NCECA Part II

The biggest draw for me at NCECA was the galleries and sales. Although I definitely did not have to money to be able to spend, it was really great to look. Here are some of my favorites I saw.

First was the Artstream Sale. There were so many nice pieces on display and for sale. Probably the cutest of all of them was Mikey Walsh's really unique cups and vases. Although the cups were what was up for sale, she does really interesting objects as well, and relates all of her animal work to the fact that she was raised by gorillas. Interesting, and amusing.

There was tons of other work, some great, some not. But the LaMesa sale was even better. There was a larger variety of skill set shown there. For example, there was unique sculpture like that of Lisa Clague. The pictures I have up of her pieces are pretty typical of her work, but it was great to see it in person. There is a lot of detail within each piece that often gets lost in images.

This is what Virginia Scotchie had left at the La Mesa sale.

Virginia Scotchie

I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but I transferred to Rutgers from The University of South Carolina, and I used to be a design major. As such, randomly most of my friends ended up being ceramic majors and artists. From being an honorary "mud person" I got the privledge of being around some amazing talent.

Even though in my opinion the rest of the art department at USC is just rediculously useless, the Ceramics and 3-D departments are extraordinary. The students that are majors, or not even majors, like myself are taught and influenced by so many amazing artists, the most primary being Virginia Scotchie, who is the head of the department. Her work is some of the most amazing I have ever seen, and her technique was just mind blowing. To be able to watch her do demonstrations in her classes was pretty amazing for me.

She is most known for her objects which are abstract and easily recognizable to any person who has ever seen any of her work. In NCECA, she did have many cups, plates, and bowls for sale, and unfortunately I was too late to see any display of her new objects.

What I did see I will upload a pictures of and also, you guys should check out this YouTube Video about how she forms her famous spheres.

NCECA Part I

Philadelphia is one of those great cities, and it's really not that far away. I took the trip on Friday after work and my classes to attend the last full da and night of the annual NCECA conference. NCECA is the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, and every year their conference draws huge crowds of artists (not just ceramicists), vendors, educators, students, and general art fans.

The actual conference was held inside the Mariott Convention Center right in the heart of Philadelphia, Market Street. Although the conference charges a hefty fee for a pass inside, I was able to negotiate my way in when everyone was packing up, under a good premise, free help loading vans.

The main convention area was filled with tables. All of those tables were comprised of vendors, schools, and artists. The schools come from all over the country to have a sort of recruiting session for possible transfer students and graduate programs. The University of South Carolina's ceramics department, lead by Virginia Scotchie, a very talented ceramicist, has been participating in NCECA for as long as they can remember.

The real nuts and bolts of the conference as far as I'm concerned is the various galleries that exhibit in connection with the conference. Friday night alone, there were countless openings of great work, four of which I was able to attend. In addition, I was able to see what was exhibited in the galleries inside of NCECA.

My reviews and images from the galleries will come this week, but one thing I really wanted to cover was the dance scene. After an early evening gallery hopping, my friends and I from USC went out for some cocktails and nightlife. We ended up at club Zimo on Chestnut Street. This club was unlike any I've seen especially, around New Brunswick. There are no signs, business cards, or distinguishers to let a person know what the name of the club is. In fact, IU had to beg the security guard to even discuss the subject with me, and I still do not know if he told me the truth. The only way to find it is to see it from the street. The windows and doors are covered by anime. Yes, I said it, anime. I understand the obvious snickers and quips that could be made on this subject, but honestly, you just need to get over it, and experience the inside.

Unique DJ's were spinning completely original techno and the whole inside of the club was buzzing with young dancers and performers. The dancers were really at home there, and the way they moved their bodies was amazing. It completely fit in with my blog because this was truly an art for that the dancers were participating in. Their freestyling was some of the most precise and intricate movements I have ever seen, and they made the teams on America's Best Dance Crew look like my parents doing The Hustle on the Disco floor. To be a witness to that after a day full of great art work was a perfect ending to the night. More to come on NCECA later!

Clark and Winogrand Exhibit at The Zimmerli Art Museum

So, yesterday I went to see the Larry Clark and Garry Winogrand exhibit at The Zimmerli Art Museum, which is located on Rutgers New Brunswick's College Avenue Campus.

Typically, I love to go to The Zimmerli because, guess what guys, it's FREE for students! Yes, that's right, free. I know students love anything thats free, so one of these days if you're looking for something fun or interesting, or even time-killing to do on College Ave, check it out. The sooner the better, too because The Clark-Winogrand exhibit is definitely worth it, and it will be up until the beginning of July.

They are both considered to be documentary photographers, from the 1960s and 70s, but the way that they both exhibit what they see in the world is unique and very interesting. Both of them are very different in philosophy and aesthetic.

While Winogrand took on the task of photographing random occurances on the street, Clark took a more intimate documentary style by photographing his close friends. Primarily, Winogrand was interested in showing an image that one would see while walking down the street, but he did so in a way that caused the viewer to second-guess themselves.

The feelings I got from seeing his photos in person was much more intense than seeing them via the internet. They really radiate light in a way that is striking, and the way Winogrand would shift his camera to an angle was unsettling, and really caused me to look at the image in a new way. Also, probably my favorite part about his images is how they really can allow the viewer to form a story around what is shown. The Zimmerli has a nice selection of his images from his portfolio, "Women Are Better than Men. Not only have they survived, they do prevail" circa 1981.

As far as Clark goes, these were really the images that got me through the door. He always struck me as the Holden Caulfield of photographers. He presents raw and unobstructed reality in a serious and even damaging way. Like I said before, the images he took were of his friends and they first appeared in his book, "Tulsa" from 1971. The book is comprised of somewhat candid images of the people in his life, including some self-portraits, from his hometown of Tulsa, Arizona.

They are a document of a group of kids that were drug-addicted, depressed, and harsh. The images are very raw, and some of them extremely disturbing to see. Perhaps the most disturbing was "Untitled," of a pregnant woman in her underwear shooting up. These images at the time really shattered whatever conceptions people had about values in America, and contemporarily, they are a good document of people living on the edge of society at a time that the country was changing so rapidly.

The exhibit is definitely worth the trip, especially for the lovely, lovely price of $0. For anyone else, $3 is not that much to see some photos that many people the world over would love to see.

Welcome

Welcome to my new Blog. My name is Stephanie and I'm a student at Rutgers University. I'm an Art History minor, and very much interested in contemporary art. My intention with this blog is to introduce exhibitions to those of you who may not necessarily know anything about the subject. I will break down the latest exhibitions in a way that anyone can enjoy, and hopefully peak your interest in some new and exciting things.