Il pubblico usa il gesso per creare arte

One of the great things, one occasionally sees at Cleveland Museum of Arts are the chalkies in September. One needs to view from a specific spot to get the best effect of the forced perspective. Here is a visual trick with three dimensional chalk art, trompe-l'œil, meaning deceives the eye. The French know tromp is a deceiver.

This drawing was small and beautiful, a male hooded oriole.

There were oak trees dropping nuts. Someone gathered them.

Georges de La Tour. The Tears of St. Peter/Repentant St. Peter. Cleveland. 1645. 

His work was neglected for centuries, he was a tenebrist after the Dutch Caravaggisti. La Tour's subjects were religious, and often revisited. His tendency was to have the figures rounder, and bit more simple rather than sharply defined. The original sits in the museum meters away. The original cockerel is facing the other way, and not so judgemental. The New Testament tells us Peter would deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed. The legend attached was that Peter was always with a cockerel. Also, this is why the bird is on a weather vane.

James Earl Jones has recently died. An artist left a chalk portrait.

I guess the same artist drew Stephen John Nedoroscik, an American Olympian gymnast who specialises in the pommel horse. In past years, i have seen other athletes [click for Baker] limned by the same hand.

Sláva Ukrayíni

Year by year, the selections both vary and stay stay similar. There were many anime cartoon characters, which i can not identify. In years past there had been many Disney characters, less so this year. Snoopy on his doghouse, with and without Woodstock was popular. There were fewer copies of master paintings, a bunch of family dogs, a few birds, even more fish, fewer Hallowe'en images, a few chapter and verse citations, and few political themes. This one is on the bloody horror of assault weapons (euphemism for mass killing civilian version of military semi-automatic rifles).

Early Sunday morning two drawings considering Palestine, and the slaughter of thousands of children in Gaza.

Woman holding the shrouded body of a child.

A little later on Sunday morning, a crew came with materials, and tools to censor the political art.

Palestine censored, blacked out.

grease, sand, chalk

Victory, Saint Rocco's greasy pole climb

Buono Festa! Perhaps my favorite event in Cleveland. First one in four years, like the Olympics, well not quite. There were four teams this year, the victory came to the first team in the third round. They were quick. 

There again was not much grease on the pole. Only one fellow slapped grease down. It was 88°F this Labor Day afternoon. Sometimes in the past, with a heavy coat of grease, the grease would slide and tumble down by itself. Before there were more teams competing, which means more people climbing. With each climb, grease is transferred to the climber. Climbers sling grease off to be able to get an easier climb in the next round, and this benefits the next teams too. People want to see a winner, a winner is not guaranteed, so the amount of grease on the pole helps determine the outcome. Also some guys like to splatter the crowd. People try to scatter, and back up when the slop comes their way. Here were first time viewers, they were surprised. I had an opportunity to move up, i chose not to, thinking the angle of sight was too high. I forgot about people sticking their telephones up high. I should have moved up.

The rules are announced over a microphone in the rectory, which this time was unintelligible. Don't think there was much change. Who ever grasps a metal support on top wins, and it's over. Each team has five members. In the past, only four are allowed in round one. Guys climb over each other until all five are up. If they are all standing on the lower guy's shoulders, they are still one body length short. The fourth guy usually climbs over the fifth guy, i also remember seeing the third guy climb the other two. Sometimes a climber or two "locks in", while hugging the poll, his body length contracts, allowing him a stronger hold. At this point, he becomes separated from the lower fellows, and they can slide down. If they all slide down, the turn is over.

The spectators had more room this year. The social hall was demolished, and this gave more space. Between two years of coronavirus, and the demolition, this was the first greasy pole since 2019 [click].

Carl Jara is an artist. His medium is sand. His art is easily received by the public, which allows him to get commercial contracts. Organisations feel confident in hiring him to create a sculpture.There are lot of different art forms, and styles. Not everything is popular, or appreciated. Certain pieces are only for niche audiences. That audience can come from anywhere on the spectrum of taste. Some tastes garner approval only within that segment of beholders. Some things that have to be admitted to is accomplished craftsmanship. I detect dismissive and/or self-important snobbery. I discount what is 'hot' and in vogue, and creativity championed by self-appointed experts, and the avant garde. Beauty counts, ugliness and weirdness detracts. Then again, like what you will; but ease your pretend authority.

Art of chalk and sand are usually temporary. Enjoy it now, it will soon be gone. It compares to a philosophy, and experience in living. This here one supra was at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds for Oktoberfest. 

 

Writing before going to see the chalkings. There is an art institute, and college students nearby. Would be surprised if some did not participate in Cleveland Art Museum's sidewalk chalking. Youngsters often draw cartoon, and comic book characters. We were discussing what recent such movies have come out. Expecting to see Barbie, the newest Little Mermaid, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Football, and soon scary season will be in the air. On Labor Day there were houses with outdoor Hallowe'en decor already up.

Mandalorian (?) Madonna by Hannah Jameson

Well, viewing after the start of the second day, i find myself mostly wrong in guessing. A popular subject was some of the Star Wars spinoff subscription teevee characters. I saw the movies, but none of the cable stuff. My nephew pointed out that this Madonna blended a character from the show. Well, a chief subject of the Renaissance sidewalk drawings were Madonnas.

Ohio City & Tremont foto safari

West 56th & Clark. Sunflowers, bird, woman, with a white frame of bricks.*

This is beautiful, and looks very recent. How does one enter the calligraphy onto google translate?

