Femme Femme

Femme Femme is an amazing collection of French paintings on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Context is everything... and to see Michelle Saia's wedding party dance and toast the newlyweds below pushed the point to the sublime.

Everyone was ready to be happy... to celebrate something and art and love give us hope. I loved seeing the show with Harry and NOLA artist Mary Jane Parker. Everyone had a story to tell or a favorite painting to show and tell.

If I were to curate a show of contemporary art to complement this show John Currin's work would be a wonderful point of departure... but after that I'd probably turn to the Europeans.

Something to think about, anyway. If you would like to suggest painters appropriate for my dream exhibition please send them on!
Femme, femme, femme: Paintings of Women in French Society from Daumier to Picasso from the Museums of France was organized by the Ministére françis de la Culture et de la Communication - Direction des musées de France and La Réunion des Musées nationaux. The exhibition is on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art from March 3 - June 3, 2007.

More info on the Femme Femme show can be found in the link to the title of this post.

Bill Viola

I took many photos of inspiring and not so inspiring work when I was last in NYC. I intended to post some images of Viola's show at the time and well, it just slipped by me. Now that the pool is open and I can hear air conditioners humming I find his work even more fluid and comforting... but I am a night swimmer so this work suits me even better than most.

Sacred Art?

Harry and I were enouraged to visit the Old Ursuline Convent when we were in New Orleans a week ago. The convent is the oldest girl's school on the continent, to my knowledge, and it has had numerous esteemed graduates including Anne Rice, Louisiana politician Lindy Boggs and the artist designer Michelle Saia Fournet; whose wedding we were in town for. Friends know her as NOLA's "Ya'at Girl," since she's a Louisiana version of "That Girl's" Marlo Thomas; encouraged us to take time to see the mosaic exhibition as well. Since we were staying in the French Quarter (a first!) we walked over to Chartres Street to check it out.

Thirty-three mosaics from the Vatican Workshop, of both a religious and a secular nature were on view. It turns out that Rome is the source of the finest tesserae anywhere (the tiniest of stones from which mosaics are created). Since the show closes on June 1st we were thrilled to be given comp tickets from a nun we happened to walk by on the sidewalk.

Each mosaic represents the perfection of an art form practiced by incredibly skilled masters of the Vatican Basilica as far back as the end of the 15th century. There were a number of pieces that were perfect representations of famous oil paintings by Van Gogh and Leonardo. Unfortunately, I felt more of a craftsmen's ego in these pieces (they were amazing) than a spiritual presence. Always the optimistic, I search for work that puts me in touch with something more than its making.

The mosaics were a bonus, really. The Old Ursuline Convent is worth a visit if you are in the French Quarter and need a break from the overwhelming flux of shop and bar propietors vying for your attention. The convent is still going strong, playing its part in creating a divine balance of the sacred and the profane in New Orleans.

Bits and Pieces

I haven't been in one place long enough to paste together the drafts I've been writing over the past month. May is always full of momentous occasions. A long-time friend from New Orleans was married with great fanfare this past week and it is one wedding we made great pains not to miss! In addition to the big event it was the first time I've really allowed myself a proper road trip in the tradition of my youth in many years. After we left NOLA I spent most every night with another family member or college friend. It was just lovely and if I had another week it wouldn't have been enough and there would still be friends and family I missed.

My aunt Nona continues the quilting tradition in my family. She was making this one for her church and it is being raffled off to raise money for a construction project. Tickets were only one dollar apiece! I bought six and wish I had more cash on me.

The rental car I wound up with had sirius radio on it and I realized that if I spent a lot of time in an automobile it is something I would be willing to pay for. It was great... driving through the south listening to the BBC and French radio! It was the closest I've come in a long time to living a life that comes close to what I know... contradiction and paradox, sublime hell and divine injustice; the sacred and the profane - all rolled up into one metal box on wheels. sigh.

When I turned in the rental the guy exclaimed 2400 miles!!! I reminded him that these days the gallons add up a lot quicker than the miles. Gas climbed about 12 cents a gallon while I was away.