I’ve seen some pretty unusual works of art in my life, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this: an entire wedding cake made out of pieces of a Claes Oldenburg sculpture.
I spotted this wonderful object while on a tour of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Beverly Hills, and admit it does look like an elaborate, slightly lumpy white wedding cake. Look closer though, and you can see the obvious seams. This isn’t one sculpture carved to look like a cake — it is a cake assembled from individual slices of one of Oldenburg’s most delightfully unconventional works, Wedding Souvenir, created in 1966.
In this glowing portrait, the American impressionist painter Lilla Cabot Perry (1848 – 1933) renders, in loose and expressive brush strokes, a fashionable young woman sipping a cup of tea. Initially trained in an academic style, Perry traveled to France in 1887, first to Paris and then to Giverny, where she forged the close friendship with Claude Monet. Her technical and aesthetic approach was further informed by three years in Japan, where she met Okakura Kakuzo (1863 – 1913), a cofounder of the imperial art school, who exhibited her work in Tokyo.
Photographed in the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA)
After an extended stay in Paris in 1900, Giacomo Balla (1871 – 1958) became increasingly interested in depicting the dynamism of modern life. The focus on motion, speed, and technology that characterize his subsequent work was central to the Futurist movement, whose tenets Italian poet, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti set forth in his 1909 Manifesto of Futurism.
Yinka Shonibare’s surreal and visually unforgettable sculpture Headless Man Trying to Drink (2005) brings together biting social commentary, clever visual humor, and a rich exploration of post-colonial identity — all in one absurdly tragicomic gesture.
Crafted from fiberglass and wood, with clothing made from the artist’s signature Dutch wax-printed cotton, the life-sized headless figure leans forward, mouthlessly attempting to drink from a stylized water pump and fountain made of polymer-gypsum. Of course, without a head, this feat is impossible — which is exactly the point. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Headless Man Trying to Drink By Yinka Shonibare→
If you’re looking for an art experience that takes you beyond the ordinary and into the cosmos, check out Josiah McElheny’s monumental installation Island Universe (2008). With its five colossal, chandelier-like sculptures that seem to float in space, Island Universe is visually dazzling, and it may look familiar to some New Yorkers. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Josiah McElheny’s Island Universe→
