Indianapolis, IN: Into the Bowls of Creativity

It was a rainy nasty day outside today so Mrs. Lambchop took us to the IMA, a perfect place to celebrate our love of art and give some space for my little nephew to explore


BABY LAMBCHOP NEEDS SPACE TO DO HIS THING

Generally museums try for that wow factor as soon as you walk in the door. The IMA entrance had one of the coolest pieces of modern art I have seen in a long while. The two artists, Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, lead a team to create the architectural instillation.


GRAVITY’S LOOM, MODERN ARCHITECTUAL ART

Gravity’s Loom consists of various dyed strings that stretch across the entire entrance hall; each string is slightly displaced from the other climbing until it reaches the ceiling. What it created was an interesting work of 3d art in a kaleidoscope of color.


GRAVITY’S LOOM DETAIL, TRULY A WORK OF ART

This museum had a ton of fantastic pieces. In the beginning we ran into two pointillism works that were stunning. The first one, ‘The Two Sisters’ by Georges Lemmen was interesting. He used bold blues and reds as the main spotlights but then incorporated dots of green and orange across both color zones. In essence he did something both incredibly difficult and visually challenging, he used opposites on the color wheel to stimulate and differentiate the red and the blue. I was not familiar with Georges Lemmen’s work before today and I adored this work. That is what I love about going to museums. Even though I know a ton about art and artists there is always something new to discover.


GEORGES LEMMEN ‘THE TWO SISTERS’

Upon entering another room I was immediately drawn to another work and when I looked at the place accompanying it I knew why. Georges Seurat, one of my favourite artists and the artist I named my cat after, created this piece called ‘The Channel of Gravelines’. Although I was not familiar with this particular work of art I did love his use of color to create air and light and as always his compositions are rock solid. Though the painting is incredible I was particularly drawn to its frame, recreated to match the original it gives balance to the light work and is entirely created with pointillism as well.


GEORGES SURAT ‘THE CHANNEL OF GRAVELINES’

Although I do love pointillism nothing takes first place for me like the impressionists. My favourite of the day was a work I am very familiar with but have never seen in person. This ‘Bouquet in a Vase’ by Pierre Renoir is a work I studied in school. Printed pieces in a book however are never as stunning as the real thing.


PIERRE RENOIR ‘BOUQUET IN A VASE’

Keeping a two year old occupied at a museum was interesting. It just solidifies the fact that children have their own timeline and us adults, well we are just along for the ride. Being around young children helps me rediscover the beauty in the overlooked. I am constantly reminded that yes, at one time, I may too have thought that a simple bench was much more than it appeared.


PERHAPS A PLACE TO LAY MY WEARY HEAD


SMILE FOR THE CAMERA LITTLE MAN


OR SOMEPLACE TO PRACTICE MY JUMPING SKILLS


OR A PLACE TO DISCUSS, ON MY STOMACH OF COURSE, MY DISTASTE OF A CERTAIN PIECE OF ART


OR SIMPLY A PLACE TO MAKE ADORABLE FACES AT MY AUNT

What we really learn though is that the lack of a bench and the beauty of the floor under the bench is much better.


UNDER THE BENCH IS BETTER

Mom and I share a great love of art and I cannot put into words how much I appreciate all the time and money she spent keeping me supplied with tons of art and crafts stuff. From the age I could hold a crayon mom has allowed my creativity to fly and I give a good bit of credit to her nurturing this passion for my love of art today.


MOM AND ME AT THE MUSEUM

The artwork is the main attraction for museums but even we cannot walk around and behave ourselves all day. Mom and I were admiring this painting of a mother and daughter.


A BEAUTIFUL MOTHER AND HER LOVING DAUGHTER

But then we decided to re-inact it in 3D, because we are cool like that, or just weird... whichever you prefer.


RE-INACTING IS SO MUCH BETTER BECAUSE IT IS INTREPRETIVE

It was time to go to the second floor but we had to pause for little boys to make some big wishes at the wishing well. He must have thrown 20 pennies into that fountain and each time that penny hit the water was better than the last.


MAKE A WISH BABY LAMBCHOP


TIME TO GO TO THE SECOND FLOOR, TWO YEAR OLD’S TIMES A TICKIN

The second floor caught my attention with some portraits. Three in particular were inspiring each for their own vastly unique reason. The first one ‘Glow of Gold, Gleam of Pearl’ by William McGregor Paxton is a gorgeous nude whos paint was slathered on thickly. Going against popular artists Paxton used thick brushstroke and picked up color from the walls in the woman’s skin. What results is a sensuous realism that gives me a feeling of the great impressionists.


WILLIAM MCGREGOR PAZTON ‘GLOW OF GOLD, GLEAM OF PEARL’

The second painting ‘Lady Philippa Coningsby’ by George Gower was an awesome and archaic piece showcasing the Elizabethan courts taste for bright colors and patterned surfaces.


GEORGE GOWER ‘ LADY PHILIPPA CONINGSBY’


JUST LOOK AT HIS EXCRUCIATING ATTENTION TO DETAIL

The last portrait on this floor that I loved was Robert Henri’s ‘Edna Smith in a Japanese Wrap’. Henri is said to have a great abilty to capture his models spirit in paint. I love his bold use of color and his seemingly haphazard approach to his brushwork. This work is just beautiful.


ROBERT HENRI ‘EDNA SMITH IN A JAPANESE WRAP’

Baby Lambchop would run from window to window peering out at the grey rainy day, his little face pressed in close to the cool panes.


CAN”T GET ANY CLOSER THAN THAT TO THAT WINDOW

Its as if he is saying in his own little way, rain rain go away, please come back another day so my mom can take me outside to play at the park... thanks.


WISHFUL THINKING, THAT RAIN ISN’T GOING TO STOP ANYTIME SOON

At one point we spotted a bird that had crashed into the window and passed away. Baby Lambchop was enthralled by the ‘sleeping’ birdy and sat for quite some time staring at it. I had walked away at one point but when I glanced over to see him still kneeling there in silence, maybe hoping for that bird to move. It literally brought tears to my eyes.


WISHFUL THINKING, THAT RAIN ISN’T GOING TO STOP ANYTIME SOON

Modern art is not normally my favourite type of art by any means, however I did really enjoy a few of the pieces in this collection. Located on the third floor we really had to fly through this, Baby Lambchop was ready to go.

One of the models, a ship that curves into itself was fascinating. Built by Tim Hawkinson out of everyday household materials ‘Mobius Ship’ was created as a witty play on Moby Dick as well as a mathematical equation. The Mobius strip is a surface that has only one side and exists in a continuous curve.


TIM HAWKINSON ‘MOBIUS SHIP’