Additional support is provided by the Affirmation Arts Fund.
Exhibition Overview
Since the late 1960s Turrell has conceived a wide-ranging yet unified body of work that explores his specific aesthetic concerns: the use of light as a material that affects the medium of perception; a refined formal language based in geometry; an interest in the optical and emotional effects of color; an interplay between the solid and the ethereal; and an emphasis on quiet, almost reverential atmospheres of introspection and reflection. Building on his early research into sensory deprivation—in particular the Ganzfeld effect, in which viewers experience disorienting, unmodulated fields of color—Turrell pursues a state of reflexive vision that he calls “seeing yourself seeing,” in which one becomes aware of the function of one’s own senses and of the material aspects of light.
“Light is a powerful substance,” Turrell explains. “We have a primal connection to it. But, for something so powerful, situations for its felt presence are fragile. . . . I like to work with it so that you feel it physically, so you feel the presence of light inhabiting a space,” he says. “My desire is to set up a situation to which I take you and let you see. It becomes your experience.”
One of the largest installations the artist has ever mounted and the result of nearly six years of planning, Aten Reign will materialize the light and the air that fill the expanse of the Guggenheim rotunda. The work proposes an entirely new encounter with the building, as attention is drawn away from the boundaries of the built environment and toward the interior space, creating what Turrell has described as “an architecture of space created with light.” For the first time, the rotunda can be experienced only from below—not as an open void to be looked across, but as a mass of vibrant color that expands and contracts above the heads of visitors.
In Aten Reign, daylight enters from the museum’s oculus, streaming down to light the deepest layer of a massive assembly suspended from the ceiling of the museum. Using a series of interlocking cones lined with LED fixtures, the installation surrounds this core of daylight with five elliptical rings of shifting, colored light that echo the banded pattern of the museum’s ramps. As is typical of Turrell’s work, the apparatus that creates the effect is mostly hidden from view, encouraging viewers to interpret what they see by means of their own perception. The work promotes a state of meditative contemplation in a communal viewing space, rekindling the museum’s founding identity as a “temple of spirit,” in the words of Hilla Rebay, the Guggenheim’s first director and a pioneer in the promotion of nonobjective art.
Aten Reign also relates to Turrell’s Roden Crater Project (1979– ), his magnum opus currently under construction in the desert outside Flagstaff, Arizona. When complete, the modified extinct volcano will house nearly two dozen separate installations, many carefully aligned with astronomical phenomena and all incorporating natural luminance. According to Turrell, the project was informed by the design of ancient observatories, which were oriented to celestial events. The Guggenheim itself echoes ancient architecture—Wright imagined it as an inverted ziggurat—and Aten Reign’s elliptical shape bears similarities to certain spaces at Roden Crater and Agua de Luz (an elliptical, stepped pyramid Turrell built in the Yucatan in 2012). Just as the natural world is an inspirational force for Turrell, so it was for Wright, who was fond of the open landscape of the American West, making his second home in Arizona.
Offering a complement and counterpoint to Aten Reign is a selection of Turrell’s early works, some drawn from the museum’s Panza Collection and others on loan. These pieces offer a sample of the artist’s various installation types and link the new project to his work of the 1960s and 1970s. In Afrum I (White) (1967), one of Turrell’s earliest Cross Corner Projections, visitors encounter a glowing cube floating in the corner of a room; what first appears to be a solid object resolves upon closer inspection into simple planes of light. The Single Wall Projection Prado (White) (1967), on the other hand, seems to dematerialize space, dissolving the wall and creating a passage to an unknown space beyond. Alongside these projections, selections from the related etching portfolio First Light (1989–90) explore how the aquatint technique can invoke qualities of radiance. In the Shallow Space Construction Ronin (1968), light emanates from behind a vertical architectural fissure, appearing as a solid plane and dematerializing the darkened wall. Iltar (1976), one of his Space Division Constructions, creates an effect that may be read alternately as a flat panel of color hanging on a wall, a foggy void, or an opening into a separate chamber. These works connect Aten Reign to the artist’s earliest experiments with light and space and offer visitors a variety of perceptual experiences.
About the artist
Born in Los Angeles in 1943 to a Quaker mother and a father who was a school administrator, James Turrell attended Pomona College, where his studies concentrated on psychology and mathematics. He later received a master’s degree in Art from Claremont Graduate School. Turrell’s work has been widely acclaimed and exhibited since his first showing at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1967, which established him as a leader in the nascent Light and Space Movement in Southern California. His work has since been presented at major venues including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1976); the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1980); the Israel Museum (1982); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1984); MAK, Vienna (1998–99); the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (2002–03); and the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (2009–10); and was included in the 54th Venice Biennale (2011). In addition to the exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in summer 2013, Turrell’s art is on view in a solo exhibition at the Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland. The artist’s work is represented in numerous public collections including the Tate Modern, London; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Turrell has created more than seventy Skyspaces in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, with the first made in 1974 for Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo at his home in Varese, Italy.
Exhibition Catalogue
James Turrell is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 128-page catalogue detailing the production of Aten Reign (2013) and situating it in the context of the artist’s career. The catalogue features essays by Carmen Giménez and Nat Trotman, the exhibition curators, and Arthur Zajonc, emeritus professor of physics at Amherst College; this writing explores the significance of the new installation in terms of Turrell’s ongoing relationships with architecture, the landscape, and perceptual experience. Designed by 2×4, the book will be available in hardcover at the museum store and online at guggenheimstore.org.

