End First Semester Critique

(Top) Koga Harue "Scene in the Deep Sea"
1933








(Bottom)
Koide Nagashige "Mr.N's Family" (Important Cultural Property)
1919

Nude on a bed by Koide Narashige
1930

Souvenir

The famous "Woman by Spring"

Souvenir

Before I exited I bought some souvenir. Particularly, Some Japanese painting postcards.

Ohara Art Museum

If I remember correctly The museum's lighting was not warm like the galleries of NZ. I was so overwhelmed to see many famous artists' work. One example was "Waterlilies" by Claude MONET. I spent about 10 minutes at each those artists' works. If I had known more artists, I wouldn't be able to finish looking at the pictures in one day. But my knowledge of art was limited so the whole going around only took an hour or so. These Images were obtained from the official website of Ohara musium.

Ohara Art Museum in Japan

Last year I went to Japan and travelled to the very west side of japan. The Ohara museum is located in the Okayama prefecture.

The Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki was the first collection of Western art to be permanently exhibited in Japan. The museum opened in 1930 and originally consisted almost entirely of French painting and sculpture of the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection has now expanded to include paintings of the Italian Renaissance and of the Dutch and Flemish 17th century. Well-known American and Italian artists of the 20th century are also included in the collection.

The basis of the collection was formed by Ōhara Magosaburō on the advice of the Japanese painter Kojima Torajirō (1881-1929) and the French artist Edmond-François Aman-Jean (1860-1935).

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%94hara_Art_Museum

The photo of the museum was obtained also from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kurashiki_Ohara_Art_Museum02nt3200.jpg

the boy in the white striped pajamas

I liked how the movie was filmed. The street scenes and Nazi uniforms well matched with the period. I know it because I used to study German culture and language and myself is a war time military things collector. I had done many researches on WW2 period soldiers' uniforms.
The only thing. The music was well composed and used. The German kid, finding the forbidden way out to the concentration camp through the woods was really like a kid's view of exploring the woods.
But it disturbed me very much when I heard the Nazi's saying:

• "Son, they(Jews) are not really people."
• And barking order at the Jewish people. The Nazis treated Jews worse than animals.
• At one stage, looking at the smoke coming out of incinerator chimney and says: "They smell worse when they are dead"

This is the official movie trailer obtained from YouTube:

The boy in the striped pyjamas

It always horrifies me that How the Nazis did mass execution of the Jews. Not only to kill them but use labour until they get weak and useless. They had to work hard all day, minimal food and eventually die from hunger or executed in chambers which Nazis tell them they are going to shower rooms. The Nazis were mean enough to tell the Jew before entering the chamber. "It's a shower time so please take care of your belongings."

This story of a Nazi army's general's son making friends with a Jewish boy through the concentration camp fence. The German boy always think that camp was I strange place where people always wear the pyjamas looking uniform. One day the general's son crosses over the fence and wears the uniform which the Jews had to wear. The Nazis in the camp think two boys were both Jews. The boys were taken to the gas chamber and the movie ends like that.

The image was taken from http://intothedustbowl.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/boy_in_the_striped_pajamas.jpg

My Fair Lady Japanese version

My wife is Japanese and her sister is a musical actress. Coincidentally the team which my sister-in-law belongs to was also playing my fair lady on the same day, similar period. Here are some pictures from the Japanese version Pamphlet. Eliza was played by a very famous Japanese Musical actress Daich Mao.
The play had many repeats all ove the Japan and as a family member, my wife went to see the play several times. But After seeing the Australian version, she said the facial expression of the Western people are so rich and nice. And also she commented that Japanese actors need heavy make up and wigs to make themselves look like Westerns.

My Fairlady Auckland

During the show there was a scene where Higgin teaching Eliza pronouncing vowels without blowing off a lamp flame. But when he demonstrated it Eliza, he flew off the flame by accident.
After that he did many tries but he kept on failing. The audience started to laugh and both Eliza and Higgin were laughing too. Higgin at one point said "It's the beetroot I had for lunch...." and it made the audience laugh even harder.
Personally I do not enjoy watching musical videos. I had seen My Fair lady before and I did not really enjoy it. The one probably I liked the most was The Sound of Music. I really did not expect too much from this My Fair Lady live. But as soon as Eliza started to sing, I was mesmerised at thw whole show. I just could not take my eyes off of the stage. it was probably the first time that I never looked at my wrist watch to see what time it was and to guess how long left. When the actors sang, I felt like I was in a Holywood musical movie. Eliza(acted by Taryn Fiebig)'s singing was so good. She sounded like Julie Andrews and I personally think Taryn's singing was way better than the movie starring Audrey Hepburn.
On the other hand, Higgin(played by William McInnes)' acting was excellent but the singing level was a little disappointing. I do not want to be harsh on comment but I was hoping that he would have a better voice. On the way back from the show I rented My Fair lady and watched it again just to compare it with that day's show.

