Saturday, May 03, 2008

"Happy Trees" and a Shit-Load of Boats

I just got back from a field trip with my parents to The Art Institute of Chicago to see an Edward Hopper/Winslow Homer exhibit. I have a whole new respect for Hopper because he liked chesty women, cold couples who were indifferent to one another, and he seemed to be a bit of a peeping tom. As for Homer, that guy just really, really liked boats. I was talking about that with Niner, who said the guy must have gotten up in the morning and said, "I'm going to paint me some boats today," and paint boats he did. Lots of 'um. I shot through those boat pictures like crap through a goose, but there were people stopping to study each and every one. I just don't get that . . .


Your turn, seven readers: Do you guys like art? I seem to only like the ones where the people depicted tell a little story, or it allows me to make one up, usually one with espionage and/or kinky shit. A little kinked-out espionage never hurt anybody. I just don't dig on the bowl of fruit or landscape paitings, unless the "happy trees" are being painted by the guy on TV with the white-man afro.

28 comments:

The [Cherry] Ride said...

I love me some art, but Christ on a Big Wheel, I could not get through that Homer exhibit fast enough. I mean, how many fucking row boats can one man paint?

JerseySjov said...

i like old arty guys [monet and degas], but modern art [like...a canvas painted red that somehow symbolizes the bureaucratization and homogenization of blah blah blah] not so much. oh and my friend is a photography major who i've modeled for, so of course i like those. [ http://adrienneadeyemi.blogspot.com/2008/04/nude-in-nature.html i'm the one with curly hair]

JerseySjov said...

whup that should be:
http://adrienneadeyemi.blogspot.com
/2008/04/nude-in-nature.html

A new Ron,ron,ron a new ron,ron said...

I dig Banksy because he pisses people off and thats always a good thing, and I like Ludmila Kondakova but can never find images of her work on google so cant link her, sorry.
Casey seems like kind of a prick.

A new Ron,ron,ron a new ron,ron said...

I dig Banksy because he pisses people off and thats always a good thing, and I like Ludmila Kondakova but can never find images of her work on google so cant link her, sorry.
Casey seems like kind of a prick.

Michael5000 said...

I fucking love art. Like, I go out and read big books about art and shit. So I started this post and I was all, like, "Shit that fucking lucky bastard went to AIC!" But then I was all, like, "oh, Winslow Homer. Well, whatever." Hope you had a good time with the 'rents, though.

You shouldn't let that Casey guy hang around your comments, he's scaring off all the paying customers.

JulieGong said...

I enjoy a good dose of art every once and awhile. I'm more of a photography person over paintings tho...

Bob Ross makes me so sleepy with that hushed tone and happy treeness.

M360 said...

i concur. i don't like the conventional bowl of fruit/forest landscape/victorian lady type of art either. it soooo boring. my favorite museum here in b-more is the american visionary art museum where all the work is done by ppl deemed "crazy" or ppl suffering from some sort of post traumatic stress disorder, or just people who had major life changing epiphanies after a major event. the stuff there is pretty cool/weird/eccentric/scary/demented. i just went back last saturday. oh and as ron suggested, banksy is awesome!

Radioactive Tori said...

The Misfits was playing when I clicked on your site. I took that as a sign that I needed to comment because I love them!

I haven't been there in a bunch of years. When I was there last, I had my 3 kids that were born at the time with me, and they were way too young (one 5 year old and two 3 year olds) to have a long enough attention span for us to have fun. They liked it for a while but then got bored...they had the attention span of kids or something. I think they would love it now though.

josh williams said...

I like Homer, he liked boats I like boats, I have a print of his hanging in my loft, Hurricane Bahamas is the title it does not have any boats. He also liked the bottle from what I hear. I like chesty women and boats, sailing type or cool looking off-shore fishing boats or any boat I cant afford. I know a guy that has a hydrofoil trimaran which is all of about 16' long and will sail at 30-35 no problem he said it gets a little sketchy when your approaching 40 though.

TSTuesday said...

Just how many is a shit load?

I can't comment on art as I am not worldly enough to go to exhibits.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Cherry: Christ on a big wheel!!! Hahahhaha. It's really sticking, that phrase . . .

Casey: Was that a drunken comment???

Jersey: Why don't all my readers post nekkid links?

Ron: Artists that piss people off are cool. Casey pisses people off too, evidently.

5000: You would appreciate the Art Institute. There are a lot of classics there. Lots of naked people too.

Julie: He does lull me to sleep. He once lulled me to sleep and painted happy trees all over me.

360: That place sounds badass!!

Radio: I know what you mean about the attention span, because I still struggle with that. That's why I like The Misfits: All their songs are like 2 minutes long.

Josh: Boats and chesty women . . .

Chardsy: You would have been blown away. I forgot to mention that the Hopper exhibit had a whole room of light house paintings, and there was a quote by somebody that essentially said that Hopper painted light houses like nobody's business.

