June | 2017 | Russell Brightwell

Chicken Little

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Tapio Wirkkala’s Pollo Vase, Rosenthal Studio Line, Germany 1970

Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985) was perhaps Finland’s most famous internationally known designer. He brought his optimistic minimialism to thousands of objects from banknotes to cutlery, from plastic to porcelain, for some of the world’s most sophisticated manufacturers.
Wirkkala worked with Rosenthal AG in Germany for decades beginning in 1956, producing 15 porcelain tableware services and over 200 different objects. He carefully considered the ergonomics of these utilitarian pieces and he also developed an etched porcelain finish that was pleasing to the eye and touch that would be known as “silk matte.”
The “Pollo” vase pictured, designed around 1970 is one of my favorite Wirkkala designs. Available in a variety of sizes, this, the smallest “chicken,” fits comfortably in my palm. Made in black or white porcelain, all share Wirkkala’s silk matte finish – they are wonderful objects to handle. Rows of raised dots eminate from the “neck” opening that sits to one end of the “body” of the bird-shaped vase. Its bottom is rounded, so it rocks gently back and forth – an animated little thing.

Not Your Old Bamboo

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Sun, 1980 by Tanabe Shōchiku III. Bamboo, rattan & lacquer

The newish (2012) Asia Society Texas Center is housed in Yoshio Taniguchi’s elegantly rendered building in the Museum District. Best known for his expansion and renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, for this his first free standing building in the U.S., Tanaguchi combined graceful design with stunningly beautiful stone, wood and glass. The building alone with it’s exquisite materials, amazing spaces and ethereal Watern Garden Terrace [complete with periodic spools of artificial fog] are well worth a visit, especially with some additional reading on the Center’s website about the building beforehand.

Another reason to stop by the Center is “Modern Twist: Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Art,” an exhibit of the work of 16 contemporary Japanese bamboo artists on display through July 30th. These skillful, soulful artists use ancient basket-making techniques to create modern, often surprising and playful works. Using humble bamboo – a type of grass rather than wood – rattan and lacquer, they have created forms that look like otherworldly pillows, sails, sets of armor, insects and water droplets. Some even resemble the baskets and flower vases from which they evolved – with a “twist.” The dark green walls and dramatic lighting of the exhibit accentuate the range of colors found in the works – from tan and brown to red and nearly black – and add drama to the sometimes alien shapes. It’s a joy to see and understand that these artists have repurposed utilitarian “making” traditions and their everyday materials to create objects for artistic expression. May this even newer tradition thrive for generations to come.

One Night Only

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Kevyn Aucoin transformed me into a 1950s Maria Callas-like siren.

One evening in 1994, I went to dinner with my then boyfriend Ken, my friend from Charavari, Donald Reuter [who by that time was working for Mr. Beene], and his boyfriend, the makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin. We went to see one of the Terminator movies, grabbed pizza and went on to Kevin’s amazing little 2-story house complete with front garden in the rear yard of a building on the edge of Soho/Little Italy. Kevyn asked if he could do my make up and I said yes, of course. Kevyn was already “famous” by pre-internet or social media standards and spent much of his working life with the likes of Naomi, Cindy, Whitney and Dolly. Though he would be remembered for his approach to individual, “natural” beauty, he was a master of transformational makeup, turning Isabella Rossalini into Baraba Streisand and Gwyneth Paltrow into James Dean among many others. So I was to be a mid-century Italian bombshell a la Maria Callas. Arched eyebrows, reshaped features, full lips and a beauty mark. Dark wig in place and the transformation was complete. I was still in the white t-shirt, jeans and boots I had been wearing that evening out. We admired his handiwork, Kevyn took polaroids and then he took it all off.

Due South

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Jeffrey Gibson’s I Put a Spell On You, 2015

I visited friends in Lexington, Kentucky this past week. We took a drive to Louisville to see, among other things, the fairly newly completed addition to the Speed Art Museum and the main exhibit there, “Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art.” It is billed as “the first contemporary art exhibition to question and explore in-depth the complex and contested space of the American South.” The works addressed “southern themes” – race, poverty, disparity, violence, disaster and decay among others. But it felt like stuff was missing. Big Southern stuff. At least to this gay, creative, white, mid-life Southerner. Themes like anti-intellectualism. The fascism of sports in southern culture. Souless, generic development with specious claims to “local.” Limiting/damaging ideas of masculinity and femininity. Lack of encouragement or even tolerance for true excentricity/individuality. Social conservatism. And hypocrisy. I loved Catherine Opie’s pictures of lesbian couples, but they didn’t say a lot about the sometimes fraught, often dangerous LGBTQ Southern experience.
I’m not sure if the show was good or bad, or successful or not. I was just looking for some of me in the show and it just wasn’t really there. Maybe something to look at creating myself?

A New Mood at Rice

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Rice University’s new Moody Center for the Arts

I was thrilled to meet Rice University Moody Center for the Arts’ Executive Director, Alison Weaver, and tour the facility a little over a week ago. Alison explained that The Moody’s mission is to foster connections across disciplines and to connect art with science, performance, community and more. And to go “beyond the hedges” to connect Rice University itself with Houston through the arts. [Another example of a mash-up or collaborative approach – seems to be part of the zeitgist these days.] The striking building was designed by Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan and includes areas for “making,” exhibitions, learning and performance. With the work of Olafur Eliasson, Thomas Struth, teamLab and Mona Hatoum already having been featured, The Moody is well on its way to becoming one of Houston’s premiere arts institutions.

June 2017

Chicken Little

Not Your Old Bamboo

One Night Only

Due South

A New Mood at Rice