artbusnyc

Museum Visit: MoMA's Family Party

2012-02-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

It's Family Night at the MoMA, and maybe the best party of the season.

The white walls of the museum are bathed with blue light, like a disco.

A dj fills the lobby with the deep sounds of dance music.

Balloons float in the balcony overhead.

Giant sculptures dance to a bouncy beat...

Kids join the fun.

Crowds of people keep arriving.

There are art workshops upstairs.

The second floor cafeteria has been turned into an amazing studio for drawing and collage...

A paper umbrella inspires drawing.

Apples inspire drawing.

The Education wing has become the party dining room...

...serving delicious fruit cubes on sticks, chicken fingers, and gooey Brownie squares.

Upstairs, the Cafe on the 5th floor has been transformed into a drawing studio...

...where families can draw together...

... kids can work on masterpieces.

Finally, after lots of art and tons of fun, it's time to get ready to leave.

One last dance with the "slinkies."

Good night and thank you MoMA for the best ever Family Party.

We will definitely be back for more fun next year.

Project: jacksonpollock.org

2012-02-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a great little painting project. Here is the link to the web site: jacksonpollock.org. You can paint wonderful little splash and drip paintings just by moving your "mouse." Move quickly and get a light line. Go slowly and get big splotches. Every time you lift your finger the color changes. Wonderful fun!!!

You can save your painting as a screen shot. Press command shift 3. You'll hear the camera click. Save it to your desktop.

You can save a detail of your painting. Press command shift 4. You'll get a little cross. Drag the cross over the area you want to save.

Send us some of your favorite paintings and we'll post them on our jacksonpollack exhibit blog.

Studio Visit: Tom Slaughter

2012-01-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

Tom's delightful children's books bring sophisticated modern art to children. Here are some pages from his amazing book, "Eats."

This is Tom.

This is Tom's studio. His bright, white loft looks a little like a Soho art gallery.

Tom's art is everywhere. Framed and unframed...

These are two wallpapers Tom designed.

Tom's desk displays favorite artwork, children's books, a print of his flip-flops, a photo of a friend's great dive into the water, his monkey...

This bookcase displays Tom's painting of a hat, and a portrait of his hero,

artist David Hockney...

Tom creates the brochures and posters for the New Victory Children's Theater. He keeps them

carefully organized in large map drawers.

Here is a billboard with Tom's art, advertising the New Victory Children's Theater.

Tom's children's books are filled with gorgeous modern art for children. They can be found (where else?) at the Museum of Modern Art.

This is Tom's ABC book in 3 languages...

Here are two of the pages...

This is Tom's special fold-out book...

This is Tom's new book "Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?" The book asks fun questions like, "If a duckling grows to become a duck, can a car grow to become a truck??"

Tom often works with paper cut outs. He paints his own papers.

Tom likes to paint. He finds beauty in the simplest things...

...in a pair of sunglasses...

...in a sailboat in the wind...

...in a sneaker...

...in a bicycle.

During the summer, Tom likes to do watercolors...

Tom's watercolor paintbox...

Tom is a passionate photographer. He always has his camera nearby, ready to snap new pictures

that will inspire art.

Tom's art was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art PS 1. You can visit Tom's website at:

TomSlaughter.com

Tom's Project for you.

Create an ABC book using your pictures. Draw this page and print it 26 times, one page for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. Draw, or paint, or cut shapes out of paper.

Tom did this one. I'm sure you can do one or two letters a day. How long will it take you to complete the book? Staple the pages together, and you have an ABC book.

Tom Slaughter

Tom Slaughter: American. (B 1955) was born in New York City, where he now lives and works. He has had more than 30 solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver, Germany, and Japan. He is a printmaker. His prints are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has published over seven children's books. They have been translated into five languages.

Museum Visit: Asia Society: Sarah Sze

2012-01-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Sarah Sze (pronounced Zee), has lots of ideas. (Isn't that what art is about?) She draws with many different materials, with strings, strips of wood, cut paper, light and shadow, and other materials, always surprising us, reminding us to look, and to see.

This is Sarah installing her exhibition "Infinite Line" at Asia Society on Park Avenue in New York.

Sarah's exhibition focuses on the idea of "perspective," a way artists show objects in the distance. Note that this installation begins inside the museum and continues on the terrace outside (into the distance).

In this work, Sarah used "lines of perspective" made of slim rods of wood. In a painting on the floor, she creates "distance" between two pages by adding confetti-like dots to the edges of the pages. Brilliant.

Here is a close-up of the artwork. The tiny pieces of color are actually glued to the floor between two pages.

In this installation, Sarah uses a group of cut out letters (like an "eye chart.") The letters grow smaller, reminding us that objects in the distance appear smaller.

Here are some of Sarah's drawings:

This drawing is like one of Sarah's installations in large spaces some two stories tall like the great spaces of outer space.

This artwork amazed me. When you see it up close, it looks like an ordinary notebook page with light blue lines, like the pages you use in school. But the bottom of the page turns into a very delicate sculpture that looks like it was made of toothpicks. (Sarah actually printed the notebook page. Then she used a laser process to cut out the "toothpick" sculpture.) It is a drawing and it is a sculpture. It is gorgeous.

Try these projects inspired by the art of Sarah Sze:

Cord drawings: Use different thicknesses of cord and thread to create line drawings. Paint a paper with Elmers glue. (Thin it with a little water.) Draw lines with cord on the wet glue. If the glue dries before you are finished, paint some more glue on the paper. You can add some spots of colored paper and other materials.

Erasing boundaries: Glue some colored paper shapes to a page. Cut some small pieces of the colored paper and glue them in the spaces between the shapes to "erase" the edges.

Collage to sculpture: Glue a collage to a page. Turn it into a sculpture with glue, some string and paper shapes you glue to "extend" the bottom edge. Let the string dangle down.