Jake Titus said...

Dr. K,
Hey, couldn't the fruit bowl be a bit on the kink side. I mean hey, a bananna could be a 007gun...amongst other things...

carolyn says said...

i like most art, i used to think rennassaince art was kind of a snore but then I went to Italy and learned that I was all sorts of wrong. I have huge issues with Duchamp, because i think he is lame and stupid and boring (ooh look it's a stool artfully hung from the ceiling, barf) and while I'm not a huge fan of landscapes and portraits occaisionally one will really strike me. mostly i like modern art because it makes me feel pretentious and special. Basquiat was my first favorite and lately i've been really enamoured of Louise Bourgeouis. When we were in Venice we saw lots of awesome stuff at the Biennale which was really really cool and I'm hoping to go back next year to see what they have then.

that homer exhibit does sound pretty dull, i felt the same way about a kandinsky exhibit we saw, it was all like yeah yeah enough with the rainbows

Passionista said...

I'm with you on art, it really needs to have a lot going on for me to be into it. Salvador Dali is great for that.

Sassy said...

Whatever happened to Bob Ross?

I love art. Photography and Impressionist paintings are probably my favorites. I have to agree with Passionista though, I love me some Dali too.

Zen Wizard said...

You mean do I REALLY like art, or do I just pretend to like it in a pathetic attempt to pick up women in museums?

Left to my own devices, I would content myself with the respective oeuvres of Arthur Sarnoff and Alberto Vargas.

More $h!t that I like.

JerseySjov said...

"Why don't all my readers post nekkid links?"

because not all of your readers are students with photography major friends?

Lauren Elizabeth said...

I like art. Have you ever seen a Jackson Pollack close up? It's mesmerizing when you see it on such a grand scale, not just a bunch of squiggles. There almost seems to be a method to the madness. I also like Fernando Botero.

I miss Bob Ross...

Brunhilda said...

I took a philosophy of art class once, and now all things arts related blow my mind.

But I like boats.

Casey said...

Kind of a prick?

I thought I sounded like a full-on prick.

Mr. Shife said...

Based on my last blog post can you only imagine what kind of art I like. My wife and I are always looking for cool basset hound art. I think art belongs in the strip clubs so I am not really an expert in the art field. I guess I am like you. I have never looked at a fancy piece of art and did my best Keanu Reeves impersonation, "Whoa."

classyandfancy said...

I only like yarn art and decoupage. And anything that features owls.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Jake: True. Maybe I just need to open up my mind a little.

Carolyn: The rainbow guy sounds like a good time. I bet his artist buddies slam him, calling him Rainbow Bright.

'Nista: Is Dali the guy with the saggy clocks?

Sass: Bob Ross needs to make a comeback. He should come back all agro and be an Ultimate Fighter. Nobody would suspect that.

Zen: I can see you BS'ing about art to get some tail. You BS and chase tail with the best of 'um.

Jersey: You should introduce my friends to your friends and we can be friends. Shoot, we can do this every weekend. Sorry, that was a misquoted Puff Daddy interlude in a Biggy song, but my point is that I want more nekkid pics from my readers.

Nut: They were saying at the Hopper thing that Pollack and Hopper were the top dogs of their day. They used to go around beating up other artists, taking their lunch money, and giving them titty-twisters.

Seq: You say you like boats NOW, but what about after 6 rooms of painting filled with them.

Casey: the did sell you short!

shife: there's art at titty bars?

classy: i only like art in idaho titty bars.

villageidiot said...

I too like the ones that have a story, or that I can can create a story for. My wife took a few art history classes, so we had to stop at every damn museum in France and Italy when we went back in the late 90's. And she wonders why I just wanted to linger at the Ruben nudes - 'old school porn'! The only thing that made it bearable was exchanging knowing smiles with the other dutiful husbands/BFs tagging along. No language barrier at all when you're just rolling eyes and winking at each other. Holy crap - maybe they were gay?!?

But we are also hopelessly cheap, so we only have a few small pieces in the house. The favorite is a small watercolor of a Rome piazza scene, done by the nice old guy who owned the place we stayed at in Rome. He put our names and a nice little saying in Italian on the bottom, and gave it to us as we left for home. Because it has a story...

Grad School Reject said...

Dr. K - You know that I try and come off as one of those all around nice sweet sensitive guys who reads for pleasure and knows all of the birthstones for each of the months, right? Well, I don't know shit about art. Much props to you.

Sidenote - I am going to be in Chi City from the Tuesday after Memorial Day until when I fly out on the first Tuesday of June. I'll be busy as hell but if you want to try and do a few hours of a happy hour/dinner let me know.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Doggy: Thanks for coming by and leaving a really great comment! You got game. I'll have to get by your site real soon.

GSR: You're on. Email me a day that works for you, and we'll get nutty.

Eve said...

Love art. Is the MCA still doing free Saturdays?