(Video): William Kentridge: Drawing The Passing

William erases and redraws so each sheet has a history of drawings in that sequence.  There is no storyboard, the film is made with a key idea, like the process of drawing.  The process of drawing throws new ideas out at us while we draw; it releases a new way of thinking.  Working quickly is essential for William since the majority of his art is the film, so the drawing process becomes less important.  This really inspired me because I never erase, unless I am using the eraser as a marking tool itself- but never to remove a "mistake"- because those do not exist.  He, like I, respect the eraser and its technique, not using it to remove mistakes, but purposely letting it show what was left behind because what we initially put down on the paper is ALWAYS so important, and should not ever be hidden or concealed, for the wrong reasons.  I love how he subtracts but continues to add all the time.

Recent Paintings by Fred Ontiveros: R.W. Witt Gallery Show, CSUS, Feb. 24 - 28, 2014

WOW.  This painter is amazing.  I have had Fred in two classes and we speak outside class sometimes, and he is a truly incredible artist.  I went to see this show and his paintings are even more spectacular than the little experimentations he does in class.  He uses the brightest colors he can find, and somehow his paintings still look completely realistic!  The paintings all look one way when you stand close, then different from mid-room, then even more different from a far distance!

Untitled, Fred Ontiveros, Oil on paper

Fred has a great gift for brush stroke and can eliminate most detail while yet having great attention to it.  He articulates space very well and gives it good sense of form and even distance.  He has a creative mind that does not need imagery or references.  He loves to paint from life, he told me at the show, especially figures.  Figure drawing and life painting are two of his favorite things to do.  He is very gestural when he starts a drawing and very informative when he blocks in shapes while painting.  I learn very much from him, maybe more from him than watching a large variety of other peers.

Untitled, Fred Ontiveros, Oil paint on textured Gessoed paper

Fred is influeced by nature and women figures.  He loves to quickly sketch or paint nude women or even just people on a subway while he is going somewhere.  He will whip out his sketch book and china markers anywhere, anytime in substitution for taking generic photographs.  He traveled Europe and other countries with his sketchbook and ended up selling 40% of those little quick sketches, for quite a bit of money which is remarkable since they are each only about 4x3"!

I really enjoyed looking at his work because it took my imagination somewhere it had not been in a long time- I think since the last time I read a Harry Potter book.  But most of my learning from him comes from our discussions we have on our one-on-one time, either on campus, off campus, or at a show.  He is exactly who I want to be when I graduate, or even before.  It is remarkable that he still is so modest even being a retired artist who has accomplished so many great things.  I am beyond grateful and privileged to have him as a peer, and a mentor.  In fact, earlier

today he gave me one of his new sketch books, the small ones he sold 40% of,  and the same pencils he uses so that I can practice these studies as well.

Student Awards Show (In My Opinion), 2014

I do not have any photos from this show, but I went to see it several times so I thought I would describe it to you.  Honestly, there were only a few pieces that I found appeal to personally.  There was a large painting of a man with a little boy both on the floor, that was done by a graduate student that was amazing!  Then I got closer and saw a few things I would have done differently, but it was still great just the same.  Then there was another oil painted 3x4' or so piece that was done by Faith Sponsler that was great, it was a landscape that was a little ambiguous which allowed my imagination to really wander, which I loved!  There was another piece by someone named Sean that was taped off in several areas and repainted with acrylic over it.  This one was  very interesting as well.  There were others that caught my eye and captured my interest.

Having said that, this exhibition showed me how much I disrespect a lot of work.  I must be very closed-minded because most of what was displayed, could have been recreated by my nine-year-old nephew on his sickest day.  I don't understand it!  One piece consisted of a wooden board with a few wires attached to it.  I don't see what the concept is behind that, and it probably took a few minutes to make.  Some other work was created in ten minutes or less, and was just laying around, and people submitted it because their teacher told them they had to submit something.

I guess I just don't understand contemporary art enough yet.  I do not mean any disrespect to my major or to my peers, so I hope I do not offend anyone with my honesty.  My opinion does not matter too much anyway, but I just thought I would write a blog about the experience to see how much I change by the end of this class.  Hopefully, I will be more open-minded and know what questions to ask myself.  A good question to start with is: "what should I post online versus keeping to myself?"

Video From 2/25/14: Nancy Spero and Kiki Smith

Nancy Spero and Kiki Smith are both feminists, and together they make two generations of feminist art.

Kiki Smith has a mindset like my own.  She does not want to have to explain what or why she makes work.  She does most if not all of her thinking by doing, and creating.  She thinks that ideas have limits and that you can let go of them any time you want.  She tells us to trust our artwork and believe in it, and then it will guide us.  She creates work that will hopefully give young women the sense of entitlement that many famous older women have had the opportunity to feel.  She believes that materials have  histories, and that what materials you use should contribute to what you are making, and that the material and the work of art will both be a whole together.  She is interested in decorative art and historic art.  She says that her imagination is sparked by mythology stories, so she creates images and figures from these stories.

