Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 216 – Frida’s Pain and Penny’s Portraits

Frida and Diego by Shadowland

Frida and Diego by Shadowland

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In today’s show we once again visit the Art Gallery of Ontario.  First to see the art and life of the famous artistic pair Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.  Among the things we discuss are Frida Kahlo’s cause of death.  Drag-on and I speculate that Frida died of cancer, but the truth, I’ve discovered,  is that no one actually knows.  She had so many health problems in her life.   I get a new perspective on her art and how her pain informed it.  Next we stop by to see the restoration and preparation of the a soft sculpture called Floor Burger.  It’s being readied for its trip to the MOMA in New York where it will be on display this month.  Other soft sculptures by the same artist Claes Oldenburg will be exhibited as well. The highlight of our visit is Evan Penny’s odd fantastical, mildly horrific hyper realism.  Or is it hyper artificialism?    Even with all of the works that we see and as hard as we studied the exhibit descriptions, labels, and explanations, we still walked away perplexed, off balance and unsettled –  a little like leaving a funhouse where the mirrors distorted us and our world and the tilted floors left us rather dizzy.     Have a listen and see what you think – then go see all the Evan Penny you can.

Links:

Frida and Diego at the AGO

Evan Penny at WarmPhotos.net

Pridesource Article on Evan Penny

Evan Penny at the AGO

Claes Oldenburg at the MOMA

More Evan Penny

Evan_Penny_15

Evan Penny – Detail

The Floor Burger by Claes Oldenburg

The Floor Burger by Claes Oldenburg

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Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 160 – Innovation at the AGO

kent_monkmanThe Rape of Daniel Boone Junior by Kent Monkman

Redesigned and enhanced by Frank Gehry, the renovated Art Gallery of Ontario impresses Ninja and Special K. They wander around the old and new exhibits, compellingly arranged. Special K enjoys the new architectural improvements. Ninja finds herself intrigued by the Cree artist Kent Monkman’s eerie landscape painting The Rape of Daniel Boone Junior, the welcoming interactive piece called Urban Disco Trailer #3, and the international art award winner, The Index, by sculptor David Altmejd.


Detail from The Index by David Altmejd