A Gallery I Visited
I went to Lawndale with Art Appreciation earlier this school
year. The first impression was spectacular with the entire side of the building
covered in graffiti of everything ranging from a giant man eating squid monster
to a blonde damsel in distress. There was a wise owl with spectacles and some
other random (but very cool) stuff spray painted on large scales. After gaping
at the wall for 10 minutes our tour began. But before entering the building we
were introduced to a human sized functional hamster wheel. Unfortunately it was
locked so we couldn’t test it for ourselves but looking at it was awe
inspiring. The creator of the structure wanted to let his audience be able to
interact with the “sculpture” to add a new level to the experience of
appreciating art.
Next we entered the building and just as we entered we came
upon some walls that were floor to ceiling with scrapbook style artwork. From
one angle, the viewer could vaguely make out a scene or landscape. I felt like
I was playing “I Spy” on a much larger scale. The goal for this particular
artist was to explore the process of converting a small scale plan, which she
made prior to constructing the walls, into an exact large scale replica. We did
not get to see the small scale form but according to the tour guide it was a
perfect duplication.
Moving on, we went into the main gallery space. We worked
out way around the room looking at all the displays and listening to the guide
explain the purpose or story behind each work. I especially loved a collection
of small pen drawings of simple everyday objects/things a person may see such
as some carpet or the corner of a room. Drawing them added emphasize to their
otherwise forgotten existence. After climbing some very noisy stairs we came to
a room filled with crochet artwork. It was beautiful but gave me a sense of
exhaustion as I thought about all the hours spent knitting/crocheting every
coil and doily.
On the third floor, there were studios for artists to work.
We met with two of them. The first was a very friendly eccentric man that used
punk, rock, and experimental music as his inspiration. I was impressed by some
of the posters and graphic work he had splayed across the room . We learned
that in order to have a studio at Lawndale, an artist must apply to be chosen.
Then they have that space for a given amount of time in which they are paid to
make artwork. Sounds like a great deal to me!
The next artist we talked to was very impressive. His
artwork consisted of elaborate scenes and/or patterns of cut out pictures. He
would cut the pictures out of books and paste them on a canvas, layers upon
layers of cut out objects. And when the viewer backs up, it turns into well
balanced and interesting piece of work. I also grew tired thinking of all the
hours it must have taken to cut out every single image. But it made me
appreciate the artwork even more.
