WHITE GHOST IN TINTYPE

 

Yoshitomo Nara”s White Ghost, https://citygardenstl.org/art/yoshitomo-nara/, needs a background note, which I think is a problem with some contemporary art. Your experience when confronting the piece is essential, of course, but there may be layers of meaning that require more information. Nara’s work often represents children or dogs, or, as here, something of a blend. The note on the Citygarden website linked above, if it is accurate, expects too much from the viewer.

Hope to get much more color and excitement in the next few days. This weekend is the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, https://greatforestparkballoonrace.com/. Tonight is the balloon glow. At dusk, the balloons stay tethered but periodically blast up with flame. creating an otherworldly experience. It’s going to be packed but my granddaughter and I will give it a shot.                 

BUSINESS CASUAL IN TINTYPE

 

Just the thing for a St. Louis man to wear to a late summer social event. But it makes me think of the words of a certain native St. Louis writer: We are the hollow men/ We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw. 

Austrian sculpture Edwin Wurm’s Big Suit, https://citygardenstl.org/art/erwin-wurm/#, asks a lot of questions. I like art that pokes you hard. Many people walk past something like this and think it looks weird/cool/stupid/baffling, and keep on going. I’d rather stop and wonder about what’s going on.                         

SAINT LOUIS SCULPTURE IN TINTYPE - PINOCCHIO

 

These images seem like they come from another time, which I guess is the point. Still in Citygarden, Jim Dine’s Big White Gloves shows Pinocchio exultant, although I’m not sure why. He seems to be some way from his goal of becoming a real boy.

There was an article in the local newspaper yesterday about prominent public sculpture in our town. I know some but not all. Lots of ideas.                    

SAINT LOUIS SCULPTURE: A TINTYPE SERIES

 

When I did my New York street photography program in May, everybody was experimenting with a camera app for iPhones called TinType, https://hipstamatic.app/app/tintype. It is Inspired by daguerreotypes, tintypes, and other photographic processes from over a hundred years ago. We got some pretty cool results.  Since St. Louis has lots of outdoor sculpture and I have nothing better to do, I decided to use it for a series. Other than the Arch, this is our emblematic sculpture, the Apotheosis of St. Louis, standing in front of the art museum.                

MADELEINE MONDAY

At the Cardinals baseball game. She calls these things stuffies and - I can’t be sure - she may have over a hundred. The big one in the middle is the Cardinals’ mascot, known as Fredbird. The one on her right was the give-away at the game. The one on her left was made by one of the nurses when her mother was hospitalized last year.              

HEY, MISTER, TAKE OUR PICTURE!

 

An old guy walking around with a big camera can get people’s attention. Passers-by sometimes engage me. The most common question is “get any good ones today?” Most common answer, said in a pleasant tone: Ï’ll know when I download them.”  Rarer but much more fun question is “hey, mister, wanna take our picture?” The answer is always yes. I offer to send them a copy and give them my card. Hardly anyone contacts me.

I met these young people in Citygarden, our wonderful downtown sculpture park. The picture was originally in color, of course, but the light was hazy-bright-harsh and my Photoshop skills were not up to fixing it. Still, you can often get a good monochrome conversion.              

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

 

I don’t have much interest in sports. The violence and exploitation of American football horrify me. But I do have a soft spot for baseball. It’s what I grew up with, when a kid could get a cheap seat at Yankee Stadium on the day of the game for what was in a kid’s pocket. Now I support the St Louis Cardinals. They are having a mediocre year, after a terrible one last season. We rarely attend.

But we got tickets for last Sunday. They had a promotion giving kids a free Cardinals teddy bear. My granddaughter, Ellie, who has the largest collection of stuffed animals and things (a stuffed cup of bubble tea!) in Missouri coveted another one. The Cardinals got smacked around but the day was beautiful.

I said I’m not much for sports but we’ve been to two first division soccer/football matches in Buenos Aires, and that was a lot of fun.               

