Modernity, Impressionism, and Fashion, a Successful Exhibition at the Met

Modernity, Impressionism, and Fashion at the Met

The newest show to open at the Met begins Tuesday, February 26th. “Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity” has been a highly anticipated show. Before making its American debut, the show was exhibited at the Musée D’Orsay in Paris. Since the Met has hosted more than it’s share of flops, I kept my expectations low for this show, and having previewed the exhibition earlier this week, I was pleasantly surprised by the smart, beautiful work by curators.

imgres-5The exhibition features approximately one-hundred-and-forty Impressionist-era artworks, including those by dedicated fashion portraitist. In light of the rise of the department store, new working methods for designing clothing, and new social and technological changes that led to the democratization of fashion are also highlighted. Many artists and writers from the period, including Charles Baudelaire, Émile Zola, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  became interested to the search for new literary and visual expression through depicting fashion.

The fashion and art exhibition is comparative, which comes with its own set of pros-and-cons. On the positive side, the show is incredibly comprehensive. It’s easy for viewers to see the amount of research curators needed to put in to find these pieces and assembling them in a way that makes sense visually and historically. This effort is pulled off with great success. The show itself, unlike many other exhibitions, is obviously educational. By having physical pieces next to famous depictions of them, it’s easy to excited visitors and feels like an all-inclusive effort. Indeed the work of the curators is all-inclusive, along with the paintings and gowns,engravings depicting the role of clothing in Europe around this time, as well as other mediums of art are included. Aside from the dresses, curators also included gloves, fans, and other fashion accessories. ONe of the most interesting displays of the exhibition is a case of four corsets wore by women at this point in history. Men’s fashion too is lightly touched on, although there could have been more effort to include a suit or coat jacket, rather than just men’s hats.

There’s been a lot of talk around the office, by senior staff members who I assume wouldn’t be so brave as to label themselves “feminists” about how this is a “woman’s show” and appeals to a certain “feminine sensibility”. The idea of curating “mens shows” or “woman’s shows” in the 21st century is absolutely ludicrous. Not only do these assumptions reenforce antiquated gender roles, these labels further the inaccurate and  false gender binaries. Notably, this kind of preposterous assumptions and labels have not come from the curators themselves. But these kind of statements go to show just how far up ignorance in a nonprofit can reach.

“Happy People: A Year in the Taiga”: a first-time W. Herzog Disappointment

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Bad things happen when Werner Herzog gives up creative control of film. “Happy People: A Year in the Taiga” is the latest film from Werner Herzog in collaboration with Dmitry Vasyukov, and the first real disappointment the German director has released in recent years. The film follows the lives of the indigenous people of the village Bakhtia at the river Yenisei in the Siberian Taiga. Those who enjoyed the movie described it as a “Walden-like quest”, which may be a bit generous and romantic for the difficult lives these people lead. “Happy People” followers a few trappers as they go into the wilderness for the hunting season. By following a couple different hunters, filmmakers compare the different techniques the fur trappers. The more traditional methods of fur trapping such as weighted traps, are maintained by the older generation as opposed to the more “modern” techniques of the younger hunters like dynamite fishing. Each hunter brings a dog out with them, but their relationship to the animal varies greatly. All hunters rely on them one way or another but some lean more for companionship than they do for function. Others view the animals as a purely utilitarian tool.

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The film is an hour and a half long, but feels much longer and seeing it theaters may have been a mistake. Most of Herzog’s other documentaries feature sweeping landscapes and beautiful cinematography “Happy People” looked subpar, grainy, and pixellated in theaters. In true Herzogian-documentary fashion, the film features a grand and sweeping soundtrack which moves its narrative along.

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The most impressive scene of the film shows some of the last truly indigenous people of the area making a canoe. Canoe making is a dying knowledge in the area, and requires a lot of skill and craftsmanship to accomplish.

I’m not sure what has gotten into my beloved Werner Herzog as of late, I’m afraid to see his career go into a slow decline. I was shocked and appalled to learn the Herzog would be directing a 3-d concert of The Killers performance. But then I read his proposal letter. It seems, Werner Herzog will always get the best of us. I applaud him for having to privilege to pursue the projects he wants, in the way he wants to accomplish them. Whether it be fine art and sound installations, bleak documentaries, or 3-d concerts, Herzog my love, you still have my heart.

