RM and Celebrity Art Collections

I am at a stage in my life when certain famous people die, ones that have been out of the spotlight, I have a reaction of, “Oh, they were still around…”  And many people younger than me have no idea who they were. In the other direction, sometimes famous people die, and it is the first time I knew they even existed. And in a world saturated with celebrity, it is not easy to keep up.

RM is alive and well, but if not for the hyped-up exhibit at the SFMOMA, I would have no idea who he was. I confess, Korean rap music just is not on my radar. But thanks to San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum I have been seeing great contemporary art out of South Korea for years. So, yes, I needed to get to the SFMOMA to see RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me.  

I have a certain cynicism to when it comes to billionaires and their art hordes, er, collections. I also am not enamored by every celebrity artist out there.  But in the world of entertainment, like us regular people, some celebrities have very good taste. I have seen memorable exhibits where stars like Steve Martin and Bette Midler have loaned their collections — and of course there is Cheech Marin, one of the United States most important art collectors.

RM has a solid collection of work, and the show has incorporated many complimentary pieces from the SFMOMA’s own collection.  The curation is done in this new format the SFMOMA is pursuing (including with their reinstalled Fisher Collection). Everything feels like art-in-a-retail-shop. Appropriately it feels like, dare I say, a Gap store.  But I put that aside, because I was there to see the art.

The RM exhibit is a huge draw, timed tickets and big crowds. You do not have to convince me to visit a museum, but I am okay with the SFMOMA’s hype. I want more people to go look at and enjoy art.  And sometimes it takes a big star to get people in the door to discover museums are for everyone.

Baltimore — Wow!

Last month was my first trip to Baltimore. It was a good time seeing friends and family, but I also wanted to get in a museum day. I always make time for museum visits when I travel, especially museums new to me. I am never disappointed. This trip I got to explore the Baltimore Museum of Art and The Walters Art Museum.

The Walters is a large, treasure trove of different eras, genres of art, history and objects. It continues into two attached historic homes. Exploring the museum is confusing and disorienting — and I loved that! It was like one of those dreams where you are in a strange house going up and down staircases from room to room, never getting to find your way back to where you started. Every room a new surprise. Fortunately, I did find my way back and it was a wonderful journey.

I began the day at the Baltimore Museum of Art — it’s incredible! The story starts with two remarkable sisters I had not heard of before —Claribel and Etta Cone. They began collecting art in Europe in 1898 and over the years acquired over 3,000 works of art which were eventually willed to the Baltimore Museum of Art. The Cone Sisters’ collection is the foundation of a truly world class museum. 

I wandered from one gallery to another and at every turn there was art that stopped me in my tracks. A Gustav Klimt forest scene like I had never seen, I turned around to spot a fantastic Chaim Soutine landscape. And there are plenty of new acquisitions to see as well. For example, the Asian Art section has added a strong painting by Hung Liu. And of course, so many Matisses that I lost count. Another treat was a special exhibit of Louis Fratino’s work juxtaposed with Matisse’s paintings and drawings. 

Just how good is the museum?  Imagine combining everything in San Francisco’s SFMOMA, de Young and Legion of Honor (except for the photography and California art collections). Now, I love my local museums, but all three put together are not even close to what I found at the Baltimore Museum of Art. It’s not a museum to visit if you are in Baltimore, it is a destination. And it is also the only museum where you will be greeted by a Rodin Thinker and then take a seat yourself in the John Waters Restroom! 

Can you print with rubber bands?

Yes! The trick is to wrap them around a little wooden block. I have been making rubber band prints since 2020.  Yesterday we had a demo and printmaking at the San Francisco Correspondence Coop. 

Photos courtesy Ryan Tamares

For a Red Library

 

So far, my bookcase collages have been shelves filled with books of many different colors. My latest art experiment is one where nearly all the books are different shades of red. Start small and see how it turns out, this one is just 10”x10”.

Can Mail Art Save a Language?

Wymysorys is a language with less than 100 speakers and classified as critically endangered by UNESCO. The language is spoken in Wilamowice where a group of locals are working to preserve it.  Wilamowice is a town with about 3,000 people in Southern Poland.  

Wymysorys belongs to the Germanic Language Family. But it is not German.  It is believed its origins come from Western Europe when a mix of Flemish and German speaking settlers moved east during the 13^thCentury. Wymysorys’s speakers are ethnically and culturally Polish. For centuries the speakers did not identify themselves as Germans. After World War II they were allowed to remain in Poland but the use of Wymysorys was officially discouraged.
 
My latest series of mail art preserves some Wymysorys vocabulary.  I have included words like brif (letter) mark (stamp), pöstkiöt (postcard) and briftröejer (mail carrier). This might be the first time the language has ever been used in mail art. But no, mail art cannot save a critically endangered language.

Stone and Water

On the way to Italy for a mail art call with the theme of Stone and Water. 

  A desert scene because in California our rivers run dry.

Rhapsody: Works from the Cooper Rosenwasser Collection

Pae White, Chocolate Mint

Visited the Berkeley Art Museum and had a look at the current exhibit Rhapsody: Works from the Cooper Rosenwasser. It is great news that these pieces are becoming part of the museum’s permanent collection — everyone will be able to enjoy them when they are exhibited for years to come.

There is a lot of outstanding work, and of course I really get excited when I see other artists doing art that is all about circles and grids. Jennifer Bartlett’s Binary Combinations was a favorite of mine.  Howardena Pindell’s piece is one of those things that makes me say, “I wish I had done that…”  Consider me inspired.  The current show is up through June 28, 2026. 

Jennifer Bartlett, Binary Combinations

Howardena Pindell, Untitled