The 28 drawings are part of a larger gift of more than 100 Bridgman study drawings that had been donated to the Museum in 2010. Anticipating their return, the Museum purchased a state-of-the-art Staba Arte flat-file cabinet to re-house and protect all the drawings. With the return of the treated drawings, the entire Bridgman collection is now available to researchers and curators who wish to include them in future exhibitions.

In the context of American art history, the Bridgman collection has great historic and artistic importance. One of the great anatomists of the last century, Bridgman’s influence on 20th century American art – from illustration and commercial imagery to abstract expressionism and post-modernism – is deep. He is best known for his popular life drawing and anatomy books that are still used today.

Studying under Jean-Lêon Gérômé (1824-1904) at the École des Beaux-Arts and later with Parisian figure painter Gustave Boulanger (1824-1888), Bridgman established a unique technique for capturing human anatomy, gesture, and details by representing parts of the body as geometric forms. As an instructor at the Art Students League in New York for 45 years, he taught nearly 70,000 students – many who would go on to become some of our most significant artists. Among them were sculptor Paul Manship (best known for the statue Prometheus at Rockefeller Center), painter-muralist Gifford Beal, comic creator Will Eisner, illustrator Edmund F. Ward, illustrator Andrew Loomis, artist/teacher Kimon Nicolaides (known for his widely-used book, The Natural Way to Draw), abstractionist Arshile Gorky, abstract expressionist Jackson Pollack, Peter Max, and Norman Rockwell.

Bridgman was an inspiring presence for the young Rockwell, who began his studies at the Art League in 1911 and spoke highly of him in his 1960 autobiography, “My Adventures as an Illustrator.” “We worshipped George Bridgman,” Rockwell wrote.

The Bridgman drawings had not been easily accessible to researchers for decades, nor have they been presented in public exhibitions. Prior to their transfer to Norman Rockwell Museum, all the drawings had been rolled and stored in tubes in an attic-space for more than 75 years. Museum staff carefully unrolled the drawings to allow an onsite inspection by WACC. 28 were selected for immediate treatment – with the four largest needing “urgent” treatment due to their fragile condition. These were sent to Williamstown in July 2012, and the last of the treated drawings were returned to the Museum in April 2013.

The treated drawings – along with the entire Bridgman collection – provide scholars and curators with an unparalleled resource on how Bridgman constructed his lessons and taught figure drawing in the classroom and through his books.

About Norman Rockwell Museum

Norman Rockwell Museum holds the largest and most significant collection of art and archival materials relating to the life and work of Norman Rockwell. The Museum also preserves, interprets, and exhibits a growing collection of original illustration art by noted American illustrators, from historical to contemporary. The Norman Rockwell Museum Art Collection and Norman Rockwell Archive inspire a vibrant year-round exhibition program, national traveling exhibitions, and arts and humanities programs that engage diverse audiences. The Museum’s collections, which are made accessible worldwide, are a comprehensive resource relating to Norman Rockwell and the art of illustration, the role of published imagery in society, and the American twentieth century.

