Event SF MOMA – Richard Serra Drawings

Joan Brown, Noel in the Kitchen 1964

I attended San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art on a Sunday. Richard Serra’s Drawing exhibition was being held on the fourth floor. On the second floor, was a fascinating gallery dedicated to the design ethos of Dieter Rams. I became fascinated with bay area post abstract expressionist figurative painters like David Park, Joan Brown and Richard Diebenkorn with their bright exaggerative lines and subtle narratives.

These underrepresented artists are exceptional. The photo on the right is Mother-in-Law, painted by David Park(1955). On the left is Richard Diebenkorn, Head of a Woman (1960) . One of my favorite elements of these pieces are the dramatic colors and heavy brush

work. Park's work sets a mood with his portrait of his mother in law. Sickly green contrasted with bright reds on the females face is distracting and intense. I also enjoy the gloomy, wet environment beneath her hat while the light blue above her hat suggests a clear day.

Diebenkorn is a truly impressive painter. His portrait is fantastic representation of figurative abstraction. The overall mood is subjective, but feels familiar, candid and referential. The cool blue surface is fluid and soft. The background contains a checker board pattern a common icon of retails, vendors, barbershops and hair salons. Thin, wispy and translucent brushstrokes make up the hair in a simple but well executed painterly tactic. Both pieces are a beautiful addition to the MOMA collection.

The Rams exhibit was truely interesting to witness. I was unaware of many design ideas that are in my everyday life. Fusion of accessibility and functionality are key elements to design. I enjoyed seeing the progression from the 'modern' look in the 1950's, to the simple modern design of almost everything made today. Apple products have succeeded in many ways, by adhering to these guidelines, as well as many other attributes. I cant wait to see what will be in place of Ram's designed appliances and iphones and iMacs at the exhibition 50 years from now.

Richard Serra is an artist who is outlandish, adventurous and dangerous. We know him from his controversial installation Tilted Arc. We also remember his use of molten lead during the 1960's and his lead House of Cards. I expected to find amazing things inside the gallery space, lead, earth, wild sculptures, design ideas, and dreams. Unfortunately, they were not present that day. Serra's gallery, on the whole, was rather ubiquitous. Many of the works look like they were sprayed with a thick black truck bed lining type material. Canvas sizes varied from large to really large. There were other areas were the entire wall was covered in the black tar. I enjoyed standing in the some of black walled areas, intended to define scale, proportions, space and material in the room.

more to come

Rams Principles of Good Design

http://www.vitsoe.com/en/gb/about/dieterrams/gooddesign

Good design...

..is innovative

...makes a product useful

...is aesthetic

...makes a product understandable

...is unobtrusive

...is honest

...is long-lasting

...is thorough, down to the last detail

...is environmentally friendly

...is as little design as possible