In the distance: Cut out some letters in 3 sizes, small medium, large. Make a little fold at the bottom of each letter. Arrange them in rows, large, medium, small. Glue them to a page. When you look through the rows, the small letters will seem to be further away.

About the Artist

Sarah Szewas born in 1969 in Boston to Chinese and American parents. She was awarded abachelor’s degree from Yale University and later a Master of Fine Arts from theSchool of Visual Arts in New York. Since the late 1990s she has shown her workin numerous international exhibitions in Kanazawa, Lyon, Venice, Melbourne, andTurin. Her notable solo exhibitions and projects include installations at theWhitney Museum of American Art in 2003, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2002,and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in 1999. She is a 2003 MacArthurFellow.

Visitor information for Asia Society

Sarah Sze: Infinite Line
Dates: December 13, 2011-March 25, 2012
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 11:00 am–6:00 pm, with extended evening hours Fridays until 9:00 pm (except July 4 through Labor Day). Closed on Mondays and major holidays.
Location: Asia Society Museum, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), New York, NY
Cost: $10; $7 for seniors and $5 for students with ID; free for members and persons under 16. Admission is free to all Friday 6:00 pm–9:00 pm (free Fridays suspended July 4 through Labor Day).

Gallery Visit: Sharon Core at Yancy Richardson

2011-11-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Is this a painting? Is it a photograph? If you guess it is a photograph, you are right. It is a photograph by artist Sharon Core. Ms. Core arranges real flowers to recreate old master paintings. Then she photographs them. The photograph looks exactly like the old master painting. So both answers are right: it is a photograph, and it is a painting too.

These recreations of 19th Century paintings by the Dutch masters Bosschaert and Breughel, and modern French painters Fantin LaTour and Redon, are part of Ms. Core's amazing exhibition at the Yancy Richardson Gallery.

You will be amazed by Sharon Core's photographs. They are very beautiful. But that isn't all that is amazing. Ms. Core assembles these compositions with flowers she has grown herself, in a greenhouse on her property in the Hudson Valley.

Her series "Early American" just before this show, was based on the still-life paintings of American painter Raphaelle Peale (17714-1825).

Ms. Core grew heirloom fruit from seeds that would have been around in the 19th Century. She bought the antique porcelain bowls at auctions.

Ms. Core includes the idea of "flowering, ripening and rotting" in her photographs.

This is a photograph that the New York Times commissioned for its Food section.

For an earlier series that was shown at the Bellwether Gallery, Sharon Core recreated the imaginary cakes of Wayne Theibaud, the pop-era painter. This is Theibaud's painting:

This is Sharon Core's photograph of the cakes she baked to replicate Wayne Theibaud's painting. (Ms. Core was trained as a pastry baker in Europe.)

Project 1

Projects inspired by an artist's ideas and materials help you discover new ways of working and thinking.

This project is inspired by Sharon Core's photographs based on the flower paintings of Dutch still-life master Bosschaert. Choose a painting by Bosschaert. Arrange some flowers in an antique vase. Take a photograph.

Here is a link to the paintings of Bosschaert:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosius_Bosschaert

Project 2

This project is inspired by Sharon Core's photographs based on the fruit still-life paintings of American painter Raphaelle Peale. Choose a painting by Peale. Arrange some fruit in an antique vase. Take a photograph.

Here is a link to the paintings of Peale:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphaelle_Peale

Project 3

This project is inspired by Sharon Core's photographs based on the paintings of the pop-era painter Wayne Theibaud. Choose a painting by Theibaud. Arrange some cakes on plates. Take a photograph.

Here is a link to the paintings of Wayne Theibaud:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Thiebaud

Museum Visit: CMA Children's Museum of the Arts

2011-10-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

The Children's Museum of the Arts has a new home at 103 Charlton Street. It is light and bright and occupies 10,000 square feet of space. It's spectacular. Very designer.

CMA’s focus is purely on making art, drawings and sculpture, sound art and stop-motion animation. Their belief is that art can have a positive effect on communities.

The space is divided into "Labs" with long counters. Kids pull up stools and teaching artists offer them art materials and tips on how to use them. There is a Clay Bar for making all sorts of clay art. There is a Media Lab, where kids can film their clay art on landscapes of plastic foam or electronic bits and pieces.

There is a Sound Lab, where kids can try out electronic music scores.

This is the 2000 square foot art gallery, filled with artists’ work by Keith Haring, Freidrich Hunderdwasser, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and a sea goddess by Swoon.

There is a Wee Arts space for preschoolers, two art labs, a Quiet Room with storybooks, and a bright yellow active space, with a webbed floor, portholes, and a ball pond, where kids can run off their extra energy. It's called The Groove Tube.

CMA has started a progam of evening classes, where older kids 13-15 years, can design fashion, study advanced filmmaking, drawing and painting.

The Children's Museum of Art is definitely where new art adventures are happening!!!

Museum Visit: New York Historical Society

2011-10-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Question: Can a painting be like a newspaper?

Answer: Sure, when it reports the news of the day.

According to the New York Times, in 1861, paintings often reported the news. This painting told the story of the soldiers of the Irish Regiment returning to New York from fighting in the First Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War. It is called “Return of the 69^th Regiment, N.Y.S.M, From the Seat of War.”It was painted by artist Louis Lang. You can see New York Bay from Bowling Green. A happy crowd welcomes the soldiers,flower sellers, fruit vendors, dignitaries, newsboys, happy families. Thenewsboy is selling pictures of Colonel Michael Corcoran, who led the Regiment.The man on the horse is Thomas Francis Meagher, who became a captain in the Regiment.

