The Girl with the Pearl Earring exhibit highlights Vermeer’s small, gorgeous and
precious paining, made famous recently by Tracy Chevalier’s novel. It holds a
place of prominence at near the end of the exhibit. The over the shoulder look,
the moist eyes, the erotic, supple lips on slightly parted lips, the exotic
turban and jewelry and the simple but vibrant pallet make it the star of the
show. But the still lifesin the
exbitbit were just as amazing.
The Girl with the Pearl Earring by J. Vermeer
Gerard ter Borch Woman Writing a Letter
Carel Fabritius The Goldfinch. This beautifully simple painting was completed by an the artist, who died at age 22.
Jan Van Kessel II Peapods and Insects
The exhibit was complemented with etchings from Rembrandt’s Century, which showcased some wonderful the
artist’s skill as a draftsman. While they were etchings you could feel the scribble
and movement of the pen bring the drawings to life. They demonstrated economy
of line, using the pen’s push and pull to bring about form and depth, light and
shadow. This part of the exhibit was inspiration to take out a journal to sketch
to the heart’s delight.
The Clock by Christian Marclay was amazing at SFMOMA. Created over the course of three years, it is a
film made from thousands of clips of known commercial movies that show clocks,
watches or mentions of time that correspond to the actual time into a 24 hour
video montage so that it is both a film and a time piece.
As someone who always wears a watch and often sets
activities within set time frames, it was an interesting film to watch. The
film itself let me know what time it was. Initially I looked for the reference
to time—like looking for Waldo in Where’s Waldo books. Traditionally time had
been set by the sun, the moon and the seasons, but now time is set by time
pieces and we allot set times to complete activities in our post-industrial and
digital age. The film examines our understanding of time in this age—its
limitedness, its preciousness, its value. But the film briefly sets us free
from the taskmaster by giving us narratives which may or may not correspond to
the time of day. It is worth seeing and considering.
Modern street photographer Garry Winogrand captured the
tension of our times with photos that are at once ambiguous and reminiscent,
documentarian while arranged. His use of light gives them a sense of veracity:
the broad, bright light of the West, the subtle, shadowed light of NYC streets
and the flat, invasive light of night shots. He shots hundreds of rolls towards the end of his life, many of which were only recently developed.
There is one evocative photo of a
young toddler in the bright afternoon sun in a garage of a suburban home next
to a desert, while his tricycle law strewn and storm clouds approach in the
distance. One senses vulnerability, doom and disillusionment in this one image.
His show reminded me of Robert Frank’s The Americans, which captured everyday shots of ordinary people.He captures the joy and humor, anguish and
passion.
