Friday, April 26, 2013

Life in a Concrete Jungle
Erin McIvor
Spring 2013
ART 2003C-03

Gallery Layout

My art gallery will be arranged as a hallway traversing an arc. The art will line both walls of the hallway, with the pieces being arranged alternating walls (that is, the first piece is as you enter on your right, the second is opposite it on your left, the third is next to the first piece on your right again, the fourth opposite that, etc.). The art is not arranged by artist, but by the increasing presence of nature in the piece. The first works, then, are almost exclusively bleak cityscapes with only a touch of a sign of life, but as the viewer progresses they become more and more consumed by images of the natural. The layout is designed to increase this feeling, as the viewer is surrounded by these images and walks through them as though they are walking from an almost purely lifeless city to one engulfed by nature and life. The exhibit is not about the artists, who worked over different time periods, media, and locations, but about the connection between these few pieces of their work and the theme that they share.

Welcome to Life in a Concrete Jungle

(Exhibition Text)


 Life in contemporary times has thrust us into the city. We spend so much of our time surrounded by buildings and sidewalks and automobiles that we start to think that this world is all there is, or is natural for us to live in. Life has a way of breaking through our constructed reality and reminding us otherwise, and these artists have noticed that.

There are Henri Matisse's simplified paintings of Euorpean cities and people, Jeff Wall's often harsh view of the reality of city life, David Hockney's eclectic but lively and hyperreal paintings and collages, Henri Cartier-Bresson's iconic black and white photographs of a barren-yet-hopeful world, and Martin Lewis' stark portrayals of New York City from every angle. These artists have shown us here how, given the opportunity, life will find its way into our world, whether in the form of people or plants, and restore beauty to our surroundings.

View of Notre Dame

View of Notre Dame
Henri Matisse
Oil on canvas
147.3 x 94.3 cm

Milk

Milk
Jeff Wall
Photograph
1870 x 2290 mm

A Bigger Bridlington Studio Interior

A Bigger Bridlington Studio Interior
David Hockney
Oil on canvas
34 x 48 in.

USA. New York City. Manhattan. Downtown. 1947.

USA. New York City. Manhattan. Downtown. 1947.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Photograph (gelatin silver print)

Tree, Manhattan

Tree, Manhattan
Martin Lewis
Drypoint
12 5/8 x 9 3/4 in.

Telephone Pole

Telephone Pole
David Hockney
Photographic collage
66 x 40 in.

Little Penthouse

Little Penthouse
Martin Lewis
Drypoint
9 7/8 x 6 13/16 in.

Hyeres

Hyeres
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Photograph (gelatin silver print)
20 x 29.5 cm

The Maid

The Maid
Henri Matisse
Oil on canvas
90 x 74 cm

Quai St. Bernard

Quai St. Bernard
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Photograph (gelatin silver print)
23.8 x 35.5 cm

The Conversation

The Conversation
Henri Matisse
Oil on Canvas
177 x 85 3/8 cm

Interior with Goldfish

Interior with Goldfish
Henri Matisse
Oil on canvas
147 x 97 cm

Sadovaya Street, Moscow, USSR, 1954


Sadovaya Street, Moscow, USSR, 1954
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Photograph (gelatin silver print)

Rainy Day, Queens

Rainy Day, Queens
Martin Lewis
Drypoint
10 5/8 x 11 7/8 in.

Place Furstenberg

Place Furstenberg
David Hockney
Photographic collage
35 x 31 1/2 in.

Tran Duc Van

Tran Duc Van
Jeff Wall
Photograph
2900 x 2290 mm

The Storyteller





The Storyteller
Jeff Wall
Photograph
2292 x 4372 mm

The Road to York through Sledmere

The Road to York through Sledmere
David Hockney
Oil on canvas
48 x 60 in.

Coastal Motifs

Coastal Motifs
Jeff Wall
Silver dye bleach transparency in light box
1190 x 1470 mm

Lower Palisade



Lower Palisade
Martin Lewis
Oil on board
8 x 9.8 in.