“untitled at the moment”

past, present, future:  Anish Kapoor – The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston – May 30 – September 7, 2008

By Jason Landry, Art Institute of Boston MFA in Visual Arts candidate  | July 17, 2008

BOSTON - There are no boundaries to the sculptures and installations currently on view at the ICA.  When you look at the work of artist Anish Kapoor, you will soon learn that the phrase, what you see is what you get, does not apply.  Chief Curator Nicholas Baume has brought together a selection of Kapoor’s works, some of which are on loan courtesy of the Sol LeWitt Collection.

Born in Bombay, India and currently living and working in London, Kapoor creates monumental reflected surfaces that Baume states, “explores abstract forms & unconventional materials” and “demands to be experienced.”

Piles of colored pigment constructed into pyramidal shapes of red, white and yellow are set on a white platform at one end of the gallery.  A large, dark red horn-like structure called, Inwendig Volle Figur rests on the gallery floor attached to the wall via a glossy tube of the same color at the other end of the exhibition space.  When you stand at what I would refer to as the mouth of this object and follow the tube toward the wall with your eyes, the curvature of the outer tube takes on the optical illusion of fog creeping up the sides.

(Anish Kapoor - Inwendig Volle Figur,2006)   (photo: John Kennard)

The most prominent color used throughout the exhibition is red.  The use of red resonates with the representational markings and clothes worn in India, and it is known to represent energy, life and creativity. It also serves in a spiritual sense as the first chakra in the seven energy centers.

The laws of physics plays an important roll in many of Kapoor’s sculptures and is a test to how each object works formally.  The function of each object varies, and many of the effects have to be experienced in the gallery setting. Duality is constantly represented visually but also psychologically.

When I think of duality, or better yet, distorted reality, I’m reminded of funhouse mirrors.  Photographer André Kertész once used them to create a series of nudes in the 1930’s called “Distortions” that elongated the bodies, bending the visual perspective. Kapoor creates this funhouse effect with his sculpture, S-Curve.  When you stand near the S-Curve, the long curved double-sided mirror in the middle of the exhibition hall, your body contorts into various sizes showcasing the vanities that make up the narcissistic traits in humans. The person standing on the opposite side of the mirror will experience the exact opposite reflection.  This minimalist form itself is reminiscent of the monumental arcs of steel created by Richard Serra.

(Anish Kapoor - S-Curve)

(Richard Serra - Serpent)

Objects beg for your attention. With every glance, they seem to take on noticeable optical and audible transformations depending on where you stand in relation to each piece.
Sound gets amplified and dispersed in the most effective way possible - it is all encompassing.  When you stand close to some of the objects, you can often hear conversations half way across the room.  I observed one patron saying, “It’s like noise echoing in your head.”

Moving on through the sensorium, I approached two concaved discs (think large satellite dishes) mounted adjacent to one another.  The one on the left titled Brandy Wine, 2007, is a shiny red disc and on the right, a disc constructed out of small-mirrored hexagons.

(iPhone photo – courtesy of Jason Landry)

In scientific terms they are called parabolic reflectors. To experience this specific piece, walk slowly toward the red disc and let your eye follow your reflection. At some point you reach this invisible plane from which your eye focuses and suddenly your reflection flips - everything is now upside down.

Patrons to the exhibit are prohibited from taking photographs because the museum doesn’t own the copyrights to the work.  Even though I’m a big fan of photography, this exhibition must be experienced.  Seeing a photograph alone will not do this show justice.

The opening reception is this Friday, July 18th from 6-9pm.  I hope to see you there!

My wife forwarded me this article from today’s NY Post.

The beautiful, political composite of Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama on display in the South End.

(artist - Ron English)  (iPhone photo)

I’m not sure if the “others” that this fortune is referring to will agree, but it’s sure nice to get these kinds of messages from the art gods wherever they may be.

It’s always nice to get a present in the mail. My favorite tough-guy poet and grade-school friend Jon sent me a copy of Bill Owens - Suburbia that he found. The images from this book are a document to the American Dream. As I flipped through the book, the titles and comments captured my attention as much as the pictures did. It’s always nice to see what people thought were the greatest material successes in the past.

It’s fun to break up the glass.
We’re doing our thing for
ecology and the Boy Scouts
will give us a badge for work-
ing here.

I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of Andrew Wyeth’s - The Helga Pictures.  This is a beautiful book comprised of the 240 drawings and paintings he made of his neighbor Helga between 1971-1985, whom he used as a model for nearly 14 years in secrecy.  In 1986, a collector paid $100 million dollars to keep the collection in tact.  In 1987, the collection was part of a six-city museum tour that included a stop at the MFA in Boston.

On a side note…Mr. Wyeth will be 91 years old this Saturday.

My wife and I never anticipated that the MFA would be PACKED today.  The line, shaped like a slithering snake curved out of the double doors and down the walkway all the way to the street.  Luckily for us, we used our trusty member’s cards to walk past the winding crowd of tourists to the tiny ATM-inspired kiosk and picked up our complimentary tickets.

First stop was the exhibition, El Greco to Velazquez that depicts art made in Spain during the reign of King Philip III. I was particularly drawn to the exquisite detail work that is showcased in the Juan Pantoja de la Cruz portrait of a young King Philip as well as the realistic painting, Sill Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber.

The highlight of my visit was the Antonio Lopez Garcia show.  Each work is an examination – an artist that carefully surveys the plane, space and detail of whatever landscape, person or object he is focusing on.

In Sink and Mirror, 1967 Lopez captures what I feel is a conceptual self-portrait, capturing a trace of himself through the placement of the various objects in a place he frequents daily.

In the pencil drawing, Portrait of Maria, his ten-year-old daughter stands in a rigid posture wearing a dark button-down coat, hair pulled back, standing in their garden.  Her gaze is enchanting, an element that truly helps to define the young child.

Robert Pinsky is a poet, a professor at Boston University and was a commencement speaker last year during my graduation from The Massachusetts College of Art. Pinsky was also the United States Poet Laureate from 1997-2000.

I recently picked up his book, First Things to Hand in which he wrote a poem called, Photograph. I wrote to Mr. Pinsky to ask him what influence him to write such poem? He responded that, “I’ve always loved the art, had an enlarger and did a little printing many years ago, pre-digital.”

Mr. Pinsky gave me permission to reproduce the poem for everyone’s enjoyment.

Photograph

Light-inscribed
Likeness

Vulnerable to light,
To the oils of the hand.

The paper sensitive
The dyes ephemeral

The very medium
A trace of absences.

Speed of the years
Speed of the shutter.

The child’s father
Crouches level to her

With the camera and so
She crouches too.

Agile the dancer.
Little room

Of the camera, wide
Gaze of exposure-

Shiva the maker
Shiva the destroyer:

The flash of your hammer
Fashions the shelter.