The painting is huge: 11 feet wide by 7 feet tall. With the frame, it weighs700 pounds. (It is the largest and heaviest“ newspaper” you’ll ever see.) The New York Historical Society decided to restore thepainting in 2006. They found it in storage, in pieces. Happily, allthe pieces were there. The Williamstown Art Conservation Center inMassachusetts put the painting back together and restored it. It was like doing a giant jigsawpuzzle.

Louis Lang painted the “Return of the 69^th Regiment, N.Y.S.M From the Seat of War,” to tell an exciting “news story.” Now, it is American history.

You will find the painting at the newly renovated New York Historical Society, hanging in the exhibition “Making American Taste: Narrative Art for a New Democracy,” on thefourth floor.

Project

Choose a story from today's news and paint a picture to tell the story.

Gallery Visit: Alexander Calder at Pace Gallery

2011-10-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

We're going to the Pace Gallery on October 27th, to see Alexander Calder's sculpture. His grandson, Alexander Rower, the President of the Alexander Calder Foundation, helped Pace Gallery assemble the exhibition. Calder's sculpture is amazing. He cuts metal shapes and bends them into perfectly balanced sculpture. Sometimes he paints them. Sometimes he hangs them from wires and the slightest breeze makes them move. They appear light as feathers, but we know that all that metal is very heavy.

Here is an introduction Calder's genius:

Alexander Calder (born 22 July 1898 - 11 November 1976) was an American sculptor, one of the giants of American art. He is renowned for his invention of mobiles, hanging steel sculptures, that were so perfectly balanced they could move in the slightest breeze.

Calder's giant, bolted-steel, standing sculptures were called Stabiles.

Admired by many architects, Calder's grand-scale sculptures have been chosen to stand in the plazas of our modern office towers.

Early in his career, Calder developed new methods of sculpting. Here he "draws" a three-dimensional portrait by bending and twisting wire.

He created a miniature circus he called "Cirque Calder," with small, bent-wire belly dancers, lion tamers, animal trainers. He loved to "perform" the circus for his friends.

You can see Calder's original circus figures at the Whitney Museum. There is a film of Calder performing his tiny circus with his own wild sound effects.

Join us when we visit the Pace Gallery at 32 East 57th Street, on October 27th, to see the Calder exhibition.

Project

Here is an idea for a sculpture project inspired by the Cirque Calder. You can try it with your child at home. Select a familiar book and construct the characters. Create your own special "performance"of the story. "Perform" it for your friends. Do a video of the story.

Materials:

You'll need some pipe cleaners, playdoh, scissors and construction paper.

Step-by-Step:

Twist the pipe cleaners into small figures.

Press some playdoh, and pieces of fabric(?) onto the pipe cleaners to add color.

Construct a "stage set" using construction paper.

Have your characters "perform" the story.

Put on some music.

Don't forget your video camera.

Museum Visit: Bucky Fuller Dome at CFA

2011-10-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

A group of kids and their parents met at the AIA (American Institute of Architects) to build a 14 foot geodesic dome, designed by Buckminster Fuller, the great engineer and inventor. Catherine Teegarden, the Director of Programs at the Center for Architecture Foundation, led the project. This is how we did it:

Our first step was to draw a circle using chalk and a string. Then we placed a foundation of sticks that followed the circle.

We constructed pentagrams.

and joined the pentagrams to the foundation of sticks.

The system was color-coded; the blue sticks were inserted in the blue joints, making construction a whole lot easier.

We joined the pentagrams to hexagons.

Slowly, the dome began to take shape.

When we reached the top, we gave it a little push and wow, the dome was standing.

Here it is, 14 feet in diameter and 8 feet high.

Part Two: We built dome models with marshmallows and toothpicks.

The trick was not eating the marshmallows.

Even very young kids built small domes.

For the grand finale, we took a group picture, with everyone looking really pleased with their dome adventure. Thanks AIA.

The Center for Architecture Foundation hosts monthly Family Days like this

for kids ages 5 and up and their adult companions. More information about these

and other architecture and design programs for kids can be found at

www.cfafoundation.org

Museum Visit: The Metropolitan Museum

2011-10-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Join us for an amazing art tour for parents with young children. We're meeting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday October 22, at 12:00 pm. We will play "The Matching Game," an art treasure hunt, with "postcards" we buy in the Museum Store. We will hunt for the original paintings in the Impressionist collection of the Museum.

At the Museum store.

Selecting postcards of our favorite Impressionist paintings.

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers?

A Degas Ballerina?

Monet's famous Japanese Bridge?

You could also choose a postcard of “William,” the little blue hippo from Egypt, and search for him in the Egyptian Wing, near the Temple of Dendur.

First lunch. (It's always good to begin a visit to a Museum with lunch. (Don't forget dessert.) We will take the elevator down to the Met's informal restaurant, where you will find a fresh salad bar and lots of delicious-looking desserts. We will nibble our salads and study our Impressionist postcards.

After lunch, we will take an elevator to the second floor to the Impressionist galleries.

You will find the Van Gogh's Sunflowers immediately. Hold up your postcard, “matchy, matchy."

The Degas Ballerina is nearby.

Monet's "Japanese Bridge" is in the next gallery. “Matchy, matchy.”

You may be inspired by all the art around you and might want to draw. Bring along a small drawing pad and some colored pencils. You can sit on the round sofa in the center of a gallery and draw some some colorful lines and circles.

After we find the Impressionist paintings, we will take the elevator down to the lobby and search for “William,” the blue hippo, in the Egyptian Wing.

Little “William” is in a corner of one of the Egyptian galleries. “Matchy, matchy."

As we walk on, you will pass some gigantic Egyptian sculptures. Take some photos of your small children next to the big figures.

The Temple of Dendur sits in a soaring space designed by the architect Kevin Roche. (Roche also designed the entrance stairs to the museum.) A large, sloping, glass wall floods the gallery with daylight. A reflecting pool invites you to toss a penny into the water and make wish. You can walk over to the little Temple of Dendur and explore it inside and out.

