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Sunday, April 11, 2010

Matisse and Folk Art

I spent yesterday at the Chicago Art Institute. Went on a bus trip to the Matisse exhibit that is now in progress. In general, I am not a Matisse fan, so my expectations were relatively low, but I must admit to being pleasantly surprised. The show was very well curated, and was a great explanation for his processes and techniques. Very interesting commentary and a very large exhibit.

Along with that exhibit, I had time to wander through the Folk Art and Asian Art areas. These are not areas I usually gravitate to, and so decided to forgo the usual suspects for these areas. I am glad I did. The Asian potteries were amazingly contemporary and the craftsmanship is just superb. The Eastern diety sculptures were fantastic. The folk art section was a plethora of whimsy and fun! I must say, I have a soft spot for art created just for oneself or home without any intent of gallery display. Whether that is folk art, or kids art or "craft" it is good in its purity and directness.

The day was good; the weather was perfect the company interesting and the art inspiring. Next week it is back to Chicago for the Internation Quilt Assn. show. A several day extravaganze I have been attending for about 8 years now. It is a wonderful time to explore vendors and see quilting and quilters from all over the world. (not to mention enjoy an Embassy Suite (and their happy hours) filled with fellow sewing people and quilters!

Reports forthcoming.

3 comments:

markhed said...

sounds like you had a great day! I love museum days! Thanks for sharing!

FairyFiligree said...

Matisse is not one of my favourites either but his clever use of colour building up bit by bit is intriguing to say the least. Plenty of ideas for your colour coordination there!

jill said...

Fairy - what was interesting, was his scraping AWAY of color as well. Very sculptural in using both thte additive and subtractive... But yes, there were a couple of very inspirational color combos.