Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Listening Room

I was browsing through some books the other day and re-discovered “Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images” by Stephanie Barron & Michel Drauget. It’s the book from the exhibition of the same name last year at LACMA. Overall, I have to say that was easily one of the best exhibitions I’ve ever seen. Very well laid out/thought out, even down to a custom carpet for the gallery floor. The audio tour voiceover was done by Pierce Brosnan and, surprisingly it was actually insightful, rather than the typical monotone winding, off-topic interviews and such. The exhibition included not only works by Magritte but also those who he had influenced, such as Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Worhol, and others.

One of my favorite pieces from the exhibition is La Chambre d’écoute (The Listening Room), 1952. Magritte’s use of scale, juxtaposed imagery, light, and color in this piece have huge implications for photography. How often in photography is a subject juxtaposed in front of a thematically dissimilar background, using scale to make the subject appear larger than life. Or how often is the same juxtaposition created in photography through the use of light and color.

I always think it’s just amazing to see a piece of art which was so influential, not only in the “art” world of painting and sculpture, but also in fine art photography or even everyday snapshots.

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5 comments:

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Many thanks for your comment on my blog.
So far I thought the best thing to do for back pain is to lie on your back and rest. But you are doing exercise. I hope you have consulted a doctor.
The contents of your blog is a very new subject to me although I am taking some photos with my moble phone. I hope to learn something from your posts.
Best wishes for a healthy and happy life.

Anonymous said...

I, too, have stopped by to say thanks for visiting my blog!
I know very little about Magritte, so am now off to find out a bit about his work :-)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I'm so glad you stopped by. I'm still trying to learn how to take better photos. Have you seen Sandra Evertson's blog? You can get to it from mine under my favorite places to visit. She takes such beautiful photos of her work. Have fun blog hopping!!
Jillian

Jazz said...

I love Magritte. Love love love him.

Seems like you've been doing a lot of blog surfing today!