.

I immediately thought back to the large-format photographs of Richard Misrach that I saw this past weekend at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. These large vistas of sea and surf take a god's eye point of view that renders the undulations of the waves in perfect detail. His use of clear, glossy color behind reflective glass and imposing size lets you get swallowed up in a paradisical landscape. Initially I wished I was one of those tiny figures, like the speck on the left side of this detail of Untitled #586-04, floating in clear aqua waters.

Then I realized that the god's eye point of view created an eiree sense of being alone and watched at the same time. I sensed Paradise could be ruptured at any moment. And then I decided I was much too much stressed for this early in the morning mid-week and went to make myself a cup of tea.

Untitled 642-02