This is a clip taken form YouTube. It's quite well filmed and hope this is a legal trailer:

My fair lady Auckland

One thing I was worried about was the fact that Civic theater has so small stage. I remembered it because I used watch movies there about 10 years ago. But with surprise they made many many difference stages according to the scenes. They somehow managed to rotate the stages and I had no I idea how they did that! There were so many different stages.

A few words about Civic, it has always kept their original interior theme from long time ago. It sometime look Persian, sometimes look Egyptian and sometimes Moroccan. The lighting from the entrance was warm and inside the theater was dark but warm with Palace or castle looking rear interior.

My fair lady

The basic story begins with the main charactor Eliza Doolittle meets Professor Higgin at a street market. Eliza is a flower girl who is poor and uneducated. Her English is not the standard English. Professor Higgin and Eliza make a deal to make her speak standard English and teach manner so that even hierarchy people will think she is a hierarchy. The lesson was successful and eventually Professor Higgin and Eliza fall in love. It is a happy ending story. Here is a picture of Eliza and Higgin dancing from the pamphlet I purchased.

When I was inside the stage I remembered one of Charles's Monday lectures. That gentleman who worked on Stage lighting which extracts heat through a special material so there will be less heat to emitted to the stage or to the colour filters. And Civic had several of them!! Those Banana shaped ones! I was proud to be studying at AUT

My Fair Lady

On Sunday 12 April, 3.00p, the last performance of My Fair Lady was held. It was performed by an Austaralian team. Here are the pictures of the pamphlet of the show which I bought.

one more interesting works at OREX

Everyone has to die one they. Are we living or are we dying slowly. This picture depicts the fact, question with a bit of humour and sarcasm.

Evan Woodruffe That's life mate Charcoal on paper 420 x 300 mm

Park's other works

By looking at her work I found myself travelling back to my childhood. I remembered all the toys I used to play with but park's work were somewhat different from just memories of her childhood. They had one thing in common, being a little absurd. probably it was what people call surrealism?

Picnic
acrylic on canvas 102 x 122 cm



Pink Candy (detail)
acrylic on canvas 76 x 91 cm

OREX Gallery Joon-Hee Park

The opposite side of Daniel's works, there were Pictures drawn by a Korean Artist called Joon-Hee Park. I was not sure if it was intentionally arranged but her drawings were not hanging on the wall but on the ground. She had been living in NZ for 15 years. She was 29 years old.
When I was looking at this Lavender pond the gentleman a the reception came to and kindly explaind to me that the toys, which were alive in Parks paintings, stacked up on top of the girl's head , which is probably Park's self portrait, resembled thw weight of her child hood. Her childhood was probably happy with all her toys in the paitings but childhood is not only full of happiness. For an exambple her father's early death might have been a scar in her childhood.

Lavender Pond
acrylic on canvas 76 x 91 cm

Night driving scene

This was my favourite work by Daniel. It was what seemed like a view behind windshield of a car driving country road at night time. Seemed like the destination was unknown, probably loneliness when you drive at night. My mum used to live in New Plymouth so I often have to drive to there even alone at night time. This drawing reminded me of those days. The photo which I took was so blurry or had strong flash light so I used photo from the website.

Slip Road 2009 Oil on linen 121 x 182.5cm OREX Gallery
www.orexgallery.co.nz/artist_pages/Unverricht_09.htm

Daniel Unverricht

Exhibition: Kablastafuckt, Daniel Unverricht, 17 march - 9 April 2009
When I walked into this gallery called Oedipus Rex(OREX), I was a bit surprised to see serises Dark paintings. They were night scenes but not regular night scene paintings. They were paintings of country side town. The scenes were extremely dark, oil painted. The closed dairy shops, and a NZ police car indicated they were NZ scenes. What made these paintings drawn by Daniel is that there was not a single person in the painting. All the shops were closed, streets very dark, street lights barely showing the streets. The town looked like those deserted and abandoned towns we see in American movies. the artist's plaque said the title of exhibition, Kabalstafuckt, means an intoxicated person committing acts they cannot recall or as a way out when they feel trapped. The painting below is Destinesia 2009 on linen 91 x 182.5cm OREX gallery.

Oepious Rex Gallery Auckland

Stained glass ceiling

When I entered the museum, I saw this beautifully colour stained huge ceiling. It was so wonderful so that I spent about 5 minutes staring at it.
It symbolises all the British colonies in cluding NZ and Australia.

Holocaust

Thre was a room, I would say, dedicated to those Jewish people who suffered and killed in Holocaust. I took a long time reading the stories and seeing the photos. I did not have courage to take photos of them. I also found a Nazi flag in the war section. I know more horrible things the Nazis did to Jewish people than what I saw in that room.

Auckland in the past

There was a section where they actually made miniature version of old Auckland street scenes. I could actually see inside the shops through shop windows. They were very detailed and felt almost like I could go inside the shop and buy something. The size of the shops and the streets were slightly smaller than What I thought they would have been like in the past. I did not know why thet made them smaller. The section was like a movie set.

