Yesterday, self dropped by the Asian Art Museum on Larkin in downtown San Francisco. Traffic was surprisingly light. Good thing, because self was so distracted by listening to npr on her car radio that she might have gotten into an accident, the news was so bad.
It was her first visit to the Asian Art Museum since before the pandemic, well over two years ago.
The museum currently has not one, not two, but three blockbuster exhibits: Carlos Villa, Worlds in Collision; two experimental artists: one from Kolkata, the other from Hong Kong. And Marin artist Zheng Chongbin’s I Look for the Sky, a site-specific installation hanging from the lobby ceiling.
Hong Kong artist Lam Tung Pang’s piece, A day of two Suns (2019) was a video installation. The screen looked like a Chinese painting, but with witty modern objects decorating the edges. Amazing.
Today, self went with a friend to the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Saw a FANTASTIC exhibit of painter Alice Neel (closes early July: to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, HURRY). It was a beautiful day in the City — a much-needed respite from the searing heat on the Peninsula.
She took a couple of “J anywhere in the word” pictures: a gigantic jar, just outside the de Young, on the main concourse; the entrance to the Japanese Tea Garden; and a Japanese garden sculpture:
There is a permanent installation of San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Just happened to be in Oxford when the Museum of Modern Art did a show on her, in May. Saw the exhibit with two American friends, Amy and Sam. In one word, stunning.
This post is about exhibit banners (at the British Museum) and store window mannequins.
In her explorations of East London, self discovered Wall and Jones. It’s a clothing and jewelry shop on Hackney Road, across from Hackney City Farm, that sells the most lovely, unique items. Beautiful jewelry by Eve, clothes by Ali Wall.
Took this picture yesterday evening, on the Great Western 18:28 from Paddington Station. It had been a long, full day in London. It started with lining up at 10 a.m. to enter the National Gallery, being thrilled by the greatness of Raphael, meeting Old Map Man for a walk along Craven Street to the Victoria Embankment, getting sloshed by a terrific thunderstorm, taking refuge in Waterstones on Trafalgar Square, arriving in London Review Bookshop dripping wet, heading straight to the lower floor, finding a book to buy (three inches thick, oh no!), then training back to Oxford.
Today, self was at the National Gallery in London to see the Raphael exhibit. It was magnificent. In particular, this self-portrait. Because if Raphael really did look like that (the man in front), WOWEEE. Am I right?
This week, we’re exploring the interplay of light and shadow–at different times of the day, in different seasons, under natural light, in artificial light. Choose whatever conditions you like. It’s totally up to you. You may also want to process your images in black and white to highlight the light and shadows.
Self is traveling. Her “light and shadow” photos were all taken in Bloomsbury, where she stayed last week:
Self started going to London regularly in 2015. She visited every year and stayed at The Penn Club on Bedford Place, in Bloomsbury. The Penn Club became her home away from home, a place where she formed fast friendships. In 2020, the pandemic killed it. Most of its patrons were elderly. She hopes they didn’t get covid, but she suspects many of them did. After a hundred years in Bloomsbury, The Penn Club closed its doors, permanently.
Now, self is back in London. She couldn’t imagine staying anywhere else but in Bloomsbury. Another of her favorites, a French restaurant on Hanway Place, had closed. She spent days walking up and down Great Russell Street, dropping by the British Museum, seeing their special exhibits (Right now the special exhibit’s about Stonehenge), dropping by the London Review Bookshop.
An architectural firm used to be next door to the bookshop, but the large windows through which self had peeked many and many a time to watch people industriously working at giant drafting boards were boarded up. She was so relieved to see the Contemporary Ceramics gallery on Great Russell Street was still there! She wandered in. Several other people were there — most young. Wonder of wonders, they were buying!
Self wanted to buy a piece, too. But she is traveling, and her bag is already quite heavy. In fact, the airline slapped a HEAVY BAG sticker on it, when she checked in at Belfast on her flight to Heathrow. But if people are buying fine ceramics, the gallery will make it.
The ceramic artist whose works are on exhibit is Ruth King. Her works stay up until May 21. Here’s a quote from the flyer the gallery gave out:
Ruth’s sculptural forms and vessels are fashioned from soft sheets of clay cut and assembled to wrap and define a space. The surface is then enriched by the passage of salt vapours in the firing reacting to each twist and turn of the form adding colour, texture and articulation.
Bushboy’s Last Photo on the Card allows self to share one more photo from the Titanic Belfast Museum, which she visited yesterday. It was an unexpectedly emotional experience.
There is a very swank hotel next to the museum. Yesterday afternoon, the hotel’s formal dining room was all decked out for a wedding reception. In the lobby were lovingly restored photographs of the ship at launch. You’d think the associations would keep people from wanting to get married there, but the opposite seems to be the case.
This ship’s model was on the second floor, away from the crowds. (The museum got very, very crowded mid-afternoon, at which point self put on her mask. People were staring. But self would rather be safe than sorry.)
Kanlaon 