artist lecture response- Deliliah Montoya

Delilah Montoya showed us a virtual tour of her show Chicana bad girls, which was a collection of 18 different artists, somehow showing empowerment and courage in women. She had hoped to inspire and show people the strength of Chicana women, and their true “bad girl” side. She wanted people to see that being a bad girl wasn’t necessarily a negative thing. It was a way of empowering ones self, and standing up for yourself and what you believe it.

The only piece of work that I clearly remember was the very first piece she showed us of an interpretive dance around tree of life. The costumes of the dancers resembled Adam and Eve. I wish I would have been able to see the actual dance, it seemed very provocative, but respectable at the same time, and ended with the forbidden fruit being eaten.

There was one artist that stood out to me by Paula Lopez. She was a colorist who never went to art school. I thought it was inspiring that she became a famous artist without any schooling. She opened her own art store, and would become familiar with the supplies on her own, and would then ask customers who were also artists. There was one picture where she was remembering a time as a child. Her teacher would always criticize her work and tell her to paint in another color other than red. But she refused to do so and still became a famous artist. A lot of her work stood out to me because of the bright vibrant colors that she used, it was hard not to look at it, and see the way she mixed colors and contrasted them. I also really liked the one artist who paid her way through school by stripping, who mixed self portraits with cartoons.

I was honestly dreading going to one of these talks so I had to go to hers because it was the last one, and unfortunately I procrastinated. I thought this talk would be pretty interesting. It’s always good to see women photographers who have made a name for themselves. But going in I was expecting to see some of her work. I’m not a very “artsy” person, but I enjoy looking at photographs because it’s something I like doing, and being in photography this semester I could have connected with some of her work. Needless to say I was a little bit disappointed in the fact that I didn’t get to see any of her work. I really didn’t like any of the other work that she showed, but I feel like if it were presented better I would have taken more of an interest in it. I wish she would have thrown some of her own work into the mix as well.

War Photographer

Overall, War Photographer is a really well-made and extremely provocative look at James Nachtwey's life as a photojournalist. Christian Frei's decisions concerning camera placement--especially mounted onto Nachtwey's camera--really puts the audience into Nachtwey's eyes as he documents the horrors of war. The fact that the film documents Nachtwey's documentation is an interesting sort of meta-documentation that reminds me of Ken Josephson's photograph of a photograph.

Something that did trouble me about the film's production is how long the film takes to tell the audience that Nachtwey actually has the permission of his subjects before he photographs them. In the scenes before that, these horribly downtrodden people are crying and often staring straight into the camera. Without knowledge that Nachtwey has their permission, I thought he was an unimaginable asshole getting in grieving people's faces. That's probably intentional, but I didn't care for that.

Other than that, the film is filled with memorable images, especially the family living on the gravel between train tracks. I'll never forget how little disturbed they are by the trains speeding past them as they eat and go about their day.

Art Event: SMP presentations (round 1)

Apparently I keep forgetting to do this, so here it is... at the last possible minute!

About two weeks ago, I went to the Studio Art SMP presentations, put on by Mike Benjamin, Sarah Kramer, and Anne Rowan. I was incredibly inspired by all three of the presenters. They are truly amazing artists and presented their art in interesting and engaging ways.

Mike Benjamin is a close friend of mine, so I knew a bit about his work before the presentation. I especially loved hearing about the details of the project. It's clear how much time and effort he's put into this proposal, and I truly hope he finds success! I thought it was especially great how interactive and informal his presentation was. He engaged with the audience and really encouraged people to speak their minds. I also loved his writing in the little "pamphlet."

Sarah Kramer's work really caught my eye. I loved how "real" she was throughout her presentation. I felt that she was very straight-forward and honest with the audience about her work and what it means to her. Rather than coming up with extravagant (and maybe BS) explanations for why her art looks the way it does and what it means to her, Sarah stayed true to herself and explained that her artwork was a process of self-discovery, of sorts, and she's still trying to make sense of it all. I think that is often what art is about for people, and I'm glad that Sarah presented her work in that manner.

Anne Rowan's work is just beautiful. I was especially drawn to her artwork after being introduced to photography this semester. I have always been fond of clear, sharp, close up images just like she creates. I was really inspired by her entire presentation... from the artists and philosophers that inspire her work, to the reason she photographs the things she does. I especially liked the Buddhist saying about how all things are really one (or something along those lines). Anyway, I thought her presentation was great and I really love her photographs.

All in all, I'm really glad that I went to these Art SMP presentations. I've always been curious about Art SMPs, and this is the first year I've had the chance to see my fellow classmates' work. It was a great experience!