Since its inception, the Norman Rockwell Museum has explored the impact of illustrated images and their role in shaping and reflecting our world through changing exhibitions, publications, and programs. Dedication to a deepened understanding of the art of illustration has led to the formation of the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies. The first of its kind in the nation, this research institute supports sustained scholarship and establishes the Norman Rockwell Museum’s leadership in the vanguard of preservation and interpretation relating to this important aspect of American visual culture.

Norman Rockwell Museum is located on 36 park-like acres in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Rockwell’s hometown for the last 25 years of his life. The Museum is open year-round; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. From May through October, hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; from November through April, hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Rockwell’s studio is open May through October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission is $16, $14.50 for seniors, $10 for students, $5 for kids, and teens 6 to 18, and free for Museum member, active military personnel, and children 5 and under. Visit the Museum online at www.nrm.org.

The international design competition invited selected interior designers, artists and architects to envision the 4,300-square-foot Grand Salon as a must-see 21st-century destination for contemporary audiences. Applied Minds presented a technology solution that uses state-of-the-art high-definition projectors and audio speakers to create an immersive and interactive environment.

“The genius of the Applied Minds concept is that it encourages visitors to come back again and again to see the many new and ever-changing presentations there,” said Elizabeth Broun, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “I especially like the fact that their concept offers a new palette for artistic interpretation that continues the Renwick Gallery’s tradition of being ‘Dedicated to Art,’ as inscribed over the building’s front door.”

A major renovation of the Renwick Gallery is in the design phase. The renovation, which will begin in 2014, will include a completely renewed infrastructure, enhanced historic features and other upgrades to the National Historic Landmark building

About the Renwick Gallery’s Building
The Renwick Gallery is one of the most elegant examples of Second Empire architecture in the United States. The building was designed in 1859 by the distinguished architect James Renwick Jr., who also designed the Smithsonian’s “Castle” and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Renwick was inspired by the Louvre’s Tuileries addition in Paris and modeled the gallery in the French Second Empire style that was popular at the time. The words “Dedicated to Art” are inscribed above the Renwick Gallery’s front entry. The collection, exhibition program and publications presented by the Renwick Gallery highlight the best craft objects and decorative arts from the 19th century to the present and honor the building’s original purpose.

The Renwick was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, and in 1971 it was designated a National Historic Landmark building in the Lafayette Square Historic District. The Renwick Gallery is located steps from the White House in the heart of historic federal Washington.

About Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery
The Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrates the vision and creativity of Americans with artworks in all media spanning more than three centuries. The museum’s branch for craft and decorative art, the Renwick Gallery, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Dec. 25. Admission is free. Metrorail station: Farragut North (Red line) and Farragut West (Blue and Orange lines). Follow the museum on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, ArtBabble, Pinterest, iTunes and YouTube. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Website: americanart.si.edu.

Senior Curator Bruce Weber remarks that “This exhibition offers the Academy the opportunity to highlight for the first time the full breadth of the stunning group of work by Richards given by the artist’s daughter, and reveal his unique vision and mastery of his craft, which has served to place him in the forefront of American landscape painters of past centuries.”

Born in Philadelphia in 1833, William Trost Richards studied intermittently with the German-born landscape painter Paul Weber, and greatly admired the landscapes of Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church. In the 1860s, he came under the influence of the British writer and aesthetician John Ruskin, and the English Pre-Raphaelites. During this decade he began working in watercolor, and his enthusiasm for the medium blossomed in the 1870s when he began to devote his primary attention to marine painting, emerging as a rising interpreter of coastal and marine subjects.

Highlights of the exhibition include a large group of graphite drawings of wayside plants that Richards created over the course of the late 1850s and 1860s. He was encouraged by the writings of John Ruskin to paint and draw directly from nature, reproducing in great detail exactly what he observed. Richard’s close-up, ground level views of growing plant life are rendered in an almost miniaturist technique, and are marvels of careful study. The artist created these drawings in the course of his various travels, including during his excursions to the Adirondacks and the Catskills of New York State, and in the vicinity of his home in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

With the turn of his primary interest to marine painting in the 1870s Richards began to regularly work in watercolor, which he found particularly suited to capturing effects of lights and color at the shore. The medium served him for independent efforts, as well as for plein air studies for works in oil. His watercolors were regularly featured in the annual exhibitions of the Society of American Water Colors, where they were greeted with critical fanfare for their masterful rendering of coastal topography, and the most subtle effects of light and atmosphere.

