Giverny, Giverny, Giverny…you can certainly hold your own: Giverny 2013 Residency, Part 1

By Shannon Kenny (MFA 2013)

August 10th, I arrived in Paris to meet with the Chilean women of the group, Alonsa and Daniela. We succumbed to the forces of the infamous Sennelier Store, almost in tears as we left, not because we were sad, but because we were persuaded by our worse judgment to buy way more supplies than necessary.

 

Then, as the weekend was over, we boarded a train to Vernon, a neighboring town just outside of Giverny. As we stepped off the train, we were surprised to find that the other Academy students had been riding along in the same train. This was the first inclining as to just how small Giverny was.

As we walked the platform, we were greeted by two lovely women who ran the program at the Terra Foundation. They then took us to Giverny: the town that encompasses Claude Monet’s house, his private gardens, the Impressionist Museum, and an overabundant supply of beauty. Have you ever heard the saying, “when everything is beautiful, nothing is beautiful”? That’s how some of the residents began to feel. Immersed in Giverny’s encompassing beauty, everything began to mesh together.

 

 

Several after-hour trips to Monet’s gardens gave us an insight into Monet’s painting practice. He created his oasis in Giverny, and over the past two weeks, we got to experience a small part of that dream. We even befriended the head gardener, whose responsibility is to maintain what Monet created over a century ago. He even joined in on the painting while Daniela gave him an unofficial private lesson.

 

 

 

It’s funny, going to Giverny, the eight residents felt the historical burden of all the world-renowned paintings that were born there and the numerous painters who have worked there over the decades. Thus, we all felt that we should give plein air painting the good ole’ try. After being immensely frustrated, many of us realized that we didn’t have to paint like Monet because we were in Giverny. What we needed to do was let that environment influence the work that we already did—let it inject itself into the work that is ours and ours alone.

 

 

Once that pressure melted from our shoulders, the work began to explode, and with only two weeks, we definitely broke some boundaries within our painting practices. For me, in particular, I felt like I went off the deep end, but in a good way. I would begin paintings from life or sketches done in the garden, and then I would let my imagination take over and empower my hand.

 

 

Who knows if what I created is ever going to see the light of day, but my time there helped me to loosen up and really dive into my painting practice. After graduating, and two years at the Academy, you find yourself wondering…what now? I think Giverny gave me a clearer idea as to where I want my work to go, and for that I am ever grateful.

 

 

That place is magical; it’s a painter’s oasis, and if you ever have the chance to experience its wonder, don’t let that opportunity slip from your hands.

Giverny allowed us to create art and art alone. It gave us the freedom to do what we love without the worry and burden of everyday life. Its culture, its beauty, and its charm have changed the way we see. I have also left with friendships that are much stronger than when we first stepped off that train.

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On August 12, 2013, eight Academy students arrived in Giverny, France, to start a two-week residency hosted by the Terra Foundation forAmerican Art-Europe.  Jessica Benjamin (MFA 2014), Adam Cross (MFA 2014), Alonsa Guevara (MFA 2014), William Logan (MFA 2014), Shannon Kenny (MFA 2013), Daniela Kovacic Muzio (MFA 2013), Kerry Thompson (MFA 2014), and Stephen Vollo (MFA 2014) will share their experience while in Giverny!

Coming to an end…a short but sweet look at the week: Leipzig Residency - Part 6

By Krista Smith (MFA 2014)

The past couple of weeks here have flown by. Between painting, panting in our stifling rooms, and making quick escapes to the lake, we managed to put together a great end of summer show. We all crawled out of our studios to help clean and hang the work alongside Kristina and Mareika (interns of LIA) without any air-conditioning in a room I have now re-named “the easy bake oven”.

Tim is a master mopper, you should see his happy wiggle dance while he does this

One of the few precious fans that help relieve us

Alicia setting up her studio

Kristina curating the show

 

Cold beer and salad break with Barbara

Last minute touch ups

Shoeless Tim

After the set up, all of the artists from LIA headed for dinner with Anna where she described to us her first experiences in Leipzig here at the Spinnerei and how she came to start the LIA program.  Following this we opened our doors to start the show at seven o’clock where Anna caught us off guard with the amount of patrons who showed up and turned the spotlight on us to say a few words about our work.

Anna speaking about Kevin’s portrait of Tim

Alicia speaking about the differences in hair culture in Jamaica compared to Germany

Pretty much the theme of our time spent here

LIA guests

Our girl Hannah, she was the intern here last year

Prost!

See you on the other side very soon!

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On May 31, four Academy students arrived in Leipzig, Germany, to start a two-month residency hosted by the Leipzig International Art Programme. Alicia Brown, Tim Buckley, Krista Smith and Shangkai (Kevin) Yu (all members of the class of 2014) will share their experiences here throughout the summer!

Cospudener & The Bauhaus: Leipzig Residency, Part 5

By  Shangkai (Kevin) Yu (MFA 2014)

It is my feeling that it would be important to make a post that reflects our time here accurately. Beer drinking, sausage eating, lake swimming, grass and beach napping, museum visiting, and painting are our life in Leipzig.

