>M"C"A<

This visit to the MCA really gave me an unexpected experience. When I first saw the artworks, I was surprised. I never thought that the art could be presented in those ways, such as a conference room where visitors could join the discussion. I learn that art is not confined to one way and there is no limitation. The MCA is different from the Museums that I went before with paintings and sculptures. The MCA is a place for peace in which people can think and reflect in this environment.

Barbara Crane Exhibit ('.')

Barbara Crane

'Sand Findings'

Archival injet prints

This is belongs to a series of photos mainly about the observation on sand. When I first looked at the things on sand, I wondered what these things are. After I looked at the title, I am surprised at the things she found. These are all usual objects around us, but she can take these as the subject matter. She wants to tell us that we need to pay attention to the things around us, even the tiny matters. There are things we often ignore in our daily lives. We should be sensitive to our surroundings and start to appreciate the things we have. I think the visit to this exhibition is a good chance to know more about contemporary photography, and the way the artist presents her ideas.

THEMES OF ART

This theme is Humor. The artist is Elizabeth Murray. These artworks are formed by colorful shapes. The artist reorganized the shapes to form something and to show unity. "It's like a child playing in a playroom, picking shapes to form the things he likes." Humor plays a role in these artworks. The shpes are cartoony, unusual, and we do not usually see in life. The artist created something different, express feelings while doing. She repeated the artworks so as to understand her motivation of doing art.

My reaction of the film of Monet

I chose Claude Monet because I was impressed by one of his work, ‘The Haystacks’. After I watched this film, I noticed how hard an artist experienced in pursuing his goal. Monet devoted his life time to art, in observing the lights and the relationship it had which the surroundings. I appreciated Monet as he continued his career even though he had poverty. Although he was not accepted with his new style of painting at first, he did not give up. He believed in his way of seeing painting and his life. His enthusiasm never cooled. I admired his faith and this was what I need to learn from him.

The impressionist: Monet

This film is about Claude Monet and his works. He was already a cartoonist when he was 15 and decided to be an artist. Then he started to work in France, in a salon. He was a student of Charles Gleyre and learnt the academic traditions which were about the historical events and copying from the master pieces in the past. Also, he was an outdoor painter so that he could experience the feelings that could only be experienced when he saw the objects. His subject matter was life, landscapes and nature. He used strong brush strokes and vivid, unmixed colors to show the effects and changes of light. He usually used primary and complementary colors. At first, this kind of painting was rejected by some artists in Paris. He work was given term ‘impressionism’. Although he succeeded in the experiment of light, he had a poor life. After he got married, he had no money to support his family. However, he continued his career. He and his wife painted together. They worked on the light and shadows, and started to use others colors, besides black and brown, for shadows. He painted series painting by painting the same objects from several points of view and in different seasons, and experienced the light between him and the objects. He last painting was the ‘Water Lilies’ depicting the lilies in his garden. The style in this painting changed from naturalistic and realistic to abstract, and moved the subject matter away from representational work.

AIC

The Art appreciation class gave me one more opportunity to visit the Art Institute. My family and I visit the institute in August. However, at that time, I did not know much about the artists and their artworks. I just walked passed the different galleries and admired those attracted me. This time, I knew more about the artists' intention, and I was eagered to take a look at the great artworks. Although I only had limited time, I could focused on the main works of art in the institute, including the fantastic gallery of Vincent Van Gogh, Picasso, etc. I also learned a lot from the presentation that others did. They were all attentive and could get the main ideas from the paintings. We all had our unique opinions towards the paintings. I started to think deeper than just see it as a painting and try to get what the artists tried to tell the audience. This visit was useful, and I enjoyed it.

Public Art Tour

On a windy day, I went on an art tour in the Loop……

I remembered that when I first came to the Loop, I was surprised to see many artworks. The first one that I noticed was the Picassos Chicago. From then on, I started to pay attention to them. I have visited some places and artworks before but I had no information about them. This time, with the audio tour, I could get the overall information about the artworks. An interesting one was about the idea of Crown Fountain, the artist wanted to emphasize that humans were made of water. My companion and I took a lot of pictures on that day. We shared our opinions on the artworks. I think that this is a good chance to learn about art and at the same time we know more about Chicago. Then I realize that the important aim of art is to share. It is how people share their views towards things around us and our life. It makes me think deeper about art and the motivation of the artists.