His Marine with Yachts was probably based on sketches made in the late 1860s along the New Jersey coast, and bears the hallmarks of the Luminist aesthetic of the period in its clarity of light, infinite sense of space, spare design, low horizon, and lateral format.

During the course of his stay in England in the summer of 1878 Richards was especially drawn to the ruins he discovered at Tintagel Castle on the coast of Cornwall with its Arthurian associations. He created at least ten watercolors and five oils of the subject. In addition to conveying his fascination with the legend of King Arthur, this picture offers a sense of Richards’ personal exhilaration when encountering the area’s rugged and dramatic topography with its distinctive and complex rock formations, which are open to the full force of the sea.

In preparation for this exhibition a significant group of oils and works on paper from the museum’s holdings were conserved with the support of grants from The Conservation Treatment Grant Program of Greater Hudson Heritage Network,and the Sherman-Fairchild Foundation.

NATIONAL ACADEMY MUSEUM
1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
New York, NY 10128
212-369-4880
www.nationalacademy.org

Rosner’s visually striking exhibition was created in honor of her father, an ardent fan of Ulysses. This is especially fitting as this year Bloomsday—celebrated each June 16 to mark the day on which Ulysses protagonist Leopold Bloom made his fictional “odyssey” through Dublin—falls on Father’s Day. As such, Thy Father’s Spirit explores the theme of fathers found in the novel, while the contemporary installation by Rosner explores the artist’s relationship with her own father.

For me, yellow rubber gloves suggest the simplicity and quietness of most people’s lives—especially women’s lives. As cleaning tools they come into contact with the filth we generate on a daily basis, and are designed to protect us from it, to keep our hands pristine, dirt and germ free. Rubber gloves are the objects that not only distance us from the byproducts of human existence, but help us (help working women) make those byproducts—the waste, dirt, dust, stains, stools, footprints— invisible. By contrast, Joyce’s Ulysses called the very same muck to the fore of literature, put it on display, and told us that this is it: This is who we are and what we make. This is life.”

Thy Father’s Spirit will be on display at The Rosenbach from June 5 – September 1, and entry is included in admission to the museum. In addition, the public is welcome to attend a free conversation with artist Jessica Deane Rosner on June 13, at 6:00 p.m. Registration is requested, and individuals should call 215-732-1600, ext. 123 or e-mail rsvp@rosenbach.org to respond.

In addition to the manuscript of Ulysses, The Rosenbach’s Joyce holdings include several pages of proofs, first and early editions of nearly all his published works, portraits of Joyce by artists such as Man Ray, and contemporary photographs of locations mentioned in Ulysses. Selections from the Rosenbach collection will be shown together with Rosner’s work.

• The Music of Whitney Houston & Friends
• An Evening with Chris Mann, Former Star of NBC’s The Voice
• Smoky Standards of the Mad Men Era with Special Guest Ryan Silverman
• The Music of Marvin Hamlisch
• Unforgettable – The Nat King Cole Songbook Featuring Dee Daniels
• Broadway Spectacular with star of TV, Film and Theater, Tom Wopat