At the end of our visit, we will walk through the lobby toward the main entrance. Drop your little metal Metropolitan buttons into the recycling box.

Outside, as you stand at the top of the grand stairway at the entrance to the Met, you may hear some music, some jazz musicians entertaining the crowd.

You can sit down on the steps and listen for a while. When you are finally ready to leave, you can walk down the steps and catch the Fifth Avenue bus home.

When you get home, don't forget to put your "Matching Game" postcards on your art wall. They will be the beginning of your own art collection, and remind you of your exciting art tour of the Impressionists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

How to Play the "Matching Game"

You will find some postcard reproductions of the paintings in the permanent collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's store. Select a few of your favorite art works and then hunt for them in the galleries. (You can pick up a map of the Museum at the Information Desk to guide your search. Also, check there for a list of daily events and special activities for children.)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is open on weekdays and Sundays, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and until 9:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed on Mondays.

Art Tour: Chelsea 10/11

2011-10-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Art Tour: Chelsea October 19, 2011, 11:00 am. For parents with young children:

C’mon along, let artbusnyc take you by the hand. Pack upyour toddler, your Cheerios, release the brake on your stroller, jump in a cab,and meet us on Wednesday, October 19th, at 11:00 am, to visit 3 art galleries in Chelsea.

First stop:

The Pace Gallery: 545 West 22^nd Street. CarstenNicolai, until October 22, 2011

A white parachute lies on the floor in front of a large fan.Every four minutes, the fan is turned on. The fan makes a very loud noise. The wind inflates the parachute and itleaps up into the air. It’s fun to watch.

The artist is Carsten Nicolai. The exhibit is called“Pionier.,” the german word for “pioneer.” Nicolai’s work operates on theborders of art and science. His exhibition resembles a scientific laboratory,where calculations and tests are performed.

Second stop:

Sikkema Jenkins & Co. 530 West 22nd Street. Vik Muniz to October 15, 2011.

Muniz presents new large-scale photographs that recreate historical paintings with torn strips of magazine photos. He reminds us of the overwhelming flow of information in modern life.

Project

Create images of animals using bits of torn paper from magazine images. Photograph your images.

Yancy Richardson Gallery: 535 West 22^nd Street.Hellen van Meene, until October 22, 2011

Yancy Richardson Gallery exhibits the work of photographers. Hellen van Meene was born in 1972, in the Netherlands. She lives and works there. This is her third show at Yancy Richardson.

The exhibition includes several beautiful portraits of young women that van Meene photographed in Russia and the Netherlands, and formal portraits of dogs. Van Meene photographed the dogs in an outdoor studio shecreated to highlight the character of each dog. They are funny and fun.

Third stop: West 24th Street...

Gagosian Gallery: 555 West 24^th Street. RichardSerra, until November 26, 2011

The artist is Richard Serra. Two new sculptures fill the gallery space. They are giantmetals spirals tipped at angles that seem to defy gravity. Mr. Serra’s father worked in shipyards, and Serra’s sculptures can suggest the inverted hulls of tankers.

When you walk in and out of Serra's huge sculptures, they make feel you might be inGulliver’s Travels, like the tiny Lilliputians, discovering the giant world of humans.

Next Month: Art Tours November-December 2011

Be sure to follow artbusnyc next month. Art Tours will return to Yancy Richardson, to see the gorgeous, old master-inspired photographs of Sharon Core, October 27-December 23, 2011:

Project

Sharon Core replicates and then photographs the food and flower paintings of old and modern masters, with real food and real flowers. Core admires the Dutch painters, Bosschaert and Jan Breughel, and the Modernist painters, Odilon Redon and Fantin-LaTour. See if you can find paintings by these masters online. Try to replicate them with real food and flowers. Take photographs of your compositions.

Studio Project: Watercolors 2

2011-10-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some notes on a fun art session with a toddler: ...a watercolor workshop.

The quick set-up: Put a thin plastic drop-cloth on the dining table. Pull up a chair. Put out a pan of Crayola watercolors (bought in the supermarket), a jar of water, some paper towels, a pad of paper (tear off a few sheets), a brush, (try a new long-handled artist's brush). It would be nice to have a beautiful sunny day bouncing warm light into the room. Clear a nice exhibition wall. Tear off some small pieces of scotch tape (for the exhibition). Take out your point-and-shoot camera. (You don't want to miss these shots.) OK. Ready, set, paint.

Today, we painted people...a nice circle for the head...large round dots for eyes...a smiling mouth...hair...a sort of triangular shape for a dress...arms...legs. (Take a photo.) Finished. Do another one...same way...then another...then another. (Photo.) Four paintings with roughly the same size figure. A series. Nicely done. Tape the paintings to the exhibition wall. Yea! (Photo)

Gallery Visit: Red Grooms at Marlborough

2011-10-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Red Grooms did this painting of himself. Notice his red hair. Grooms (b 1937) is a multi-media artist. That means he likes to work with different materials: paint, wood, metal, plastic, and put them together. Here is his idea of a store with a stroller passing by:

Grooms is funny. His art is about New York places and New York people. Here is his newsstand:

Here is a little street cart that sells soda. He sees something interesting in the things that we see every day. Would you do a painting of traffic? Here is Grooms's idea of traffic:

Here is Grooms's idea of Saks Fifth Avenue, a great New York department store:

He can see something wonderful in the things we see every day, like a city bus. A city bus???? He built this life-size, city bus. He sewed plastic sheets together and stretched them over a metal frame. The bus looks real. You are surprised to see it in a room, in an art gallery. Pretty funny.

You can even step inside the bus and see his life-size wood sculptures of people sitting on the seats. It is an amazing art work. Here are his sculptures of some passengers:

This is the side of the bus, with a poster advertising the "Bingling Brothers Circus." (Zoom in on this photo to make it larger.)