HEROES AND VILLIANS

 

So much of the wall art I see at Paint Louis and other places looks like Marvel comic books on steroids. (But, um, I’m getting some in my spine later today. It has its uses.) Being old and not ever being a comic book reader (unless you count Mad Magazine), I don’t get the ethos. What are the artists trying to express or communicate? Inquiring minds want to know.             

THE BIG GUY

 

I’ve never seen anyone use a stencil before at Paint Louis but it makes sense. It’s been hard for me (knowing nothing about the techniques) to understand how the artists get the small details right. The colorful arcs emphasize the big chest and belly, as does the pose with hands behind the back. I particularly like the top of the head scattering into crazy energy mist.           

UP AGAINST THE WALL

 

Missed yesterday’s post. Today is two weeks post-op and things haven’t gone as smoothly as I would have like. A little harder to get out on the street.

So back to Paint Louis. This picture gives some overview of how the process works, albeit just a short selection. The whole thing runs about two miles or 3 kilometers. It becomes a linear art gallery.                  

ARTISTS FIRST

 

Some noble thoughts in this Kieth Haring-ish mural. But maybe it’s better to start at the base of the pyramid, focusing on food, shelter and health care.                

PSSST, HEY MISTER! WANNA BUY SOME ART?

Like the paintings on the flood wall and wish you could have some on the wall of your living room? Not for me. Most of it would haunt my dreams. Someone must be interested but I didn’t see a lot of product moving.                

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

 

Is anyone out there old enough to at least know of the once-popular radio drama, The Shadow? https://www.oldradioworld.com/shows/The_Shadow.php The intro was always "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” I pride myself on loose associations, and that was what immediately came to mind when I photographed this section of the Paint Louis wall.                     

MENTAL HYGIENE

 

Some of the wall art at Paint Louis is pleasant fantasy, some political, some social commentary, but to me a lot of it is deeply disturbing. Sure, I’m in my 70s (okay, boomer) and would not understand lots of what’s happening to younger people. Nevertheless, much of the work communicates - to me - a dark, distorted, even apocalyptic world. It is so skillfully executed, but what motivates it? Some of it reminds me of the well-known English artist, Francis Bacon, https://www.francis-bacon.com/paintings, whose images curl my toes and make me look away. 

Other than that, have a nice day. 😃                

LAST CHANCE SALOON

There were many vendor’s tents at Paint Louis. A variety of merch, food and drink, but none so bluntly displayed as this. I recognized the address on the back of the tent as the former location of a notorious biker bar. I didn’t think biker bars ever went out of business, except maybe by arson.              

QUALITY CONTROL

 

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Of course, the taste of that eye is shaped by culture and experience. I get some of the esthetic of the wall painters on a visceral level but there is plenty that puzzles me. My parents didn’t get the Rolling Stones, either.                       

EVERYBODY PAINTS

 

I’ve never gone to the earliest phase of Paint Louis. The artists must start with a plan, perhaps on a grid, to transfer their designs onto a large section of wall. There is also a puzzle (to me) about the enormous scripts that all follow a similar style (to my eye) and look much alike. What do I know. I’m old.  

We wanted to go to the big Japanese festival at our botanical garden yesterday and got tickets in advance. When we arrived around 11 all of the remote parking lots were full. Literally nowhere to put your car, so we left. Big disappointment, photo ops missed.              

PAINT LOUIS 2024

 

Labor Day weekend around here brings the return of Paint Louis, the annual event in which a 2+ miles stretch of the Mississippi River floodwall is turned over to graffiti artists from around the world. You may or may not like the style but this takes a lot of skill and effort. The work may not be art school standard but you can’t pull this off easily. And imagine the expense for all that paint, equipment rental and transportation. More to come.                               

CITY DAILY PHOTO SEPTEMBER THEME - BRIDGES

 

CDP’s September monthly theme is bridges. Given the rivers around here, we have plenty. This was taken at the dedication of the newest one across the Mississippi, the awkwardly named Stan Musial - Veterans Memorial Bridge. (Stan Musial was, by acclamation, the greatest player in the history of our baseball team.) Simple is good. Crossings from other City Daily Photo members around the  world can be found here.

I was more creative about theme days when I was younger. CDP had bridges as a theme 14 years ago. This is what I posted,