Before going on to the museums and general art talk, here are two pictures that sum up our leisure time:

Tim sleeping on the grass at Cospudener Lake

View of the canal on our bike ride home from the lake.

In the past two weeks, the two most memorable things for me were the visits to Das Bauhaus in Dessau and the Museum der bildenden KünsteLeipzig.

I am going to dispense with the description of the Bauhaus architecture we saw in Dessau, and just have the following three photos sum up our visual experience there. 

The entrance to Bauhaus in Dessau, designed by WalterGropius.

Another view of the Bauhaus building.

One of the Masters’ Houses built for the instructors, which include Walter Gropius, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.

The highlight of the day at Bauhaus for me was not really the architecture that seemed all too familiar to us by now, but the original documents of the institution on display in the exhibition space. 

Among them was Walter Gropius’s “Lehrschema, 1922” (instructive schematic):

This is the original German version of the Lehrschema

Here is the English version of the schematic.

Having been to two different towns outside of Leipzig for art sightseeing, Tim and I finally, in the third quarter of our stay here, went to see our local Musem der bildenden Künste Leipzig. 

A sculpture by Neo Rauch in the Musem der bildenden Künste Leipzig.

The gem of the day at the museum for me had to be one of Werner Tübke’s paintings “Chilenisches Requiem.”

“Chilenisches Requiem” by Werner Tübke

The surface of the painting took me by surprise. Tübke chose to describe most things in this painting with the exact same technique. Viewing the painting at an arm’s length, this decision creates a strange effect, where the flesh transitions seamlessly into the garment, the pebbles into flesh, and the mountain range into the tree trunk. Everything in the painting seems be frozen.
 

A detail shot of the painting, taken by Tim Buckley

Both Tim and I had difficulties deciphering the technique Tübke used in this piece. The scintillating texture on the forms seems at once strangely familiar and foreign to me. By chance I spotted the texture of the orange rind in a Dutch still life painting, and found the likely source of this peculiar form description in Tübke’s painting. 

There are only eight days left till our final show here at LIA. We have decided to buckle down in our studios for the time being, and hopefully we would be able to channel some of the inspirations we got from seeing the many incredible paintings in the museums.

On May 31, four Academy students arrived in Leipzig, Germany, to start a two-month residency hosted by the Leipzig International Art Programme. Alicia Brown, Tim Buckley, Krista Smith and Shangkai (Kevin) Yu (all members of the class of 2014) will share their experiences here throughout the summer!

Ancient Artifacts, Temple Ruins and 248 Stairs: Mexico City Residency, Part 2

By Garrett Cook (MFA 2014)

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks since my last update. Two weeks ago I misstepped and sprained my foot, rendering me unable to walk for a couple days. It’s certainly a little frightening suddenly finding yourself immobile in a foreign country where you barely speak the language! Thanks to Motrin, bandage wraps and ice, I was up walking again in a few short days. Plus, the down time afforded me some extra time to work on my paintings.

  
A quick bike ride down to Chapultepec Park last week revealed a vast cornucopia of museums and sites, most notably the world famous Anthropology Museum. I can honestly say this is one of the most impressive museums I’ve visited. Focusing primarily on Mesoamerican history, the museum's sheer size and number of artifacts is awe-inspiring. The layout is extremely well thought out, with exhibition halls dedicated to each major tribe and geographic area. The museum has everything from small trinkets to temple ruins--truly extraordinary.

The expansive courtyard of the museum

Across the main road that runs through the park is the Museum of Modern Art. It is a small museum, but the collection is formidable, and it is curated flawlessly.

work by Martha Pacheco

Seeing this work in person was a real treat.

  

Outside is a wonderful sculpture garden.

Inspired by my experience at the Anthropology Museum, I took the hour-long bus trip north of the city to Teotihuacan to visit the ancient city and temples. 

The Temple of the Sun

Treacherous steps

I was immediately blown away by the sheer size of the site. Constructed 2,400 years ago, the site was home to over 125,000! I know that there has been construction over the years to keep the site open for visitors, but it seems to have been preserved marvelously all this time. The main attractions here are the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon. The 248 steps to the top of the Temple of the Sun were treacherous at best, but the end result was totally worth it. Here I am at the top:

My diet has remained a steady rotation of tacos and tortas. While I will say I’m looking forward to a slice of New York City pizza in a couple of days, I’m going to miss the amazing street food here. It’s the best combination of delicious and cheap.   

This has truly been an incredible trip. Traveling alone is such a unique experience, and I’m grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to do so for an entire month. I truly hope I will be able to return to Mexico City in due time, as it is an incredibly stimulating city.

On May 31, Garrett Cook (MFA 2014) arrived in Mexico City for a one month residency made possible by Stephen Henderson and James LaForce. This is one of two posts written by Garrett about his experiences there.