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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The 2017 Fiesta Botanica in Balboa Park featured lots of plants, flowers and useful botanical information.
Of course I had to go to Fiesta Botanica! I love flowers, plants, sunshine and Balboa Park!
What used to be called Balboa Park’s Garden Party is now Fiesta Botanica, in keeping with the surrounding Spanish-style architecture. And who would want to miss a colorful fiesta!
I’m sorry to say I missed the floral wagon parade this year, because I was privileged to receive a very special morning tour at the San Diego Museum of Art. I’ll probably blog about that tomorrow.
Anyway, I just happily wandered about Fiesta Botanica after leaving the museum and did my best to learn a little about gardening and the miraculous world of nature. There was quite a lot to see!
As the annual event got underway, a large crowd gathered on El Prado to enjoy gardening displays and San Diego sunshine.I missed the Floral Wagon Parade this year. A number of tours and lectures were held in the beautiful gardens of Balboa Park.The Southern California Plumeria Society had a very active booth.So did the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society!I learned this is a fig atop a huge Ficus dammaropsis leaf.As I walked about I spotted this colorful banner with a hummingbird and American flag. Perfect for Memorial Day weekend!Gorgeous blooms were being shown by the San Diego Epiphyllum Society.The Friends of Balboa Park has a number of great future projects. I like the idea of a platform around the giant, now-fenced-off Moreton Bay Fig, which stands near the Natural History Museum. A raised platform would allow visitors to more closely approach the majestic giant, while preventing the pressure of human feet from compressing the soil and endangering the roots.Photograph taken in the Alcazar Garden.Amazing blooms in the Alcazar Garden. Not sure what they are.As I walked back along El Prado, I got another photo of the smiling plumeria folks.Artist Michelle Gonzalez of Spanish Village was sitting in the Plaza de Panama painting three of Balboa Park’s landmark towers: the iconic California Tower and towers from the House of Hospitality and the House of Charm.The Zoro Garden had a number of butterfly releases which proved very popular with families. I saw butterflies flitting all over the place!Checking out one of the floral wagons that participated in the morning parade down El Prado. I believe this one was sponsored by Save Starlight.In Spanish Village, I was stopped in my tracks by this amazing painting by artist RD Riccoboni. An image of Claude Monet composed of flowers!
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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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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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A small part of a large, dynamic painting of San Diego’s working waterfront.
Yesterday I enjoyed a visit to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. In addition to checking out various fascinating exhibits, I paused for a moment to gaze upon two large murals on display that were painted in 1936 by Charles Reiffel.
Charles Reiffel was a renowned Post-Impressionist landscape painter who was sometimes referred to as the American Van Gogh. Looking at these truly impressive paintings, one can understand why! The viewer enters his color-splashed, dreamy world and simply wants to linger.
Two more wonderful Reiffel paintings can be seen in Balboa Park inside the Casa de Balboa. I have photos of them here!
Charles Reiffel, San Diego Harbor, 1936. Oil on canvas. WPA mural inside the San Diego History Center that was originally commissioned for San Diego High School.This part of the fantastic oil painting depicts a pier and activity on San Diego Bay.Boats and buildings along San Diego’s colorful harbor.Charles Reiffel, San Diego Backcountry, 1936. Oil on canvas. WPA mural inside the San Diego History Center that was originally commissioned for San Diego High School.This part of the oil painting shows homes in the hills of San Diego.First introduced by Spanish explorers and missionaries, horse riding has become a popular activity in the country surrounding San Diego.A farmer plows a field somewhere in beautiful San Diego.
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Raindrops on leaves at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park.
During today’s spring rain, the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park shined with magic. Every leaf was enchanted. Every part of the garden was blessed with a profound and mysterious beauty.
Rain nourishes life: every life.
A spring storm creates unexpected natural beauty.Wet, very bright green leaves.Budding spheres of red. Like magic they open mysteriously.Water in the grooves of a beautifully marbled stone by the garden path.Droplets shining on a fern, like a curtain of beaded diamonds.Sunlight through dreamy, magical layers of green.Simple beauty at the always wonderful Japanese Friendship Garden.Fragile blooms encrusted with crystal-like rain.Smooth forms of beaded water on a sloping leaf.Another photograph of beauty in a special garden, on a rainy May day in San Diego.
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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!
Legendary musician Oscar Amezcua performs on stage with his sons during a Cinco de Mayo concert in Balboa Park.
What a treat! This evening I got to listen to legendary Mariachi Leader Oscar Amezcua perform in a special Cinco de Mayo concert in Balboa Park!