In addition to the already stellar season announced earlier this year, The Palm Beach Pops just added Ryan Silverman, Dee Daniels and Tom Wopat to the 2013-2014 line-up.
Chris Mann certainly shined as a finalist on The Voice, but his star has risen even higher since the hit show’s second season. In 2012, Mann signed with Faircraft/Republic, a new label formed by renowned producer/music executive Ron Fair (Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige). His debut full-length, Roads, introduced a whole new generation to the classical-pop genre and shot straight to No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart and Top 5 on Billboard’s Classical Chart. His most recent credits include singing for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as part of TNT’s “Christmas In Washington” special, appeared on “The Today Show,” the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and “NBC’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center Special.”
He kicked off 2013 with a performance on “Conan” and his very own PBS Special helmed by award-winning producer Ken Ehrlich. Titled “A Mann For All Seasons,” the show features special guest appearances by multi-platinum artist Martina McBride. Most recently, he received outstanding reviews for his performance during the PBS Memorial Day Special. Join this new hit star as he brings his talents to the Pops stage this coming season.
With his good looks, robust baritone and Broadway star Ryan Silverman, known for his leading roles in Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, It’s Complicated with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, Sex and the City 2, Gossip Girl as well as many other TV and theater credits, is an all around talented singer and actor. He will bring to life the music and ambiance of the Mad Men Era alongside Bob Lappin and The Palm Beach Pops.
With a 4 octave vocal range, Dee Daniels is also an outstanding pianist and an international artist who has performed around the globe, taught music and has received rave reviews for her symphony performances – most recently her tribute to the music of Ray Charles.
Tom Wopat has a wide-ranging career from TV to Broadway to blockbuster movies and the symphony stage. The Tony nominated actor and singer was the star of The Dukes of Hazzard, a long running hit TV show, the star of Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway and, most recently, starred as the sheriff in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar winning Django Unchained with Jamie Foxx. Join the Pops and Wopat for an amazing evening of Broadway’s best music.
The Palm Beach Pops performs at three venues throughout Palm Beach County. In Boca at the Carole and Barry Kaye Auditorium at FAU, in West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center, and in Palm Beach Gardens at the Eissey Campus Theatre at Palm Beach State College. Season subscriptions to all venues are on sale now with single tickets set for sale later this summer by calling 561-832-7677.
“A subscription to The Palm Beach Pops concert season is a great investment into cultural arts in this community and as many of our patrons know, the performances are incredible. We rely on our family of subscribers and individual patrons to support our music endeavors and to be able to bring such world-class concerts with such an accomplished orchestra to this area,” said David Quilleon, executive director.

View and download costume sketches and production photos of Sara Mearns, bass-baritone Eric Owens, countertenor Anthony Ross Costanzo, and choreographer Karole Armitage in our photo gallery.

The New York Philharmonic presents A Dancer’s Dream June 27–29 at Avery Fisher Hall.

The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) has developed an array of public programs related to the inimitable exhibition, on view at Scandinavia House through July 27, 2013. Programs include twice-monthly docent tours and a free audio guide of highlights; Art Afterhours – extended gallery hours with Nordic DJs; and numerous lectures and symposia with contemporary artists and experts in the field.

To reserve tickets for programs, the public may contact event_reservation@amscan.org or 212.847.9740. Programs are subject to change. For updated information, the public may visit scandinaviahouse.org, Facebook, and Twitter @ScanHouse | #MunchWarhol.

MUNCH | WARHOL and the Multiple Image
Through July 27, 2013
$5 ($3 Seniors & Students with a valid ID; Free for ASF Members)
3rd Floor Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 6 pm (Wednesday until 7 pm)

Scandinavia House/The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) gratefully acknowledges The Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York for supporting exhibition-related lectures and symposia.

© 2013 Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America | 58 Park Avenue @ 38th Street | New York, NY 10016
T: 212.779.3587 | E: info@amscan.org | W: scandinavivahouse.org & amscan.org

Dashi Namdakov is one of the most original voices in contemporary Russian art. Born in 1967, in Transbaikal, the borderlands between Russia and Mongolia, and trained as a sculptor at the Krasnoyarsk Academy of Fine Arts, Dashi had his first solo exhibition in Irkutsk in 2000. Dashi’s sculptures, graphic and jewelry pieces have been exhibited in solo and group shows internationally, including The State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia), Beijing World Art Museum (China), Grand Palais (Paris, France) and Tibet House in New York, NY. One of a few living artists to have had a solo exhibition in The State Hermitage (St. Petersburg, Russia) Dashi also has art works in this prestigious museum’s permanent collection. His work is in the personal collections of the German Chancellor Mr. G. Shroeder, the family of Uma Thurman, Willie Nelson, and many other collectors worldwide.

“Dashi Namdakov is without question a phenomenon in art: not only Buryat or Russian art—and not only modern art—but art as a whole, regardless of time or place.” states Elena F. Korolkova, Senior Researcher and Curator at the State Hermitage, “His style is inimitable; his feeling for form, plasticity and motion, and the sense of harmony embodied in his works is faultless and at the same time absolutely original.”

Brought up in a culture where Buddhist religion and Shamanic mythology intertwine, Dashi draws the inspiration for his creative output from Buddhist imagery and subjects, the traditions of the Turkic peoples of Siberia, the Buryat epic legends and tales, and the ancient art of China and Japan. Dashi’s world, populated by warriors and horsemen, Buddhist lama priests and Siberian shamans, totemic animals and mythological creatures, is traditional by its roots, but at the same time very modern by its world outlook and mentality.

