"Citizen Who" by Eric Liu at Zocolo

I attending an amazing performance of a one man + presentation entitled "Citizen Who" by Eric Liu.  It was sponsored by Zocolo at The Actors Gang theater in Culver City.  This was the launch of Zocoo Public Square/Cal Humanities "Searching for Democracy" series.  He has been a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion a former speech writer for Bill Clinton.  He has been traveling around the country and interviewing individuals on what it means to be an American. 

Liu is a second generation Chinese American whose mother came to the U.S. when she was 21.  She was college educated in Taiwan.  Liu's grandfather was a Chinese General who fought the Japanese and the Communist Chinese.

He talked with Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Polish- born American author and a Holocaust survivor.  She has written about hope, inspiration, love humanity and received an Academy Award and Emmy for a documentary based on her life and her fight to promote tolerance, encourage community service and combat hunger.  She was presented  the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2011.  Her first book was "All But My Life" 1957.

Between his stories another actor conducts the room as if it was a U.S. Citizenship class/exam.  We all stood to recite the Naturalization Oath and answered questions to an oral quiz.  Then Eric played patriotic songs on the violin.

He told his stories of going through the process to become an officer in the Marine Corp, working for a Senator from Oklahoma.

He talked about the internment of Japanese during WWI, the Chinese Exclusion act of 1882, Angel Island in San Francisco Bay where Chinese were interned and the U.S. history of exclusion, color coded, In/Out systems.

One hero he talked about was Mark Massey, a Pentecostal lay minister from Sand Springs, Oklahoma who has helped more than 500 Indian guest workers escape virtual servitude.  One Sunday, he noticed to workers from Indian in the back of his church and learned that they escaped from the steel factory across the street.  They were brought to this country as indentured servants to work long hours and live under restricted conditions.  He talked about Mr. Massey's "call of conscious."

He also talked about Antonella Packard from Saratoga Springs, Utah.  She came to the U.S. from Honduras as a university student then moved to Utah where she married into a family of entrepreneurs and became a Mormon.  She is a Republican and chair of the Utah Hispanic Latino Legislative Task Force.  She has supported immigrants' rights and talks about how it goes hand in hand with "conservative, Constitution-loving, free-market-type" thinking. 

Eric asked the audience what if we had to earn American citizenship.  We were asked to stand, raise our right hand and recite the "Sworn-Again American Oath"
"I pledge to be an active American to show up for others to govern my self to help govern my community.  I recommit myself to my country's creed:  to cherish liberty as a responsibility; to serve and to push my country--when right, to be kept right; when wrong to be set right.  Wherever my ancestors and I were born, I claim American and I pledge to live like a citizen."

It was a a moving and educational evening.

Lunch and a stroll at Huntington

'twas a beautiful day to give thanks for our many gifts at the Huntington gardens and museums.

"The Last Gleanings" 1895 by Breton (French 1827-1906)
Breton, Courbet, and Millet lived in the town of Barbizon and created a special school of painters that focused on social realism in art.  They painted peasant life in the country using tonal qualities, color, loose brushwork and softness of form.

"Vesuvius from Portici" 1774-76 by Joseph Wright of Derby, (British, 1734-1797)
The world was very interested the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that occurred in 79 AD as the Italians had begun to excavate the buried towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

"The Blue Boy" 1770 by Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727-1788)
Gainsborough painted this just to prove that he could paint like Anthony van Dyck, the 17th century Flemish painter.  The painting became famous when Huntington purchased it for $700,000 in 1921, the largest amount of money ever for a painting up to that time.  The likeness has been copied and even placed on chocolates.

"Pinkie" Sarah Goodin Barrett Moultoni, 1794 by Thomas Lawrence (British, 1760-`1830)
The painting was commissioned by Judith Barrett of her 11 year old granddaughter who she missed seeing.  The girl was called "Pinkie" was raised in the British colony of Jamaica before being sent to England for schooling.  The grandmother asked that "Pinkie" be shown "in an easy, careless attitude."
"Pinkie" died a few months after the painting was completed perhaps of T.B.

