Exhibition(ist)

I woke up at 4:45 Saturday morning with a pounding migraine in my head and extreme nausea in my stomach. Spending most of the day in bed, I managed to drag myself to the studio to record the music for Rhinoceros and attend a friend's daughter's sixteenth birthday party. At the end of the evening, I was just wrecked and my migraine returned along with the nausea. I found myself calling in sick, something I rarely do-especially if I have to conduct (one of my favorite things to do).

So, I had a free Sunday afternoon for a change. After the migraine and nausea subsided, I felt restless and had to move. That's when the Galician suggested we check out a new exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center of a collection by the esteemed former art dealer Richard Harris, called Morbid Curiosity. I had seen many articles and press about the exhibit and was, excuse the awful pun.....dying to see the exhibit. See, his collection features works from Europe, Mexico, the United States, and Latin America, showcasing perception of death and the macabre from each of these areas of the world. Which, one assumes would be naturally morbid-true to its title-but maybe, even a bit gruesome. It was anything but. Yes, some works were unavoidably a bit gross-death can be violent and messy at times, but most of the works were spooky, clever, thought provoking, and just plain gorgeous.

Some of my favorites included a work from Swiss artist Roger Reutimann, entitled Death of Venus. Which, is a mixed medium red sculpture capturing the endearing and beautiful feminine figure of the goddess Venus, with her head replaced with a shrouded skull. Truly ingenious. Another favorite of mine was a bronze sculpture by Leonard Baskin called Death Satiated and Exhausted. Which, true to its name, was a hunched over, glutted and bloated form of the Angel of Death, it's famous plume of dark wings falling weakened, from the shoulders to the ground.

The collection ranged on in a collection of skulls, human figures (real and faux), paintings, collections of poetry, odds and end pieces, jewelry, graphic design, and so much more. Intrigued to see a sign pointing towards a special work by none other than the legendary Goya, I found myself in a side gallery-the end of the tour. Arguably the show piece of the entire exhibit lay at the far end of the gallery. A work by the trio of Argentinian artists Guerra De La Paz, and their incredible work Tribute, a gigantic structure composed of thousands of pieces of clothing ranging the spectrum of the rainbow.

It was in this gallery that I noticed a smartly dressed fellow browsing the works. He had a short greying beard and looked completely enthralled by the exhibit. I don't know why he caught my attention, but I remember thinking to myself at one point that he must be a professor. I decided to make my way to the lobby to take a look at some other objects from the exhibit, when the Galician came and excitedly dragged me back into the gallery. "It's Richard Harris, the Exhibitor," he said in his lovely accent. As I looked in the direction where he was pointing, my gaze fell upon the very same man I had noticed before. My first reaction was, it couldn't be him as for some reason I thought he looked different on television. But, the Galician insisted and pointed to his picture in the brochure. It was Richard Harris! Just as a huge grin spread across my face, Mr. Harris turned and looked in our direction and walked over to us.

He asked us how we liked the exhibit and both of us gushed about how wonderful we thought his collection was and how much of an honor is was to meet him. Now, I know for some of you, you're thinking...what's the big deal? It's not like he's Brad Pitt or something. Trust me, I've met plenty of celebrities and famous people from all walks of life in my short life and they are truly no big deal. They are just like any of us, but receive by far more attention for their talents and achievements. Meeting Richard Harris invoked the same feeling I felt when I first stepped into a Frank Lloyd Wright House/Museum that I happen to live close to. To be in the presence of true art, brought to you by someone who understands art and the artist is a special gift. For Richard Harris to bring Chicago his incredible collection is an honor in itself, and is a welcomed relief from all of the pomp and circumstance, and the celebrity crap mentioned in last week's blog that one is barraged with when turning on the television set or logs onto the internet.

So, check him out sometime and his thought-provoking exhibit. He has a blog too, which I think many will find interesting. I think you can sense the theme of my blogs this season will revolve around art. The reason being, I want to share stories about happiness and I believe art can invoke happiness, which in today's world is an art form in and of itself.