Red Grooms is a very special artist. He can be funny, but he can be serious too. After I left his exhibition and walked outside, I saw the traffic, the people, and the buses, in a new way. Everywhere I looked I saw art. Thank you Red Grooms.

An artbusnyc Zoo Project

This is how you and your child can make a multi-media construction like the constructions of Red Grooms:

Take some photos at the New York zoo. Try to take one very wide photograph of the whole zoo. (This will be your background.) Photograph some of the cages and the animals. Photograph some of the people. Print the photographs. Paste them on heavy paper. Cut them out. Leave some extra paper at the bottom of each cutout. (You will fold this back to make a stand for your cutouts.) Glue your "background" to a cardboard box (so it stands). Use a piece of cardboard for the ground. (Arrange your cutouts on the cardboard, and design your zoo. When you like your design, glue the cutouts to the cardboard. There. Now you have a zoo kind of like a Red Grooms construction.

The Red Grooms exhibition will be at the Marlborough Gallery at 40 West 57th Street until October 22, 2011.

Studio Visit: Anna Schrage

2011-09-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Anna Schrage Performs a Painting

Anna Schrage is an artist. She was born in Germany. She lives and works in New York City. Anna creates videotapes of herself while she is painting. Her idea is to "perform" her painting process for an audience, like a dancer, or, a musician. As she explains, “I am looking for an exchange between the artist and the audience, like performing artists do on stage."

Here are some stills of Anna painting, taken from one of Anna's recent videos.

Project

This is a project inspired by Anna Schrage's "performance" art that you can do at home: Use your "point-and-shoot" camera to make a video of yourself doing a painting. Talk about what you are doing. Talk about the materials you are using, the paints, the markers. Do you feel this is like a “performance?” Do you want people to applaud when you finish your painting?

Studio Visit: Puppet Horse

2011-09-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a most amazing, life-size horse puppet. It is made of wood and very thin fabric. Two people make it move from the inside; a third person works it from the outside. It is very life-like. It walks and runs. It snorts and breathes. Its ears turn. People ride on it.

The puppet was built by a very talented puppet company called Handspring.

These photographs were part of a video at TED, an online conference that features presentations by people in the arts and science. See the link to TED below.

Project

Pretend you are a horse. Use a large, thin scarf to cover yourself. How would a horse move? How would a horse sound? Make up a story about a horse. Make a video about your horse.

Here is a link to TED and this video about the horse puppet and the company that made it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/handpring_puppet_co_the_genius_puppetry_behind_war_horse.html

Studio Project: Watercolors 1

2011-09-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

----

This is a story about two four-year old friends, Sophia and Lucy painting watercolors on a rainy day. You can try this at your home.

Project: "Watercolors"

The art materials you will need:

(You can find them in most supermarkets.)

A pan of Crayola washable watercolors

A package of Crayola paint brushes

A box of Crayola washable magic markers

A box of Crayola washable glitter pens

A sketch pad 9 x 12” (?)

A roll of Scotch tape (easy release)

You can set up an art studio on a large dining table.

This is how the watercolor playdate at Sophia's house worked:

Sophia said to her friend Lucy, "let's do art." She proceeded to take out the pan of Crayola watercolors and art materials we had bought that morning at the supermarket.

Sophia put the art materials on the big round dining table.

She tore off some paper towels. She would put one under her painting to protect the table and use one to dry her brush.

She gave two towels to Lucy.

She filled two small bowls with water and put them on the table.

She set out two brushes and the pan of watercolors.

She put the magic markers and the glitter pens on the table.

She put the sketch pad on the table.

She tore off two pages and gave one to Janie.

They were ready to paint.

They sat down at the table.

Sophia dipped her brush in the water and stroked the purple watercolor.

She painted a few purple strokes on the paper.

Lucy wet her brush and painted a few strokes of red.

Sophia looked over at Lucy's painting and said, “That’s beautiful.”

Sophia washed her brush. She took some blue and stroked it on the paper.

She said “Lucy, look at this blue.”

Lucy looked at the blue and said "It's beautiful."

Sophia washed her brush and dried it on the paper towel.

She wet her brush in the water and then dipped it in the green.

She put long, curving, green strokes on her painting.

Lucy put long, curving, red strokes on her painting.

Sophia washed her brush, and took some red.

Lucy washed her brush and took some yellow.

Sophia looked at her painting and said, “It’s a rainbow."

She let the paint dry a bit.

She took a red magic marker and drew some curly lines on the rainbow.

She opened a glitter pen and dribbled a line of glitter on the rainbow.

Lucy drew some lines on her painting with a blue marker and added a line of glitter.

Sophia opened the roll of Scotch tape.

She tore off some small pieces and stuck them to the tops of the paintings.

She mounted the paintings on the kitchen door.

The girls stood back and smiled. “It’s an exhibit,” Sophia said.

They were very pleased.

Sophia took the bowls of muddy water to the sink.

She emptied them and filled them with clean water.

She put the fresh bowls of water and some clean paper towels on the table.

Sophia and Lucy did some more paintings.

Lucy dipped her brush in the bright blue color.

She said "Sophia, look at this beautiful blue.”

Sophia agreed. She took some of the bright blue on her brush and said “It's beautiful.”

Lucy's baby sister, Emma, a lively 2 year old, and her Mom, joined them at the table.

Baby Emma wanted to paint too.

She pointed to the blue and said, “Booo.”

Sophie found a brush and some paper for Emma.

Emma's Mom showed her how to wet her brush and dip it in the paint.

Emma painted a stroke and giggled.

Sophie taped all of their new paintings to the kitchen door. Beautiful.

The girls stood back and admired their work.

Just then, Sophia's Mom announced that it was dinner time.

