Van Gogh, Dirge: Reflections on [Life and] Death, Masters of the Violin and Organ concerts was what I experienced this week – a flurry of activity. What did I like the best? What left an impression long after I was gone? What filled me with joy? Everything I saw and heard was spectacular in its own right. That’s my unbiased opinion.
MOCA -
To answer the question, what left me with something to think about was definitely MOCA’s Dirge: Reflections on [Life and] Death. I volunteer at MOCA every Thursday afternoon and it has taken me two months to finally see this thought-provoking show. I hammered away on a 3x5 card a “message,” the life I led or hope to lead – how I want to be remembered long after I’m gone; videos of a woman battling cancer that I am all to familiar with; blowing onto circular mirrors as an image appears; and two lightbulbs hanging loosely on a wall. Most of the exhibits, I found engaging and left me wondering what I just experienced – about my first impression. That’s a well executed exhibit when you keep pondering what it all means.
There were many pieces I liked a lot. The piece, “Untitled (Face in Dirt)” where the artist, David Wojnarowicz buries his AIDS-stricken body in dirt as his expression looks uncomfortable, and in pain. His struggle with AIDS is felt as I gaze into his face where I get the sense that hope is fading away. He is in a “stand-still” with his mortality where no matter how hard he tries, death is looming. I also felt that life has similar, confining struggles as you work as hard as you can, as you try to get ahead or get noticed; sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Moreover, the piece is about death but it can be viewed how life is a continuous challenge and you have to make the best of what what “cards are dealt.”
Another photograph, there is a sign in the foreground that says, “ You’re still alive.” right in front of a vertical metal fence that leads your eye into rows and rows of headstones. My impression is that life it tough but you need to make the best of it because what is the alternative – Death? Life is precious no matter what crap you have to deal with. That was a “wake-up” call for me since I’ve experienced the pain and agony of my mother battling cancer. Through her pain she said to me quietly, “What did I do to deserve this?” My father, who died of a heart attack, brought on by his diabetes, he expressed to me, “If you have your health, you have everything.” I’m paraphrasing as his words entered my mind over and over throughout the years.
My father was so right on so many levels that I never thought about it until I lost my mother years later. Now, I believe in a healthy lifestyle eating vegetables and exercise to control the things I can. You only have one life so I choose to preserve mine.
The Pedro Reyes installation was equipped with a large black mat where the artist instructed visitors to lay down and think about their life then formulate a “message.” Then the visitor takes two cards and hammers out their message using heavy iron letters – you can hear the noise reverberating throughout the galleries. The message that I hammered onto the 3 x 5 card, “A Big Heart” was a saying someone said to me once. With all my volunteer work helping residents in the homeless shelter to tutoring GED students, I am filled with joy when I can help a single person achieve a goal or put a smile on their face. By doing that, I have a purposeful life.
I have to think back to what my mother always taught me, put a smile on your face and be nice to people. It’s not an act – I like meeting new people and finding out what makes them “tick.” Thanks Mom for making me the person that I am today.
Next to the Reyes piece, a video installation of Hannah Wilke, she places her body boldly in front of visitors to visualize her life with lymphoma – very difficult to watch. You can quickly see the hair loss as strands of hair limply hang there where you just want to shave it off. Her naked body with bruises and bandages where needles pierced her skin filling her body with poison. The description above, I saw my own mother’s body wither away to nothing – skin and bones that I don’t wish upon anyone. I didn’t watch a lot of the videos but I got the sense of her struggle – I give her credit for documenting the process. For me, memories flooded to my mother’s battle where she did what she needed to do and ultimately her body gave out! I admire her strength along with everyone else to survive.
Lastly, the mirror series by Oscar Muñoz, “Breath” where visitors breathe on a mirror and an image eerily appears. The dead, lost souls appear for a spit second where their life is embraced and remembered. How many people have we lost to natural disasters, illness, and/or accidents – someone’s sister, brother or spouse. Life and death should be celebrated even for a brief instant. Everyone is important to someone out there.
MOCA’s show excellent where you might have to experience more than once.
Van Gogh - Cleveland Museum of Art
Van Gogh was excellent as well. As I wrote in a previous blog, I attended a lecture right before the exhibit opened and his brilliance amazed me even more. I also attended a second lecture about his “repetitions” where the artist fine-tuned his craft. For example, the painting he created from life had quicker brush strokes than the repetition; the repetition, therefore, was created in a controlled environment of the studio. Van Gogh allowed himself to explore details that were missed on his original. How the conservator and curator learned conclusively which one was the original and the “copy” or “repetition” that Van Gogh called them. This was achieved through x-rays. I listen to this lecture and I was bothered with the extent of all these “x-rays.” I know deep down that it doesn’t ruin the paintings but do we really need to know every aspect of the creative process an artist endures – I think not.
The process was interesting nevertheless. In the exhibition, the curator and/or conservator do not know how Van Gogh created his repetitions. Through the x-ray process, they didn’t see any charcoal markings to suggest transposing exactly from one painting to the next. They were amazed by the accuracy of each “repetition” as a computer generated line drawing showed the original painting was not far off from the “repetition.” Fascinating but for me, the accuracy doesn’t change my view point about Van Gogh’s brilliance. I love that he explores unusual color choices: using oranges, yellows, blues, and purples in his faces – impressionism. The thick globs of paint or quickly getting an idea on canvass with loose brushstrokes. I love them all.
My two favorites were the ones that the Cleveland Museum of Art owns - The Large Plane Trees and the Cyprus Trees (painted from life). My only criticism concerning the exhibit was the quantity – there wasn’t more Van Gogh’s to see. However, stellar quality that is worth a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Two wonderful exhibits in Cleveland, Ohio by two world class institutions.
