2nd Museum Visit the Burchfield Penny

1) There several exhibitions going on the main non permanent was the Portraits by Philip Burke.  This used up the majority of the exhibition space. The theme was bright water color portraits of famous or familiar people done in a fashion representative of the personality of the subject.


 2)  The gallery was an interesting use of the space and I believe well designed.  Upon entering the main hall you are immediately drawn to the dark grey wall ahead but to the left and the lighting that highlighted the picture and text on the wall, even though there are large watercolors of bright colors on the adjacent wall, a good use of  contrast drawing a viewer to the dark wall when everything else  is of  much sharper and brighter. There were different lighting schemes in different parts of the gallery depending on the exhibition, for the main area with the portraits the lighting was general to the space although directed at the walls.  In contrast the lighting for the Burchfield exhibit was much more focused on individual pieces.
       The color of the walls was a light grey and the ceiling white making it a very bright atmosphere.  That is why the dark grey wall stood as such a contrast.  The flooring was for the most part was white oak, with one carpeted area. The space did incorporate some brick work as a contrast to the ubiquitous drywall, and in that area the ceiling opened up to around a 40 ft ceiling leading you from the entry way to the main hall.
      

  3)   All the artwork was organized into groups of sub themes.  The sub themes of the portrait exhibit were of the fields of work the subjects were known for, such as musician, actor, politician, etc. the other minor exhibitions were given their own intimate spaces and broken in groups of similar themes, such as Burchfield's paintings were grouped together apart from his drawings and sketches on music.     
        The portrait's were not framed, just canvas on its wood frame, there were other pieces that had various types of frames depending on the artist. 
        In general for the gallery there were different types and interpretations of art works. The portraits were all similar in design, but the smaller viewing rooms had pieces as different as reverse glass paintings and sketch's depicting sound.

Chosen pieces

    Philip Burke, 2007 Rush Limbaugh, oil on canvas.

          I love this rendition of Rush, fire emitting from his swollen head.  The color of the flames are in contrast to the dark colors of his clothes and the placement of the cigar in front, a traditional symbol of power, reflects how the artist wants you to view his subject. A egotistical little man's enjoyment of starting fires, by the smile, with his small fist clenched at his side.

 

 Charles E Burchfield, Haunted Twilight, 1954-1962, water color and charcoal on paper.

         This is an example of Burchfield's impressionism.  The contrast of what could be a happy landscape portrait, the color scheme and shadows very much add feeling of being haunted. It does seem a little in contrast to the artist who relishes the outdoors and nature. In this perhaps he is reminding us that our casual destruction of natural places may result in this.     

 

 Philip Burke, self portrait, 2001, oil on canvas.

      An interesting portrayal of the artist by the artist, in contrast to the earlier self portaits that ere also on display.  The earlier portraits were life like, if distorted.  In this piece he appears as his most distorted subject perhaps the upper eye sees more with his brain than just with his eyes. The color use and the crocked paint brush draw your eyes to his, is he painting you.