The Politics of Curation

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With contemporary art, context is everything. Rarely do works of art exist within a vacuum, where they do not speak to trends or politics of thier time. This is a message that the Metropolitan Museum of Art seems to miss time and time again. As an encyclopedic institution first and an art collection second, choices in exhibition are often made to support the encyclopedic reputation of the museum rather than a contemporary art institution. This does a great disservice to the art works the Met shows. Between the Warhol exhibition and choices in exhibition in the main collection, it’s clear that the Met has a new vision when showing contemporary art. These “new idea” have some very serious implications. Most art has is political, art work considered with in the “Art historical canon” certainly is, and these are the pieces museums are most interested in collecting. Contemporary and historical artworks need to be understood by the historical context they were created.

The museum recently acquired a piece by Kohei Nawa, titled “PixCell Deer #24“, the piece can and should be considered “contemporary art” as Nawa is an artist who is still very much alive. Yet, rather than putting the piece in the contemporary and modern art wing of the museum, curators and directors alike chose to have to piece installed with “Asian Art” on the complete the building.

In addition, the Met features a “catch all” indigenous people’s wing, formally titled “Primitive Art”. This wing of the museum still reads as a bigoted conglomeration of culture because little to no effort has been made to re-arrange the objects so they no longer reenforce the “primitive” grouping.

In contrast, “Washington Crossing the Delaware“painted by German artist, Emanuel Leutze, hangs proudly in the American wing. If grouping paintings by the artists nationality is such a concern, why isn’t the Leutze masterpiece included in the European painting section also located on the second floor? It seems that this drive of separating artists by nationality is a new trend at the Met, in a way to “change our curatorial style”, or to make these “less popular” wings seem new and exciting. Unfortunately all these choices in curating do is reduce the art work down to the nationality of the artist.

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“In Cold Blood” and Violence in Rural America

ImageI have just read Truman Capote‘s non fiction masterpiece, and it got me thinking about the recent surge of violence in rural America. Certainly, the murders of the Clutter family were not the first acts of mass violence, and we know they weren’t the last. What is it about our society the drives young men in the country to needlessly and senselessly murder? In Cold Blood began the “narrative of the killer”, focusing on the lives, upbringing and mental health of the killers, rather than supporting the victims or their families. This focus heighten’s the public’s morbid curiosity, and creates a tradition of journalism which is hurtful, and only exacerbates the problem. In a way, this kind of sensationalist media encourages others to “out do” the last national tragedy. The media focuses on the latest catastrophe. There’s a particularly on point passage in the book, where Capote points to the difficulty we have reconciling with these crimes;

The article, printed in The American Journal of Psychiatry (July, 1960)… states its aim at the onset: ‘In attempting to asses the criminal responsibility of murderers, the law tries to divide them (as it does all offenders) into two groups, the ‘sane’ and the ‘insane’. The ‘sane’ murderer is thought of as acting upon rational motives that can be understood, though condemned, and the ‘insane’ one as being driven by irrational senseless motives.

Either way, these crimes are tragic and inconceivable.

Netflix Instant Watch Movies that Don’t Suck: “The Extra Man”

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“The Extra Man” from 2010, is one of Netflix‘s hidden gems. With fantastic writing and dialog, the film’s genius is understated. The film feels like a novel brought to life, between the film’s narrator, and the sharp wit in writing, aspects of this narrative remind me of John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. The film stars Paul Dano, Kevin Kline, and a fantastic supporting role by John C. Reilly and profiles the life of one of Manhattan’s kept men. In a reverse of power and gender Kevin Kline plays Henry Harrison, a male escort to Manhattan’s aging aristocrats. When Louis Ives (Dano) looses his job from a prominent university, he goes looking to make a dramatic change in his life, and that’s when he meets Henry.

urlLouis has an interest in drag and women’s clothing, gets caught at work experimenting with gender representation, and loses his job. Dano play’s Louis as an incredibly sensitive young man struggling to find his sexuality and gender identity in a society that doesn’t appreciate much gender variation. Too often have we seen men who cross-dress, or men in drag as the butt of many jokes, instead here, the subject is handled somewhat delicately.

