Event 2: Hammer Museum

This last week, a friend and I went to the Hammer Museum just for fun. Unfortunately they were switching between their Winter collection and their Spring collection, but they still had a few galleries open. Some were very interesting and I understood the artistic approach behind them, while the others I'm still not quite sure what to think.

Here's a photo of me with a piece of Kenny Scharf's art 

Immediately I fell in love with the spray painted pieces along the walls by Kenny Scharf. He takes the imaginative unusual/ somewhat scary anthropomorphic creates and makes them playful and interesting. I loved all of the colors and the how someone has the artistic ability to create images like this with their imaginations. I appreciate the spontanaiety of creating art like this, I'm a fan of graffiti and street art as a way of expression and creativity. 

The gallery that was most impactful to me was the Catherine Opie portraits. She takes reminiscent images of contemporary America. She uses various people, objects and place as her subjects which trace America the past 30 years, as well as her life. She has various portraits of people from diverse backgrounds that she is close to that are contrasted against a dark background. I thought that these portraits as well as the the one of the rainbow were beautiful and really captured contemporary America.

How do you live with yourself? 

Cardboard and Spray paint over acrylic-based  paint

  What I had a hard time understanding as 'Contemporary Art' was the exhibit by various artists, one mainly, Judie Bamber. Her piece titled How do you live with yourself? After researching more of Judie Bamber's art, I can see how she is commenting on gender and sexuality. Although this is very, provocative, it is definitely a statement piece which I've come to appreciate. 

  Tony Feher is also an artist I grew to appreciate after visit the museum. He takes overlooked items that we don't see value in and makes light of them and uses them to project emotion on the seemingly invaluable.