On the second floor of the mansion museum, the works of sculptor Ricky Swallow and his wife Lesley Vances' paintings are displayed.  The paintings are oil on linnen.

By Leslie Vance

"Retired Instruments" by Ricky Swallow

"Ann and Mary Constable:  The Artist's Sisters" 1818 by John Constable (British, 1776-1837
Mary on the right with the pensive expression and red riding hood is a contrast to her older sister Ann who is more serious and dressed starkly in a masculine riding habit.

By Lesley Vance

"Girls Surprised Bathing by Moonlight" 1840 by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, 1774-1851)
The painting is divided by a sudden burst of moonlight in the night sky in the Bay of Naples.  Turner paints an eruption of Vesuvius in the background while a fire started by hot ashes burns in the right foreground.

"The Grand Canal Scene - A Street in Venice"1837 by Turner.
A city of light and water, Venice enabled Turner to indulge his fascination with brilliant effects of color and light.

Norton Simon on Monday

I enjoyed lunch with a colleague in the garden and visited some of my favorites.

Wow, this is an amazing art museum.

A Bronze by Auguste Rodin greets everyone on the front walkway

Manet's "The Ragpicker" 1865-70

Pissaro's "View of Berneval" 1900

Matthias Stom's "Christ Crowned with Thorns" 1633-39 Dutch
A single candle, a device favored by Caravaggio for the strong contrast of light and dark that result.

UCLA 38 / USC 28

'twas a wet and wonderful day for UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

I roamed through the new exhibits at the Geffen and enjoyed them very much.  The first is called "Blues for Smoke."  This is described as a major interdisciplinary exhibition exploring a wiide range of contemporary art, music, literature, and film throught the lense of the blues and "blues aesthetics."  There are works by more that 50 artists fromt the 1950's to the present.

Bob Thompson "Garden of Music" 1960
Complete with lollipop trees and figures in expressive color and rough-hewn shape, this painting plays homage to the jazz musicians the artist knew, admired and regularly enjoyed listening to while painting.  The musicians in the middle of the painting are, from left to right:  Ornette Colemann (saxophone), Don Cherry (trumpet), John Coltrane (sax), Sonny Rollins (sax), Ed Blackwell (seated with drum) and Charlie Haden (bass).  The artist included his self-portrait, the figure in the broad-brimmed hat in the lower right area. 

The other exhibt is Taryn Simon:  A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters I-XVIII.  The artists photographs are mounted in themes and displayed on the walls in a huge room.  This was produced between 2008 and 2011.  The artist traveled around the world researching and recording "bloodlines" and their related stores.  "In each of the 'chapters' that make up the work, the external forces of territory, power, circumstance, or religion collide with the internal forces of psychological and physical inheritance."  The sujects include victims of genocide in Bosnia, test rabbits infected with a lethal disease in Australia to reduce their unmanageable population, the first woman to hijack an aircraft, and the living dead in India.

"Blues for Smoke" exhibit painting of James Baldwin, 1955 by Beauford Delaney

"Last Days of Pompeii" at the Getty Villa Malibu

I went with members of the V.A. class to the Getty Villa to roam through their regular exhibits plus through the special "Last Days of Pompeii."  I enjoyed seeing some of my favorites plus the traveling exhibit.  "The Last Days..." focused on art that has been created in the last 170 years through painting and sculpture.  With the excavation advancing in the 19 century, more artists began writing about what life must have been like in Pompeii before the eruption and painters and sculptors have added their interpretation.  Some have over dramatized and contributed to the notion that it was an evil place back then and some have suggested that God punished them.  This argument has been advanced in recent years also such as some comments post Katrina about evil New Orleans.  I haven't heard this yet about Sandy's destruction in the East...but I am sure some will pick up on it....Atlantic City and all.

Kobke (Danish) "Forum at Pompeii" 1841

W. Baziotes "Pompeii" 1955

Mark Bittman at Center Scene at Calif. Endow.

Mark Bittman spoke at the California Endowment community program on Wednesday night.  They sponsor programs that promote healthy life styles.  Mark is an author on the topic of food and cooking including the book "How to Cook Everything" and "Food Matters."   He is also a columnist for the New York Times. 

