Art Monday Archives - Page 20 of 58

ARTmonday: 10 Watercolors of Venetian Interiors by Lee Essex Doyle

If you’ve been following my art posts for a while, you’ll have seen work by my very talented, very dear friend Lee Essex Doyle. Two years ago Boston’s Childs Gallery showcased “Dreams of Dawnridge,” watercolor paintings based on the glam Los Angeles home of artist and designer Tony Duquette. In 2009 I featured her “Postcards from India” series depicting impressions of Indian temples and palaces in Rajasthan, which she showed at Peter Marcelle Contemporary in New York. (I am lucky enough to own two from that series.)

Lee Essex Doyle’s newest show, “Illuminated Moments” opens at Childs Gallery on Newbury Street in Boston this Thursday, January 22nd, 2015 (previewed on Artsy). The works are inspired by Doyle’s recent travels to Venice and Havana. This latest series of watercolors reflect the vibrant light of the two cities. The palette is more pared down than in years past, but the compositions just as masterful and the lines and patterns as intriguing and pleasing as ever. The stairways, with its curlicue railings are invitations to explore and the lanterns and chandeliers are enchanting.

I can’t wait to see Lee and her beautiful paintings in person on Thursday, but until then we can gaze at these . . .

Study for Palazzo Cini, Venice, 2014

Prada II Yellow, Venice, 2014

Prada II Giustina, Venice, 2014

Cini Panes Grey, Venice, 2014

Study for Palacio de la Condesa de Revilla De Camargo, Havana, 2014

Door to Palazzo Polignac, Venice, 2014

Study for Palazzo Priuli, Venice, 2014

Study for Scoula Grande Stair, Venice, 2014

Courtyard, Palazzo Grimani, Venice, 2014

Study for View across Fondamenta Osmarin, Venice, 2014

ARTmonday: 16 Obscured Cityscapes

As much as we love spending time in our little Florida enclave, surrounded by palm trees and ocean air, there is always something exhilarating about zipping back into the city on the Uber ride back from the airport. Sure, it’s not Manhattan (for one, it only takes ten minutes to travel from Logan to downtown Boston), but there are still bridges, and lights, a river, and a tall building or two in the Boston cityscape. It’s nice to escape to other environs, but urban landscapes are really where I prefer to be long term.

Taking inspiration from the cityscape with which we were met as we arrived home the other evening, I’ve pulled together cityscape artwork, but not straightforward postcard images (ick). No sunsets behind skyscrapers here. This cityscape art portrays views that are deconstructed or somehow obscured. It might be a scene enhanced by a reflection, shot from above, viewed from beneath a bridge or through a window, or made blurry by the rain or the photographic lens. Here are 16 pieces of cityscape art that celebrates the city, no matter which way it’s looked at.

Berlin #3 by Matthew Ling
$425 at Saatchi Art

NYC MK 08 by Marco Lugli
$400 at Saatchi Art

Adjacent Building, 2012 by Ronald Erskine
Starting at $200 at UGallery

Cityscape I by Misha Dontsav
$200 at Saatchi Art

Barcelona Skyline by Neema Sadeghi
$22.88 at Society6

Bridge, 2012 by Mikhail Palinchak
Starting at $275 at Amazon/UGallery

Columbus Circle by Joseph O. Holmes
Starting at $60 at 20×200

Down the Street (2013) by Ulrich van Brodt
$400 by Saatchi Art

Green Branches by Tod Seelie
Starting at $60 at 20×200

Amsterdam View Opus 45 by Geert Lemers
$1,800 at Saatchi Art

14:14 London by Marek Emczek Olszewski
$1,200 at Saatchi Art

Waiting for Nothing by Pedro Correa
$3,800 at Saatchi Art

Cityscape with Trees II by Steven Irwin
$300 at Saatchi Art

Tower Poppies 07 by Pete Edmunds
$21 at Society6

On the Charles | Cambridge by Grey Circle
Starting at $20 at UGallery

Nowhere To Run ’11 by Gonçalo Castelo Branco
$290 at Saatchi Art

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ARTmonday: Misty Landscapes

Misty landscape photography seems to combine the dewy feel of the heat and the starkness of the wintertime, to me anyway. I love a desolate winter landscape photo. Since I’m in a Florida for a few days, I was also drawn to a few of these other images which are tinged with a Southern feel. Here are misty landscapes, from fields, to woods, to mountains, to sea.

