Smokey City

“The Smokey City, “Hell with the Lid Off”-Pittsburgh at the height of industrialization went by many names that described the pollution that accompanied industrial prosperity. 

“Pittsburgh, 1927”, Elsie Driggs 1895-1992
Whitney Museum of American Art

Elsie Driggs spent her childhood in the smoke filled city of Pittsburgh, and the memory of it followed her through her adult years. Returning to Pittsburgh in 1927, Driggs viewed the steel mills below from her boardinghouse window. Driggs told herself, “This shouldn’t be beautiful, but it is.”

Winter

In art  and music, the  changing seasons have often been used as a metaphor for the journey through life. In  Carnegie Museum of Art’s recent exhibition “ the Art of Possibilities”, a survey of the works of artist Jasper Johns, a series of four etchings produced by the artist in 1987 serve as a reflection of Jasper’s life and career. Each print represents a season and includes the artists portrayal of himself as a shadow amid  a muddle of his belongings and works produced throughout his career.

Throughout his career, Johns has  re-created the American flag in various sizes, colors, and orientation, and the edge of one of these flags is visible at the bottom edge of the print. Simple furniture pieces appear in many of his works, and a wooden chair in the upper left reminds us of them. An arm rotates like the arm of a clock in the lower left, describing aging and the passage of time, but a playful drawing above it of a snowman lightens the mood. A grouping of circles and triangles line the lower edge,  referencing Jasper's interest in reducing forms in nature to basic geometric shapes. As the series of etchings  progress through the seasons, many of these items re-appear, brighter, light, and maybe more hopeful, as we work our way out of winter an into another spring.

It’s Going Around

The flu, that is. News broadcasts remind us to get our flu shot, while skeptics are fearful of potential consequences. The vaccine controversy isn’t new. One of the earliest vaccines for small pox was almost as terrifying as the disease itself.

James Gillray “The Cow Pock-or-the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation!”

1802. Hand colored etching,  Morgan Library and Museum 

The Morgan Library and Museum in New York houses over 1,000 prints by English caricaturist James Gillray (1756-1815). Caricature prints became a commercially successful form of political commentary during this turbulent period of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. 

This etching, entitled “ The Cow-Pock-or-the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation!” appeared in 1802 in the publication of the Anti-Vaccine Society. In 1798, English physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that infecting patients with cow pox immunized them from contracting the dreaded small pox. Opposition was immediate, with claims that the procedure was dangerous, unsanitary, and sacrilegious. Gillray makes fun of the public’s anxiety, depicting vaccinated individuals developing bovine characteristics, such as horns and snouts. 

Cheers!

Throughout the centuries, raising a glass of a special beverage  has been a popular way to celebrate life events. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recent exhibit “Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance” included three examples of  unusual vessels used for festivities in bygone eras.

 Drinking games have been popular at social gatherings throughout history. This earthenware puzzle bottle, from 16th-17th century France, required the drinker to decide which spout to drink from without being soaked by the others. Hilarious results entertained the tipsy participants as they passed it amongst themselves.

Called a “ Bottoms-Up Cup,” this example produced in Germany ca. 1550-70,  would have been used for a farewell toast to a departing traveler. Because they had no base and could not be set down, the contents were to be drunk in one gulp as the traveler departed on horseback.

Not all celebration cups were made of inexpensive ceramics created for the mass market. This cup in the shape of a shoe, produced in Germany in the late 16th century, was make from fine leather water-proofed with pitch or resin and trimmed in silver. Shoe cups were often associated with craft guilds and would have been passed from one member to another as they pledged their allegiance to the group.

Whatever your beverage of choice or container, “ Cheers!”

“Eye of newt and toe of frog...”

The three witches in Shakespeare’s MacBeth could have picked up most of the ingredients for their potions at Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s  Alcohol House. Constructed in 1907, the collection contains more than 250,000 preserved reptile and amphibian specimens.

Until recently, the facility has only been open to researchers, but, with a grant from the National Science Foundation, plans are underway to improve preservation of the collection and to make the space accessible to students and visitors. The study of the extinct or critically endangered specimens in the collection will be beneficial to researchers and students as they examine our changing environment.



For more fascinating photos of the Alcohol House and the work that’s
being  done there, visit the Alcohol House curatorial assistant Kaylin Martin’s
Instagram account:  queen of jars

Amani Lewis: Subjective Nature

Amani Lewis
Negroes  in the Trees#6 (AZN in da FLWRS), 2019

 Currently on view at the August Wilson African American Culture Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Amani Lewis: Subjective Nature, presents mixed media portraits of the artists friends and family.  Lewis’ goal is to show the humanity of members of the African American community, which often goes unnoticed. As a member of the artist collective, Clr’D ( pronounced “colored”) in Baltimore, Maryland, Lewis and his fellow artists create works that reference the daily struggles of their daily lives, and celebrate the beauty of people of color.

Amani Lewis
Negroes in the Trees#5 (self-portrait) 2019

In his series of works, “Negroes in the Trees”, Lewis combines digital  imagery, vibrant color, glitter, and swatches of fabric his subjects clothing to present the Black experience in contemporary society.

Amani Lewis: Subjective Nature will be on view at the August Wilson African American Culture Center through December 15, 2019.

A Passion For Pumpkins

Pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup-Americans have a passion for pumpkin. The humble gourd sparks our creativity in  art as well as gastronomy. Fall Pumpkin Festivals inspire our competitive spirit with prizes for the largest specimen or the most creatively decorated one, like this giant pumpkin boat from the 2018 festival along Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama shares our fascination with these colorful vegetables. At The Hirshorn Museum in Washington D.C. in 2017, Kusama’s installation, “All the Eternal Love I Have For Pumpkins”, featured over 60 pumpkin sculptures inside a tiny  13 foot square room. The exhibit was one of the Hirshorn’s most highly attended shows, and Kusama’s works consistently attract huge crowds. The Hirshorn also displays this oversized pumpkin, one of a series that can be seen across the globe, in it’s Sculpture  Garden.