He stated that the food system in our country is a mess..it is run by the mega-corporations and needs to be reformed with transparency and control.  He said that Industrial Agriculture contributes.  Our goal should be a sustainable diet based on local agriculture as much as possible and that government needs to act to protect the 99%.

He made a strong emphasis on the effect of sodas on our national health with its contribution to obesity, heart and diabetes problems.  Feedlots destroy resources and create junk food.  He was disappointed that Proposition 37 did not pass as transparency and knowledge for the consumers is what is needed.  W need to know about the genetics, pesticides, antibiotics and conditions of the animals.  When the information is on the label, people stop buying.   He was appalled about the advertising focused on children who get addicted to junk food.  He said that we need government control over bad foods that kill.

He talked about his move to becoming a vegan....some of the time and how he lost so much weight.  He said that veganism is a journey not a destination and encouraged all to move toward being vegans more plants, less meats and junk food.  He said that he is a "Vegie 6".....eats some meat after 6 pm.  He said buy organic when ever possible.  He called for a tax on sodas and getting vending machines out of schools.  He also wants pricing of food with the focus on the healthier being the cheaper ie. salads and hot dogs more expensive. 

Roaming through Culver City Galleries

Did you know that there are 38 Art Galleries around La Cienega and Washington Blvd. in Culver City?  I enjoyed just a few be fore the 4 PM to 7 PM parking ban.  I began at LA X ART on La Cienego and roamed East (Yes, La Cienega goes East and West in that block just South of Venice).  I visited Walter Maciel, Taylor de Cordoba, Maloney Fine Art, Cherry and Martin and George Billis...only 32 more to go.

Jen Pack's "UnQuiet Chroma" at the Taylor De Cordoba Gallery at 2660 S La Cienega Blvd
Jen Pack lives and works in Durango, Colorado and sews then stretches these textile collages.
She starts by machine stitching together strips of vividly-hued chiffon, moshi fabric and cotton.  She then begins to stretch the fabric onto a wooden frame described as intensely physical yielding sweat, sore thumbs and shoulders.
The finished work is described as having the appearance of digital pixelation.

Robert Overby's Landscape Painting, 1970, acrylic and resin on canvas at the Cherry and Martin Gallery at
2712 La Cienega Blvd.

Bonita Helmer's"Here Be Dragons I," 2012 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas at the George Billis Gallery at
2716 S La Cienega, Blvd

Freddy Chandra's "Drift Expanse" at the Walter Maciel Gallery at
2642 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Freddy works and lives in the San Francisco Bay area.  He applys acrylic and urethane paints on transparent cast acrylic panels.  He describes his work as rhythmic compositions of discrete frames in which the relationship between parts inherently informs the logic of a continuous whole.

Greta Waller's "In the Closet" exhibit with the above painting entitled "Buca di Beppo"
Michael Maloney Gallery at 2680 S La Cienega Blvd

Deborah Martin's "Back of Beyond"show at the George Billis Gallery.  The artist lives in 29 Palms and has painted what she sees left in the desert.  The following is written on the wall:
Beyond Home
Back of beyond,
 beyond this bend
 of light:
 between an oasis and a desert
 they once called a heart-shaped valley,
spaces sprawl like destiny,
whorls of dust
 spread by hands.
Home, deprivation, hope
spreading apart the spaces in-between
like clapboard cabins
pitched against wind, unsteady
weather they once called homesteads.....

Left Right and Center in Santa Monica

We attended a special taping of the "Left, Right and Center" radio show on KCRW public radio station at Santa Monica Community College.  Colleen and I enjoy this weekly show on Fridays.  Mat Miller, the host covers the middle ground of politics while Robert Sheer covers and left.  The right has recently been covered by Mat Continetti, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon.  This 31 year old newcomer to the show is making quite a positive impression....even with the left.  He is also married to Bill Krystal's daughter.

The evening discussion focused on the election with many views shared and argued.  It was a thought provoking and at times humorous exchange.  Thanks KCRW for continuing to challenge us.

