Robyn O’Neil’s Something Vanished Over Paradise @ SECCA

So, here at SECCA we recently opened a new exhibit, and it is super cool. The artist has been drawing for twenty years, and this exhibit marks the first retrospective of her work. It includes both drawings and collages. The drawings are made with a .5 mechanical pencil and can take years to complete. The collages feature color, and O’Neil describes modernist artists like Hartley and O’Keeffe as inspirations.

The drawings are large-scale and confront the viewer with unreal worlds in a surrealist fashion. I’ll start out with one entitled Some Things You Said, 2009, graphite on paper, and measuring 60×60 inches. (That is five feet by five feet!)

To me, this is surrealist in that the world you are presented with does not make sense; it seems like out of a dream. The large, breaking wave is frightening, and the juxtaposition of the unusual land formations is almost alien in sensibility. Where are they located actually? The richness of detail that O’Neil achieves with a mechanical pencil is incredible to behold.

My personal favorite from the exhibit is the following: The Minds of Others, 2009, graphite on paper, 60×60 inches.

This eerie drawing makes me think of how we so often worry about what others think of us, and can let it dictate our lives. It also calls to mind a sense of mind control in a way that is almost Big Brother-like. The ocean beneath the severed heads makes this work very disquieting.

The most famous of her works in the exhibit is most likely the triptych Hell, 2011, graphite on paper, 82×168 inches.

This work took the artist 3 years to complete, and is overwhelming to behold in its immensity. She did this with a mechanical pencil!!! The work is in part inspired by 15th century painter Hieronymus Bosch. It features 65,000 figures. In O’Neil’s imagination, hell is a space that features a threatening environment and human conflict everywhere. The triptych element is ironic, as triptychs began as Christian altarpieces depicting Biblical scenes. This work really makes you think. I could look at it every day and find something new.

Above: Oh, How the Heartless Haunt Us All, 2005, graphite on paper, 89×68 inches.

This work is almost apocalyptic in sensibility. The strange figures gathered together are frightening, as are the cold landscapes they inhabit. The birds at the top call to mind vultures. I see this as a group representing the fears we all have inside of us, as well as a sense of the people we have let down. (Again, she made this with a TINY PENCIL). (Also, I’d be lying if I didn’t say this made me think of the Wall in GOT).

Now, for some of her collages.

Left: Heaven, 2013, collage with oil pastel and graphite on paper, 34 1/2×29 1/2 inches.

Right: Two Icebergs, 2013, collage with oil pastel and graphite on paper, 27 1/2x 34 1/2 inches.

The collages feature the same apocalyptic environments in the drawings, but are smaller and figure-less. Both are desolate, yet Heaven offers a sense of hope through the light emanating from a dark cloud.

Overall, this exhibit is one-of-a-kind and extremely thought-provoking. Highly recommend to any fans of surrealism out there!

#artfulliving

Buzzfeed Tasty Challenge: Numbers 13 and 28–32 Fall Recipes with No Meat or Dairy

This past week, I tackled two more recipes: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas, Asparagus, and Arugula and Quinoa Taco Salad. I made the Quinoa Taco Salad at the beginning of the week to last me through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It is super similar to a recipe I made all the time in college, but as I hadn’t made it forever, I was inspired to make it again. I like how balanced it is: the protein and fiber from the quinoa and black beans and healthy fats from the avocado make it a lunch with serious staying power. I paired mine with a small side of frozen broccoli for extra fiber and plant-based deliciousness.

This recipe is super easy. All you have to do is cook the quinoa, rinse the black beans, break out your favorite salsa (looking at you, Tostito’s Medium Chunky Salsa), slice avocado, and crumble some tortilla chips and you have lunch! I really liked the addition of the chips, which was missing from the version I made in college. The cilantro adds a nice fresh touch to the dish. Voila.

Next, I decided to make me some sweet potatoes. While I will always love baked potatoes the most, sometimes it’s nice to mix it up. Plus I read so much about the importance of complex carbs. I was really excited for this recipe in that it featured roasted chickpeas, which are taking the snack world by storm. I also was excited to make my first-ever tahini-based dressing. After looking at a lot of the recipes, most of the vegan dressings consist of lemon, tahini, and maple syrup, so I definitely needed to stock up. Shout out to Harris Teeter for selling tahini, which I was unsure of. Also, I hate hate hate asparagus. I have tried so much to like it, but the only form I have been able to tolerate it is when it is wrapped up in bread in those old-fashioned sandwiches. So, really, I just like bread and mayonnaise. #southernfood, amirite? Instead of asparagus, I roasted leeks.

First, I rinsed the chickpeas, then roasted them with cumin, chili powder, olive oil, and some salt and pepper. While they were roasting, I cleaned and cut the leeks and made the dressing. I opted to cook the sweet potato in the microwave, and assemble everything the next morning to bring to work. I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The dressing was especially delicious, and mixing it with the chickpeas and sweet potato made for a delicious bite. Sadly, the leeks were a little chewy for my taste. If I had sliced them more thinly they might have turned out better. I also completely forgot the arugula both times I made this lunch, which is shocking because I LOVE arugula. It would have added a refreshing peppery touch. Anyway, while I got a little tired of the sweetness of the potato by the end (personal preference), overall it was a balanced dish and one I would make again. Apologies for the sweet potato picture–I know it’s not super appetizing but I was running late that morning!

This Friday I am going on a Caribbean Cruise! So that will mean a bit of a hiatus from my vegan cooking, but will return in earnest (although I don’t want to think about life post-cruise yet). I promised myself I would have almost everything ready for grad school applications by the time of the cruise, and have written every statement, researched every program and professors, edited two papers from school, and in short been dreaming about applications and once even about a professor I have never even met. In short, I need this vacation to become a sane and normal human.

