“A Splash of Truth and Many Lies”

06 Tuesday Dec 2022

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This article was originally published in Getty magazine

Getty head gardener Arturo Cuevas considers himself an artist when it comes to caring for the Getty Center’s vibrant landscape. But he isn’t often consulted about the art inside the buildings. So, when Getty Research Institute (GRI) curator Idurre Alonso asked him to share his opinions on works of art for an upcoming exhibition, he eagerly agreed. It was the first time his department had been included in a show.

“Being invited to collaborate on this, it makes me feel good,” Cuevas says.

Alonso not only welcomed his perspective, she also felt that without it, the presentation wouldn’t be complete.

Called Reinventing the Américas: Construct. Erase. Repeat., the upcoming exhibition offers representations of the Americas found in books and prints from the 15th to 19th centuries. As Alonso had envisioned it, the show would question the mythologies, utopian visions, and stereotypical ideologies Europeans spread after “discovering” the continents. But there was a problem: the works only represented the European point of view, so how would contrasting perspectives be offered?

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What Does the Future of Art Look Like?

06 Tuesday Dec 2022

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This article was originally published on Getty News & Stories

In the middle of a park in Long Beach, local artist Mufasa was encouraging kids and grown-ups alike to unleash their inner creativity.

Along with fellow artists Mister Toledo and Josh Garcia, Mufasa set up big sheets of white paper, with cups of paint and paintbrushes scattered enticingly around. After a few hours, the paper was filled with colorful depictions of faces, a palm tree, the Queen Mary, and more.

This activity was part of the recent Getty 25 community festival in Long Beach, and it represents what Mufasa hopes is the future of art: an experience that is interactive, open, and welcoming to young people.

Mufasa was one of dozens of aspiring creatives who participated in Getty’s 10 community festivals to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Getty Center as well as LA’s thriving cultural scene. For these practitioners, the future looks alternately bright and uncertain. Despite the accessibility of digital platforms and other technology, young artists still contend with many of the same struggles their predecessors confronted for centuries: getting paid for their work and being recognized by cultural “gatekeepers,” like museums and galleries (a struggle that even masters like Nicolas Poussin, the “Father of French Classicism,” faced).

“Museums need to humble themselves and get immersed into what kids, teens, and young budding artists are doing and find ways to get their voices out there,” Mufasa said, before adding strokes of green and pink to the paper. “There are so many artists with immense talent.”

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The Massachusetts Couple Who Befriended Artists and Built an Avant-Garde Archive

04 Tuesday Jan 2022

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Originally published in Getty magazine

As a break from time in their studios, mid-20th-century artists like Jean-Claude and Christo, Claes Oldenburg, and Marcel Duchamp sometimes journeyed to western Massachusetts.

There they’d visit the artist-friendly Berkshires region, with its performing arts centers at Tanglewood and Jacob’s Pillow. Nearby they’d enjoy the warm and appreciative atmosphere of visits with Leonard and Jean Brown.

Leonard Brown ran an insurance company by day, but the Browns’ true passion was art collecting. With a personalized approach that favored works they truly loved rather than works they viewed as investments, the Browns amassed a remarkable collection of Dada and surrealist illustrated books, prints, and photographs before Leonard’s passing in 1970.

But Jean’s collecting days were far from over. During the next decade, she focused her attention on Fluxus art—an under-the-radar movement that emphasized humor, works you can touch and interact with, and the rejection of elitism. Fluxus works embraced the social and political critiques of earlier avant-garde artists and questioned the authority of the contemporary art world. She became affectionately known as the “den mother of Fluxus” as she transformed her home into a bona fide archive and library of not only Fluxus art, but also of catalogues, books, posters, and handwritten notes from Fluxus artists.

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What’s in a Frame?

04 Tuesday Jan 2022

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This article was originally published on Getty News & Stories

There’s a workshop at the Getty Center where the paintings aren’t the stars. Instead, the frames take center stage.

In this bright and airy room, empty frames hang on the walls, and tools and books line the counters. There you’d find associate conservator Gene Karakker, who retired earlier this year, choosing from an assortment of scalpels, knives, brushes, and cleaning solutions before turning to centuries-old frames propped up on wooden stands waiting to be restored. Once they are paired with artworks and hung on the gallery walls, their job will be to protect and enhance the artworks. These frames, with their intricately carved florals, scalloped edges, and swooping curves, are triumphs of art and design in their own right.

Frames tell their own tales: about when and where the artwork was completed, the decorative styles that were popular at the time, and the artwork’s journey from artist to collector. To learn the history of a frame, then, is to learn an even richer story about the artwork itself.

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How an Artist Teamed Up With Her Dog to Recreate Art

29 Tuesday Sep 2020

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This article was originally published on The Getty Iris

Every weekday morning, Eliza Reinhardt and her creative partner, Finn, start their day at 7am by getting up, brewing a cup of coffee, and snuggling while they browse online galleries to find a work of art to re-create as part of the Getty Museum Challenge. After choosing a painting, Reinhardt finds the costumes and props they’ll need to bring it to life, sets up the shot in the loft in her apartment that serves as her art studio, and gets Finn dressed in his costume and in place for the photo shoot.

