 |
| Kiki Smith |
Kiki Smith. We were recently reminded that Marina Warner spoke of another interesting artist near the end of her talk. (If you haven't read the previous post already, scroll down to it or open separately, as this one makes more sense in context.) She saw Kiki Smith as a feminist artist reclaiming the concept of "witch" with more positive images.
I think the one of her Shewolf on the right is a rather gruesome portrayal of the offspring of the wolf and the girl. Couldn't she have been just as hairy, but more beautiful? The one below left, Rapture, is indeed gorgeous, however. Though I'm sorry the wolf is so very finally dead: Alice and I really like wolves, or the idea of them, at least.
I know I keep reminding you, but do please click on the images to see them larger, or open in a new tab for full size.The illustration below right here, Born, is Kiki Smith's print on a cover for the poetry book Woods Wolf Girl by Cornelia Hoogland.
"The recurrent subject matter in Smith’s work has been the body as a receptacle for knowledge, belief, and storytelling." is from PBS - art21.
It continues: Life,
death, and resurrection are thematic signposts in many of Smith’s
installations and sculptures. In several of her pieces ... Smith takes
as her inspiration the life of St. Genevieve
... Portrayed communing with a wolf, taking shelter with its pelt, and
being born from its womb, Smith’s character ... embodies the complex,
symbolic relationships between humans and animals.And we thought she was re-interpreting the story of Red Riding Hood - like Angela Carter and the absolutely wonderful Neil Jordan film, Company of Wolves, for which Carter wrote the script. The wolves in that were real ones, and simply beautiful, especially in the scenes of the pack running through the woods.
But see here: a really excellent site, by the artist and writer Terri Windling, all about the history of the original story, with lots of illustrations. She's also written articles about other fairy tales for the Journal of Mythic Arts, now archived.
If you want a fun, but highly sanitised children's cartoon version of Red Riding Hood, see the British Council's version [best viewed full screen.]
Follow-up 1: Lana Wachowski
In October 2012 the Human Rights Campaign presented her with their Visibilty Award. A video of her acceptance speech is on YouTube. It is very moving, yet spiced with some delightful touches of humour. The full text is at the Hoywood Reporter. Lana's speech was one of the longest public appearances that either of the notoriously reclusive siblings has ever given, says Wikipedia.
Follow-up 2: Return to Death
In June we went to see Death to Death at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art. Read the relevant part of Sorry. Way behind... first (this opens in a new page or tab) then what follows here will make more sense. Back then we only had time to enjoy the Ernesto Neto installation. So we returned to see the rest, just before it finished. Since it was such a nice day, we took a little picnic and strolled along the Water of Leith first. We ended up right at the back entrance to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One. Check out what I'm sitting on.
It's a bit of a climb up the steps, but worth it in the end. See!No, I'm not caving, or even doing re-birthing therapy! It's Reclining Figure, Two Piece by Henry Moore.
Alice told me her sons used to climb on it and in it when it was in the Botanic Gardens. An awfully long time ago...Then we made our way to the cafe, before tackling the actual exhibits.
We've several pictures for you, but won't write great screeds of stuff. Alice complains she hasn't had time for day-to-day necessities and the typing.
[She enjoys it really: much more than dusting.]On the left is one of the many Piss Flowers filling a whole room.
I kid you not. Helen Chadwick and her partner peed in the snow, and made moulds of the depressions. Cast in bronze, laqueur white, and Voila!
Then we saw two great contrasts. Left is S’élevant (Rising up) by Jean Arp. There are lots more photos of his work on Pinterest. Right is a copy of the no longer so shocking Fountain by Duchamp. Alice discovered it was really meant as a subversive practical joke on the Art Establishment of 1917. See these articles in The Telegraph and The Guardian.
This time we managed to get a place on the free Gallery bus, by being among the first 16 in the queue.When we reached the main Scottish National Gallery, the buskers were still playing to tourists, even though all the Festivals were over. That's us finished with our postscript and follow-ups, folks. Hope it was interesting. We've more blogging in the pipeline.
