ART & ANIMATION

"Indecent Exposure" Exhibit

Today we went out and combined an art outing with a little bit of animation. To elaborate, we drove over to the Gateway Film Center and then walked over to the Wexner Center (both on the OSU campus).

At the Wexner Center the current exhibit is a collection of works by John Waters (on loan from the Baltimore Museum of Art) along with art by a couple other artists. We’ve previously seen works by John Waters at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, so we were prepared for the mostly not PG art on display (which is why some of the exhibits are closed off to visiting school groups one of the security guards told me).

What I like about many of Waters’ pieces is how he draws correlations between things that are completely unrelated or fabricated (like photos of a UFO destroying the White House juxta positioned between photos of the twin towers being struck by airplanes), not that I am in any way amused by the subject matter or trivializing what happened on 9/11.

I also like how Waters often took photos (using a 35mm film camera) of scenes in various TV programs or movies choosing a common theme – like actors vomiting, smoking, drinking alcohol, etc. There’s also a collection of photos of mundane things like the contents of his dishwasher, cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink, a collection of folders in his file cabinet, etc. Makes me think some of my photos are probably under praised in comparison.

Yes, it kind of goes without saying that Waters’ various pieces are somewhat raunchy and usually show the seedier side of life, and he makes no attempt to paint a rosy picture of Baltimore (jokingly calling “Hairspray” a documentary during an interview I once heard with him on NPR).

Of the less controversial, but memorable works I liked was a collection of sheets listing feedback from the public about various artists’ works. Quite honestly, I had never heard of most of the artists (except for Cindy Sherman), but still enjoyed the comments (paraphrasing below as I didn’t take actual notes).

“It costs how much??? Jeez!” or “I think the cleaning staff would probably throw it away mistaking it for garbage.” Everyone knows a piece has to fit in your house or wherever you plan to display it, so some of these comments are almost justified: “I don’t think it would fit over our couch.” Or “I fear it would fall over and make a giant hole in our floor.”

There was also a piece called “Cancel Ansel” (2014) where Waters slightly altered a bunch of famous Ansel Adams photos. I’m a big fan of Mr. Adams (and have a copy of a print of El Capitan hanging in our den), who probably wouldn’t be pleased, but Waters didn’t do anything offensive to them at least.

After we left the Wexner Center, we walked back to the Gateway Film Center where we saw a matinee showing of Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts (there’s also Live Action & Documentary shorts).

There seemed to be a common theme this year as the majority centered around the circle of life featuring a character aging from birth to old age (with a child born in the middle). Of the three of them, it would be difficult to pick a favorite as they were all unique (and honestly, a little depressing). My husband and I think “Bao” (made by Pixar) will probably win. Big studios usually have the best shot at these things. 

My favorite (though I think this one was just an honorable mention) was “Wishing Box,” which my husband thought was a little derivative of Aardman’s “The Pirates! Band of Misfits.” Basically a pirate and his monkey find a little wooden chest that the Pirate is hoping will contain gold, but ends up being empty. However, his monkey feels around in it and pulls out a banana, and then another banana. The pirate quickly figures out that only the monkey has the power to make a wish and pull out desired item. Chaos ensues while the monkey tries to make connections between crudely drawn pictures of wished for items. Eventually the pirate realizes it would just be easier to use an actual visual aide. Be careful what you wish for is all I can say for fear of a spoiler alert.

I am just grateful for this rather light-hearted short because of the somewhat serious subjects in many of the others. Still, I’m glad we saw them, and glad we saw the John Waters exhibit at the Wexner Center (showing until April 28^th).

Don’t forget to tune into the Oscars on Sunday February 24^th.