Section LC21

Tuesday 11/3/09 I attended the Mercedes Matters Art Gallery.

Almost all of LC21 went to this workshop together.  We all conveniently went on the same day because Sophia suggested that we attend this workshop with her.  Surprisingly we were not the only ones who had the idea of going to this workshop.  We ended up waiting on a line for over an hour.   When it was our turn we filed in and signed the list and went on the tour.  The guide told us about the Artist who made all of these paintings and her stages of her career in the Arts.  Personally I was not very into this because I enjoy three dimensional arts than two dimensional such as sculptures, pottery, architecture, ect.  Plus the room was really warm so I got a little sleepy.  But it was what I expected so it was not unbearable.  After about 7 art classes in high school listening to this was a little repetitive.

So I went to the Mercedes Matter art gallery tour on Tuesday since it was one of the only art workshops at Baruch I believe. The lady that explained the paintings in the gallery seemed very interested in them because she probably had to repeat the same explanations over and over to other students. She mentioned how Mercedes’ paintings always had some sort of triangle shape in them. The tour lady also mentioned how art was very important for business since the ability to appreciate and talk about it is quite useful. Honestly, I thought some paintings looked like they were thrown together last minute  and some others looked like they took time. I wouldn’t be able to see the skill in each painting since I’m no artist. Overall, the gallery tour wasn’t all so bad. I forgot to mention that the waiting was worst part.

Well the Mercedes Matter, Arts at Baruch was interesting. It is held at 135 East 22nd ST on Nov 3rd from 1 pm to 2 pm. Well due to the amount of people that were there. Our section went in at like 2 pm and ended at like 2:25. The arts were interesting esp. the one that she showed us whent he artist drew it when she was 9 years old. Quite an achievement for an nine years old. Other than that, the painting were a bit like scribbish to me since I would have to be far away to distingush a object in the painting like a table and triangles. But other than that, the overall workshop was interesting.

The art gallery experience was pretty fun, since almost everyone in our LC went. Even though the wait was really long to get into the gallery tour which lasted only about 20 minutes, it wasn’t so bad because we could talk with people that we knew. Though there were times when we were “shushed.” As for the actual art gallery itself, it was pretty nice. I expected the gallery to be a little bigger, but I wasn’t aware that all of the painting were from one artist. I’d also like to mention that the artist has a really cool name, Mercedes Matter. I think the tour guide did a great job relating art to the business world, now I know that looking at art is a skill that can be used to suck up to the execs of big companies. The most important skill would prob be something like identifying the shapes, “Hey check out those triangles.” After the tour, it ended up being a little later than I expected, but out English professor is so nice she didn’t mind that the entire class was a little late. Overall, it was a fun learning experience.

Tue, November 3  (1pm – 2pm)

I chose to attend this gallery tour because I was curious about how the Arts at Baruch experience would be like. I had been to several art galleries during my time in Fiorello Laguardia High School and I enjoyed that experience very much.  In a way I wanted to compare the arts at Baruch and the arts at Laguardia. However, after the gallery tour at Baruch, I realized that it was a whole new experience that cannot be compared because it was with a different style, different environment and the works were so different from what I used to see at Laguardia.

The wait to get into the art exhibit at the Mishkin Gallery was long, but it was nice to chat with people in our class during the time. On the actual tour through the gallery, I felt that the tour would be more interesting and memorable if there were some historical background on each of the paintings. The speaker guided everyone through the works of Mercedes Matter in chronological order.  The painting that I can instantly recall is the big painting of the table top, only because the speaker kept on emphasizing the role of triangles to keep the objects on the table from falling off. As the tour moved into Mercedes Matter’s later works, I noticed that they were either watercolor or oil paintings, however I did not notice or recall if she had also used these in her earlier works. I also noticed that her paintings became more and more abstract. Even though I have a hard time understanding what her abstract works were representing… or abstract art in general, I liked that she used bold and contrasting colors in her oil paintings, I think it brings more texture into the painting as a whole and most of all draws attention instantly because of its boldness. For the most part, what I enjoyed most was that the gallery tour gave me a chance to escape from all that was happening outside of the gallery ( schoolwork, papers , exams, what to bring for the bake sale, and such). The gallery was quiet and peaceful, the lighting made me look at the art without being distracted by anything else. As I have said earlier, I do not have the skill to analyize abstract art, however, I would recommend this gallery for anyone who has that ability and enjoys looking at abstract art.

Today most of our LC class went to the art gallery in East 22nd street.  When we got there at one O’clock, we waited and waited and waited until 2:15, then we get to go in the gallery.  The painting were all painted by the same person called Mercedes Matter.  She lived through the second world war, and her paintings somewhat reflected that difficult time.  We looked at her painting as a nine year old, then when she was in school, then after World War II, then her late works of art.  I can see that most of her paintings were of still life and mostly about a table of fruits.  We saw how her paintings grew more and more abstract and diffcult to understand(well, for me).  The tour was around 15 minutes long and we have to rush to our english class afterward.