Los Carpenteros

The Los Carpenteros exhibit was another exhibit at the Tang Museum that Sean, Ryan, and I viewed while we were there. This piece titled La Montana Rusa (Roller coaster) was the only installation piece at the museum during our visit. When I saw this piece it inspired so many different thoughts. Before I even knew the name of the piece the first thought was that it looked like a roller coaster. As I continued to think about it I felt that sleeping can be a lot like riding a roller coaster depending on the types of dreams you have. Or even in a sexual sense that too can be much like a roller coaster ride experience that takes place in a bed.

Fred Tomaselli at the Tang Musem

Fred Tomaselli is known for his many works that incorporates such things as real plants, pills and magazine clippings cut to perfection and arranged to create works such as the piece to the right, Octillo Nocturne. This work features pills of all different sizes and colors and are arranged in such a way that the viewer may not notice that they are pills until looking much closer. My perspective is that the pills and medications in the artwork give it a more three-dimensional aspect. I selected this particular piece because I like the colors featured in the background and that the pills are arranged to look like dream catchers. This piece reminded me of laying in the dew filled grass and looking up at the stars on a warm summer night.

Tang Museum - Fred Tomaselli

The piece of art from the Tang Museum that I found most interesting was this painting by Fred Tomaselli entitled Multiple Landscape. It was done in 1995 and incorporates saccharin, acrylic, and resin paints on top of a wooden panel. It's actually quite large in person (about as big as me) and the colors really jump out at you. The background is a picture-esque forest scene with pine trees and clear blue skies. On top of this is a random zig-zagging pattern of red, orange, blue, and yellow paint. Tomaselli admits to drawing much of his inspiration from nature, so I like to think that the forest backdrop represents his inspiration and the paint on top represents his work.

Tang Museum- Los Carpinteros

This painting was designed by a Cuban-based collective of artists known as Los Carpinteros (The Carpenters) in 2008. Los Carpinteros focus on creating surrealist-inspired sculptures, large scale installations and drawings by transforming common domestic objects and urban structures into inventive, grand images. Marco Castillo and Dagoberto Rodriguez construct works that are structurally beautiful but often humorous in an effort to confront viewers and challenge their thinking regarding items that populate our lives. Over the years, Los Carpinteros have gradually transitioned from strictly focusing on Cuban history to incorporating a more global, peripatetic-influenced practice. Los Carpinteros are an interesting collective of artists because they aren't restricted to one particular area of art, over time they have adapted their style to include different themes in their works.

Tang Museum - Fred Tomaselli

This painting created by artist Fred Tomaselli in 2000 is a photo collage that uses acrylic paint under layers of clear epoxy resin. Tomaselli used actual pills, mushrooms, and leaves in this piece along with some other unusual materials which he then collaged into multi-layered combinations. Tomaselli draws inspiration from historical sources such as the Renaissance frescoes, 1960s Minimalism and decorative traditions including quilts and mosaics. He is well known for his baroque paintings which incorporate unusual images ranging from real, photographic to painted objects. Seeing this work first hand gave me a better sense of what went into creating this piece and allowed me to view some of the smaller details that are difficult to observe in this picture. Tomaselli used a variety of colors, shapes and images to create attractive patterns which are best understood when seen in person.