Along with stirring performances by the City Heights Music School Mariachi Ensemble, Jarabe Mexicano and the really outstanding SDSU Jazz Ensemble, Oscar Amezcua wowed the crowd with his passionate voice and irrepressible personality! Two standing ovations were well-earned!
The 87-year-old musical legend has performed for American presidents, dignitaries and countless adoring fans. It’s no mystery why he is loved by so many. Life sparkles in his eyes. His timeless voice comes directly from the heart.
A free concert in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion on Cinco de Mayo featured beloved, world-famous Mariachi Leader Don Oscar Amezcua.Donation box for the Kiwanis Club of San Diego, who along with the SDSU School of Music and Dance presented the special Cinco de Mayo Concert in the Park. Over the years Kiwanis has provided many generous scholarships for SDSU students.Event emcee Carlos Amezcua, son of Oscar Amezcua, and his KUSI Good Morning San Diego co-host Lisa Remillard get the program started with a few words.Kevin Lomes sings Granada with a powerful voice that deeply moved the audience.Art Stillwell of the San Diego Kiwanis Club remembers benefactor Bill Gibbs by ringing a Tibetan singing bowl.The City Heights Music School Mariachi Ensemble plays for the large crowd.Oscar Amezcua comes onto the stage at the Spreckels Organ Pavillion, introduced by his popular journalist son Carlos.Legendary Mariachi Leader Oscar Amezcua was born in Jalisco, Mexico. He immigrated to San Diego in 1945 and proceeded to make music history.The ageless Oscar Amezcua sings. Mariachi music is full of vigor, passion and joy.San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer presents a plaque. May 5, 2017 is officially Oscar Amezcua Day.Oscar, his three sons and daughter on stage together. I saw some tears. A moment in history.People can’t help dancing.Love of life. Pure and simple.
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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!
Fun LEGO creations on display during the House of Denmark lawn program in Balboa Park.
Wow! Check these out! Here are some super cool LEGO creations that I saw today in Balboa Park!
I was walking among the International Cottages when I spied tables with all sorts of fun and amazing stuff made of LEGO bricks. The builders were more than happy to show off their creations!
When I was told the House of Denmark was having their lawn program today, it all made sense. The LEGO company is based in Denmark, of course.
I also enjoyed looking at some cool Viking weapons and crafts displayed on the lawn nearby. If you want to check that out, visit my Beautiful Balboa Park blog by clicking here!
This tent was a magnet for the young and young-at-heart. Talented LEGO builders were showing off some amazing creations!I learned this castle was built from a kit. Everything else on display, however, was an original creation.Here we go! I see a fun train, a Viking ship and what looks like cars from an amusement park ride.Look at all the LEGO characters! I see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel comic book superheroes and supervillains and many others!This first batch of LEGO creations was put together by Matt Armstrong, who runs MonsterBrick Creations!Now let’s check out some cool Star Wars characters made of LEGO bricks. These were created by Miro Dudas of Humble Bricks.His detailed Viking ship was awesome!An up-close look at the LEGO ship and its Viking warriors!This American flag created by another skilled LEGO builder was inspired by the Carlsbad Flower Fields! It took a long time and much patience to assemble!There are three levels of colored flowers. The first level had to be installed first, then the second, then the third. The end result is amazing.OMG! One of my favorite movie scenes! It’s a LEGO version of the Chocolate Room from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!Pure imagination! A meadow full of candy made of LEGO bricks! I think Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, would have been delighted by this.I was told that is Augustus Gloop near the bottom reaching for a chocolate flower. Don’t fall into the river! Watch out for the pipes!Here comes an Oompa Loompa sailing down the chocolate river! The Chocolate Room was built by LEGO master John Cooper!A young man had made a number of super cool LEGO characters using his imagination.Awesome!The young man demonstrates how to make an adjustment to one LEGO creation.This table on the International Cottages lawn contained all sorts of unique LEGO creations made by visitors to the House of Denmark event.I’m not sure what these guys are making. It could be literally anything!
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Artist in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village tells visitors about her very unique work of art.
I discovered something very cool during my walk through Balboa Park this evening. Bonnie Chance, an artist in Spanish Village Art Center, was applying paint to a life size fiberglass racehorse!
This artfully painted horse will be displayed prominently in San Diego with various others during the upcoming Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. The project is called Art of the Horse. The painted and decorated horses will be part of a dinner and auction prior to the Breeders’ Cup. Money raised will assist various local charities.
I believe the artist said her creation’s name is Biscuit.
Spanish Village Art Center is hosting two life size race horses being painted for the 2017 Breeders Cup at Del Mar.This impressive, lifelike horse sculpture is painted with images of underwater ocean life.A large seahorse on a horse named Biscuit. The legendary Sea Biscuit won a famous race at Del Mar in 1938.
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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! 