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We’ve all known someone who had one significant accomplishment, and then on the basis of that one achievement they enjoyed notoriety and reputation based on that one achievement, though they never managed to come close to achieving anything on that scale again, right? Yes, I’m talking about the Ides of March. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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We were at the Burchfield Penney Art Center yesterday. This lovely museum, smaller than the AKG and dedicated to Western New York artists, is always a delight to visit. Art museums have become my favorite places to visit. What an interesting development…I always had a hard time with the visual arts until recently. I have some thoughts on this, but they are forthcoming…. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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And now, a Sequence. Increasing detail from Fjall, by Anna Boberg (1864-1935). This painting was recently on display at the Buffalo AKG. I found its depiction fascinating by the way more detail is revealed with each step you take toward it. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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From the Buffalo AKG, a painting Picasso titled “La Toilette”. Here’s the entire painting: Larger version here. Of course, the title of this post comes from the famous (infamous?) exchange from the movie Titanic: CAL: [scoffing as Rose’s paintings are unpacked] God, not those finger paintings again. They certainly were a waste of money. ROSE: The difference between Cal’s taste in art and mine is that I have some. They’re fascinating. It’s like being inside a dream or something. There’s truth but no logic. TRACY (a servant): What’s the artist’s name? ROSE: Something Picasso. CAL: [scoffs again]  Something Picasso? He won’tDown the rabbit hole….

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Last week I shared a work of art titled “Self portrait”, from the Burchfield Penney Gallery. Here’s a different “Self portrait”, this one by the great Marisol, from the Buffalo AKG: The information placard for this piece read thusly: This was the first of many self-portraits by Marisol that are paradoxically both multiplied and fragmentary. Although a “self-portrait”, the sculpture is composed of seven dramatically different heads atop a single wood-block body. They are accompanied by an assortment of other body parts: six carved legs, a single pair of breasts and, at the back, five pairs of variously cast, drawn,Down the rabbit hole….

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Across the street from the Buffalo AKG Museum stands the Burchfield Penney Art Center. This is a museum dedicated to the works of Charles Burchfield and the WNY art community in general. We finally visited this lovely museum for the first time several weeks ago. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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The Buffalo AKG Museum right now has an exhibit dedicated to “Op Art”. The museum describes the exhibit thusly: In the 1960s, electronic media began reformatting the nature of images and how we see. Unlike static paintings or sculptures, video and digital images are dynamic and interactive, made of abstract patterns of information that are manipulated, stored, and shared as electronic signals or numerical bits of data. At the very same moment, an emerging movement called “Op” (short for “Optical”) took art and popular culture by storm. Op artists use abstract patterns to create optical illusions that are dynamic andDown the rabbit hole….