Bella Venezia ~ Beautiful Venice

To build a city where it is impossible to build a city 

is madness in itself,

but to build there one of the most elegant 

and grandest of cities

is the madness of genius.

~Alexander Herzen

VENICE 

Settembre, 2017

To say that Venice is photogenic would be a gross understatement. I suppose this comes as no surprise. It has been a painters dream location for centuries. Google the images of John Singer Sargent's watercolors in Venice and you'll see why. You could do the same with Monet, Whistler, J.M.W. Turner, Renoir, Manet, and for his many paintings for rich travelers on "The Grand Tour" Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto.

Looking up to beautiful mosaics on the façade of the Basilica of San Marco! 

The next view is looking down from the campanile which is also the top photo in this post! We got our tickets ahead of time online for both the campanile bell tower and the interior of the Basilica. It was a pretty low price, as I recall, and it was totally worth it! We walked right up at our appointment time and avoided the very long lines! 

We also made sure to be down from the tower before the bells rang at noon. I was afraid we wouldn't be able to hear for the rest of the day!

Peaking around corners, there are lovely views everywhere.

Puppets, reflections and laundry ...

There is something so different in

Venice from any other place in the world,

that you leave, at once, all accustomed habits

and everyday sights, to enter an enchanted garden.

~Mary Shelley

This next photo was just down from our apartment.

I love all the warm tones of the buildings as well as the unexpected colors, like the gorgeous green above!

When I seek another word for 'music', 

I never find any other word that 'venice'."

~Friedrich Nietzsche

I got as much wear out of my new hat as possible! The bonus of traveling with black clothes is you can generally go accessory crazy once you arrive. Especially in Italy!

A realist, in Venice,

would become a romantic

by mere faithfulness

to what he saw before him.

~Arthur Symons

I took so many photos! Everywhere you look is another gorgeous view. For now, I'll leave you with a bit of twilight over the beautiful waters of Venice.

Next up Verona and more exciting art from the Venice Biennale! 

Ci Vediamo!

A Presto!

Beautiful Water Bones by Loris Cecchini ~ Venice

Waterbones

by Loris Cecchini

Venice Biennale 2017

at the Fondaco die Tedeschi 

During the Venice Biennale there are art installations all over Venice. You just can't see everything. You'd have to spend a month! So, sometimes you have to go off of a photo and other times you just happen upon a space that has a sign out front and pop in for a look. In this case it was the former.

I'd seen an intriguing photo advertising this site specific installation by Italian artist Loris Cecchini and curated by Hervé Mikaeloff. It was made from thousands of movable thin steel modules. "A nod to algorithms found in nature and industrial design materials." 

To me it felt like being in some kind of space age organism ... 

"The title, “Waterbones,” underlines the morphological lightness and freeness and appears as a biological metaphor: The cells open and bloom, releasing molecular components in interaction with the space, developing autonomous and self-sufficient ways."

~Loris Cecchini

The shapes and materials were reflective and beautiful! Though they were not moving, they seemed to dance through space. I wish I could have laid on the floor under them and listened to Bach. They felt somehow musical to me. 

It's funny because I read the following quote after writing the above.

"The installation is composed of eight thousand identical elements in shiny steel linked together. The structure is continually varying thanks to the element’s hookup system. The particularity stands in the geometry of each element and in the fact that they are internally empty: This creates a great lightness in the overall structure that gives me the possibility to expand and contract the form in an organic way, almost as if it were becoming a biological element. The final result is a great “dancing” form in the space that is offered in continuity with the architectural structure."

~Loris Cecchini

As modern as the space looks, the actual building opened in 1228 and is a historic building right on the Grand Canal in Venice. It was rebuilt after a fire in the 1500s in the Italian Renaissance style. It's right near the Rialto Bridge and used to be the headquarters and restricted living quarters of Venice's German merchants.

In the 20th century it was used by Venice for the "Poste Italiane" and in 2008 it was bought by the Benetton Group. Rem Koolhaas was hired to incorporate a huge shopping area inside. There were a lot of beautiful things but I was on an art mission and didn't stop to shop!

“I have devised my creative language around the ideas of the object, the model and architecture. Often the work refers in different ways to the idea of inhabiting space. Currently, I am exploring the space of sculpture and of the environmental installation according to a notion of the parcelization of material, almost a sort of molecular deflagration of sculpture, in which scientific phenomenology becomes an intimate structure and go-between for vision ..."

~Loris Cecchini

View from the roof of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi

I love how seeing various kinds of artists broaden you perspective of what art can be and also how it  impacts your immediate mood or state of mind. This experience has happened to me over and over visiting many art exhibitions. On this occasion, I did leave with a sense of lightness and a burst of positive energy that still took me by surprise!

For more of the interview with Loris Cecchini click here

More Links

Loris Cecchini (official site more works and a slide show)

Fondaco Rooftop Terrace

Duty Free Venice/Fondaco dei Tedeschi

Venice Biennale

Ciao Tutti!

