You can take the art with you!

Gunilla Klingberg has made a poster of her "mandala" design that visitors can take home with them to remember this beautiful work long after it is gone from Moore's windows. With this piece it is ok to not only touch the art, you can have one of your very own too! Get yours now...everybody wants one!

Gunilla Klingberg's "Brand New View"

Academic Dean Dona Lantz basks in the patterned orange light

Gunilla Klingberg and Gallery Director Lorie Mertes share thoughts and insights on the artist's project on view in Moore's entrance

and the crowd listening!

Virgil Marti's Talk

Gallery Director Lorie Mertes and artist Virgil Marti discuss his new work "VIP Room"
in the Window on Race gallery

Everyone's trying to fit in and hear what's happening inside...

View from outside..it's standing room only in the "VIP Room"!

Regina Silveira's gallery talk at Moore today

Regina Silveira with Gallery Director and Chief Curator Lorie Mertes. I'm on the right.

People are amazed by this artwork!

Scenes from opening day at Moore

Everyone is wearing them. The ever stylish white shoe cover known as the "bootie"

the very difficult stand and cover shoes with booties move

sitting is much easier if you can find room on the bench

That's All Folks!

That's me with artists Regina Silveira and Virgil Marti!

The Gallery is officially OPEN. That means that all those finishing touches, all the buffing, all the sweeping, all the cleaning, right down to all of the specially placed light fixtures, it's all done. And don't think that all of that hard work has gone unnoticed, as I'm writing this the gallery is still full of interested art goers here for a meet the artists brunch.


And possibly a few people just here for the food. But mostly those who really enjoy the printed image in many forms.
There is a tinge of sadness dampening all of the excitement. Today is my last day here at the Moore Galleries. I can't tell you how much I've loved this experience. This was a great way to end it.

Even though I'll be gone, Philagrafika is still continuing in venues all over the city. Check out their website and broaden your horizons a little.

Forging Ahead

A few pictorial updates:

Regina Silveira's installation the night before the opening...


Installing the tires and hanging Betsabee Romero's prints from the rafters!

Can You Feel the Excitement?

With just three short days left until the public opening final touches are being put on almost everything.

From the almost complete Mundus Admirabilis:

An amazing view of the Goldie Paley Gallery.


The porcelain pieces meant to go in the middle of the gallery as a focal point. Freshly unpacked and ready to go.


To the just unpacked work of Betsabeé Romero:
We finally get to see what Betsabee Romero's carved tires look like without all that wrapping.


A few of the prints created from the aforementioned tires.

A close-up of the prints.

Romero has turned some of the least likely material into something beautiful.

A close-up of the carvings.

And Virgil Marti's wallpaper with the lustrous glow:
The fuzzy ottoman that accompanies the rest of Marti's exhibit.



A shiny globe to compliment the glossy wallpaper.

Getting to Know...

...Betsabeé Romero! Even though she's just gotten into town, Ms. Romero had time to sit down with me and discuss her work being shown here at Moore.

Romero has been known to use the entire car, but she explained to me that the tires she uses in many of her works evokes feelings of the past while highlights the contradictions of modernity. She believes that as a whole, western culture too highly idealizes speed, so instead she uses the tire to conjure images of the past when cylindrical images were abundant in art. Romero states that the circle has had a long standing role of importance in every ancient culture, especially South American ones such as the Aztecs. As a tool, tires are ideal for printing, and can serve for other purposes aside from speed. Romero uses the tires as a diffusion of ideas between cultures and to focus on the universality of the circle.

It is because of this universality that Romero carves birds from multiple different cultures onto her tires. Not only does she use birds from Mesoamerica, but also those from Chinese and Japanese art as well. She describes these birds as being trapped, first on the tire where they are carved, and then freed through printing, only to be trapped again on paper. Romero says this idea translates loosely into "we always find a new cage."

For Betsabeé Romero, art is a process through which any manner of social commentary can be made. By combining history with modern day industrial and manual labor, Romero is making her own commentary on today's culture forgetting its past.

