8/23/2006

A Kick-Ass Painting...

For some reason my posts recently have focused on the arts. I wanted to take a second to talk about paintings. I don't know shit about paintings. I could give a fuck about brush strokes or use of color or any other criteria people use to critique art. I appreciate paintings on a purely visceral level. I look at them and either like them or don't. The one above, Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889, by James Ensor happens to be the one I like best (for now). I have spent a grand total of about four days in Los Angeles in my life. The one thing I did want to catch while I was there was the Getty Museum because of the architecture. This where I first saw this amazing piece of art. It's actually 14' wide by 8' tall. It's full of all kinds of strange characters with Jesus at the center. When I saw the artist, I recognized the name from the song "Meet James Ensor" by They Might Be Giants. A print of it now hangs in my living room.

6 comments:

vikkitikkitavi said...

Dude, I agree, this painting is really amazing. I stared at it for a long time the last time I was at the Getty. And it seems like the longer you look at it, the more stuff you notice about it.

BTW, I used to work at the Getty, although for one of their adjacent institutions, not the museum. They are freaks.

Frank Sirmarco said...

Try looking at it for five hours while tripping on mushrooms.

Yikes.

Cup said...

I also saw and fell in love with this painting at the Getty (isn't that a wonderful spot in the world?). And you're enjoying art the way it should be enjoyed -- from your gut, not from what you learned in school.

Some Guy said...

Vikki-Freaks? Is there a good story there?
Beth-I was very impressed with the complex. of course it doesnt hurt that the site has a million dollar view.

vikkitikkitavi said...

Every one wants to work for the Getty, and so they have these crazy job requirements. You have to have a Master's in some kind of art and speak a foreign language just to make freakin copies there. And so all the employees are very ARTISTIC and ECCENTRIC and EMOTIONAL.

Too much drama. No thanks.

Some Guy said...

Ugh. Sounds like a breeding ground for pretentiousness. I'd have little patience for that.