The girls did not want to stop painting,

but Sophia said “We can do art again soon.”

Lucy said “Yes, let's do art again soon.”

Baby Emma pointed to the watercolors and said “Booo.”

artbusnyc project

Plan a "watercolor" playdate. Invite a friend to come to your house. Buy some Crayola art materials at the supermarket. Invite your friend to do some watercolors with you. Put the art materials out on the dining table. Paint some beautiful watercolors. Tape them to a door for an exhibit. Invite people to see your exhibit. Talk about your paintings. Take photos of your exhibit. Save your art in a portfolio. Save your photos in an album.

Studio Project: Hurricane Irene Art Gallery

2011-09-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

What were you doing to keep busy while you were waiting for Hurricane Irene to be over? Was it art? Did you grab the Crayola watercolors and paint, paint, paint?

Here are some artworks some children did while the rain splashed mud around everywhere.

"Setting Sky"

U's Mom, explained the Irene artproject..."We started out in the morning with an idea I thought would be super fun. Onecolor per drawing/painting, using lots of different media - paint, marker,crayon, pastel, pencil. But it turned out to be more my idea than what U. wanted todo. So later she attacked the watercolors on her own and made a cool series. Iasked her if she wanted to put them up on the wall and give them titles...whichled to a discussion of what titles were and that some artists decided not toname some of their art. But she took to naming like a pro- some silly, somepoetic. It was fun and she likes going back to read the names and giggles about thesilly ones.

mom to a 4 yr old

Here are some more Hurricane Irene paintings...

"Margarita Pizza"

"Purple Toilet"

And finally, "Poo-Poo Toilet"

Here are some giant feet. Ingenious yes?

We would love to add your projects to our Hurricane Irene gallery. Send us your latest artworks, and a brief description (always fun) and we'll post them. For privacy, we will only include your child's initial (or fantasy artist name) with the paintings.

Studio Visit: Lance Boge

2011-08-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Lance Boge: Styrofoam Figures

Lance Boge is an artist who lives in New York City. Boge builds expressive figure sculptures out of styrofoam. His figures are simple but have a lot of character. He paints them and decorates them with bits of materials. Here is a drawing by Boge:

This is a collage by Boge made with oil paint stick and paint.

Project Inspired by Lance Boge

It would be fun to try some collages and figures sculptures inspired by Lance Boge. Use some styrofoam (new from an art store, or used grocery trays). Paint them with tempera paint. Glue on eyes (from a craft store or draw them and cut them out of paper).

Studio Visit: Jasper Johns

2011-07-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

Jasper Johns Is Smiling

Jasper Johns, contemporary American artist. Jasper Johns was born in1930 in Augusta, Georgia, and raised in South Carolina. He began drawing as ayoung child, and from the age of five knew he wanted to be an artist. He moved to NewYork in 1953.

Jasper Johns liked to paint subjects "the eye already knows," everyday objects, like beer cans. BEER CANS?? Johns wants us to think about what art is, what we can call a painting or a sculpture. So he smiled, and made quiet little jokes, like beer cans.

Johns was probably smiling when he did the "Beer Cans" sculpture? Most people throw empty beer cans in the garbage, but Johns had two beer cans cast in bronze. And then he painted them to look EXACTLY like real beer cans. The "Beer Cans" sculpture was Johns's little joke, but it was a very beautiful little joke.

And then, Johns did this amazing bronze sculpture of his paint brushes soaking in an old Savarin coffee can. He was definitely smiling. Johns had the brushes and the Savarin can cast in bronze, and then painted them to look real. It was brilliant. It is one of Johns's most famous art works.

Johns liked to do drawings and prints of his paintings and sculpture. Here is his black and gray version of the Savarin sculpture

Johns began painting his flag paintings in 1954. This painting is titled "The White Flag." It is the largest of Johns's flag paintings, 78" x 120." It remained in Johns's own collection until the Metropolitan Museum bought it in 1998.

In 1955, Johns painted this red, white and blue flag.

Johns painted his flag paintings with "encaustic," color mixed with wax, like melted crayons. It's lovely to use, dries fast, doesn't smear, and the color can be painted over and over itself in many layers. He painted it over small bits of newspaper he had glued to the canvas. The paintings were fabulous. You could see a little bit of the newspaper showing through the color. It was a completely new way to use encaustic. Very "modern."

Johns's flag paintings and drawings were exciting. His friend, the artist Robert Rauschenberg, invited the gallery owner, Leo Castelli, to visit Johns's studio to see his flag paintings. Castelli's often showed the work of new young artists in his gallery. Castelli was impressed with Johns's paintings and offered to give Johns a "one-man-show."

This is one of Johns's flag drawings. Castelli used it as the poster for Johns's exhibition at the gallery.

Next, Johns did a series of paintings and drawings of "targets."

Here is one of Johns's extraordinary drawings of the "targets."

Then came Johns's paintings, and drawings of letters.

Here is Johns's elegant drawing of letters one over the other,

Johns did a series of paintings, drawings and prints of the numbers 0 through 9.

Here is Johns's drawing of the numbers 0 through 9 drawn one over the other,

In 1966, Johns painted a series of maps of the United States.

Johns painted a series of hatching paintings. They remind me of "finger painting." prints.

He explored the idea of hatching in many paintings and drawings. They are some of his most beautiful, and serious, work

Johns like to draw and paint his early paintings. He painted this "Savarin Can" many years later. Note the hand prints in the hatching.

Later in his career, Johns painted some more mysterious images, like this four-panel painting called "The Four Seasons."

This year, 2011, Johns's show at the Matthew Marks Gallery went back to his early idea of numbers from 0 to 9. But, he explored them in sculpture.

Here is one of the numbers sculptures.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art says that Johns is one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. See the link to Johns at the Metropolitan Museum, below.

Some Johns-inspired projects you can try at home.