Getting to Know...

...Regina Silveira! Continuing my interview series, I was lucky enough to set down with Mundus Admirabilis creator Regina Silveira. She was very generous to speak with me, despite having work of her own to do.
She revealed to me that the bugs depicted in Mundus Admirabilis were evil bugs. She had gotten the pictures mostly from 18th century natural history books. These are depictions of the bugs as they were first observed, and a few are even made up because " observation is different from mechanical instrumentation." The images were composed as a group to symbolize the idea of an invasion as the insects are more menacing together. They are created as modern day metaphors for ancient plagues such as deterioration, violence, and corruption, all of which we suffer from now.
The piece is made up of both prey and predator alike, but each one is also out of proportion. While an insect like the flea may be the smallest in real life, it's proportions are the largest in Mundus Admirabilis. The installation has such an all encompassing feel to it because of the way almost every surface in the room is covered with insect life. These creepy crawlies were made to wrap around the architecture in a way that they not only become the wallpaper, but part of the building as well. The insects completely encompass and adapt to their environment.
When this was shown in Brazil, Silveira used the bugs to represent local corruption in politics. She covered the inside of a large glass box-shaped building to represent the beautiful cage that politicians had themselves in. Here, in the Goldie Paley Gallery at Moore, the insects are more of a back drop for the central piece of the installation; a table and porcelain set of dishes covered with the same buggy motif. The pure (innocent?) white porcelain is covered with the same bugs that adorn the walls, only on a more realistic scale. The large handmade tablecloth that the porcelain dishes sit upon is also covered with the same motif. It is meticulously made with cross stitch embroidery by a woman in Brazil; a process that took roughly two years. Sadly enough, these gorgeous objects aren't actually for use, and have all been glued together.

The Artists are Coming, the Artists are Coming!

With more artists in the gallery than before, the place is hoppin'. To work that is. Not a moment has been wasted, and it really shows. Everything looks better than I remember!

It's a veritable medley of insect life.

The bugs have widened their domain to even include the doors.



Nick Lanker helps to install Virgil Marti's amazingly shiny wallpaper. Just look at that reflection!



A photo of the finished Haustorium. Today's wet and rainy atmosphere is really going to test those weather-proof layers.

Virgil Marti is in the House!

Virgil Marti arrived Saturday morning to start installation of his silver mylar wallpaper with a beautiful yet spooky floral pattern made up of skulls and bones. Look forward to seeing it done when I get in on Monday!

Isn't it Romantic!

An unidentified couple was clearly inspired by Paul Morrison's work...here they are having wedding pictures taken in front of the mural today!

Update

I've been gone for a few days ( I know, you're wondering how I could ever leave this place), and in that time so much work has been done it's mind boggling. Above, with the help of a magic "genie" lift, installers begin work installing Gunilla Klingberg's Brand New View on the windows of Moore's entrance.


Here are a few photos of the installation process and the now finished vivid orange work made by Gunilla Klingberg. The sticker, entirely made up of everyday places we all know and love, is all prepped and ready to go.

Seen from inside...where it's warm!


Nearly finished and looking absolutely magnificent in the brisk mid-afternoon light. What a way to make an entrance!!

Near completion is Paul Morrison's mural Haustorium, located on the corner of 20th and Parkway.Gallery installers Preston Scott and Gary Smith, head preparator and art installer at Moore, assemble the panels that were painted by Morrison's assistant in December. There are several layers of paint here to protect the work from the elements.


Getting it perfectly level on a wall that is not at all level...at least that's what Gary says.

A view from across the street. The scale of this piece is amazing!

Back inside, some of the most exciting news of the past few days is not only that Mundus Admirabilis is coming along swimmingly, but the artist Regina Silveira of Brazil is in the gallery!

Silveira observing the progress on Mundus Admirabilis

One of twenty porcelain works with the same print as the walls ( and ceiling, and floors) that will be placed in the Goldie Paley Gallery in the center of the gallery on a table.