Stay tuned! More art to come.

#artfulliving

Taha Heydari: Subliminal

This exhibit is amazing. It’s been on view at SECCA since June 22nd and closes October 8th. Heydari was born in Iran but lives and works in Baltimore. This exhibit is all about the relationship of painting  to digital technology and darkly showcases the nature of political authoritarianism. Heydari utilizes computer-generated patterns, traditional Middle Eastern motifs, and found photographic imagery found on the internet and archives. The curator likens his works to “digital tapestries.” They are all large in scale and thus impossible to ignore. The works reference all kinds of things, ranging from ancient myth to popular movies to recognizable political figures. Thus, they are so relevant to all kinds of modern and contemporary art, such as Marcel Duchamp’s championing of found objects, Pop art’s interest in popular culture, and reference the art historical canon through usage of mythic subjects.

I’ve rounded up my favorites below to give you contemporary-art interested folks a taste. Disclaimer: I could not have written this without the use of the labels. This exhibit really drives home the amazing work curators do in making contemporary works accessible to viewers, even ones like me who have a degree in art history.

Shooting the Edge, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 108 x 24 inches; Taha Heydari

To give you a sense of the scale, this work takes up an entire wall space in the Potter Gallery. It is from the vantage point of a gun holder as seen from the body cameras utilized by terrorist groups for recruitment videos, as well as by police in the United States. In the videos, a Go-Pro camera is attached to the top of the gun, likening violence to a video game aesthetic. This work is timely in pointing out the disturbing fact that violent games such as Call of Duty are played by young boys, early on numbing them to the visceral reality of war. The chaotic middle ground of the painting brings to mind a sense of the nature of battles and explosions. The painting further references technology through the pixelated patterns and sense of static that recurs throughout the work. Interestingly, the artist also inserts beautiful pinks and yellows in the left middle portion of the work. They could signify blood, the hues and shapes could merely be breaking up the dark colors that occupy most of the painting, or could signify a hope for peace in the future.

The Museum, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 115 x 84 inches; Taha Heydari

This work calls attention to the nature of museums. The museum room here is filled with portals, neon lights, a geisha, an ancient kneeling figure, plants, and a display case. These figures are in the space, but not fully. It calls attention to the fetishizing aspect of museums in displaying objects once used in daily life in an entirely different context. Everything is jumbled and nothing seems to belong. This could also reference the chaotic nature of modern life as a result of all of the technology that sometimes seems to control our lives. The neon lights could reference work made by artists such as Dan Flavin or the banal nature of their usage in other institutions.

The End, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 96 inches; Taha Heydari

This work references the final scene in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, displaying the cliche of the cowboy riding off into the sunset, arguably a modern myth of sorts. I love the sketchy aspect of this work and how Heydari left parts deliberately unfinished. Showing viewers blank canvas is an aspect painters began to employ in the modern era in order to directly reference the nature of painting, in direct opposition to the mimetic works that dominated the art world for centuries. The figures remind me of the works of Clyfford Still through their dark hues and shapes. Still sought to create works that were timeless through referencing the sublime and nature. I also love the blue squares that fade out and almost dissolve, perhaps calling attention to the way movies dissolve on the screen when they change scenes or, for lack of a better word, end.

Cronus, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches; Taha Heydari

Cronus, also known as Saturn, is the Greek mythological god of the harvest. Ancient philosophers associated him with time (Chronos). This painting utilizes imagery from Peter Paul Rubens’ Saturn, Jupiter’s Father, devours one of his sons (1636-1638). The portion of the hand of Cronus gripping his son is shown amid pixelated patterns and black space. The top left corner features command script. The way Heydari cuts off the head of the baby and inserts broken lines makes me think of the anguish of this moment. This disturbing image is rendered even more so by the cold computer script.

The National Day, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 inches; Taha Heydari

This painting references days celebrating national heritage and their pageant-like aspect through inclusion of helicopters and confetti. Heydari finds the notion of these days as ironically divisive in their inherent separation from other countries and subsequent creation of an Other through the borders of nations. This is arguably strengthened through the news, both on television and the computer. This is likely referenced through the pixel patterns on the confetti. This painting is entirely disorienting, and the faceless figure is eerie.

So there you have it! Despite the dark aspect of many of paintings, they are very beautiful and the inclusion of the brushstroke in many of them (hard to pick up in photographs) is lovely. If you are ever in the area in the near future, you should absolutely stop by before this exhibit goes down. I am definitely going to miss it.

Artful Living

Hi! I’m Jen, a 23-year-old living in Winston-Salem, NC. I grew up here as a kid, but moved back here when my parents retired after spending middle-school and high-school in Nashville and college at UVa. (Shout-out to the parents for letting me live rent-free)! At UVa, I was an Art History and American Studies double major, and am currently in the midst of grad-school applications. While figuring all that out, I’m working part-time at the front desk of both the Reynolda House Museum of American Art as well as the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), and I recently thought what would be a better time to spotlight some of the art and exhibitions for those of you art-interested people out there than when needing a break from grad school stress or when I have downtime at work?

Besides art, I also love to cook (and eat). I tend to cook vegetarian food although I still eat a lot of fish and indulge in some meat occasionally (hot wings, I can never give you up). So, I figured I’d also share some recipes and restaurants here. I mainly use Pinterest and the Food Network to find recipes, although occasionally I break out one or two of my vegetarian cookbooks, primarily How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman, which I see as The Joy of Cooking for vegetarians.

Lastly, I am a major book lover. I am always reading at least one book, and am so psyched our main library FINALLY re-opened. I got to go for the first time yesterday, and just by browsing aimlessly found five books. So, if you like to find new books to add to your list, this is also a great place to do that! Stay tuned!