Double Talk by artist Richard Deacon, winner of the Turner Prize. Laminated wood and imitation leather. 1987.
Look at these photos! Enjoy a taste of some wonders that have materialized inside the San Diego Museum of Art!
My docent friend took me on a tour yesterday morning of the jaw-dropping exhibition Richard Deacon: What You See Is What You Get. The abstract artwork of this world-renowned British contemporary sculptor, winner of the Turner Prize, is being shown for the first time in a major American museum–right here at the San Diego Museum of Art!
I don’t know how to begin explaining the various pieces. I did plainly see that Richard Deacon takes joy in inventive creation, working diverse materials, seeing organic forms bubble and expand into life. Gazing at his often huge pieces, I felt myself tumbling through a space filled with living shapes, mythological symbols, dreamlike visions. His muscle-crafted marvels have been extracted from infinite possibility, bent into reality.
I don’t know what else to say. I’ve added a little more description in my photo captions. But words are insufficient. What you see is what you get!
It’s great news that this special exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art has been extended through Labor Day, September 04, 2017. Go feast your eyes!
Richard Deacon. What you see is what you get. To see it, head over to the San Diego Museum of Art!Eyes are met with an astonishing work of abstract art. Dancing in Front of My Eyes, 2006. Wood, aluminum.In places screws, glue, and the wood itself seem to be “unfinished” parts of a living whole. The fluid piece undulates from the hand of its inventive creator.An intangible tangle of shadow on the floor seems to be an important part of the sculpture. The artist calls himself a fabricator.An amazing creation, that seems to me like active muscles or tendons in a living body. Dead Leg, 2007. Steamed oak, stainless steel.The wood is artistically bent using steam and heat. During this process, Richard Deacon has about two minutes to permanently alter the wood’s shape.This looks to me like supple leather. A portion of Fish out of Water. Laminated hardboard, screws. 1986-87.Richard Deacon creates astonishing art using many different materials. These huge pieces are ceramic. They seem to have bubbled up from the Earth, or the artist’s mind.Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow C. Glazed ceramic. 2000.Housing 10, 2012. Marbling on folded STPI handmade paper, constructed with magnet button.Richard Deacon enjoys playful, suggestive language and has called this huge piece Double Talk. The viewer can decide what is meant.The abstract sculpture stretches and curves in an inviting way. It is both natural and larger than life.Falling on Deaf Ears, No. 1. Galvanized steel, canvas. 1984. My docent friend explained this represents the ship of Odysseus, as he sailed past the treacherous Sirens.Across this room soars Like a Bird. Laminated wood, 1984. Richard Deacon creates spacious wonders that tickle the mind and expand the spirit.
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Senna Osawa, Tamayo Watermelon, mixed media, Second Grade, Kumeyaay Elementary.
Look what I discovered!
The San Diego Museum of Art has a free exhibition of art that was created by local school students. It’s called Young Art 2017: Beyond the Ordinary. You can find it in Gallery 15, which leads from the museum’s outdoor sculpture court to the restrooms that are often used by diners at Panama 66.
Every two years, a new exhibition of Young Art is presented by the museum. All I can say is once you step through the door your jaw will drop! Dozens of outstanding, truly amazing works of art line the walls and fill a few display cases.
Inspired students from Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade, from schools throughout San Diego County, have created all sorts of fantastic still life artwork, including paintings, drawings, mixed media, photography and ceramic sculptures. Some of the students have written a sentence or two explaining their thoughts and creative process.
My quick photos of these few examples barely scratch the surface. I just chose some of the art that I personally like. Funny–perhaps my favorite piece was created by a talented young artist in Kindergarten!
If you visit Balboa Park, you must take a look!
Beyond the Ordinary. Young Art 2017. Amazing, inspired artwork in a free exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park!Catherine Zhao, Message in a Bottle, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.The Great Fruit Bowl, a drawing by many Christ Church Day School Second Grade student artists.Fizzah Arshad, Tea, drawing, Ninth Grade, Otay Ranch High School.Arissa Diaz-Lelevier, Multi-media Still Life, mixed media, Eighth Grade, Stella Maris Academy.Mirabella Komniey, Pitcher, mixed media, Fifth Grade, Vista Grande Elementary.Emma Cecil, Enticement, painting, Twelfth Grade, Torrey Pines High School.Camryn Melendez, Apricot Sunrise, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Eric Pak, Flora and Skull, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.Karina Spinazzola, Lemons and Lilies, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Anh Huynh, Distilled, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.Caden Glazner, Time for Tea, painting, Third Grade, Del Sur Elementary.Joy Zou, Tea Time, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Bella Anderson and Cate Hunsberger, Medieval Lunch, painting, Seventh Grade, Coronado Middle School.Skylar Britt, O’Keeffe Flower, mixed media, Kindergarten, Kumeyaay Elementary.Jenna Vo, Magritte Floating Still Life, mixed media, Fourth Grade, Kumeyaay Elementary.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A wrinkly dog stands eternally inside the front door of Korky’s Ice Cream and Coffee in Old Town San Diego.