Working the bricks on former Holy Ghost Byzantine. Building has been sold, and will become a wedding hall.

Used tree lot is full on Train Avenue. New arrivals are put on the sidewalk.

faux flamingo on W. 41st & Lorain

Dante Rodriguez. House Puma. Lincoln Park gazebo.

David Biro. Jali. Detroit & c.West 43rd.

Last year at this time, Biro had a similar art work in the same spot. [click] This is lattice filigree work of thin wooden sheets, in Indo-Moslem architectural style. He has a sign describing it, and with a message of more public art is needed.

Choose your shade of blue.

To-day was sunny, the next three days are scheduled for rain. Good day for fotos. Chalk drawing will be greatly diminished.

_____________________

*this mural has changed. It is now with the word "peace" in several languages. I think it has a self portrait of the artist.  Kubra AlHilali. Peace. 2021.

2019 chalkies

Did not get to the chalk drawings at the Cleveland Art Museum until this morning, it rained (probably hard) last night, and much of the chalk washed away. There were a few puddles. It also was the first time, i ever saw any of the drawings censored/vandalised; and of course—it was by a trumpster.

Bob Ross, the public teevee paint instructor, many people were happy to see him with happy, fluffy clouds.

 

  30ᵗʰ Annual Cleveland Art Museum Chalk Festival

This foto, as some others are tweaked a bit so as to be more clearly visible/legible

 from Phantom of the Opera

This must have been real neat and sharp before the color was washed.

It looks like Albert is not finished in the developing bath. Hmm, no smell of vinegar.

 This was the funniest—Elmo in Hell

 Censored/Vandalised

Did not see this was altered until i got home. "Who?" is scrawled next to Mayor Pete, and "D.J.T. 2020" is added. The museum sold the chalk to people to draw on squares, it was just like a trumpster to not pay. Perhaps, spelling was the limit of his drawing ability.

Some characters were repeated, and since Hallowe'en is on the horizon there are always some spooky drawings. Pennywise from the movies "It", and skeletons had multiple artists. The clown is holding red chalk.

      

Calvin and Hobbes, Where's Waldo, Sponge Bob, Pikachu were popular, and other cartoon and video game characters were drawn. Artists were lucky a Disney lawyer was not there to sue for copyright.

 Cassius examines dog chalkings...

 ...and canids.

Art on a rare sunny November day

The old St. Luke's Hospital has a Walter Sinz 1929 statue carved by the Gandola Brothers. This was also a fountain at one time. People drive by and do not notice how many figures are there. Saint Luke the Evangelist is standing center, on one side there is a nurse, and the other side a woman and infant...and behind him a winged ox (the icon for St. Luke). There is a similar ox on the steps of St. Colman's church.

To-day was the first sunny day with near normal temperatures in more than a fortnight. It was a good day to walk and take pictures.

Baker Mayfield is fading away. Outside the Art Museum there was a chalk festival two months ago, even with all the rain there has been, the outlines of several drawings can be discerned.

David Deming. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones. 2010.

Yesterday the temperature ranged from 26 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and the last warm day before that was Election Day (6 November). The scarf warms the sculpture.

Saturday mid-September

 Detroit and Lake Avenues, Cleveland O. home to a new sculpture.

Some events are one time deal-i-os, they wanted 500 paddle ballers to get a Guinness [no beer, record--and they didn't]. Their count was 392.

Tin Tin in the land of chalk

Some events are annual, and worth returning to again. This weekend the Art Museum had their annual chalk festival. I have had posted on previous chalk fests.

from Degas and Fantasia

A lot of the chalkings were from cartoons. The shades of chalk are similar in color tone to many cartoons. I saw at least three different pineapple drawings, supra was the best. I wonder whether something is current, that i am unaware of. There were also three or four Frida Kahlos, one had a necklace of briars and Trump's head as a necklace. There were only a couple of other drawings suggesting a political message, considering the circus of Caligula that is ripe for comment.

And after the day's scheduled chalking, there was a wedding on the marble plaza of the museum.

Last weekend of summer events

 

Saturday, we went to see a Berkshire locomotive. I was only vaguely aware of Steam in the Cuyahoga Valley, it was here this weekend, and will be here the next. Engine No. 765 was built in Lima in 1944, and was part of Nickel Plate to 1958. Now, a volunteer group in fort Wayne maintains the engine. As it chugs by, it knocks off leaves and hoots steam. It is something to watch, and hear.

Saturday and Sunday, we went to see the chalk festival at Cleveland Art Museum.

A good portion of the walkways were being changed, and blocked off. Instead of less chalk drawings, there were more. People drew around the lagoon.

We saw this one Saturday, it was the first one we saw. We had parked on Liberty Blvd./MLKJr., and it was near that sidewalk.

The current hit movie is Stephen King's "It", with Pennywise the clown. He was there Saturday.

We saw this on Sunday. A lot of people are terrified by clowns. Captain is not.

 

Saturday, we went to see Flowers for Maria, in Avon. We have been there before [click], and [click].

This chalking was in the expanded field, Sunday.

In Avon, the Cavaliers championship trophy was there, along with a couple of local pro team mascots.

Saturday we saw this head of a Jersey cow.

Sunday, more cow

This is part of Any Warhol's Marilyns, inside the museum.

Sunday, we saw this by the lagoon.