Henry Harrison is a truly despicable human being, yet somehow, the audience comes to care about him. In a similar way to Ignatious J. Reilly. Perhaps it’s Kline’s acting, the writing, or a combination of the two but by the end of the film, Henry’s pretentious and ridiculous arstocratic behavior to be incredibly charming. Henry is conservative to the point of absurd, when speaking with Louis after his job interview, Henry explains the current downfall of civilization and that he is “to the right of the pope” on most issues. When Louis points out the certain power Henry has over others he responds “it’s my contant dissapproval, some find it fatherly”.

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Gershun, stealin the show

Gershon is Henry’s downstairs neighbor and friend who helps him “carry things” has also been described by Henry as a “constant masturbator”.

Henry explains his position to Louis as “an extra man”. “Because, you see, women outlive men, there is a need for ‘an extra man’ to maintain proper seating arrangements, boy girl, boy girl”. Henry teaches Louis to pee in public, because a true aristocrat knows “he can pee anywhere he pleases”.

The film is one of the best comedies on Netflix Instant Watch, a truley undiscovered and under-appreciated gem that I strongly encourage checking out!

Jurassic Park ~Back in Theaters, Back in our Hearts~

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In honor of the re-release of the 1993 film “Jurassic Park” this April in 3D as well as the announcement of a fourth Jurassic Park film, I’ve decided to read the original novel by Michael Crichton and what I got in return up with is a 200 page dinosaur chase, which is, surprisingly close to the film. The Spielberg classic from 1993 brought dinosaurs to life for movie going audiences in a film that is still cherished by the dinosaur-loving masses.  The film accomplishes fantastic things and showcases amazing performances from the actors.

Jeff Goldblum, gives one of the best performances of his career. The character he plays in the Crichton novel is a brilliant mathematician who dresses in all black and talks about chaos theory and fractals and ultimately predicting the downfall of “Jurassic Park”. Wayne Knight, better known as Newman from Seinfeld is a disgusting slime-ball who gets what’s coming to him when a Dilophosaurus spits it’s acidic venom and blinds the bastard! I had forgotten BD Wong, was in “Jurassic Park”, until I re-read the IMDb. BD Wong stole my heart as Dr. Huang on Law and Order SVU, the man can literally do no wrong.

I’m looking forward to seeing the film’s re-release. The last time I saw “Jurassic Park” may have been in the late 90′s, so I am anxiously awaiting my chance to see it again on the big screen. The film is a “midnight movie” classic, and it’s exciting to see it presented again in wide release.

“Django Unchained” Review

Image“Django Unchained” is definitely one of the most controversial films of the 2012. Spike Lee has openly criticized the film and the merchandising of a slave narrative for Hollywood’s gain. Lee has refused to see the practically three-hour long, racist, white-guilt, gore-fest. However I found the film to be well within the means of what we expect from a Tarantino film, which is completely over the top gore, characters, and soundtrack. The writing, directing, and cinematography of the film are all fantastic. Tarantino gets Oscar-worthy performances out of his ENTIRE cast, the highlights being Christopher Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Tarantino uses the soundtrack in his films to highlight the absurdity of his alternate universes, and his choices have triggered mixed reviews. Personally I enjoyed the absurdity  of Tarantino’s choices. The original material produced especially for the film highlights its genre features, following the spaghetti western and blaxploitation films from before.

Tarantino’s cameo in the film is boring and obvious bordering on narcissistic and masturbatory. Tarantino gives himself a speaking role, an awful Australian accent, and a sensationalized death. No longer are Tarantino’s cameo’s “easter eggs” for his devote fans and followers to find, Tarantino’s cameo here borders on cliché. It’s what the audience has come to expect from him, and now it plays directly into it.

On the subject of Taratino’s easter eggs. recently, I’ve come across a fleshed out and complete explanation of Tarantino’s alternate universes where his films exist. Firstly, there’s the “Realer than Real Universe” and the other is the “Movie Movie Universe”. The first movie universe created by Quentin Tarantino is an alternate reality that is very similar to our own. This universe is composed of most of the basic laws of our world, although it is a more heightened movie version. The films that are part of this universe are: “Reservoir Dogs“, “True Romance“, “Pulp Fiction“, “Death Proof“, ”Inglorious Basterds“, and “Django Unchained”. The “Movie Movie Universe” are films where characters from the “Realer than Real Universe” would see in theaters.

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