Blessings,

Jenne

Rhinoceros

Well, it has been quite sometime since my last blog. I ended up taking a far lengthier break from writing than expected, due to a very hectic end to 2011 and beginning of 2012! I experienced a professional and creative success that was not anticipated and it really did demand all of my time and energy. How funny is it that being creative in one aspect can actually stifle creativity in another?

Nonetheless, our project Shishonnah with its debut album released in November, has really picked up momentum. Our performances in March were very successful and we have already started production on the second album along with many other projects which will be announced soon! So, after all of the craziness of the New Year and March Madness, I found myself overlooking Lake Michigan at sunset in Chicago, instantly inspired to write. I was attending a rehearsal for a small theater company that I compose music for. They are putting on a production of Rhinoceros-a comedy and social commentary of sorts about people who abruptly morph into rhinoceroses and take over the town. Now, it is a lot more involved than that and the play has many moments of hilarity and irony. Not to mention this particular production is well cast which adds to the amusement. But, the intended theme to take away from the performance is that rhinoceroses, or anyone in fact who is discriminated against merely because of their physical appearance, can in actuality, be beautiful.

A nice thought, huh? Maybe a bit too Kumbayah for some of you, but definitely a creative way of conveying a sometimes cliched social observation. Especially, in our current cultural climate where we are inundated with news surrounding celebrity gossip and scandal, current beauty trends, recent non FDA approved weight loss drugs, the latest in plastic surgery, The Real Housewives of Timbuktu, and all sorts of nonsense. Now, this blog is not meant to be a social commentary of sorts-are you sensing the irony?-but merely a creative commentary on an old world in a new century.

My mentor's wife spoke about artists in an interesting way once, when we were having dinner. She said, "Artists are not happy with the world around them, so in order to fulfill a need to re-create the world, they creating works of art, thus creating their own world."  As one who prides herself as an artist, I had never thought of the act of being creative in those terms. She had an interesting point of view and one that took me only until last night at a rehearsal above the great lake to realize what she was really saying. Are all artists trying to re-create the world? Are writers, photographers, singers, dancers, actors, designers, producers, and the like trying to re-create the world? And, if so-if there are really millions of creative and hopefully talented and intelligent individuals out there trying to re-create the world; well, then why is the world full of so much....crap?

And, I'm not talking about just the obvious crap of war, hate, poverty, genocide, etc., but the creative crap-the amateur in nature. Why does the run-of-the mill and the status quo dominate the airwaves and pre-occupy the minds of billions of teenagers, adolescents, and adults alike all over the world? When did crap become more desired than art? The answer is...since the dawn of time! Since art began. But, that is a whole other conversation entirely and this is not meant to be a political or overtly philosophical blog as I formerly mentioned.  I just couldn't help but think this way last night as I watched this hilarious play and started composing the music for it.

The Rhinoceros......considered by most to be aesthetically, one of nature's ugliest animals. Maybe, in the minds of some-say, in comparison to the peacock-crap? Perhaps, we need to take a closer look at this animal. Maybe, just like the author of of Rhinoceros, we can look deeper behind the mere aesthetics and see what's really there. A tough, courageous animal that lives in the most beautiful and rough terrain in the world. An artist would. Picasso in fact, would probably paint it its dimensions in cubes, stripes, inversions, and turn it into something that wouldn't even resemble a rhinoceros anymore.

Maybe, we could do that to the real crap out there. Invert it, change it's dimensions and turn it into a work of art. That's all us artists are trying to do anyway...right? What if we could go a step further? Maybe invert one another-humanity. What could we create then? The Hopi of the North American Plains believe that the world re-creates itself. In fact, they believe that it has re-created itself five times and that we are currently in the Fifth World.  I wonder how much the Rhino has changed during all five worlds. Regardless, it makes me think and makes me want to create. It's going to be beautiful weather this weekend and I know exactly which exhibit I'm visiting first at the zoo!

Blessings,

Jenne