 Today’s ArtDrop is ‘With you inside me comes the knowledge of my death’ a sterling silver snake ring designed by contemporary conceptual artist Jenny Holzer in 1994.
Source The image shows a closeup photograph of a silver ring in the shape of a coiled snake that wraps around the finger when worn. The words ‘With you inside me comes the knowledge of my death’ are stamped into the outer surface of the snake. The artist’s name is stamped inside. Jenny Holzer’s text-based works are often displayed scrolling past on great lengths of colorful electronic LED signs. Her famous installation at the Guggenheim Museum in 2024 snakes its way up the spiral of the institution's famous curved atrium. It is amazing how the sculptural form of this ring from the 90s foreshadows her recent work. Unlike the public nature of her main body of work, this piece is intimate. I think it would be an edgy, erotic love token for a main squeeze. What meaning do you find in this piece of art jewelry?
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 Today’s ArtDrop is a ceiling fresco from 1474 by Andrea Mantegna at Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy.
The image shows an illusionistic painting of a circular oculus or opening in a roof. It features a trompe-l’œil architectural balcony with blue sky and clouds above. Surrounding the balcony are many cheeky masterfully foreshortened figures, a peacock, and a potted plant. Several of the figures are chubby naked putti complete with wings acting like naughty toddlers. There are also a few voyeuristic adults peeking over the balcony at the viewers below. On the outer edges of oculus are fecund garlands of greenery and fruit. The name of the room translates to marriage chamber or room of the spouses. Perhaps this was painted to give the lady of the house something whimsical to look at as she performed her wifely duties.  Today’s ArtDrop is a 10’x20’ colored pencil drawing by Tia Keobounpheng in the collection of the University of St. Thomas.
Source: https://www.tiakeobounpheng.com/ The image shows the two story interior lobby of the university with lots of natural light from windows to the right. Hanging on the two-story wall is a colorful and complex geometric artwork analytical designed from circles and arcs. Most of Keoboundpheng’s work is made from fiber, but for this commission she chose colored pencil—a less fungible medium than fiber art for a public piece in a brightly lit space. From far away this work appears hard-edged and flat. However, when viewed close-up, the textural strokes of pencil are apparent giving the work a hand-made human touch. The artist draws inspiration from the geometric patterns of her Finnish ancestors.  Today’s ArtDrop is a contemporary archival inkjet print, ‘Everything Illuminates No. 9’ by Jiang Pengyi.
Source: blindspotgallery.com The image shows an antique crystal chandelier in a dark room. This is a pre-electricity chandelier that must be fitted with lit candles. The artist has created a haunting image by combining glow-in-the dark pigment with the candles' wax and lit them allowing the wax to drip over the crystal fixture producing stalactites of wax trailing toward the ground. Beneath the frozen drips, piles and splatters of wax give rise to a glowing green circle. How does this artwork make you feel? What does the image evoke in your mind when you look at it? Does it remind you of a gothic haunted mansion? Do you interpret it as a scene of decadence or careless opulence? Is it radioactive? You can visit Blindspot Gallery’s website to view the other prints in the series to form a deeper interpretation of Jiang Pengyi’s work.  Today’s ArtDrop is an oil on canvas painting by John Everett Millais from 1851-1852.
The painting is referencing the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet where Ophelia is said to have lost her mind and drowns. She is shown floating in the water singing with an unfocused gaze. Her hands are raised expressively just above the surface. One hand still holds a garland of flowers. More flowers are scattered around her and upon her waterlogged skirts as she begins to sink. The landscape around her is very natural and wildly grown with reeds, moss, the fallen willow tree, and wildflowers on the banks of the little pond or stream. This old painting is getting a little timely buzz because Taylor Swift has a new album coming out and people are saying this is at least a partial reference for her cover photo. What do you think? Is this image relatable? Does TayTay feel overwhelmed from time to time? Sure. Fortunately for her fans she has a better support network of loved ones and floofy cats than Ophelia. #artappreciation  Today’s ArtDrop is a paleolithic cave painting of a person gathering honey by the people living in or near Arana Cave in Spain. It is determined to be 8,000 years old.
