TravelMarx: June 2014

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Modernism from the National Gallery of Art – Exhibit @ de Young Museum

Brochure for Modernism From the National Gallery of Art

Not until I started preparing this post did I realize we’ve seen two Modernism-themed exhibits in one month. What’s up with that? The first was at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), Modernism in the Pacific Northwest and the second, this exhibit at the de Young museum in San Francisco. Either the word “modernism” has lost its impact to register any connections in my mind, or we are museum junkies and will go to a museum at the drop of a hat. Probably both. The SAM exhibit was interesting, the de Young exhibit was so-so. The best I can come up with for my feelings about the de Young exhibition are:

I’m puzzled by the phenomenon of a rich couple whose collection is served up for us to ogle (no, not Google). This time at the de Young, we have Robert and Jane Meyerhoff to thank. They, thankfully, “amassed one of the most outstanding collections of modern art”[ref].
I think Frank Stella pieces are not the least bit interesting to look at, and there were a few in this exhibition.
We just came from the Precita Eyes mural tour where we saw a lot (almost too much) mural and street art in the Mission District of San Francisco. Then, walking into this exhibit at the de Young made me wonder about art in general, and how the importance of art is determined.

Enough with the negativity, some positives:

The most interesting piece in the exhibit was Barnett Newmans’ 15-painting The Stations of the Cross: Lema Sabachthani (1958 – 1966) not so much for the subject matter, but for the presentation: in a somber chapel-like separate room. It reminded me of the Rothko room at the Tate Modern in London.
Terry Winters’ Graphics Table [1998] – reminds me a little of Mark Tobey.
Jean Dubuffets’ La ronde de images [1977] - reminds me of street art, and Dubuffet’s name is just fun to say.

Left: Terry Winters Graphics Tablet [1998]; Right: Jean Dubuffet La ronde de images [1977]

Mission District Street Art – A Small Sample

To be sure, we barely scratched the surface here. (How much could you possibly see in one hour?) We had just finished the Precita Eyes tour and then spent another hour or so walking over to Clarion Alley and stopping to look at anything that caught our attention. The lot we parked at, also chock full of art, was the site of the former El Capitan Theatre and Hotel. Here is a sampling of what is just at the parking lot: StreatArtSF.

God’s Gift – more photos
Location: 2351 Mission Street – El Capitan Lot

Wizard – MACE, CUBA - more photos
Location: 2351 Mission Street – El Capitan Lot

R.I.P. Mike G - @lookatart (http://jakemerten.bigcartel.com/)
Location: 2665 Mission Street – former Grand Theater

Michael Jackson
Location: Balmy Alley

Location: Lucky Alley

594K EX Vandals
Location: Cypress Alley

Untitled – Zio Ziegler (2010)
Location: Bartlett St and 24^th St

Heart of the Mission
Location: Osages St and 24^th St

Untitled – André Karpov (2005)
Location: Valencia St and Cunningham Place

Opium Horizons – Chor Boogie (2010)
Location: Clarion Alley

Sons of Satya - Jet Martinez, Kelly Ording
Location: Clarion Alley

Lo llevas por dentro – Jet Martinez (2009)
Location: Clarion Alley

415 - Stab Ex-Vandals
Location: Clarion Alley

v
Location: Clarion Alley

Respect SF Old School, In Memory of Pico Sanchez – Mel Waters, DNO
Location: Clarion Alley
Resources: http://www.picosanchez.net/, http://www.melcwaters.com/

Pink Girl Mob – Nina
Location: Clarion Alley

Clarion Alley Mural Project Wall of Shame & Solutions

Corner of Clarion Alley and Mission Street

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Precita Eyes Tour – Mission District Murals

Overview

Today we took the Precita Eyes Mission Trail Mural Walk Tour of the murals of the Mission District. We were surprised at the concentration of murals, street and graffiti art that we saw. It started when we parked our car. The lot we parked at (California Parking Inc @2351 Mission Street) was chock full of art. The parking lot was the site of the former El Capitan Theatre and Hotel. Here is a sampling of what is just at the parking lot: StreatArtSF.

In Seattle, there is isolation between murals and street and graffiti art. In comparison, in the Mission District, murals are side by side with street art and graffiti. The lines between the different art forms are more blurred. The Mission District was much like what we experience in London, when we went on the London Graffiti and Street Art Tour.

In the Mission District, a lot of activity centers around alleys like Lilac, Cypress, Balmy (the most famous), Lucky, Cunningham, and Clarion, to name a few that we visited. Most of the Precita Eyes tour we took was within 1-2 blocks north and south of 24^th Street, from Mission St (west) to Balmy St. (east). The theme of much of the work revolves around community, democratic art, and the Hispanic experience in the Mission District. A newer theme that appeared a number of pieces is the gentrification of the neighborhood, typically be employees of high tech companies.

Below, if a title of a piece has quotes around it, then it’s just our title for the piece. Your Precita Eyes tour may be different than what we show below. We chose to organize the tour for presentation below around “stops”. And, we only discuss a fraction of what we actually saw. See the two photos (with this post) of the maps of Balmy Alley and the Mission Trail.

Selected Works from Our Precita Eyes Tour

Title – Creator (date)

Stop 1: Mission Street and 24^th Street

Culture of the Crossroads – Precita Eyes (1998)

Stop 2: Lilac St and 24^th St

Solidarity – The H.O.M.E.Y. Project (2007)

Stop 3: Lilac Alley - A block of fence and garage murals painted by J.M. Velazquez and local artists. Managed by the Mission Art 415 Organization. (For more images, see StreetArtSF.)

“Untitled” – Mark Bode (2007) – infamous “Bode broad” on a motorcycle. More info.

“Peace to Pengo” - Nite Owl, related exhibition “The Pursuit of Slappiness”

“Reyes Muertos Mural” (http://blog.rmklothing.com/)

“Female Warrior” – Twick, Bode, Cuba, Stan153.

“Rock It, Don’t Stop” – Unknown

Kase 2 RIP 2011 – memorial to New York based artist, Kase 2 (real name Jeff Brown), who invented the “computer rock” style of graffiti writing. More info on this memorial mural.