Art Share / Painters Painting

This coming Friday, May 3rd, we'll see you back in the classroom. Make sure to bring the artwork you made inspired by the artist Ray Johnson, whom we learned about watching the film How to Draw a Bunny a few weeks ago. You'll each have a chance to talk about what you made, how you made it, and why (aside from being assigned it, of course), and everyone will receive a gentle critique – just as we do with artwork we see in galleries and museums.

In addition, we'll be watching the film Painters Painting, which focuses on the New York art scene from 1940 through 1970, including abstract expressionists, color field painters, pop artists, etc. (Note that the link will take you to Amazon.com, where you can rent the film for $2.99, or watch it for free if you have Amazon Prime – as well as read a description of the film, which artists are included, and reviews.)

This film is going to be a good bridge from looking at Joan Mitchell and Grace Hartigan at the UB Anderson Gallery last week, to seeing one of the most important collections of modern art in the world at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery on May 10th.

You can watch a documentary about Grace Hartigan for free on IMDb!

As a semi-related tidbit after having looked at the Christo photograph of the wrapped statue at the Anderson, explore the Christo and Jeanne-Claude website. These are old friends to us now, after having seen them in both Herb and Dorothy as well as How to Draw a Bunny.

Leaving you now with a Jackson Pollock painting – if you recall I made reference to his work during our discussion at the Anderson Gallery on Friday. Oh, and I'll throw in a Willem de Kooning for good measure. See you in the classroom on Friday!

Jackson Pollock, Convergence, 1952, collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Willem DeKooning, Gotham News, 1955, collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery