Jonathan contemplated The Alchemist statue by Jaume Plensa a bit before we took photos in front of it. We had made the connection to Spiegel, the Plensa statue installed in front of the Toledo Museum of Art and were comparing and contrasting the two. Spiegel has two figures that are made from letters to symbolize a conversation, while The Alchemist is a solo figure made from numbers to reflect MIT's focus on STEM.

Toledo, MIT, two, one. It's a coincidence, of course, but it's tempting to assign some deeper meaning to it.

Regardless, I love both of these statues.

tags: mit toledo art statue plensa

photo posted by matt in Saturday, August 31, 2024

We noticed a couple new murals at the airport, too. This one is on the outside of a hangar that faces the parking lot for the restaurant. It's big and bold, and quite impressive! I noticed Jonathan noticing it as we headed to the car after breakfast. I love this photo.

tags: stpete albertwhitted art mural

photo posted by matt in Thursday, June 27, 2024

Upset at how she has been depicted, mining heiress and billionaire Gina Rinehart approached the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) to ask the portrait of her -- and another by the same artist -- be removed from public display, according to local media....Local media have reported that the National Gallery ultimately rejected the removal request.

At least the National Gallery of Australia showed its spine.

tags: art australia

posted by matt in Friday, May 17, 2024

I think Brian Eno has a copy of the Trump playbook: Create chaos, project certainty, reap rewards.

"For people like Steve Bannon, destruction is their main tool. That famous statement he said: 'Flood the zone with [expletive].' This is more and more what populists do. They think, OK, if we can create chaos, we know how to benefit. Because in chaos people retreat to those who look like they’re certain."

tags: art politics music

posted by matt in Monday, November 14, 2022

George.

tags: art history

photo posted by matt in Saturday, November 6, 2021

Jonathan and Renee studying a Rothko painting. This one has an interesting vandalism and restoration(s) story behind it. I've never really appreciated his paintings before, but I did like this one quite a bit. Maybe the vandalism and botched restoration job pulled me into it, emotionally.

tags: art

photo posted by matt in Saturday, November 6, 2021

Police brutality is not a modern problem; it's a long-term problem. This is a portion of Hunger March, a 1933 mural by Harvard grad Lewis Rubenstein. It's not new. Yet it continues.

tags: art

photo posted by matt in Saturday, November 6, 2021

"...when all the painting's done, it'll be the largest artwork of its kind in the country. It's called the Glass City River Wall."

This is a great story about a pretty cool thing happening in my hometown — a massive art installation that was born from a simple idea.

tags: toledo art mural glasscityriverwall

posted by matt in Sunday, October 24, 2021

Denny went down to the office with me this morning to help hang the artwork in my office. It felt like old times! And the office feels a little more homey now, too.

tags: office art

photo posted by matt in Sunday, March 14, 2021