John James Audubon, Arctic Tern
Good morning art reads:
1. John James Audubon, I would argue, is one of the most important artists that America has produced. His Birds of America, 1927-1938, was not only important in its time, making a substantial contribution to a century awakening to conservation and the deeper impulses of the natural world, but also responsible for articulating a graphic impulse in American art that continues to this day. When I see Andy Warhol's flowers and blocky, two or three color toned portraits, I see Audubon. When I see Ellsworth Kelly's elegant shapes of color, I definitely see Audubon. The article below introduces the New York Historical Society's current display of Audubon's engravings:
http://brooklynrail.org/2015/06/artseen/audubons-aviary-the-final-flight-part-iii-of-the-complete-flock
2. James Cahill discusses Mary Reid Kelley in a long analysis for the L.A. Review of Books. Kelley is a fascinating artist who produces visually arresting videos mixing history, myth, and activism. Cahill gets into the density of Kelley's latest effort. I disagree with much of the article -- I do not, for instance, think that the artworld is shy about sexual deviancy -- but it gets into the complexity of an artist who can be taken for granted:
http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/a-wandering-will-mary-reid-kelley-discusses-swinburnes-pasiphae
3. Bunker Hill is one of the more fascinating stories of Los Angeles. Walking the long corridor of Grand Avenue, dipping into the subterranean California Plaza, or taking a various staircases down to Hill Street from Grand Avenue, it is hard to visualize that the entire area was once populated by Victorian mansions and hotels, that it was once the residential center of the city. The L.A. public library has a wonderful photo exhibit of the history of Bunker Hill that is definitely worth the trip downtown:
http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/exhibits/bunker-hill-rear-view-mirror
4. Lagos, Nigeria is in dire straits. A population explosion has increased the size of the city to more than 10 million, forcing many of its inhabitants out into the lake for which Lagos gets its name. The slum of Makoko is a disparate place, built mostly on stilts of wood, and its condition is only getting worse with erratic weather patterns and global warming. Enter architect Kunlé Adeyemi, who has developed a fascinating project out of the impulse to help the slum. His efforts are documented below in the two links, which include fantastic photos by Iwan Baan:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/26/magazine/26look-lagos.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130526&_r=1&
http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/nigeria-lagos-water-communities-look-like-waterworld
Video of the Week:
5. I admit I've been into wine more than art this week. For my birthday, I went from Santa Barbara to the wine ghetto in Lompoc, up to Santa Maria, and down Foxen Canyon to Los Olivos, tasting as much as I could. I stumbled across a fantastic wine store and tasting room in Santa Barbara called Les Marchands, run by master sommelier Brian McClintic. McClintic is one of 4 candidates for the sommelier exam profiled in the 2012 documentary Somm. It is a wonderful film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOLadElm5Yo
Poem for the Week:
6. Juan Felipe Herrera is our new poet laureate. He is the first Chicano poet laureate, writing in both English and Spanish. As with most laureates, I am busy to get to know them. Many are well known, but others, like Kay Ryan and Ted Kooser, seem to come from places that are hard to see and therefore definitely in need of a long look. In the Cannery the Porpoise Soul by Herrera was enough to tell me he was a great poet. It is bright with imagery, deceptive in its simplicity. The Porpoise Soul is no easy thing to get a handle on -- is it capitalism? is it greed? is it a primal animal impulse towards competition? -- but there is no doubt this menacing thing is alive and well, horrible and openly exploitative of the people who live in the shadows but who are responsible for our comfortable lives..
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/183537
One Click Deeper:
7. The L.A. Times has a great introduction to Juan Felipe Herrera. It can be found here:
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-poet-laureate-herrera-20150610-story.html