Arcimboldo

Let's talk about Art!

Who: Giuseppe Arcimboldo
When: Born in 1526, Died in 1592
Where: Born in Milan, traveled to Lombardy, worked in Vienna, then Prague, finally returned to Milan
What: an amazing artist you have probably never heard of before
For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Arcimboldo

Arcimboldo is best known for his detailed and fanciful portraits, most of which are made up of a variety of plants, animals and objects put together to create a person. The individual pieces of each portrait contribute to the overall sense of who the person is that is being portrayed. Every detail is built from smaller objects and items to provide a sense of who the person in the portrait actually is. In the portrait of Spring, featured below, over 80 different species of flowers have been identified.

Arcimboldo was greatly influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, who had spent considerable time in Milan as a court artist. Historians report that much of Arcimboldo's early work was done as a natural illustrator of birds, plants, and animals, all of which were completed in the style of da Vinci. During his lifetime Arcimboldo served Maximillian II, who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1564, and Rudolf II, who succeeded his father in 1576.

Throughout his years serving the Roman Emperors Arcimboldo painted many portraits of the court (few of which have survived) as well as the more fanciful compositions I have included here. In his later years he explored the challenge of reversible paintings, such as the one above, which can be viewed from the top OR the bottom. In this case the painting is either a bowl of produce or a gardener. I suppose for the fickle art lover this is the best of both worlds, you can have a still life one day and a portrait the next!

Extreme Exposure

Let's talk about Art!

What: The Annenberg Space for Photography
Current Exhibit: Extreme Exposure
When: exhibit opened in October 2010 and will run through April 17, 2011
Where: 2000 Avenue of the Stars #10, Los Angeles, CA, 90067
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm, closed Monday and Tuesday
Cost: General admission is free, you only have to pay for parking (on the weekend with validation it cost $1, I don't know about the weekdays)
Website (for more info): http://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/

The current exhibit is called Extreme Exposure and is a combination of five photographers' works. Each of these photographers have done amazing work in some of the Earth's most extreme environments (hence the exhibit name!). The exhibit can be explored through a combination of photographs, video shorts that allow the photographers to explain or expand on the works you see, Microsoft surface tables, and a library with further reading and longer videos.

I was touched and awed by the works I saw in the exhibit.

• Clyde Butcher has done stunning black and white film work in Florida and throughout the nation's national parks. As I viewed many of his pieces I felt if I took one step forward I would be in the photograph and no longer observing it. If I closed my eyes I imagined I would hear the sounds of the swamp just from looking at his pictures of the Florida wetlands. 

• Paul Nicklen's photographs showed me animals throughout the coldest climates in the world, above and under water. His work is stunning and his methods are terrifying for anyone sane. From leopard seals to narwhal whales to polar bears to penguins he allowed me to see these animals in ways I have never seen before.

• Michael Nichols had some of the most amazing animal photographs I have ever witnessed. Tigers leaping from cliffs, owls swooping down for food, hippos surfing and so much more. He also created a phenomenal photograph of a redwood tree that stopped me in my tracks (you have to see it to believe it).

• Donna and Stephen O'Meara are a wife and husband team who have spent their lives taking stunning pictures of erupting volcanoes all over the globe. The colors and compositions are bold and beautiful.Their images of the volcano that erupted in Iceland in April of 2010 are gorgeous.

Each of these amazing photographers seemed to become part of their environment and it shows in their finished works. If you are in Los Angeles and have a chance to visit the exhibit I HIGHLY recommend it!

Happy Art-ing!

Garden Bus!

Let's talk about plants!

I saw this post on the GOOD magazine website and immediately knew I had to share it.

http://www.urbangardensweb.com/2011/02/01/gardens-on-top-of-city-busses/

The organization is called Bus Roots - it was developed by an NYU student for a masters thesis. The gist is this: he is using the top of a public bus to plant a garden! Each bus top is 340 square feet. There are approximately 4,500 buses in the fleet. If each bus had a garden on top, that would add 1,530,000 square feet of rolling garden space to the city!!!

It made me think: what space could I use to create more greenery? What would that do for my environment, both on a small and large scale? What would it do for my neighbors? I can only imagine sitting in an office building at work, glancing out my second or third story window for a quick mental break, and a garden rolls by on the top of a bus. How would that change my outlook in the moment? How would it change my outlook over time?

I am so inspired by people who think outside the proverbial box, or in this case think on top of it.