“This exhibition is a delightfully psychological trip through the past and future, a journey that connects mythology and history together with the spirit of the modern person,” says Marina Kovalyov. “The meticulous, undulating lines of each sculpture awaken the nomadic impulses within us, and delicate, inquisitive glances on faces lightly propel us to thoughtfully gaze into our own past. In addition to an aesthetic mastery of bronze and other materials, Dashi’s works captivate and enthrall the mind as well.”

The unique blend of traditions is especially prominent in the artist’s jewelry, which is well represented in the New York exhibition. Sculptural and delicate, his jewelry pieces resemble historical artifacts. He balances both traditional and non-traditional materials, such as silver, gold and mammoth tusk, in one piece, finishing it with colorful precious stones. Evocative of ancient amulets and talismans thought to bring luck or defend from evil, the artist’s wild birds and animals, insects and anthropomorphic creatures have a distinctly unique style and, despite their sculptural quality, are comfortable to wear. Dashi’s treatment of precious stones is often unorthodox—for example, he often uses cut diamonds, setting them deep in the material for a cloisonné effect instead of raising a stone above its setting to bring out the play of light. But stones are not precious in and of themselves for the artist: they are merely a material used to convey the artistic imagery envisioned by him and allowing for the figures to come to life.

About the Russian American Foundation
Marina Kovalyov and her daughter Rina Kirschner founded the Russian American Foundation (RAF) in 1997. Its mission is to encourage interest in and understanding of Russian heritage among all communities in the US, as well as to promote reciprocal interest in and understanding of American heritage among global Russian-speaking communities.

Düsseldorf, Germany — Alexander Calder’s art centers around the movement of objects in space, and his elegant mobile sculptures made him one of the most important artists of the 20th century. A new exhibit called “Alexander Calder – Avantgarde in Motion,” at Düsseldorf’s K20 Museum, September 9, 2013 – January 12, 2014, features more than 70 of his works, including both stationary and mobile sculptures.

For more information visit http://www.kunstsammlung.de.

The city’s tourism office is offering hotel and city specials for many of the city’s art-related events throughout 2013, including “Avantgarde in Motion.” The travel package called “Düsseldorf à la Card” can be booked right from the tourism office’s website at http://www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/en/hotel-packages/duesseldorf-a-la-card/. Prices start at €49 per night per person based on double-occupancy for a 2-3 star hotel in the city center and at €95 per person for a 4-5 star hotel. All packages include breakfast, a Düsseldorf Welcome Card (free public transportation within city limits, plus more than 40 free or reduced admissions to city attractions), and a city information package.

Slonem’s canvases emphasize an aesthetic of ocular activity; the viewer’s eye is set in almost constant motion, flicking about to take in the entire rectangle. The butterflies themselves come into focus as his central subject only after the few seconds it takes to apprehend the whole painting. They are rarely in sharp focus; their shapes are somewhat misted and often repeated, so as to create a pattern which itself must be uncoded. Again, this all happens in only a few seconds, before the creatures can be given individuation and appreciated as belonging to a distinct species.

These matters of “only a few seconds” may seem at first to be hardly worth mentioning, but to the practiced viewer (and to anyone looking at a picture – although the process can be a much slower one) the visual experience is instantaneous. You know as much about a painting in the first blink of the eye as you will ever know. Everything else, thoughts about the subject, about technique, about meaning, come later, as our mental and verbal skills hurry to keep with what the eye already knows.
About The Artist
Hunt Slonem was born in Kittery, Maine in 1951. His fascination with exotica imprinted during his childhood in Hawaii and experience as a foreign exchange student in Managua, Nicaragua.
Since 1977, Slonem has had over 250 solo exhibitions at prestigious galleries. Museums both domestic and international have collected his work, among them The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Slonem lives and works in New York City in his legendary loft which houses an aviary for his 70 exotic birds. The studio is a work of art itself, a lush and sensuous environment, filled with not only birds and plants, but also a collection of Baroque and Neo-Gothic furniture, Blenko glass and brilliantly hued rooms that house a dazzling array of paintings in period frames. He also owns a Victorian mansion in Hudson, New York and two plantation homes in Louisiana.

MADISON GALLERY
1020 Prospect #130, La Joila, Calif 92037
www.madisongalleries.com
P: 858.459.0836