Nancy Spero works differently.  She has images in her head that she will figure out first, then create later.  She creates work based off the subject of women's positions in the world politically.  Her art reflects the ideas she has because there are only images of women in her work, and they are usually prisoners treated horribly and being raped.  She symbolizes war and women.  She uses helicopter symbols a lot of the time to symbolize the Viet Nam war.  She uses the same images often, using cross-historical figures.  She was inspired to do all this when she joined several anti-war groups.  This was her introduction to New York, and her art has been political ever since.

For these two artists, they take you into another world with their work.  They take you physically into their imaginations.  They make us feel like we can either live here or there.  In other words, they are showing us constructing images in another way of existing.

Artist Lecture: Remembering TB-9: Steve Kaltenbach, Peter Vandenberge & Jerry Walburg in Conversation

Robert Arneson started what is known as the "Ceramic Funk Movement", it is Neo-Dada Pop Art, or Funk Art.  He started this ceramic revolution that took place at TB-9.  It is Neo-Avant-Garde.  TB-9 is the first historically significant art studio by a university.  The men I met at this lecture all were students of this same man known as "Bob".  

The first student of his that I had the pleasure of hearing speak and meeting, is named Gerald Walburg.  He does mostly metal sculpture and did a lot of the metal sculpture on Sacramento State University's campus, and also did some Downtown Sacramento sculpture and even the tilted arch at the entrance to Downtown.  He is the reason we have the Art Sculpture Lab on campus, because he transformed it from a storage space into a studio for all in 1969.

The second student that spoke is named Stephen Kaltenbach.  He did a lot of university work as well, and even created the MOMA's Time Capsule, along with his series of time capsules.  He creates a lot of conceptual pieces, and even created my favorite painting of all time, since I was young.  It is called "Portrait of My Father", and is held at the Crocker Museum.  He even created the sculpture in the fountains in Downtown Sacramento.

The third speaker I met is named Peter Vandenberge.  He created sculpture out of clay mostly, but then decided he wanted to try other mediums.  Bob encouraged this, but told him to go back to clay in the end because he had many strongsuits there.  His sculptures are very important and the longated figures he creates resemble the well-known "heads" from Easter Island.  His work has made it into several exhibitions pretty much everywhere well-known in California such as the MOMA, Crocker, Smithsonian Institute, just to name a few.  

Listening To Liszt, Ceramic 2007, 28 1/2" x 20"x14"

Professor Bob would make them all create work and break it, just to put it back together again, so that the students were making for the sake of making.  He would not want them to get too attached to their precious pieces.  He taught them to defend and stand behind their work.  To quote Steven Kaltenbach's recollection of Bob, "Moving strongly in a direction means you're moving away from another".  I learned very many important lessons from these artists.  They told me, "Use who and what you know, what's valuable to you."  They told me that creating art is self-driven, self-discipline.  One of my favorite quotes from this lecture came from Jerry Walburg, and it is "The things you know can really damage your imagination".

Stephen agrees with this statement, and I know this because after the lecture ended, I approached him and spoke with him for a few minutes.  I told him that in 2008 I went to the Crocker Art Museum with my class for a lower division requirement.  I was a Business Administration Major with an emphasis in Criminal justice.  I stood in front of a wall that had a huge picture on it of a man's face.  I thought it was a photograph.  Then I got closer to this colossal picture, to realize there are a million little shapes in different colors that were almost invisible from my previous distance.  I then realized that each individual hair of the glowing white beard were so well defined.  I then noticed that there was a breath or a light behind this man's lips, almost in his throat, that was coming out of his mouth.  I realized that this was his dying breath, and that this man was the photographer's father.  Then my final realization was that this is a PAINTING.  Ever since that moment, I have wanted to be a painter.  

Standing in front of this man realizing that he is the artist, was like meeting my hero.  He was touched by my story, and the fact that he inspired me to be an Art Studio Major like I am now.  I asked him, "If there is one lesson you learned from Bob that was the most valuable, that I should know moving forward as an artist, what would it be?"  and he said, "Don't let your skills limit your imagination.  Part of that could be easily you deciding to switch mediums... I think most of the work you do should be experimental."  Well, Stephen Kaltenbach, you just rescued me from any ruts I may have fallen into in the future!

Left to Right: Elaine O'brien, Peter Vandenberge, Stephen Kaltenbach, Gerald Walberg

These men are all exactly who I want to be when I graduate, so I cannot emphasize what a pleasure it was to have met them.  I know I have the drive that many people do not possess, and know that I will work hard enough and make art my life, in order to pursue a career in art like they have.