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Amazing things happen in Venice when you least expect it. A few nights ago I was reading in the kitchen of my apartment, when I spied a man on a ladder standing at eye level with the window. He was stringing lanterns around the street.
So I asked him what he was doing. He explained that he was a gaffer for a British film company working on the film Brideshead Revisited which was filming right outside my apartment window. The images of people in Renaissance Carnival costume were beautiful and the reflections of the lanterns on the water were magical. The photos included here were taken by fellow NYU student Julie Phillips.
The concept of space and the aesthetic organization of space is not an Italian invention - but nobody does it better. In the town of Possagno, at the rich foothills to the Alps, is a temple designed by Antonio Canova (1757-1822) which embodies the neo-Classical traditions of architecture.
His temple, completed in 1830, embodies the return to classical Greek and Roman ideas of harmony, rationality and proportion. The facade reflects the Greek design of the Parthenon, the ocular echoes the construction of the Roman Pantheon and the interior of the church recalls ancient Christian forms.
As a sculptor, Canova developed "sketches" in terracotta and then transferred them to plaster. He then enlarged the plaster models to marble by using a three-dimensional grid from nails hammered into the plaster.
His vision, which imaged Greek and Roman sculpture to be pure white, was a misconception. Most sculpture from antiquity was polychromed.
One of the amazing things about studying in Venice is the exposure to glorious architecture of various periods in history from Gothic to modern. Andrea Palladio, an architect who followed the neo-Classical style, incorporated the harmonious forms of ancient Greece and Rome in his design for the church Saint Giorgio Maggiore. The Benedictine church sits on the island of San Giorgio across the canal from San Marco.
The facade gleams with large white pilasters soaring above pedestals and the interior pulsates with arches. Neo-classicism marked a return to the rational and more serious side of ancient art as a backlash against the light and decorative qualities of the 18th century Rococo style.
Many of artists in the Venice Biennale explore the relationship between what is real and what is illusory. The idea that intrigues me as well. It encourages viewers to examine what is clear versus those aspects of life which are uncertain.Although this larger than life-size figure is not part of the Biennale - she represents many artist who experiment with changes in scale and the simulation of reality. For example, German artist, Thomas Demand recreated a life-sized grotto out of cardboard and then photographed the installation setting up a intellectual dichotomy for viewers who are experiencing the real image of a simulation.
As a port, Venice became a conduit for Eastern ideas. The merger of east and west can be found in her religious, political and military history but more immediately in the art and culture of the city. Her buildings especially the shapes of arches and arcades on St. Mark’s Square reveal the pointed shapes and Moorish embellishments. Byzantine mosaics fill the Basilica and pigeons, the rats of the air, fill the square.
My husband Paul stands amid the arched colonnade of St. Marks's Square surrounded by the tourists and the ever present pigeons.
June 23, 2007
The Venice Biennale offers the cutting-edge in art from around the world. Paul and I found the work installation based. Curators are selected to pick art and set up displays for countries from around the world.
In the Italian pavilion we saw installations based on water and light - the perfect complement to Italian culture.
Here is an image from a light bulb installation and a shot of a poster of water which I stood on, to 'walk on water' so to speak.
We were disappointed in the majority of work since it was not visually as simulating as it was concept driven.
On to Florence and the splendors of the Renaissance.
June 22
The pervasive tone of Venice is liquid and old. She rocks in motion even when she is still. From the canals and waterways which wind through her veins, she is threaded with bridges, churches and plazas.
The tourists, like us, try to hold all the images in their cameras but it takes time, years perhaps, to absorb the nuances of each path that winds through Venice.
June 18, 2007
This on-line journal is my way to stay connected to the ones I love and those who are studying with me. In light of the fact that there are different types of audiences reading this blog, my comments will be directed to the experience of working on a masters degree in painting as part of NYU's summer program in Venice and how that is a transformative experience. Hence the title of the blog- "Mutation."
To my family, friends and students. I'm almost packed and working hard to finish the last items on the to-do list before my husband Paul and I leave for Italy. When friends have asked if I am excited to take this journey to Italy with Paul, I answer "YES." The feeling is similar to bouncing on the edge of a diving board where I can see the water and I trust my skills to spring off the board but the official whistle has not sounded. After a two-week trip together in Florence and Venice, Paul returns to Houston and I begin my studies in Italy until the end of the summer. My only apprehension comes from being apart from my husband for such a long period of time. To say that I will miss him is an enormous understatement; he is my light and air.
As an emerging artist, this opportunity is a great one and one which I hope will help me be a better artist and teacher. I am leaving behind two bodies of work nearly completed for fall shows in Houston.
Perhaps my experiences in Italy will change the way I see these works and the techniques used to complete them. The first exhibit I am working on is called Storms, Sumos and Sweets for the O'kane Gallery at the University of Houston, downtown. The second show is called Made in Texas for Bering and James Gallery. More about those later.
I will add to this blog as time and ideas allow. For my St. Agnes students, I will be directing comments directly to you for lessons that will begin the first week of school. On August 28th, I will return to St. Agnes to begin watching YOU go through the process of transformation and mutation. For my adult private students, our dialog can continue via the Internet. Good luck with your assignments and projects. And to family and friends, thanks for being on my shoulder.
Ciao!
