Photo by Graham Currie

Graham Currie aka gc1 snapped this pic of the aptly titled exhibition The View from Here.  We like your view, Graham!

We choose the Flickr pictures of the week from anything tagged “SFMOMA”. You tag too!

Boris Becker, Untitled, 1471 1998. Chromogenic print © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, Germany

Lucas Samaras, Chickenwire Box #40, 1972. Sculpture | acrylic on wire

Richard Misrach, Hawaii VI, from the series Hawaii, 1978. Photograph | dye transfer print. © Richard Misrach

Andrea Zittel, A to Z 1995 Travel Trailer Unit, customized by Andrea Zittel and Charlie White, 1995. Steel, wood, glass, carpet, aluminum, and various items. © Andrea Zittel

Robert Gober, Untitled, 1992. Sculpture | stainless steel, painted bronze, and water. © Robert Gober

Josef Albers, Homage to the Square, 1969. Painting | oil on Masonite © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Falling Up. Photo by Ohad Ben-Yoseph

Thanks to Ohad for snapping this photo of the SFMOMA Rooftop Garden growing some new vines!

We choose the Flickr pictures of the week from anything tagged “SFMOMA”. You tag too!

unattended. Photo by Scott DuBose

SFMOMA visitors have the best taste.  Just take a look at the color and variety of their umbrellas!  Thanks to Scott DuBose who caught the very well accessorized unattended umbrella rack on a rainy day.

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75 Reasons to Live green room. Photo by Suzanne Stein.

Kidding!  There were actually tons of events happening for SFMOMA’s 75th Anniversary Weekend.  You can view the whole suite of photographs here.

75 Reasons to Live. Pamela Z, composer/sound artist on Robert Rauschenberg, Collection (formerly Untitled). Photo by James Williams

75 Reasons to Live: Stephen Hartman, psychoanalyst on Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Golden). Photo by Winni Wintermeyer

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Above, Pamela Z and Stephen Hartman giving their 7.5 minute talks as part of 75 Reasons to Live.  What,  your analyst doesn’t wear a wet suit?

Allison Smith: SMITHS. Photo by James Williams

This tin wall sconce is reflecting a huge American Fancy quilt—both part of Allison Smith’s installation.

SFMOMA’s 75th Anniversary Weekend Celebration: Evening Festivities. Photo by James Williams

More pictures at Flickr.

Luc Tuymans' Lumumba

“I think that the making of an artwork should be intentional, and however the elements are appropriated, every move toward constructing an image should have some meaning.” Luc Tuymans in conversation with Kerry James Marshall – Bomb Magazine, Summer 2005.

It was just a few weeks ago that I visited the Luc Tuymans retrospective that is currently on show at the SFMOMA. I couldn’t help but be affected by the way that Tuymans works with the notions of memory, the photograph and creating images that are several generations removed from the image his paintings use as a source. I have a tendency to experience art as much though the way its content resonates with me as I do the way its form may impress me. There are certain things that I can feel through the content.

As I made my way through the Tuymans exhibit I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of his series titled “Mwana Kitoko: Beautiful White Man.” The series painted in 2000 addresses Belgium’s involvement in the colonization of central Africa’s kingdom of Kongo. I moved through it pausing at the image of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected prime minister of the Republic of the Congo. Perhaps it was because I’ve seen other paintings of Lumumba that seem to hold more of a presence that conveys Lumumba’s iconic status all over the African and Afri-diasporic world that predisposed me to have less of a response to Tuyman’s rendition. Paintings by Congolese artist Cheri Samba and many others have made Lumumba’s image part of the standard iconography in the African and Afri-Diasporic world. Sort of like the poems on John Coltrane and Malcolm X. Artists such as West Oakland painter Eesuu Orundide bring a poignancy to the topic of the Congo and bring the history into the present in a way that is startling when you contemplate the breadth of such a long struggle in that region of the world.

Eesuu Orundide's Untitled installation “Coltan is the new Sugar”

I left the “Mwana Kitoko: Beautiful White Man” segment of the retrospective but without the feeling that should resonate with me when the topic of the Congo’s history is present, either in images or discourse. The history is so weighty and clearly contemporary that it struck me as strange that none of Tuyman’s work seemed to make any mark on that history. It didn’t seem to have a political stance or trajectory. There is a vacant space there and maybe that is its power. Is it asking the viewer to fill the space? The danger is that the viewer may not have enough of an entryway into the piece to understand the history that it only alludes to.

I discussed Tuyman’s work just briefly with Eesuu Orundide yesterday and he asked me what Tuymans was saying with his images from the Congo’s colonial history? That is precisely the question. What does it say about that colonial history? I invite the reader to discuss that here.

This couple was also feeling the love:

We're in the art. Photo by Kenedik

Jen and Jeremy stopped by SFMOMA on day 10 of their California HWY1 Trip.

Thanks all! Happy Valentine’s Day! In advance!

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We went on to the second half of Focus on Artists, where among the ten artists “whose work has signaled a shift toward more psychological, social, and historical content in art,”* seven were men, and three were women.

The museum’s decision to give a single rooms to each of 18 artists for the Focus on Artists show, as well as the choice to rotate a second round of works into the galleries mid-way through the show’s run, allows for an appreciably deeper experience of the artists’ work. There are many works on display that are old friends, and so nice to see again. But 15:3 is the kind of ratio that makes me want to know more about how the artists were selected. When I’ve learned more, I’ll post again.

*http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/400

Bermuda Triangle Chevre

In the spirit of transparency and beginnings, I’m going to mention a few details of the first meeting of the new cohort of Open Space writers, which took place at B bar, above YB Gardens, on a Wednesday night beginning at 7 p.m.  One of our group had just come from teaching a class in which students were presenting their completed assignment: playing the role of an INTERVIEWER or INTERVIEWEE for a curatorial job. In addition to preparing questions or answers, the students were to dress the part of the role they were playing. Though I didn’t ask, I’m guessing the following costumes might have been included: Non-profit artist-run space; corporate art collection; urban art museum; college art museum or gallery; private museum/foundation. The longer I go on with this list, the more questions arise. The exercise sounds like a mightily useful one, if excruciating to participate in.

The photograph above is one of the cheeses served at B: the “Bermuda Triangle Chevre.”

SFMOMA Rooftop Garden. Photos by Malia Campbell.

Here at the Open Space, we are huge fans of a site called Jumping in Art Museums. So when we saw Malia Campbell’s set of images in front of Ellsworth Kelly’s Stele I on the SFMOMA Rooftop Garden, we were super excited.

Malia says:

The subject in the photo is my boyfriend, Scott Hargis. He lives in Oakland and I live in Seattle. Whenever I go down to visit him we always go to SFMOMA and, after our 2nd or 3rd trip, we realized it was just cheaper to get a membership. We were especially excited for the Avedon exhibit (we’re both professional photographers) and ended up going three or four times just to see his work.

This photo was taken after our first viewing of the Avedon exhibit. I was inspired by Avedon’s self portrait of he and Twiggy dancing. The movement was so dynamic and fun—by the time we made our way up to the rooftop garden I knew I wanted to capture something of the same essence so I made Scott stand in front of the sculpture and jump for me. It took about five takes and these three were my favorites.

These images were captured on my iPhone, proving that fun and exciting images are captured by a photographer, not a camera.

Malia also has some handy photography tips on her blog.

We choose the Flickr pictures of the week from anything tagged “SFMOMA”. You tag too!