Saturday, February 26, 2005

Pics

Just back from San Diego, just for the weekend and then fly back there on Monday. There has been a lot of rain in SoCal and everything around is either sliding or very green.


view from my hotel
View from my hotel room's window


Anyway, when I arrived on Tuesday night, it was still raining here, and the next morning there was still rain and some rare skies around there (clouds).

cloudy San Diegan skies
San Diego Wednesday Morning Clouds


But by noon, the ocean that Balboa discovered was once again spectacular. The below photo was taken from around the area where that Spaniard is believed to have stood when he focused the first set of Caucasian eyes to see the ocean that he then named Pacific.

the ocean that Balboa discovered
The Pacific Ocean on Wednesday afternoon


And by the time the sun was sinking down later that day, one of the great joys of living next to the ocean was about to happen: the green flash. The pic below is a few minutes before the sun sinks into the horizon and Nature takes your breath away with the color green.

The sun before the green flash
The Ocean a few minutes before the green flash


On the flight back I had a plane change in San Francisco, and I discovered this almost representational version of Airportism (which is what I dubbed a few years ago the sort of artwork that gets selected for exhibition as "public art" in American airports).

Below is a huge William Wiley piece near gate 85 at the airport. Typical airportism...

William Wiley painting in San Francisco Airport
Void by William Wiley

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, Lenny. And I doubt that what follows will change it. But consider what Julia Hamilton had to say about Wiley's work. She posted the following on ArtSlant.com ... and I say she makes the case for you taking a second look. Ya know?
-----
"If you’ve ever been in the United terminal at SFO then you may have seen William T. Wiley’s VOID, 1977. The large painting (12' by 25') depicts a colorful and dense landscape, with the word VOID 'carved' out of the color. This particular painting stands out in the context of the usual, yawningly sterile objects that pass for public art offerings at the airport for two notable reasons. The first one: though this might be subjectively applied, it is actually interesting. Second reason: being asked to contemplate the void right before getting on a plane is a natural, quiet, and profoundly personal experience."

Jan Ryan said...

I like Void on a landscape that looks perceived through layers of blue sky, even past moon and stars. Takes it out of the physical plane. None of this is what is important from that high point of view. Plus the slanted o, as if it is an entry to something else.