Numbers: You can buy stencils for the numbers one through 9 in an art store (letter stencils too.) Do some paintings and drawings using numbers (and or letters).

Letters: You can buy an alphabet of rubber stamps in a toy store. Buy an ink stamp pad. Or, you can use some paint. Do some prints using the letter stamps.

Maps: You can photocopy maps of the states of the US. Paint over them with tempera paint. Then, add the names of the states with stamps, on them.

Encaustic: You can iron a sheet of paper to heat it up. Draw on it with a crayon while it is still warm. It will melt the crayon a little.

Grid: You can fold a paper into rectangles. Fill in each rectangle with color to create a colorful background grid. Draw or paint a number in each rectangle. Or, using colored paper, cut out letters or numbers, and glue them on the grid.

Here are some links to more information about the artist, Jasper Johns.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/

At Gagosian gallery:

http://www.gagosian.com/artists/jasper-johns/?gclid=CPCshtnDkqoCFcTBKgodXRJLzA

http://www.gagosian.com/past/

http://www.gagosian.com/artists/

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Studio Project: Kids Love Shakespeare

2011-07-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

Who’da thought Shakespeare could touch the imagination of a4 year old? Here is a little story about "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

While I was waiting for my granddaughter at school, I chatted with a young woman, who was a sitter for one of the kids. Idiscovered she was a drama major. When I asked her who her favorite playwright was,she replied, “Shakespeare.”

A mother sitting nearby, mentioned that kidsnaturally speak in iambic pentameter. She felt they would love Shakespeare’s rhymes. Sheexplained that she was in fact, a Shakespeare scholar, and had been studyingShakespeare’s life and work for many years. She thought kids would enjoydiscovering Shakespeare’s plays. We spoke about how parents might introduceShakespeare's plays to their young children. She suggested they could memorize partof a Shakespeare speech. I was intrigued.

Afterwards, my granddaughter and I headed for our weekly visit to the Ottendorfer New York Public Library. We went into the children's reading room and asked the librarian if she could find us a book of Shakespeare’s plays, perhaps as stories. She found the perfect book, “AMidsummer Night’s Dream," and we sat down to read it.

Here is how it begins:
People love certain people but cannot tell them. They go to the woods where fairies live. There is a fairy queen and a fairy king who enchant things. There is a flower with a magic love potion. If the potion is put on the eyelids of a sleeping person, they will love the first person they see when they awake. Westopped reading here, before we reached the part about the lovers' silly mix-ups.

Soon, it was time to head for home and Mom. Outside, it wasraining lightly. My granddaughter was tucked into her stroller under a plastic rain shield.Suddenly she poked her head out, and said, “Nana, if I had a lovepotion, I would put it on Mama’s eyes, and when she woke up she would see meand love me forever.”

Who’da thought?

Project: "The Love Potion," based on "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Make a "magic" flower out of some paper and a few pipe cleaners. Find some silky scarves, a tutu, and some fairy's wings. (Believe it or not, some kids have them.) Let your child dress-up as a fairy. Put the flower in a vase. Make a drawing of "the woods." Put it near the flower. Let your child create a story about fairies and people who wander in the woods and find a

magic flower. Use drawings to help you tell the story.

Here is a link to a nice site called: "Kids Love Shakespeare."

http://www.kidsloveshakespeare.com/about-shakespeare-for-kids/

Links to things "Shakespeare:"

This link will give you a scene-by-scene description of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/msnd/summary.html

Royal Shakespeare Company Theater at the Park Avenue Armory

Below is the theater the Royal Shakespeare Company is building for its Festival at the Park Avenue Armory. The Festival will present of five of Shakespeare's plays and a number of seminars and talks in July and August 2011.

http://www.armoryonpark.org/index.php/programs_events/detail/the_royal_shakespeare_com

Thedrill hall of the Park AvenueArmory today becomes a new stage for the RoyalShakespeare Company as it begins performances for its five weekresidency.  “King Lear,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Julius Caesar,” “As You Like It”and “The Winter’s Tale” will be performed in repertory throughout the run,which ends Aug. 14.  See the performancecalendar for precise matinee and evening dates.  The 41-membertroupe will perform on a full-scale replica of its Stratford-upon-Avon stage.  $25 rush seatswill be available each week through an online lottery that opens Tuesdays at 10a.m. and closes Thursdays at 11:59 p.m.

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Studio Visit: Pop-Up Studio: Utrecht Art Store

2011-07-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

One Saturday morning, the Utrecht, Art Store in NY, held an art event on the sidewalk in front of their store. Everyone was invited to stop by and splash a painting.

The studio was just a small table with some pots of paint and some brushes.

New Yorkers, creative and enthusiastic, stepped right up to paint their own bright images.

Thank you Utrecht. You made a lot of New Yorkers very happy.

Pop-Up Project

Soooo simple. Make a pop-up art studio in your playground. You'll need a few pots of paint. Some brushes, maybe 1" foam brushes, and some paper, maybe 11 x 14," some good sticky tape to hold the paper down. Don't forget the old towels and a bucket to help you clean-up. Invite everyone, children and parents, to join you making wonderful paintings. You can find everything you'll need at Utrecht, 111 4th Avenue (near 13th Street).

Studio Visit: Seurat's Dots

2011-07-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

If you look at Seurat's painting "A Sunday on the Ile de La Grande Jatte" you'll see people from every social class, enjoying themselves in a public park. The "Ile" is an island in the Seine in the middle of Paris.

If you look at the painting very closely, you'll see it is made of dots, lots of dots. Seurat was scientifically exploring how we see. He believed that when we see colors, we are actually seeing small dots of red, blue and yellow, and that by putting these dots very close together, your eye will mix them and make different colors. This idea, is called "pointillism."

Above, is a small section of "La Grande Jatte." This is what it looks like very close-up. You can see the dots and the colors.

