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Cornelia H. Butler

    The Social Scene, The Ralph R. Parsons Foundation, Photography Collection
    Willem De Kooning, tracing the figure
    • Willem De Kooning, tracing the figure

      • 200 stron
      • 7 godzin czytania

      Willem de Kooning, a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, explored the human form with a skeptical view of Western beauty ideals, focusing on anatomical fragmentation and spatial ambiguity to capture the fleeting nature of individuality. This beautifully designed book accompanies an exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, showcasing de Kooning's drawings of the female form from 1940 to 1955. It highlights his struggle to blur the lines between drawing and painting while examining the relationship between figures and their backgrounds. Initially influenced by early-twentieth-century abstraction, de Kooning would redraw lines repeatedly until he achieved the desired image. From 1947-49, he began to merge abstraction with figuration, dismembering and rearranging figures in seemingly random ways. His evolving compositions transformed geometric shapes into architectural elements, creating ambiguous spaces. In 1951, he returned to depicting women with turbulent brushwork, turning them into monumental, distorted images that oscillate between flat patterns and rounded forms, evoking a sense of violent sensuality. His later works, while retaining familiar shapes and hues, present women as distorted figures, akin to views seen underwater. As critic Thomas Hess noted, "Woman, for de Kooning, is the human equivalent of water; more than a vessel, she embodies it in planes of rippling flesh."

      Willem De Kooning, tracing the figure2002
      4,2
    • The Social Scene, The Ralph R. Parsons Foundation, Photography Collection

      the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation photography collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

      • 168 stron
      • 6 godzin czytania

      A photograph can serve as as both witness and catalyst, art object and call to action. In this catalog of a pivotal exhibition of works from the Ralph R. Parsons Photography Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, photographs capture the heartbeat and mindset of America. Works by French photographer Brassai set the stage; the bulk of the exhibition features photographs by Robert Frank, Helen Levitt , Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand, among others. When many of these works were first shown, they were met with criticism and outrage, but today, we've accepted them as profound documents of our nation and era. Includes essays by exhibition curator Cornelia H. Butler, as well as Max Kozloff, A.D. Coleman, Liz Kotz and Emily Aer. 9 ¼ x 11 ½ inches, 125 duotone & 11 color reproductions, Exhibition Catalog.

      The Social Scene, The Ralph R. Parsons Foundation, Photography Collection2000