Pedro Correa • Goodbye
original photograph, $2,200 at Saatchi Art

David Vakrat • Mist #1
original photograph, $290 at Saatchi Art

Ephemerality • Mist
prints from $17.68 at Society6

Aprons & Birds • Mist
prints from $16 at Society6

Evan Mariah Pettit • Mist
prints from $13.52 at Society6

Luis Lazo • Mist
original photograph, $1,200 at Saatchi Art

Jessica Ramm • Cloud Dispersal
original photograph, $870 at Saatchi Art

Tasha Marie • Frosty Mornings
prints from $16 at Society6

Jessika Hunter • Mist
prints from $22.88 at Society6

ARTmonday: Cathy Moynihan’s Ceramic Bird Sculptures

I’ve been thinking about Boston artist Cathy Moynihan’s ceramic bird sculptures ever since Marc Gurton at 13 Forest Gallery in Arlington just outside Boston, told me about her last May. (I was pulling together bird decor, and even though he doesn’t represent her, he kindly sent me a link to Moynihan’s “Aviary” collection.)

I promptly contacted Moynihan, and she invited me to a ceramics show at Harvard, but I was unable to attend. Fast forward seven months, five days before Christmas when I email her in a panic, pleading for one of her ceramic bird sculptures in turquoise to give to my mother-in-law. Luckily, I’m meeting Moynihan today to make the purchase.

Moynihan describes her ceramic bird sculptures as focusing on life — tender, whole, and new. The minimalist birds are soothing and serene, with graceful silhouettes, clean lines, composed posture, and pleasing proportions. Each takes Moynihan hours to make (even the smallest ones), since she hand builds each one using the coil method, then carefully examines each bird, scraping and shaving off the irregularities on the surface until the form is flawless.

Cathy Moynihan studied sculpture at the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Tennessee and earned Art Education Certification from Massachusetts College of Art.

Blue Bird

Parent with Egg

Expecting

White Nest with Turquoise Egg

Flock

ARTmonday: Art Basel Miami 2014 Part II

Here’s my second batch of photos from Art Basel Miami 2014. (Here’s the link to Art Basel Miami 2014 Part I, in case you missed it last Monday.) I feel like a lot of the works were similar to last year’s Art Basel Miami 2013, though I didn’t see quite as many neon and textual pieces. I wonder if this year’s presentations were a little less edgy?

Nevertheless, I am always excited to see work by artists whose work I’m familiar with, like modern masters such as Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Kenneth Noland, and Josef Albers, or those just slightly less known, that I learned about in college art history class, like Louise Nevelson. Then there are the more contemporary artists that I learned about from exploring museums in New York, such as Nan Goldin and Damien Hirst, or more recently, Pinterest, such as Ed Ruscha.

Even if you don’t have the astronomical budget it would take to decorate your home with artwork from the top galleries that exhibit at Art Basel Miami, it is still incredible to attend. The central show at the Convention Center is really more like a museum exhibit. It’s interesting to see work by artists that form the foundation that inform today’s more contemporary artists, and our overall design aesthetic. It will help develop your eye for when you are shopping for more affordable artwork for your home.

Here are 35 pieces of modern and contemporary art from the Convention Center at Art Basel Miami 2014. If you happen to know any of the artwork I wasn’t able to identify, please share. (I actually wandered around on my own for an hour in hopes of carefully documenting everything I photographed, but I still missed a couple.) Thanks!