Rothko Over Rembrandt Hair and Estes All Around

I made a new work while planning a new work!

Rothko Over Rembrandt Hair and Estes All Around, 2013

Photographic Print Series, Ink on Ivory Cotton Paper, 11x8.5" 

Krystal Booth

 
 

I printed out a photograph as a reference to hang on the easel for a painting.  My printer is running out of ink, and this is what came out.  Instant love.  I had to print out a series of five of them on good cotton paper while I could, as I couldn't do this again if I tried.  Happy little accident!

 

Due to this print out, I saw visual references to Mark Rothko, Rembrandt (his hair in a particular self portrait), and Richard Estes.  It turned out to be a good reminder of some artists that I have been fascinated with off and on through the years.

 

 

Failed Assignments to Absolute Brilliance in Ten Minutes Or Less!

Only 24 hours remaining until I get to see Mark Rothko's works at the Portland Art Museum!  I am ridiculously excited!

I remember my cousin's wife telling me once that her favorite artist was Mark Rothko.  I agreed that it was great, but at the same time I wondered what she saw that I didn't.  Like her, some people really seemed to understand his work.  It seemed to be composed of a secret language that was only decoded by some, while others like me were left to wonder what all the fuss was about.

I had seen some of his paintings in art history classes, books, film, and I really tried to understand with an open mind.  I still didn't get it.  Instead, they looked like painting assignments gone wrong.

On a field trip to the Toledo Museum of Art with my college classmates and one of my mentor professors, I finally had the opportunity to see Rothko's work in person.  It was a work similar to the one above.  It was a huge canvas and was mainly composed of intense shades of black.  I sat down on the bench in front of it, determined to walk away with a better understanding of what the heck he was doing and what I was missing.

The soft lighting revealed countless layers of paint to give some history of the artist's process.  At first, I was still aware of the people walking around me.  To be honest, I felt a bit ridiculous to be staring at a seemingly blank, black canvas for so long when the rest of the museum held so many other works that warranted "ooo"s and "ahhh"s.  After a couple of minutes though, the painting seemed to surround me and my thoughts quieted.  It was so weird, and I don't mean to make this over the top, but it was an pure emotional experience.  The emotions I felt ranged from safe and soothed to a heavy despair and fear.  Just when they would become almost overwhelming, they would change, going full circle. 

In a period of ten minutes, I felt that the work was an experience, not just an oil painting.  I have since read more about his art and life, and what he was trying to accomplish.  He was trying to create paintings that had the same pure emotional impact as that of music.  Eliminating the middle man of symbols, he was going directly for emotion through the impact of color with saturated canvases that envelope the viewer.  Oh, to go back in time and have a studio visit - I think he would be annoyed with my praises and enthusiasm about his work as he coldly sat chain-smoking cigarrettes between his paint stained fingers.

Upon moving to Portland, I anticipated several of his works in the Portland Art Museum since his family relocated here from Russia when he was young.  Instead, I found one or two small works by him and no more.  This is why I am so elated that they are hosting a retrospective of Mark Rothko - seeing his work in his hometown is so special, and I cannot wait to experience more of his work!  Like a junky, I can't wait until my fix!

I'm also kind of wondering if it was a fluke - did I see the only Rothko work in Toledo that would have that strong of an effect on me?  We'll see...  :)

The following link are photos of the current exhibition, courtesy of Portland Katu news - Enjoy!


http://www.katu.com/news/entertainment/Photos-Mark-Rothko-at-the-Portland-Art-Museum-139876153.html

The Whole Point

This blog is about sharing the experience of creating and showing my work. I should include my emotions about my experiences and not just a list of "I am showing here" and "I got rejected there".

The Emotional Truth:

I am nervous about my solo show and how my artwork will be perceived...how I will be percieved as a result. It's like I just woke up out of the fog of creating the work yesterday when Jason Brown and I were hanging all fourteen works from the Huddleston Series.

The realization set in. I had fourteen portraits of dead people. It is not exactly an attractive topic- the whole death thing- and as I was creating the work, I was not dwelling upon morbid perversions. While I spent hours with each portrait, I made up stories about their lives and honored their well earned wrinkles. I was not thinking about their deaths- I was wondering about their lives. Thinking about the strangers I would never know, and hoping that their experiences of life were wonderful while they were with us. I hoped that they had those moments in which they knew that they were loved by the people in their lives.

This is why I am nervous. Viewers typically spend only a few seconds with any given artwork. It is a rarity that an viewer will stand in front of a work for two minutes or more. People often keep walking as they are looking...

Mark Rothko put benches where his work was displayed to encourage the viewer to spend more time in order to experience the work. Smart man.

At first glance, and just perusing through the work the viewers may only see dead people...unlike in the Sixth Sense though. :) I am scared they will miss the opportunity to create their own narratives and miss out on the point of it all.

FILLED WITH ANXIETY...but this is a part of putting oneself out there, right?