Here’s a fun blog post!
Once in a while during my walks I come across art depicting dogs or cats. And sometimes it occurs to me to take a photograph!
Today I rode the trolley to Old Town, where I discovered some more dogs and cats running about my field of vision!
Some of these photos were taken elsewhere in San Diego and have been sitting in my computer waiting for the right moment.
Enjoy!
A cool cat bench outside the entrance of the Coronado Veterinary Hospital.Two dogs stand guard on a downtown San Diego sidewalk.This realistic cat seems ready to jump from a flower pot.Pottery pooches on a shop’s shelf in Old Town.An army of ceramic pooches!Beautiful dog art for sale inside Seaport Village’s fantastic The Tile Shop.A curious cat observes a blue moth on a flower.u mad bro?A very colorful cat bag.Two dogs run in circles at the Balboa Park Carousel.A dog with a sore head. A funny image on the side of downtown San Diego’s Banfield Pet Hospital.A chalk cat in Balboa Park waves to passing visitors. Fun art outside the Mingei Museum’s Collectors Gallery.A fat cat who loves treats!A dog at Dick’s Last Resort tugs wildly at his leash!Two cats in one window!
Today I also revisited the Old Town Model Railroad Depot, and I took more photos of the awesome O-Scale layout! To see them, click here and check out that old post’s update!
I’ve been busy! Coming up will be blog posts concerning the famous Whaley House, the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park, and something super amazing inside the San Diego Automotive Museum. But it takes time to choose and prepare photos—-and to do necessary research–give me a few days!
Thanks for following my blog! I hope you all enjoy these glimpses of San Diego as much as I do!
Late this afternoon I discovered strange and wonderful beauty.
As I relaxed on a comfortable wooden bench on the poop deck of the Star of India, enjoying the sea breeze and sunlit bay, my eyes were drawn to the riot of ropes that were coiled, knotted, stretched and dangling all about the deck, in every direction. How strangely beautiful they appeared.
I took a few photos.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Ion Theatre artist Kate Schott paints a cool mural on a wall in Hillcrest.
A mural is being painted on a wall next to the entrance of the Ion Theatre in Hillcrest. I first saw the new artwork a few days ago, so I snapped several photos. Today I swung by again after work to see what progress had been made.
By comparing photos, you can get a glimpse of the creative process. Kate Schott, the muralist, is a multi-talented Ion Theatre artist who is bringing this cool vision to life.
I hope to swing by on a later day to see the finished work! I’ll post photos!
A few days later, a human figure in the mural is coming to life. I look forward to seeing the finished work!
UPDATE!
On June 7th I walked by the Ion Theatre again. More painting has been completed! The mural is gradually coming to life!
Detail has been added to the first figure. And a second figure has now been painted in the forest of green trees.A third figure on the left side of the developing mural. Many colors outline the form of a sitting woman.I don’t know what this is. We’ll have to wait a little longer and find out!Finally, a singing face has emerged in the lower right corner of the new Ion Theatre mural!
ANOTHER UPDATE!
I took this photo on June 19:
The left side of the new Ion Theatre mural is taking form!
FINAL UPDATE!
The mural is finished! Here are a few elements that have come to life:
Declaration of Independence on a wall, altered to condemn instances where power is abused.A seeing eye in hand.Standing across water from a fiery skyline.Lady Liberty shines light from atop a piano keyboard. Ignite.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Bronze birds near entrance of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge and regional complex headquarters in Chula Vista.
Having some fun!
Today I visited the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge and Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista. I should have a couple blog posts coming up with lots of photos.
First, here’s a fearless caterpillar that I spotted walking on a crab under some birds. The crab and bronze shorebirds are artwork in front of the wildlife refuge headquarters! The visiting caterpillar is a resident of the surrounding marsh. Perhaps it’s an art lover!
