Rational Abstract Art

                                     Word Art          First as preparation, consider written artworks such as Jenny Holzer’s sign -- Protect me from what I want. and Martin Creed’s sign -- Everything is Going to be Alright.       I don’t see those as strictly conceptual works. I take Holzer's to be anti-consumerism philosophy and Creed's to be reassuring psychology with a touch of farce.                              Logic and Semantics          Contrary to Holzer and Creed, strict conceptual artists prefer self referential worded statements or semantic word play. The following 2005 statement, by Lawrence Weiner was displayed in an art gallery on the wall in large stylistically mismatched scrap let...

   Intimate Relations, Authenticity, and the Art Market Continuing the social theme, we turn our attention to romantic relations between artists.  Earlier we pointed out that Jackson Pollock died in an auto accident. Now we will look into the details and aftermath.  Jackson Pollock married Lee Krasner in 1942. She promoted his career by introducing him to collectors, critics, and artists as well as orienting him to contemporary art.  He became famous by the mid 1950s but due to his alcoholism, Jackson and Lee became estranged and she was in Europe at the time of his death in 1956. Further, at that time in 1956, Jackson, 44, was having an affair with a younger woman, Ruth Kligman, 26, also an artist.  As to the auto accident, two women passengers were in the speeding car that Pollock was driving recklessly. In the resulting crash, Jackson and one woman died, but Ruth Kligman fortunately survived.  She says his foot was all the way down on the ga...

                     Christo and Jeanne-Claude Christo, a man, and Jeanne-Claude, a woman, were a married artist couple who designed and organized large-scale fabric spreading projects.   They wrapped monuments and buildings and spread floating fabric skirts around islands. A typical project involved years of planning as well as the hurdles of obtaining funding for the project and dealing with protests and lawsuits opposing the project.   Please look at one of their most famous projects  ‒ wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin.                                The wrapping occurred in 1995, for a period of 14 days.  After that, according to Christo, all the wrapping materials were recycled.   There was substantial opposition before the wrapping but when the publ...

               The United States Embassy in Paris As a comprehensive example of abstract art in a domestic setting, we turn to art in a mansion ‒  the U. S. embassy in Paris. The American ambassador there, in 2016, was Jane D. Hartley. To select artworks to display in the embassy she drew from her own collection as well as from works available from the division of the state department called Art In Embassies.  That department has a knowledgeable staff she could consult. Besides they have contacts to obtain art on loan. Together they chose, as a theme, works by American artists with a connection to France.  For example Alexander Calder spent many years living and working in Paris, so a large stabile by him was installed on the grounds. We start a tour of the embassy interior by showing Ms. Hartley in front of the painting from 2010 by Cy Twombly called Camino Real.  It is also shown from anot...