Event 3: Singular Spaces: From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments

  This exhibition features a series of photographs taken by Jo Farb Hernández. The subject of these photographs are various types of artistic creations by eight Spanish artists. These artists, however, are not professionally trained, and therefore their works are deviated from main stream art world. Each of these artists have a unique style of their own; some are quite weird, others are cute and exquisite.

  The above photo is one of the first photos that I saw when I entered the exhibition, and I think it is quite cartoonish but still has that bizarre atmosphere to it. It is more like a "childhood nightmare" kind of sculpture. I would't say this one is my favorite, but it is still quite fun to look at.

  This one, on the other hand, is so beautiful and elegant in my opinion. This is a labyrinth made of branches that is more than one mile long. The high level of intricacy and volume of work amazed me, and I really want to visit this place myself someday. It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, which is my favorite fairytale.

  Another thing to note is how the photos are arranged in this exhibition. The photographer traveled thousands of miles to find these pieces and take photos of them. The photos are arranged on walls of a foursquare route. So when you walk through the exhibition to see the photos, it feels like that you are traveling with the photographer to different places. I would recommend this exhibition to my classmates, it was very fun seeing so many different styles of art all in one place.

Event 2: Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram

 

  Before seeing this exhibition, I basically knew nothing of Indian art. When I think of Indian garments, I instantly think of sari and head scarves. However the exhibition is nothing like what I imagined. It is very edgy, bold and not conservative at all. The show is composed of two parts as the name suggests: Gagawaka, which is a series of sculptural garments, and Postmortem, a collection of sculptures and models related to human anatomy.

  The garments in Gagawaka are all made of medical supplies and recycled materials. The dress above is my favorite piece from the collection and it seems to made of old leather boots. I love the concept of turning trash and useless stuff in to fashionable art pieces. 

  Compared to Gagawaka, Postmortem is much more strange and bizarre. In this photo there is a female mannequin whose arms and head have been cut off, and there is a plastic child tied to her back. Since there were no description of the sculpture, I will have to speculate that the meaning behind this sculpture is the hardship of mothers raising their children. 

  Overall, I prefer the Gagawaka part of the exhibition for its fashion elements. I wish they had descriptions of the sculptures since they are a bit hard to comprehend for viewers. I would recommend this exhibition to those of you who have stereotypes of Indian art, because for me it was mind-blowing. 

Event 1: The Getty Center

 

  I have heard of the Getty for a long time for its art collections and stunning views but never got a chance to actually visit it. I finally took the trip yesterday and it was very rewarding and well worth the time. The Getty Museum is built on a hill and I took the tram to get there (very fun). On the edges of the hill you could see both ocean and city. There were also grasslands, maze, and artificial streams that produce a calming and lovely atmosphere for appreciating art.

  I love European impressionist paintings, and I was able to find paintings of some of my favorite painters including Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Although I've seen their paintings a lot of times on books and albums, seeing them in person was a very different experience and absolutely amazing. Below is Vincent van Gogh's painting Irises.

  Apart from paintings, the Getty Museum also has great collections of sculptures and contemporary photographs. The photograph below caught my eye. I don't remember the name of the photograph, but it shows the difference between dog raised by human and dog who grew in the wild. It made me think about animals in zoos. Maybe sometimes when we try to protect animals, we are actually limiting them. 

  Overall, I would highly recommend visiting the Getty Center. It has been a wonderful experience for me, and I will definitely be visiting again.