Finn is a three-year-old Australian shepherd, but he follows direction as carefully as an actor on a film set. “I really do think Finn takes this on as his daily task,” Reinhardt said. “I say, ‘Finn, do you want to do a photo? You want to go take a picture?’ And he’s ready to go.”

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Inside the Senior Communities Taking the Getty Museum Challenge

01 Tuesday Sep 2020

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This article was originally published on The Iris

When Brittney Giammaria, activities coordinator at the Veranda of Pensacola retirement community, first tacked printouts of paintings to the community bulletin board and began encouraging residents to come to her “art re-creation” photo shoot, she thought she’d get maybe four or five takers. She had spent weeks explaining the challenge, created by Getty at the end of March. She mentioned it to residents in her water aerobics classes and during happy hours—trying to sell them on the idea of choosing a painting and re-creating it themselves using props and clothing they already had. Giammaria had been searching for safe, socially distanced activities to help occupy the residents’ time, and this one would be fun, she told them.

On the day of the photo shoot, Giammaria put down a box of props and costumes, and spread around 25 printouts of paintings on a table in an event room, including Grant Wood’s American Gothic, Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait With Bonito, and Leonardo Da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine. At first, only a few of the more extroverted residents let her take their photo. One gentleman selected Rene Magritte’s The Son of Man, so Giammaria gave him a face mask to wear that she had adorned with a picture of a green apple. Another chose Saturday Evening Post artist George Hughes’s illustration of a swimwear-clad boy playing the piano; he took a seat at the community piano wearing red swim trunks.

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The Mighty’s Guide to Parkinson’s Disease

01 Tuesday Sep 2020

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What Is Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects your body’s ability to produce dopamine, a chemical found in your brain that helps you initiate and control your movements. This causes symptoms like uncontrollable shaking in your limbs (known as a tremor), slow movement, a rigid, stiff feeling in your body, unsteady gait and posture, as well as symptoms unrelated to movement like loss of smell, constipation, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, cognitive challenges and blood pressure issues. Parkinson’s most frequently develops in people over age 50, but can also appear in younger individuals, too.

You might feel stiff, like it’s hard to move your muscles, and maybe you have uncontrollable shaking in one or more of your limbs or fingers. You might also feel fatigued and have difficulty feeling motivated to get up. Everyday tasks like brushing your teeth, putting on your clothes, cooking and driving a car might be a struggle due to the stiffness and slowness of your muscles. Perhaps family members have noticed you don’t swing one of your arms when you walk.

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What Is Modern Architecture, Anyway?

01 Tuesday Sep 2020

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This article was originally published on The Iris

The development of Modern architecture revolutionized our cities and workplaces, and its design principles not only reflected progress in science, health, and social equality but were also intended to help these ideals thrive. Today, Modern design principles help connect society and are seen in the construction of schools, homes, and even bridges and highways.

What is Modern architecture?

The term “Modern architecture” describes architecture designed and built within the social, artistic, and cultural attitude known as Modernism. It put an emphasis on experimentation, the rejection of predetermined “rules,” and freedom of expression in art, literature, architecture, and music. The Modern Movement in architecture was born in the 20th century and really took off after World War I. Advancements in engineering, building materials, social equality, health, and industry converged, while past historical styles were rejected. This created a perfect storm that allowed architecture to enter a new era of design.

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Rediscovering Black Portraiture Through the Getty Museum Challenge

01 Tuesday Sep 2020

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This article was originally published on The Iris

As COVID-19 closed in on the United Kingdom in mid-March, opera singer and BBC broadcaster Peter Brathwaite was abruptly left with time he didn’t want: all of his upcoming performances were canceled until August. He kept busy practicing and researching for future shows, but was still “twiddling his thumbs a bit.” But then he came across the Getty Museum Challenge—an invitation to recreate a famous work of art using props from around your home; a fellow opera singer had posted a photo on Twitter of herself as Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring. Braithwaite thought, what can I recreate?

While browsing for images, he found A Black Servant, England, an 18th-century painting by an unknown artist. “I’ve got some clothes that are that color,” he thought, “and I could take the photo in my window.” Substituting a stuffed sheep for the dog, he faithfully emulated the rest of the painting, from the draped green curtain to the smile on the subject’s face.

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The Artist’s View Through the Window

30 Thursday Apr 2020

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This article was originally published on The Iris

Gazing out a window may, at first, feel like a lonely act—especially now, as many of us are spending most of our time at home, away from loved ones and our daily routines. But a window can also help open up our worlds, framing the life that still goes on outside. Taking a moment to acknowledge the quiet beauty of trees rustling in the breeze, children playing catch, and neighbors rushing home with shopping bags reminds us that an infinite number of stories are unfolding every day, right outside.

Artistic inspiration, too, can be found simply by gazing out (or in) a window. The view from an artist’s window may reveal how they interpret the world outside or illuminate the story unfolding inside. (In 2014, there was a Getty exhibition on the topic.)

Take a look at the paintings and photographs below to discover a few ways artists have featured windows in their work. While many of us are spending more time looking out our windows than ever before, these works demonstrate the power and beauty that can be found in this quiet act.

Click here to view the works and continue reading