Caravaggio at LACMA

"Bodies and Shadows:  Caravaggio and his Legacy" exhibit has opened at LACMA.  Michelangelo Merisi was born in Milan, Italy in 1561.  His parents were from the town of Caravaggio.  He painted in a style that brought him commissions from the aristocracy and the Catholic Church.  He is noted for his striking use of light and dark backgrounds enhancing the figures in the foreground.  He included realistic details such as a peasant Virgin Mary with dirty feet.

He is known also for his ill temper.  In 1606, a ball game turned into a fight and he killed someone.  He fled from Rome to Naples and then Malta where he was involved in another brawl thus escaping back to Naples.  He died from the fever in 1610.

His style of painting was so powerful that he was copied by artists from all over Europe.  The exhibit has about a half a dozen paintings by Caravaggio and dozens more by other painters of the era who used his style. 

"Smoker" by Dirck van Baburen, Utrecht, Netherlands, 1623

"Herodias Carrying the Head of Saint John the Baptist," by a French Artist 1625-30

"The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame," 1636, by Georges de La Tour, France

Self  Portrait as Bacchus by Caravaggio

"The Denial of Saint Peter," by Gerard Seghers, Antwerp, Belgium, 1620-25

"Herodias with the head of St. John the Baptist," Caravaggio, 1610

Diego Velazquez "Apostle Saint Thomas," 1619, Seville, Spain

Grammy Museum on Saturday morning

Colleen and I enjoyed breakfast on the roof of the Grammy museum at LA Live.  We then toured the exhibit on the history of Columbia Records and their amazing artists. 

Beachboys

Nat "King" Cole

Ella Fitzgerald

Johnny Cash

Tony Bennett 1950

Quincy Jones, 1955

Colleen on the roof top deck overlooking posters hanging from the Figueroa Hotel.

Frank Sinatra

Billie Holiday, 1949

Diahann Carroll, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong

Lena Horne, 1948

The above black and white photos were taken by Herman Leonard.

Robert Mapplethorpe: XYZ

Robert Mapplethorpe photos called XYZ are at LACMA.  His controversial photos are a mixed of three themes:  Homosexual sadomasochistic imagery (X); floral still lifes (Y); and nude portraits of African-American men (Z).  They were published in 1978 and 1981.  He died of AIDS related illnesses in 1989.  The exhibit provoked strong reactions, called the Culture Wars.  "This exhibition is an opportunity to assess Mapplethorpe's confrontational photographs" writes the museum materials.  Also written on the wall outside the exhibit is the following:  "Where do you draw the line?  Are these the kinds of pictures that should be permitted in a museum?"  "Mapplethorpe's work is an art that challenges existing norms but we are used to that in the history of art."

Stanley Kubrick retrospective at LACMA

On Friday I roamed through the Stanley Kubrick exhibit.  The introduction to the exhibit included this information:  "When President F.D.R. died on April 12, 1945, the entire nation mourned him.  On that day, sixteen-year-old Stanley Kubrick photographed a newspaper vendor, distraught and slumped next to papers emblazoned with the historic headline "F.D.R. DEAD."   He then offered the photo to LOOK and LIFE magazines.  LOOK offered him $25 and thereafter, he became the youngest staff photographer ever hired by LOOK.

This began his career and after 6 years with LOOK he began film making. His films include "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Dr. Strangelove," "The Shining," "A Clockwork Orange," "Lolita," "Barry Lyndon," "Spartacus" and "Full Meta Jacket."

Kirk Douglas was the star and producer of Spartacus (1960).

"Lolita" was a controversial firm about a teen girl and a relationship with a conflicted man played by James Mason.  It was based on a book by Vladimir Nabokov written in 1955 and the film was released in 1962.

"The Shining" is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick starting Jack Nicholson and others.  It is based on a Stephen King novel.  Night mares have continued for over 30 years because of this film.

"2001:  A Space Odyssey" was released in 1968 and it was produced and directed by Kubrick as well as co-written by him with Arthur C. Clarke.

Design as projected into the future included details such as furniture and silverware.

Moonwatcher Mask

Star-child

The eye of HAL