Blessings and light!

Medieval Padua and Saint Anthony ~ Arena Chapel and a Prayer for Losing Things

Lovely Padua

Prato della Valle

The Arena Chapel
1305

I have an art history bucket list. Somewhere in my top 5 was the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel. It just so happens it is a short train ride from Venice so I planned ahead and got entrance tickets for my parents, my aunt and uncle and myself. It happened that my Aunt Penny and Uncle John would be staying in Verona during that time and we would all be able to be there!

This chapel is entirely frescoed by late medieval master Giotto. Some consider him the first renaissance painter because he brought painting forward with more modeling and three dimensionality than previously created in the medieval period. It was commissioned by the Scrovegni family of bankers. Because usury was a sin, a chapel was a good way to atone and hopefully get to heaven.

Love the ceiling with the stars and saints.

Here is a Rick Steves video about the Chapel

Just like going to the see the Last Supper, you need to reserve a ticket and entrance time prior to visiting. Similarly, because of the fragility of the work, you enter into a climate controlled anti-room for 15 minutes before you enter the chapel with your group. The directions are on the website  link at the bottom of this post. Once you enter, you have 15 minutes inside the chapel to take in this magnificent work of art.

The Lamentation

We studied this fresco, in the lower rectangle below, in art history. In fact, we had to write an essay about in on our midterm. This was a perfect example how Giotto changed art from the current standards of medieval painting. The overlapping of figures, angels who show their anguish in dramatic mourning, and setting the stage in a natural setting. This was all new to the period. (More on this in video 3 of the Smart History Videos below.)

I loved this next scene of the baptism of Christ and I wonder if it's the first underwater depiction of Jesus?

Next up are 4 short "Smart History" teaching videos with all sorts of interesting information about the chapel by art historians. It's great because there are a lot of close ups with information about the biblical stories behind the the frescoes as well as giving wonderful context within the scope of art history.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

(focuses on the Lamentation)

Part 4

The Picture Gallery

The adjacent museum was much more extensive than I had expected! Here are a few of my favorites that stood out to me.

Ginevra Cantofoli (Bologna, 16181-1672)
Giovane Donna in Vesti Orientali

This is a detail of the painting above. There was something so captivating about her expression. I kept going back to it!

from the website:

The works in the Picture Gallery, from religious and municipal institutions and donations by private citizens, number about 3000, including canvases by Giorgione and Titian, and offer an ample perspective of Venetian painting from the 14th - 16th centuries. The paintings, which follow a chronological path, were executed by the most important artists in Italian art history. 

Below is a detail of a Tintoretto. So much movement and drama! He seems to be getting a jump on the Baroque period!

Jacopo Robusti, called Tintoretto (Venezia, 1519-1594)
Giove e Semele 
Oil on Wood

This painting wins for the "most over top" frame on a small portrait. It is the goddess Minerva after all, so why not?

Pietro Liberi (Padova 1614-Venezia 1687)
Minerva Armata

I love the way this next unfinished piece by Andrea Mantegna looks with it's contrast of a color and monochrome. I might need to use that idea in an intentional way on one of my pieces.

Andrea Mantegna (1430-1506)
Madonna della Tenerezza, 1491

This next portrait of a padre looked so much more contemporary than what the year would suggest! My mom and I loved it. When you go into some of these museums a lot of the art can sort of run together but then there are others that stop you in your tracks. This was one of them. In person he looked like he was going to start talking to us!

Francesco Apollodoro called Il Porcia (1532-1612)
Ritratto del compositore Costanzo Porta 

I loved that the trams that take you around Padua are decorated with stars like the ceiling of the Scrovegni Chapel!

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padova
1232

The renaissance tomb of Saint Anthony is inside this church. Unfortunately, you can't take photos but the large and impressive basilica has many relics of St. Anthony as well as sculptures by Donatello. It was started just a year after the saint's death.

 I mainly wanted to say a big old thank you to St. Anthony. I can't tell you how many times at work or at home that I've prayed "Saint Anthony please come round, something's lost and must be found." I tend to misplace things.

The Cloister

The church is filled with pilgrims and they line up to place a hand on the tomb. When I placed my hand on the cool surface I said thank you and I felt a burst of energy go up my arm into my chest. I smiled as I walked back to family sitting in the pews.

Just a side note, there is a big gift shop and when you walk through it, there is another small room filled with local teas and other artisanal products. I brought back a lovely floral tea!

Prato della Valle is a 90,000 square meter elliptical piazza and the largest in Italy. Scroll to the top for another beautiful view. I love how piazzas are such a part of the fabric of Italian life. People of all ages gather together in an outdoor space, large or small, to visit and spend time together out in their neighborhoods and communities. It's the best of Italy and says so much about the culture. I just love it!

Blessings and light!

links
Scrovegni Chapel
Museo d'Arte Medioevale e Moderna
Basilica Sant'Antonio di Padova

Mark Bradford: Tomorrow is Another Day - 2017 Venice Biennale

I go through the arc of a relationship with every single painting that I do. 
Mark Bradford

Barren, 2017

Exterior installation of American Pavilion 

gravel, trash, paper cups, broken hoses

American Pavilion
MARK  BRADFORD
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY
Venice Biennale 
2017

Ever since I'd seen an old PBS Art 21, about artist Ann Hamilton, I'd wanted to go to the Venice Biennale. She was the artist who did the 1999 American Pavilion and my parents had seen her installation that year. The artist chosen for the 2017 American Pavilion was artist Mark Bradford. 

Check out how cool his work and medium are in this video.

It was incredible. 

Mark Bradford was born November, 1961 in Los Angeles, California. I'd seen his work at the Broad Museum downtown and was very excited to see his pavilion that year!

Here he his talking about the installation and his philanthropic work in Venice.

Art is everywhere, in Venice, during the Biennale. It all began in 1895 and it was founded by the Venetian City Council. It is held in odd-numbered years.

The formal exhibiting happens at the the Giardini. It is a huge park or garden where there is an enormous exhibition hall and 30 smaller national pavilions. The 30 permanent national pavilions are owned by the participating country and managed by their ministries of culture and if you didn't end up in one of those, your country might be exhibiting at another venue somewhere around Venice. 

As I said, art is everywhere!

Spoiled Foot, 2016

The entrance room of the American Pavilion of 2017 was filled with this enormous installation piece that pushed you to the outer edges of the room to get by it. It had Mark Bradford's trademark layering and textures. It would be difficult to describe it so I'm glad I photographed it. It was a metaphor for people being "pushed to the margins" (you physically were pushed) and for "centralized social power." 

I'm kind of an insecure artist.
I hop from piece to piece. 
I always think my life depends on every painting. 
Every painting is my first painting. 
~Mark Bradford

Medusa, 2016

Acrylic, paint paper, rope, caulk ... 

Medusa, as told by Ovid, was a beautiful and powerful woman raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple. Athena was pissed and transformed her lovely locks into serpents and gave her a face that would turn men to stone looking upon her.

This piece made me sad for Medusa.

I looked her dead in the eye
And I knew her
~Mark Bradford's poem of Medusa 

Pavilion Rotunda

Oracle, 2017

Site-specific

skeins of sleached and black paper

About this piece he said it was "a site between cave and altar, between nature and culture, where oracles would deliver profound truth and predictions."

I just follow the things I'm interested in. 
That's always guided me. 
If I'm interested in something, that's where I go. 
Mark Bradford

I wish you could see the following two works in person. They represented the "beauty and fragility of nature" and they were stunning. 

The layers of color and texture were absolutely transporting. There was so much depth. I think that's why I love Rothko, as well. You feel like you can fall into the layers and let them take you on a journey somewhere else. I'm not great with talking about art in a way a historian or gallery person would talk about it, but I know what I love when I see it. And this ... I loved!

Go Tell it on the Mountain, 2016

My art practice is very detail-, labor- intensive 

and I think that that's a way of slowing myself down 

so that I can hear myself think. 

That quieter voice has sometimes 

the more interesting idea, 

if I can get to it.

~Mark Bradford

Tomorrow Is Another Day

mixed media on canvas

Below is a detail of the piece above. If I'd had a chair and endless amounts of time I could have stared at it for hours. The commercial paper used was bleached, soaked and then molded by the artist.

I've always been inspired by small details that make me wander. 
My mother would ask me, 'What are you looking at so intensely?' 
I would answer, 'Everything and nothing.' 
She really supported my wanderings, 
called me Marco Polo. 
~Mark Bradford

From Artnet.news

"...In Venice, as an adjunct to his pavilion, he has pledged to provide funding over six years for Rio Terà dei Pensieri, a local prison cooperative that teaches practical job skills to inmates. Consider it site-specific social work. For him, art is “not just what happens in the hermetically sealed studio, and it’s not what happens in the communities—it’s something in between.”

"When I say the artist is a citizen, I have interest in politics and communities, but it’s still under the umbrella of being an artist,” Bradford said at the opening ceremony for his pavilion. Over the years, he has used his clout as a market star to support numerous social causes in his hometown of Los Angeles, focusing this work through his nonprofit organization Art + Practice. He has sold artworks at auction to raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund these projects." 

Here's a 60 Minutes interview about the chance meeting between Bradford and Anderson Cooper. 

I just like artist-driven projects, 
but for artists themselves: 
artist spaces, artist mentor programs, 
and artists buying buildings and making lofts. 
Doing whatever we can do. 
Because at the end of the day, 
I really think that we as a community only have each other. 
~Mark Bradford

The Biennale was so inspiring and completely varied. Each pavilion was another creative adventure to behold! I'll share more of the artists but I plan to alternate with other posts, as well. Venice, Padua, Verona, Hawaii and then ... my recent walk through Italy on the Via di Francesco. 

Blessings and light!