Every once in a while we take a break and look at some art.
There's a lovely article about David Hockney in this month's Smithsonian. Hockney was voted by Blue Gal's mother (a fine portrait artist in her own right) as the artist she would most like to have lunch with. Easy to see why...he'd make a great blogger too--he's interested in so many things. We could all learn to live like that.
His portrait exhibit is currently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and you can see some samples for free from your laptop here.
One of Hockney's more famous paintings, A Bigger Splash, is at the Tate Gallery in London. In honor of Hockney, I present my Tate song, that I wrote during long hours of overnight baby rocking a few years ago:
The Tate Song, my own work. Do not copy, link to it. It's mine.
We went to the Tate,
And we thought it was great,
But we were irate,
Because we had to wait.
The guards at the Tate
Unlocked the gate
At a quarter to 8
And said that being irate
Is an American trait.
We went to the Tate,
And we thought it was great,
But even though it's great
They have some paintings that we hate.
We made a list for Nate
(The curator of the Tate)
And said, "Ship these air-freight
To the country of Kuwait."
That "didn't work" for Nate
Who said an IQ of 28
Is an American trait.
We went to the Tate,
And we thought it was great,
But it was getting late
So that's where we ate.
We asked the waitress at the Tate
Whose name was Cate,
If she had a "blue plate"
For a dollar ninety eight,
And she said being a cheapskate
Is an American trait.
We went to the Tate,
And we though it was great,
So if you ask us on a date,
We'll say, "Let's go to the Tate!"
Because we think the Tate
Is great.
The tragic thing about your "poem" *ahem* is that during my time in the UAB creative writing department, I had to read pieces such as that passed off as art.
ReplyDeleteTough to provide constructive criticism.
I think you need to make a snarky post on your next Art and Chaos Day in which you lambast psuedo-intellectual writing styles.
i love his paintings and portraits because they are vibrant and alive with color! they just jump out at you in the middle of the mundane- and they aren't too busy. go hockney! speaking from an artistic very, very lightweight of course.
ReplyDeleteI love it. Love-love-love it, because it is just perfect for its purpose, which is singing kids to sleep while allowing the adult mind to stay alert (not to say, alive).
ReplyDeleteKudos on the double achievement... ...raising kids has got to be the hardest thing humans do.
What Shunra said.
ReplyDeleteSomebody, not me, sould write a PhD dissertation on what passes for psuedo-intellectual. Three kids later that term has been lost with the brain cells.
Yeah, betmo, Hockney has figured out color and light and water. I think coming from comparatively grey England to California and having that artist's eye he sees everything drenched in sun in a way many of us cannot.