Channeling Whistler

I just love this painting, The Lady in White by JM Whistler. Perhaps it is the sculptor in me who loves the white-on-white. She's a sculpture against a white backdrop, but her flesh is real. Sculpture come to life; it is all of our fantasies. She isn't alive because she is realistic, however. Hyper-realism doesn't make a painting or sculpture come alive! It is rather the presence of the work. Do you know how you can tell if another person is in the room, even if you cannot see him? This painting is that way. She's in the room with you, alive.

To Make Way for Advertising...

This morning in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette I read about a large-scale sculpture that is being removed to make way for advertising.

"The airport authority notified artist Peter Calaboyias in a Feb. 3 letter that his sculpture, 78 feet long and 8 feet high, was being removed to clear the way for advertising. It had begun taking down the work yesterday."

Ouch! As if art isn't underappreciated enough already. This had to have hurt. Upon closer investigation, this artist turns out to be a professor at Grove City College. Perhaps I ought to send him a condolences letter.

Art vs. Advertising. Let's see who wins.