Friday, March 31, 2017

Studio Sessions: Cameron Booth

Cameron Booth was one of the "grand old men" of Minnesota art, and one of the most prominent on the national scene. Here he is with a self-portrait from his younger days.


Thursday, March 30, 2017

Studio Sessions: Harriet Bart

In the 1970s, Harriet Bart was working in weaving and fiber arts. She has since moved on to a variety of sculptural and conceptual areas.







Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Studio Sessions: Hazel Belvo

Hazel Belvo working on a large painting in her studio at the Saint Paul Academy, where she was teaching at the time. If I remember correctly, the painting was intended for a patient lounge at the University of Minnesota Hospitals.


Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Studio Sessions: WARM

WARM (Women's Art Resources of Minnesota), a feminist art collective, opened a gallery in downtown Minneapolis in 1976. Here are two of the founders, Harriet Bart (l) and Hazel Belvo (r), on the steps of the gallery.


Monday, March 27, 2017

Studio Sessions: George Morrison

I'll be traveling for the next week or so, with uncertain ability to post photos. So I'm going way back into my archives, to the mid-1970s, when I embarked on a project to photograph artists in their studios in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. This project led to an exhibition at the Suzanne Kohn Gallery in 1976 and at the Minnesota Museum of American Art 37(!) years later in 2013. (A nice review of the latter show, by Mary Abbe in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, is here.)

I'll start with a photo of George Morrison working on a wood collage in his basement workshop. George, along with his wife Hazel Belvo, was a friend who got me started by introducing me to a wide circle of Twin Cities artists. He was also one of the country's premier Native American artists, featured along with Allen Houser in the two-person exhibition that opened the National Museum of the American Indian - Smithsonian Institution in 2004.


Sunday, March 26, 2017

Portland Pearl Photos: Signs and Street Scenes (Part 7)

We conclude with a couple of scenes that look not so pleasant. But the fellow in the top photograph sang me a tuneful song, and we had a good conversation.




Saturday, March 25, 2017

Portland Pearl Photos: Signs and Street Scenes (Part 6)

An anonymous person walking past a wall is a cliche of street photography, but in these cases I think that the person either serves to set the scale or to contrast with something on the wall.




Thursday, March 23, 2017

Portland Pearl Photos: Signs and Street Scenes (Part 4)

The Pearl District's history as a manufacturing and warehousing district shows up in austere exteriors like these.




Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Portland Pearl Photos: Signs and Street Scenes (Part 3)

Advertising signs featuring oversized portraits at street level are not quite intimidating, but close.




Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Monday, March 20, 2017

Portland Pearl Photos: Signs and Street Scenes (Part 1)

This is the last chapter of my "Portland Pearl Photos" project. Go to February 8, 2017 and work back from there to see the previous chapters.

Like all sizable cities, Portland, Oregon has interesting sights along its streets and sidewalks. This mural on the wall of a parking lot is one of the most striking I've seen. It was sketched in one day, and painted (with spray paint) the next.





Sunday, March 19, 2017

Street Scenes in North Kolkata

One of the most vivid, picturesque neighborhoods I've ever experienced.






















This concludes my photo journey through east India. Tomorrow I'll begin to finish my series on the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Potters' District of Kolkata

The potters of the Kumartuli district in north Kolkata make life-size sculptures for religious festivals.














Friday, March 17, 2017

Kolkata Jain Temple

There is a spectacularly ornate Jain Temple in the northern, more traditional part of Kolkata. The alley leading to the temple grounds is faced with equally spectacular bas reliefs of the trials and triumphs of Mahavira, the last Jain master.













Thursday, March 16, 2017

India Museum

The India Museum in central Kolkata holds many treasures from India's artistic history. Here is a small sample.




Panels from a large and exquisitely carved stupa





From the Textile Collection





From the Decorative Arts Collection




Wednesday, March 15, 2017