It's a girl.

Girl
Ron Mueck
2006

Pictured at National Gallery of Victoria - International Galleries is Ron Mueck's massive scultpure of a new born girl.
This was the first sculpture in the second room. The space was light and bright in contrast with the room that held "Dead Dad". The room with "Dead Dad" was dimly lit and solemn.
The mood in this room was uplifted and the audience were amazed at the size and attention to detail Mueck gave to his baby girl.
Photograph by mrsmatthews-artteacher.

Big Brushstroke

"Brushstroke"

Roy Lichtenstein

1996

Enlarged and fabricated 2002-03

Painted Aluminium

Hirshorn Museum

Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC

Created after Lichtensteins death "Brushstroke" stands in the forecourt of the Smithsonian Hirshshorn Museum in Washington DC. The massive painted aluminium sculpture captures the pop art style we have become accustomed to seeing from Lichtenstein, the unexpected element is that it is a sculpture.

You can see the scale of the artwork from the images taken by mrsmatthews-artteacher in August 2009.

The Hirshorn museum is a do-nut shaped gallery space that holds a remarkable collection of modern American visual arts, and is well worth visiting. The sculpture garden although small holds a collection of significant works.

Frank O Gehry - designer

Vitra, Weil am Heim - manufacturer

Wiggle side chair

1972

Manufactured 2003, cardboard

Low cost furniture that is strong and made from cardboard was the focus for Frank Gehry when he designed this chair.

This chair is part of a series of furniture designed by Gehry called "Easy Edges".

Cardboard has inherent strength and Gehry highlights this in his furniture design. The wiggle design emphasises the corrugated laminations of the cardboard material.

Gehry is best known for his design of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, where again he showcases his skills at utilising unusual materials.

Pictured in the background is an example of an Arne Jacobsen "Swan Chair". These chairs are on display at the National gallery of Victoria-International galleries.

Photograph by mrs matthews-artteacher.

Drapery at its finest.

Archaistic Kore
1st century BC- 1st century AD
Marble

This wonderful sculpture is part of an exhibition held at the National Gallery of Victoria titled "Drape: classical mode to contemporary dress". It represents a hellenistic female form in a tubular draped form of dress.

The exhibition, curated by Paola Di Trocchio, considers drapery in two ways- the clinging drape, as seen in the Kore and elevated drape popularised by crinolines and bustles.

"Clinging drape relies on direct interaction between body and cloth, as in classical sculpture; while elevated drape shows drape theatrically animated away from the body, such as the festooning of fabric over crinolines and bustles". NGV What's On p18 MAR-APR 10
To think the sublime form has been rendered in carving from marble is to realise the skills of the ancient artisans.
Photograph taken by mrsmatthews-artteacher.

The ghost who walks too?

Another example of the Wahgi people from the Western provinces of Papua New Guinea appropriating the Phantom comic book character onto a traditional tribal shield c.1970

This shield is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria-International Galleries.

Note the inclusion of the found metal car badge on the Phantoms' belt buckle.

Photograph taken by mrsmatthews-artteacher.

The ghost who walks.

Phantom Shield c. 1970

Wahgi People

Wahgi Valley

Western Highlands

Papua New Guinea

Synthethic polymer paint and enamel on wood

This is one of a collection of Phantom shields held by the National Gallery of Victoria-International Galleries.

This shield represents the crossing over of two cultures - 1970's comic book culture with traditional life in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

At the same time that Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were appropriating popular culture into large scale artworks, the Wahgi tribal people were appropriating comic book culture onto traditional tribal shields.

Did the Wahgi people know that this type of artisitic practice was occurring half-way across the world? I think not.

My thought is that the Wahgi people were celebrating a comic book icon in the best way they knew how - by painting on a tribal shield. And what a celebration it is.

Photo taken by mrsmatthews-artteacher.

Claes Oldenburg and Coose van Brugen
Typewriter Eraser Scale X 1999
Washington National Gallery of Art- Sculpture Garden
Painted Fibreglass and steel.
This oversize sculpture depicts a redundant object - a typewriter eraser. It is a curiousity of a bygone age.