I'd been to Baltimore before, but this time I walked further from my hotel and visited the American Visionary Art Museum, or AVAM. I again passed the USCGC Taney WHEC-37, the LS-116 Chesapeake, and the USS Torsk, but went further around the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It was about a 30ish minute walk but I found the AVAM. You never know what you're going to find in museums or galleries or collections, but it when the price is $10, it's worth the gamble. I did not visit the National Aquarium because they want $50. I skipped it last time, too. It's not the price - it was that I didn't have the time to make it worthwhile. Here are some shots of things that caught my attention...
This was the line that started the trip.
A bird on a bird - had to take the picture. The Brown Trout is in a tank in the entry of the aquarium (before you buy tickets). The tank is aerated by a waterfall...great place to step in when it's hot.
Left:
SERMET ASLAN,
Straight Jacket, 2003, acrylic on canvas
Right:
WILLIAM KURELEK,
Where Am I? Who Am I? Why Am I?, c. 1953–54, watercolor
I thought the motion was well shown/captured in Straight Jacket. Kurelek had metal problems including schizophrenia and this painting reflects what he must have felt at times. He fully recovered, go married and had four children. When he died of cancer at age 50, he was hailed as Canada's greatest painter.
I took a picture of Lusitania mainly because I can appreciate the amount of time KUSY put into the project. The ship was torpedoed and sunk in 1915 and I appreciate the cut in the model. The face of The Final Battle caught my interest. The link above shows more of the other side, but this side seemed like it could be a good face/body if I ever need to paint something dark.
I thought this was a nice door and stained glass. The poster on the right was next to the door. I'm not sure I made the connection, but it had some good words by
Raphael Lemkin. He coined the term genocide. On the bottom of the poster..."If you act in the name of conscious you are stronger than any government in the world".
Right: A nice collection of fish by J. H. Gordon, circa 1969 (guessing artist's name)
I took a picture of SWANN's work because he claimed clairvoyance, was a Scientologist and created the term "
remote viewing". Legend and artist,
The museum had a second building. One wall held many things like the items above.
Right: KEITH NEWSTAND, Brass Dragon, 1996
The moving objects had a button which would activate the piece. The birds were quite complex, and even though Flogging a Dead Horse was simple, I liked it. Shows the repetition of beating a dead horse. The Brass Dragon gave me more ideas for potential projects like
THEAMISH. I think Keith Newstand might be Keith Newstead.
Always looking for new ideas, the screen door (or Oktavec) certainly caught my eye. I should try it since it would probably force good use of contrast. Interestingly enough, Oktavec is credited with inventing screen painting. It's always cool to see something from its pioneer. On the right is one of Best's ArtCars. For his "DCs" or decorated cars, he enlists and directs hundreds of people to make monumental community artcars.
JAMES CHANDLER, Symphony in Wood, 1977-1999, Arkansas sugar pine
The accompanying note read, "Conducted by Arthur Fielder, with Teddy Roosevelt on violin, Bill Clinton on saxophone, and John Williams as guest pianist."
Left to right: Mars, Saturn, SisStar, Robodog, Sun, Venus, Jupiter
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