Raymond Pettibon. No Title (The bright flatness). 2003. Watercolor on paper. The Museum of Modern Art. The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection Gift, 2005
Recently my colleagues in MoMA’s Department of Film have blogged about their favorite summer films in tandem with the current film series Hot and Humid: Summer Films from the Archives and invited Inside/Out readers to suggest their own favorites.
Hobie Alter. Expert Model Hobie Surfboard, view of deck. 1958
In its August 1997 issue, Longboarder magazine ran a story on MoMA’s Hobie surfboard with the tag line “MoMA’s Got a Woody: Yes, But is it Art?” Fun hook, but perhaps the wrong question. The better question might be, why a surfboard? or better still, why this surfboard?
Lucian Freud. Girl with Leaves. 1948. Pastel on gray paper. Purchase. © 2011 Lucian Freud
To commemorate the passing of one of the 20th century’s most extraordinary artists, MoMA recently installed eight works by Lucian Freud on the second floor. The two paintings, three drawings, and three etchings were selected from the 21 objects by Freud in the Museum’s collection.
Installation view of Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects at The Museum of Modern Art, 2011. Photo © Scott Rudd
The exhibition Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects is up and running in our Special Exhibitions Gallery on the third floor. The public is behaving just the way we dreamt they would, not only diving into individual exhibits, reading, taking pictures and videos, clicking and dragging, and listening, but also taking full advantage of the interactive features in the galleries and beyond.
Sol LeWitt. Cubes in Color on Color. 2003. Portfolio of 30 linoleum cuts. Publisher: Arte y Naturaleza, Madrid. Printer: Watanabe Studio, Brooklyn, New York. Edition: 50. The Museum of Modern Art. Roxanne H. Frank Fund and General Print Fund
It must be the energy of summer that has thrown me into a general state of elation in which anything with a splash of color elevates my spirits. For instance, a recent trip to Dia:Beacon to see the exhibition Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964–1977 instantly brightened my experience there, in the same way that MoMA’s recently acquired work by Sol LeWitt, Cubes in Color on Color (2003) made my heart race with excitement.
Recently I had the honor of meeting Justice Albie Sachs, one of the first judges appointed to South Africa’s new Constitutional Court by Nelson Mandela in 1994, and taking him through the exhibition Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now at MoMA.
I was born in 1949 in the small coastal town of East London in South Africa. Other than two years of formal art training at high school, I am for the most part self-taught. I live at the Hartbeespoort Dam, which is about one hour’s drive northwest of Johannesburg. During the 1980s I spent time in Los Angeles and New York, and I held an exhibition at Area-X gallery in the East Village in 1986. Besides printmaking I also work in various other media, including painting, sculpture, mixed media, and bronze.
Installation view of Cy Twombly: Sculpture at MoMA (May 20–October 3, 2011). Photo: Jonathan Muzikar.
On July 5, the art world lost one of its key figures when Cy Twombly passed away. A remarkably innovative and deeply influential artist, Twombly left an important legacy that resonates in a broad range of contemporary work.
Raymond Loewy. Lawn Chef Portable Grill. c.1950. Galvanized and enameled steel. The Museum of Modern Art, Architecture and; Design Purchase Fund
I’ve been thinking about how the Fourth of July is as much a monument to summertime culture as to the ideals of equality, and what a disappointment it would be if Independence Day didn’t happen in the summer.
Ernestine White. Outlet. 2010. Photocopy with lithographic ink on five sheets. Publisher: unpublished. Printer: the artist at Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. Edition: 2 unique variants (in 2005 and 2010). General Print Fund, 2010. © 2011 Ernestine White
Within my practical body of work I attempt to present the viewer with a glimpse into my personal memories and experiences living in South Africa at various stages of my life.
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