I searched the internet for a few minutes, trying to identify this particular fuzzy caterpillar. No success. Leave a comment if you know!
An inanimate crab beneath the bronze shorebirds is being visited by a living creature.A fuzzy caterpillar makes its way over the crab.Wildlife living in the Sweetwater Marsh meets art.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A huge shark has appeared at the Quartyard in East Village!
Some cool new urban artwork has appeared at the Quartyard since my last visit. Some day I need to grab a bite here, or attend an event! Looks like a really fun place!
New urban artwork in the Quartyard gathering place at the corner of Park Boulevard and Market Street in San Diego.Impermanence is the only permanent in life. So embrace that nothing should be clung to as I, me, or mine.Picnic table in the Quartyard reads beer, next to a planter with fun artwork.Several planters have their sides painted with whimsical faces. These characters are eating food-like letters and pulling tongues.More happy, silly faces.Lots of tongue pulling going on.Tired tongues dangling.Just plain silly.A mural by the Quartyard stage attracts attention.Keep going! You got this! Yay!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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Many panels of street art can be seen on a construction site fence in East Village. They address diverse issues, promote civil rights, condemn social wrongs. They all speak to the human heart. They all concern love. Real love.
I don’t know who painted these panels. All are simple, but extremely powerful.
Most of the artwork opposes domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse.
Domestic violence is horrific. It’s a hidden crime that damages too many lives.
San Diego has a terrible sex trafficking problem. It’s an issue some of our city leaders are trying to address.
Here are a few photos.
There’s nothing super about domestic violence.Stop human trafficking.Not all monsters are in the dark.Sometimes people wipe away their tears so you can’t see them.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Visitor to the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park journeys through a dream.
Stepping into the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park is like entering a world of dreams. Weird, unexpected dreams hover around corners, dangle overhead, emerge mysteriously from the floor and walls.
A journey through this dreamworld opens one’s eyes to the possibilities of human creativity. During my recent visit I felt as though I were floating through some sort of Twilight Zone. The unearthly sounds, the psychedelic whirls of video, the explosions of imagination, the seemingly sublime and inexplicable visions.
If you’re in San Diego and love provocative art, head over to Balboa Park! The San Diego Art Institute is more gallery than museum, with exhibits that change every couple of months.
One can wander through a maze of rampant human creativity The current exhibit focuses on mixed media.Upside down, strange and sudden.Through alleys of dazzling images.Aaron Garretson, Sunday Morning Cocktails. Threat, yarn, cloth, found materials. 2016.Weird visions on a wall include spinning blobs of video.Elise Amour, Untitled. Mixed media with vintage photo. 2017.Surrounded by art. Slow feet meander from dream to dream.Eight pieces by Jodi Hays. Gouache, ink and collage on paper. 2015.
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Do you like to read original, thought-provoking fiction? To read a few stories I’ve written (and something that resembles a poem), click Short Stories by Richard.
A wall inside the San Diego Art Institute features artwork by 3rd and 4th grade students at San Miguel Elementary School.
Check out some fun artwork at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park!
Inside the museum-like gallery you’ll find a wall splashed with a large grid of images created by 3rd and 4th grade students at San Miguel Elementary School. The project is called Loteria Reinvented.
Loteria is a Mexican game of chance similar to bingo. Loteria utilizes a tabla–a random grid of pictures–and matching images that are drawn from a deck of cards. The students were introduced to the game’s history, then made versions of the game unique to San Miguel Elementary School. Each student reinterpreted an original Loteria card, drawing their version on a 17 by 23 inch panel!
The colorful wall can be seen at the San Diego Art Institute until late May. The student artwork will then be displayed at Museo El Trompo in Tijuana.
Each panel is a student’s reinterpretation of a Loteria card. Loteria is a Mexican game of chance similar to bingo.Cupcake. Dragon. Face. Glasses. Tree.Kitten. Fish. Teacup. Boat. Bull.Flag. Bridge. Dream Soccer. Lion. Shooting Star.Flower. Flying Girl.Visitor at San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park checks out Loteria Reinvented!
UPDATE!
I’ve learned that this was a project of Collective Magpie. They were the artists who developed “Loteria Reinvented” as a 3-month residency at San Miguel Elementary School. They worked with the students to create this collaborative participatory art!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 