Tag: painting
Collection Feature: Richard Estes, Food City
Food City verges on abstraction, as colors, shapes and brushstrokes intermingle. Cars, taxis and vans flatten into the same space as the cashier’s pink uniform, the checkout counters and stacks of cigarette packs. The facades of multistory buildings merge with hand-lettered signs advertising chuck steaks at 39 cents a pound. Richard Estes crops his painting so the grocery store’s glass windows fill the entire composition. Exterior and interior elements dissolve into a single plane. This energetic visual potpourri mimics the vitality of the surrounding New
NEO Geo Studio Visits
By Theresa Bembnister, Associate CuratorIf philosopher Alan Watts is right, and museums are the places art goes to die, then the artist’s studio must surely be the birthplace of a work of art.For the record: I disagree with Watts. But I do relish the opportunity to see art in its native studio environment, before it’s displayed on the museum’s pristine walls. The context of an artist’s workspace offers clues as to how or why a particular artwork was made.Studio visits made up a large part
Inscribed Books at the Akron Art Museum
by Stefanie Hilles, Education AssistantImagine this. You visit the Akron Art Museum and fall in love under the “roof cloud” (the museum’s 327 foot long steel cantilever that joins the old 1899 post office building with the new 2007 Coop Himmelb(l)au structure). No, not with some beautiful stranger you exchange eye contact with across the museum’s lobby (although that would be pretty exciting too). Instead, you fall in love with a beautiful artwork. Maybe you’re a fan of American Impressionism and succumb to the charms
Look Closely at Alma Thomas’ Pond–Spring Awakening
Enjoy this abstract painting in the museum’s collection.
How To: Have your own Messy Playdate at Home
By Amanda Crowe, Assistant EducatorFollow-up to Creative Playdate: Messy Playdate, December 5, 2013. Kids love to feed their curiosity by making a mess and using their senses in the creative process. Research for the education of the young child shows that more mess-making leads to higher forms of learning. Homemade Peppermint Playdough:Supplies:1 cup flour1/4 cup salt1 tsp cream of tartar (for smooth texture)1 cup water1 tbsp oil food coloring (cake decorators paste or liquid makes great colors)1 tbsp peppermint extract (easily found at craft stores