To compose "La Grande Jatte," Seurat did many drawings of the people in the park. He used a crayon called Conte crayon, on bumpy paper, to make his drawings look like they were made of dots:

You can create some drawings with Seurat's "dots" effect.

Buy some conte crayon and some rough paper in an art store. Trace your hand and fill in the shape with the conte. Does the crayon work better on its side? Practice making some shapes and filling them in with the crayon. Try tracing some things. How about some leaves? Try drawing some people. Keep them simple like Seurat did.

George-Pierre Seurat, 1859-1891, was a French Post-Impressionist painter and draftsman. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte(1884–1886), is his most famous painting. It changed the direction of modern art and is considered one of the most important paintings of the 19th century. Seurat made several studies for the painting including a smaller version Study 1884–1885, that is in thecollection of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, in New York City.

Studio Project: Class Pictures

2011-07-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

A photographer known for her wonderful portraits of families and their children. took these photos of a pre-k class at the school's Book Fair. The school sold the photographs to parents at an auction to raise money for the school.

Here are the 11"x14" prints mounted at the entrance to the school. The exhibition was a wonderful statement of the joy and energy of the school and its young students.

Project: Set Up a Photo Booth

Have you ever thought of taking portrait photos of the kids in your class? Here's how: Mount a point-and-shoot camera on a tripod. Tape a piece of foamcore 24"x24" (approximately) to the wall at a child's height. Set up an inexpensive photographers light on a chair next to the camera. Pose children in front of the foamcore. Click away. You can photograph your friends at school, or at a birthday party, or photograph the entire family at your Thanksgiving dinner. Ask an adult to work as your assistant.

Museum Visit: Jim Henson's Muppets

2011-07-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is Jim Henson. He is a Muppet puppeteer.

Q. What is a muppet?

A. It’s a type of puppet.

Q. What is a puppet?

A. A puppet is a kind of doll that puppeteers make appear to talk.

Henson created a world of muppets that live on SesameStreet. They teach children under 6 years old, about letters, numbers, and howto read. Henson gave each of these muppets a role to play:

This is Kermit. He is a Muppet puppet. He is reasonable and tries to keep things working smoothly. He started as a reporter at Sesame Street. Now he acts as the host of all the events.

This is Big Bird. He is a "full-body" puppet. He is very tall and very yellow. He has a gentle personality.

This is Bert and Ernie. They are like brothers. Each one has an opinion that the other doesn't always agree with.

This is Miss Piggy. She is the "diva" of Sesame Street. She is very vain and likes lots of attention.

This is Elmo. He has a great giggle. He is young and playful, like our pre-schoolers.

These characters have been teaching young children the alphabet, numbers, and how to read since 1969. After ten years on television, Sesame Street estimated that 9 million children under age 6 were watching Sesame Street daily. In 2010, it was found that now, even youngerchildren, 3 and 4 year olds, are watching Sesame Street. Sesame Street has been translated into many languages and plays on television all over the world. Your parents, grew up watching the Sesame Street gang when they were children. Ask your mother.

Exhibition

Jim Henson's World at the Museum of the Moving Image

The Museum of the Moving Image is presenting an exhibition called the World of Jim Henson with some of the original Muppet characters on view. Also, (fanfare) the original "Muppet Movie" is being shown in the Museum's Theater. Check the schedule. I think it is playing on Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 pm. It is amazing fun.

artbusnyc project:

How to Make a Muppet

Have you ever wondered how to make a muppet? Here are the links to a great tutorial. It's very clear and easy to follow. Now, anyone can make a Muppet. And, you will find some hilarious clips from Muppet Shows at the end of this blog.

Tutorial by: Puppetsnstuff.com (This is really good stuff.)

Types ofpuppets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVRhp_S167c&NR=1

Tools andsupplies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjrhkzZlJJM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

puppetpattern

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2tkX5ZgCLA&NR=1&feature=fvwp

sewing thepattern outline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGSs8aGiu7E&NR=1&feature=fvwp

cutting outthe pattern

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2tkX5ZgCLA&NR=1&feature=fvwp

stuffingthe arms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=870sgpv_dUk&feature=relmfu

mouth board

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJxZ6xWBX70&feature=relmfu

insertingmouthboard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztol7H5V4T4&feature=relmfu

gluingmouthboard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICL8TgyI0rw&feature=relmfu

tongue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KJgElpQ8Xk&feature=relmfu

fill head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZphKEk2BU&feature=relmfu

adding eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-67PnTnIUUg&feature=relmfu

completingthe eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vskWfS3nts&feature=relmfu

adding anose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CcycTzs6-s&feature=relmfu

adding hair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdFp_v5mOHg&feature=relmfu

And there you have it. You've created your very own Muppet. Let's put on a tv show.

Just for laughs

Here are some funny Muppet Swedish Chef clips:

Swedishchef hot dog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm9HmRIri-Q

Swedishchef lobsters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu9A0LlLyvo&feature=related

Swedishchef turkey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-OFXUaMIv8&feature=related

We love the Muppets!!!!

Studio Project: Bach's B Minor Mass

2011-07-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

I spotted this report in the Yale Alumni Magazine. It described a music “happening” at New Haven’s Union Station in April:

“It started with a cello and a keyboard, but soon an ensemble of strings, a full choir, tympani, and trumpets, filled New Haven’s Union Station with the strains of Dona Nobis Pacem from Bach’s Mass in B Minor."

It was the Yale Institute of Sacred Music’s Version of a “flash mob,” a seemingly impromptu public happening. It surprised everyone waiting in the Station. The students seemed to just drift into the Station singing.

This is a WONDERFUL video. The music is sublime. Watching the people react with astonishment is terrific. It is a MUST SEE.!!! You can click on the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3aSjY1ieow