After deciding that the ten singers/bands meme was not so good with my very favorite singers/bands, it occurred to me that it would actually be more interesting like this:
- Oldenburg
- Picasso
- Robert Arneson
- Lichtenstein
- Warhol
- Donatello
- Magritte
- Jenny Holzer
- Louise Nevelson
- Yoko Ono
We begin with a numbered list of ten painters or sculptors that YHB likes. Again, I’m not claiming these are the Top Ten, or even my favorites, but just ten from among the ones I like. Should you be keen on doing this thing for your own entertainment, my advice is to just grab the first ten that come to your head, rather than sitting down and making out a list. Also, I found this a more interesting exercise than the musical one because I pay more attention to music and think about music more often and more deeply. If want to play along at home, and are hella keen on artists, why not try it with novelists, or choreographers, or journalists, or game show hosts, adapting the questions to your whim.
And now the questions:
What was the first work you ever saw by 6 (Donatello)? The David. That I am pretty sure of, since it’s unlikely that I would have seen any previous to college, and the lecture about David was pretty early in my Critical Study of Visual Art.
What is your favorite period or series of 8 (Holzer)?Well, and I’m going to say my personal sentimental favorite is the LCD crawl at the MFA, Boston. In theory, I love the pencils and posters and merchandising, but I’ve spent just hours and hours watching the words crawl by on that one, and it’s just mesmerizing.
What is your favorite medium or palette that 5 (Warhol) has used? Um, silkscreen? You know, the multiple images stuff. I think the silkscreen stuff is more powerful than the paint (if I’m remembering which is which), but one of the things I like about Mr. Warhol is how he plays with repetition, and the silkscreen technique helps him do that. If I understand the production issues, which, you know, I don’t.
How many times have you seen 4’s work (Lichtenstein) in a museum or gallery?Oh, lots. In particular, after the MFA, Boston got a sculpture and stuck it in the lobby, I saw it all the time. I have seen two (I think) exhibitions of his stuff, most recently the wonderful works on Chinese landscape style. Just great. And, of course, I’ve seen the pieces on permanent display in pretty nearly every museum of modern art I’ve been in.
What's your favorite work of 7 (Magritte)? Not-a-pipe. I think my very favorite is the version with an actual pipe wired to the canvas. Still not a pipe. There are prettier ones (some very pretty ones), but that’s my favorite.
What is a good memory you have considering the works of 10 (Ono)? Hmm. A tough one. The thing that I find intriguing about her stuff is that it is all memory, or rather it is all happening in your head, so the memory, if you keep it, is of thinking, rather than of seeing. Is my memory of a non-existent gallery show invalid, just because I only saw a reproduction of the flyer she sent out? That said, there was an exhibit at MIT ten years ago or so that included a good handful of her stuff, including a video of the Cut Piece and a telephone hot line that unfortunately did not ring while I was there. I went with my Best Reader, and we talked about it for a long while, and it was terrific.
Is there a work of 3 that makes you sad (Arneson)? No. Mr. Arneson’s stuff is, mostly, funny, and I like that. Some of it evokes anger or outrage, too, although on the whole I don’t like that stuff so much as the wonderfully silly works, like the Laffs I came across when googling to make sure I had his name right.
What is your favorite medium or palette that 2 has used (Picasso)? Lithograph. Yes, the collages are wonderful, and so are the bronzes, and some of the paintings, but damn, I love those lithographs.
What is your favorite work by 9 (Louise Nevelson)? Um, I think it’s called Untitled.
How did you get into 3 (Arneson)? The—what—the DeYoung? Some museum in Ess Eff had the Moscone bust, and I thought it was incredibly powerful. Then there was an exhibit somewhere in the area which I missed, but I read an article in the Chron with a few pictures. From that point on, I was a fan. The SFMoMA picked up California Artist, I think, and I saw the duck bench at the DeCordova, but most of his stuff I’ve seen was pictures on the internet.
What was the first work you saw by 1 (Oldenburg)? The Clothespin. I assume. That is, I know that was the first piece I saw a picture of and noted who the artist was, and that was while I was in the town the thing is in, so I figure I must have gone and peeked at it at some point, although I have no recollection of doing so. It’s also possible that I have never actually seen any of his works, but only photographs and so on.
What is your favorite work by 4 (Lichtenstein)? Oh, tough one. I’m awfully fond of the brush strokes, both the paintings and the monumental sculptures like the one at the Hirshhorn. I think I’m going to be conventional, however, and pick Whaam!
How many times have you seen 9’s work in a museum or gallery (Nevelson)? Two? Three? I’m pretty sure not more than that. I’ve never sought it out, but when I’ve come across it (is there one on the Princeton campus?) I’ve enjoyed it.
What is a good memory you have concerning 2 (Picasso)? Hm. I have a nice memory of attempting (and failing) to explain to a good friend what I liked about a particular painting (that might, on reflection, have been a Braque). That particular museum trip contains several other good memories (which, on reflection may have occurred during other museum trips with that friend).
Is there a work of 8 (Holzer) that makes you sad? No. Again, sad is not what Ms. Holzer is going for.
What is your favorite medium or palette that 3 has used (Arneson)? Clay. I have liked some of the bronzes, and some of the works on paper are good, too, but my top five or even top ten Arneson fave raves would all be clay.
What is your favorite work of 1 (Oldenburg)? The Clothespin. I am fond, in theory, of the big tank with the lipstick going up and down, but then Your Humble Blogger has always liked the dick jokes. There are a whole slew of pieces I like, both the monumental types and the smaller stuff (the soft typewriter particularly), but I the Clothespin is it.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
Degenerate crap! Not one artist or piece before the rotten so-called art of the 15th century. Well, I for one will not rise to the bait; I have too much work to do. You won’t catch me…
I know, the whole rhetorical frame falls into the “artist” trap, as if having a name, or even having a single person create something, delineates major from minor art. And once you fall into that frame, well, then all art starts with the Artists whose names we know, and it’s downhill from there…
Still, I did say (and should repeat) that this is just ten names pulled from my memory, and neither a Top Ten nor a Compleat Art course. And I warn you, this one took a lot of time, and I didn’t even do a lot of links.
Thanks,
-V.