The photo from planetbee.org shows a cave painting of a person climbing up a ladder or shimmying down ropes against a cliff face. Within the cliff is an existing depression that the artist darkened with brown ochre. The slim figure carries a basket and is facing the hole. Five bees are flying around behind the person. Imagine how tense this scene was to watch in person. One of your loved ones is risking their life to gather delicious honey for the whole clan. This event could end in celebration or tragedy.  Today’s ArtDrop is ‘Ian and Nicole’ an installation and musical score by Nathalie Miebach.
The image is from the artist’s website: https://www.nathaliemiebach.com/work/crystals-ye5wt-w9b8t ‘Ian and Nicole’ is a colorful 3-D wall assemblage of diverse materials. Many are woven or folded including large pleated paper circles layered on the left and large woven mats underneath in the center. To the right are some constructions that look like buoys or and pieces of railroad track scattered on the wall. All of the elements are labeled with numbers or text. Colorful rings are suspended throughout the piece and hang beneath it. In 'Ian and Nicole’ Miebach weaves a tale of human struggle from timestamped meteorological and social media data of the impact of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole that hit the Daytona Beach, Florida area in 2022. From numbers and tweets, she tells a tragic and tactile tale of loss, suffering, and resolution. In addition to the visual art installation, she also composed a musical score from the data: https://youtu.be/c0HAbfuxl3A  Today’s ArtDrop is 'Casspirs of Love’ a print from 2000 by South African artist, William Kentridge. In tandem with this still image, his charcoal animations are required viewing: https://youtu.be/ZawcgoiNdwM The black and white image shows a shelving unit against a wall with some of the shelves off horizontal. Human heads are piled up on the shelves. An inscription to the left of the shelves says “ Casspirs full of Love” in cursive. The text runs vertically. The print retains the sketchy qualities of Kentridge's original charcoal drawing from 1989 with layers of charcoal areas that have been erased and redrawn over and over again. This quality is a signature feature from the artist’s expressionistic charcoal animations.
Casspirs are South African armored military vehicles similar to the ones being deployed in Washington DC and soon in Chicago. The print’s title compared to its tragic imagery is a wry reflection of the stark disconnect between a regime's hypocritically peacekeeping rhetoric and its oppressive and disruptive show of force. The image is from Tate Modern’s website: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kentridge-casspirs-full-of-love-p11838 #socialjusticeart #activistart #politicalart #artofresistance  Today’s ArtDrop is a Pop Art still life chalk and oil painting on board from 1964 called ‘Three Strawberry Milkshakes’ by Wayne Thiebaud.
The image shows a simple still life featuring a row of three pink milkshakes with red and white straws in them in waxed paper cups at a slight angle up toward the left. The shakes cast obvious long shadows with a strong light coming in from the right. The background is mostly white, brightest at the bottom right corner. This fair use image is a scan from a printed photograph from Wikimedia. It shows some printing dot patterns. (You can find better images on line. Notice the difference.) Compare this still life painting of a roughly sketched common everyday subject to yesterday’s rarified, precisely observed, and rendered floral still life. Like any good still life, Theibaud has captured a fleeting moment in time. If painted outdoors, the milkshakes will melt in a few minutes, the stark shadows will migrate with the sun, and the yard will be swarming with thirsty boys.  Today’s ArtDrop is a realistic floral still life oil on canvas from the 1750s, ‘Still Life with Flowers’, by Rachel Ruysch.
The image shows a sumptuous flower arrangement on a marble table. There is a plain shadowy wall immediately behind. The flowers appear to shine forth from the gloomy background. The flowers on display are morning glories, carnations, tulips, roses, tiger lilies, marigold, and more. The stems, petals, and leaves appear light and delicate and twine among each other. The blossoms appear to be in peak bloom (or just beyond peak) with a couple of buds in the mix for variety. One stem of carnations is bent and drapes onto and over the edge of the table at the bottom. Some of the greenery is mottled with spots. The color scheme is carefully composed and subtly complementary with orange adjacent flowers mixed with blue and white blossoms. Rachel Ruysch had a method of embalming flowers to preserve them. This made it look like she was a time traveler who could gather flowers from different seasons in the year to build her arrangements. Ruysch left lots of easter eggs in her florals to enliven the paintings and delight viewers. See if you can spot any insects or caterpillars hanging out. Some are as tiny as ants. We couldn’t find any beasties in the photo of this still life. Comment if you spot one. |
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