Ironman

When I used to live in Italy. Some fancy shops selling designer made things like furniture and lightings used to sell this Ironmans. I assumed that some European designer designed it. Even in NZ when I went to shopping malls I saw shops selling these. I thought they were imported from Europe. But you see this is a NZ designer's work! Although I was not born in NZ, I felt so proud.

Miniature stairs

It was made by a New Zealand architecturer. Just look at the amazing detail of the structure.

Lollies!

This is a very charming idea to glue lollies LOL and jellies to a transparent glass and form the back, using fluorescent lights.

Maori Meeting house

Amazingly detailed and well built! I wonder if these houses were used for religious reasons like ceremonies. Or just a place where people gather to discuss problems and plans to keep their towns.

European Settlement and Maori

Early settlement of English also influenced Maori's life style. By the looks of it, they started dress like Westerns and lived in Western style houses.

Kiwi Wrist Warmer

This rare wrist warmer is a total luxury. It was made of Kiwi feather!!!! The Kiwis are now in near extinction but maybe it was still legal to make kill the kiwis? I was very surprised when I read the explanation.

Maori Weapon

Someone once told me that Maoris were great warriors. The strongest amongst the Polynesian Islands. This very effective and strong looking weapon surely made the army strong. The white blade looking part was probably made of animal's bone or whale's tooth.

The Museum Map

The scanned visitor's guide map. There was a special event to view dinosaur. The museum looks small in the map but the museum is not small. Believe me you can spend one whole day to view everything in detail.

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Visited Sunday 22 March 2009
It's needless to say that Auckland War Memorial Museum is a must go place. I have not been here fot more than 10 years and many things have changed. It took me more than 2 hours to browse around this big museum. I would like to show some of the things which I found interesting.

References

Seed Gallery. (2009). The Little Artists ' Art Crazy Nation'. Auckland. Retrieved 4 April, 2009 from http://www.seedgallery.co.nz/content/d2a60a92-9139-43a1-9d0c-687a754ca875.html

Hirst’s Shark Tank

Hirst’s Shark Tank, 1994, Lego
Damien Hirst (b 1965) is one of the most successful British artists of all time. The artist and his work co-exist as a brand. Hirst’s Shark Tank is based on The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), a Tiger shark in a glass tank of formaldehyde representing the physical possibility of death immortalised. The first of their Lego works, The Little Artists made Hirst’s Shark Tank in 1994 whilst still at art school, using a shark from a Pirate Lego set.
Retrieved form Seed Gallery's website: http://www.seedgallery.co.nz/content/1066d8c5-d966-41ce-8dd0-81fe61090c01.html

I have also taken the tank from behind. It is surprising that Lego already had a shark figure.

Dalí’s Lobster Phone

Dalí’s Lobster Phone, 2006, Lego
Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) was one of the more flamboyant and well known Surrealist artists¹. Dalí’s Lobster Telephone (Aphrodisiac telephone) (1936), a functional telephone with a lobster as the ear piece, is an iconic Surrealist object. By juxtaposing disparate objects or images to make art that surprises the viewer, the Surrealists hoped to jolt people out of their view of the world and tap into the unconscious. The Little Artists discovered the lobster featured in this sculpture in a Lego Arctic set.
Retrieved from Seed gallery, Newmarket, Auckland's website

Warhol and Basquiat Presented

Warhol and Basquiat Presented, 2008, Digital Print
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was the first African American artist to gain international success as an artist. Warhol and Basquiat exhibited their collaborations in September 1985 in the exhibition Warhol-Basquiat Paintings at the Tony Shafrazi gallery in New York. In most of the works Warhol depicted corporate logos and newspaper headlines, to which Basquiat added menacing faces and figures.

Seed gallery, Newmarket, Auckland. Retrieved from
http://www.seedgallery.co.nz/content/c11d1e43-e366-4627-9015-bae0e4d491dc.html

Koon's Balls

Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank

1985

by Jeff Koons

retrieve from a webpage

Koons’ Balls, 2004, Lego
American contemporary artist and sculptor Jeff Koons (b 1955) pushes the boundaries of what is art and what is a commercial product. The artist is very aware of his public image, employing PR to represent him. Koons’ public persona is as recognisable as the art itself. His work has a double edge, commenting on art as a commodity while also participating as a commodity. Koons’ Balls is based on Two-Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Spalding Dr. J. Silver Series, Wilson Aggressor) (1985), part of a series of three ‘total equilibrium’ tanks, with one, two and three basketballs suspended in distilled water and sodium chloride. The state of equilibrium for the balls is temporary as they will deflate over a period of six months, gradually sinking to the bottom of the tank and needing to be re-inflated.

Seed Gallery, Newmarket, Auckland. Retrieved April 02, 2009 from

http://www.seedgallery.co.nz/content/914c6578-08c0-4840-90d8-02aed2697714.html


It's very interesting to see the Lego balls looking as if they are really floating.