Collection Selections: De-Luxe - Art Critique The breeze was sweet and light with the promise of an early

autumn as I neared the Austin Museum of Arts Art House. The fall of 2012 exhibit was named Collection Selections: De-Luxe due to its emphasis on the luxury and excess. Contemporary as well as classic, the artists included in the exhibit represented a wide range of perspective in regard to the central theme of opulence. Jeffrey Dell, Julie Speed, and Janel Jeffersons pieces most embodied the subject of the gallery. Jeffery Dells ominous and unconventional Pigeons, Julie Speeds enigmatic Oil Baron, and Janel Jeffersons charismatic Ophelia exemplified the overall theme of luxury. Upon walking into the Art House, the foremost piece on display is Jeffrey Dells Pigeons. It used mezzotint on paper to achieve an ultimately foreboding effect. The print shows a multitude of pigeons flying maniacally in front of an elaborate building. Excess, being a motif in the exhibit, is clearly portrayed in the background of the piece where one can see an almost grid-like structure consisting of roman-style pillars and balconies with ornate arches moving across the top of each. I took the senseless amount of balconies to resemble a gaudy mansion with hundreds of empty and unused rooms. The piece seems to condemn this excess through its use of only the gray scale, the blackened rooms being the darkest figures in the print. The repetition of the empty rooms seems to reiterate the negative feelings toward excess. In the foreground of the print pigeons fly frantically in every direction causing a perceived loss of focus in the area surrounding the birds flapping wings. The lack of focus also contributes to the smooth texture of the piece. The use of perspective between the birds and the building cause the mass of the building to appear simultaneously enormous and miniature. The unique effect displays the role of luxury and excess as a factor that can be managed easily or can become a

larger problem. The pigeons dominate the area surrounding the abandoned balconies and appear to congregate around them. Though there are maybe 100 birds in the picture, none is given more detail than a solid gray silhouette. I assume this is meant to draw attention to the stark contrast between the detailed excess of man and visceral simplicity of nature conveyed through the lavish balconies and quaintly pictured birds. The realistic style used to construct a traditionally styled edifice in the background juxtaposes with the more expressive and impressionistic style used in the portrayal of the pigeons. The juxtaposition caused me to consider the artists intention when choosing the style of architecture for the building. Traditional European features give the structure an aged appearance reminiscent of an old European cathedral. The choice of architectural design reminded me of European institutions like the Catholic Church that have been accused of abusing luxury and practicing excess. The pigeons more figurative appearance caused me to draw an opposing conclusion in the artists decision to contrast the two figures in the piece. While the number of birds in the print is excessive, the focus is still on the building that stands in the background. The meaning being that excess in nature is only impressed upon us by our preformed opinions on excess based on what we have viewed in man. Walking into the tea room, located down a hall of windows that look directly onto a nearby lake, I was instantly taken by Julie Speeds Oil baron. The collage reflects many characteristics specific to early photography. Each color used gives the collage characteristics of a sepia style photograph. The piece shows a turn of the century middle aged man in a suit sitting profile to the spectator with an oil well on his head that cleverly resembles an old-timey dunce hat. The most striking element of the collage is in the center. There is an eye just in front of the mans head that I am led to believe is his other eye. This opinion comes from the fact that because the man is sitting profile with only the right side of his face visible I am not able to

conclude that his left eye is where it should be. The look in both eyes is fearful as if to suggest that once luxury has been attained it becomes a liability that consumes your emotional wellbeing. More obviously the satirical statement is made that the oil well has made a dunce out of the man. I am lead to believe that the artists opinion of luxury and excess is that it hides in the seemingly well-adjusted. The ulterior consequences of wealth do not openly present themselves but become apparent in action and thought. The collage is in the style of an antique photograph suggesting that corruption through excess is nothing new. The more literal approach to interpreting the piece is that oil, as an invaluable resource, has caused excess and luxury through unintelligent means. There is an economy built on a non-renewable resource that has made many rich and exploited many great minds. I interpret the choice of an oil well as a strategic one due to the context of the modern obsession with fossil fuels as well as the debate as to the best way to cope with the scarcity of them. The choice of using a collage as the medium reinforces the theme of excess throughout the exhibit. By using many different pieces to construct one single object the subject of excess is brought to the forefront of the pieces message. Up the old wooden stairs, facing a picturesque view, I found Janel Jeffersons Ophelia. Immediately my initial impression was one of awe. The painting shows an affluent young African American woman in the years just after the American civil war. The woman in the portrait appears to be smiling as she stands directly in front of a trellis. A bird flutters just above her head. My most reactionary thoughts led me to analyze the use of rich hues and deep shades of each color that embodies the piece. The red used to color the wall behind the trellis resembled the shade Id imagine a kings cape to be. Following suit with the royal color used in the wall, the trellis itself uses an earthy golden color. The luxurious connotation with the king or royalty is apparent in the strategic color choices that create the background of the portrait. The placement

of these specifically royal colors in the background of the painting is strategic as well. With low intensity and high value, each color individually adds to the look of the painting as a whole. Consisting of mostly literal high quality lines, the piece is forward in its realistic portrayal of the woman. The contrast between the vibrant and lively colors in the foreground and the rich and royal colors in the background creates an ironic disposition in the themes suggested. The period being post-civil war, an African American woman would stereotypically not have come from royalty, however, the piece suggests that luxury and excess are universal qualities that are not subject to any rule or law. The colors that compose the womans face and floral dress emphasize, through their specific shades, the youth and liveliness in the woman. A bright blue makes up a major portion of the dress while a cream or beige color is used in the coloring of the flowers. This choice, again, defies the stereotype that luxury and excess are specific to an older age group. However, there is a counter-argument that would suggest that the artist may have intended youth to be a luxury that is celebrated in excess. The luxury of youth is present in all of the items within the painting. The womans youth as well as the youth of the flowers on her dress an on her hat all combine to create an excess of the luxury of youth. The bird that flies above the womans head is colored with the same blue that makes up the womans dress. I understand this similarity to make the bird representative of the womans fleeting youth. The likeness between the colors of the womans dress and the birds feathers suggests that fashion, a concept related to youth, is temporary and often excessive. The birds flight away from the tree branch that frames the top of the painting reflects a style concerned with the natural. Every color used in the painting is a naturally occurring color that could be found in nature. The style emphasized the theme in that a tendency toward luxury and excess is a natural human action. Instead of an

overall condemnation of luxury and excess, the artist has chosen to qualify and expose untrue stereotypes in the portrayal of luxury and excess. My departure left me hungry for more insight into the eloquent and superfluous. The exhibit displayed rich understanding of the theme in its thorough collection. By portraying excess as unintelligent but natural and luxury as egotistical but traditional, Collection Selections: De-Luxe fully evaluated the theme at hand. For anyone who wishes to expand their grasp of the human condition, anyone who demands integrity in the subject of truth, and anyone who enjoys the expression of verity I would recommend this exhibit. The pieces do not falter under close inspection. Each individually structures and elaborates on the central theme in such a way that it becomes crucial to the composure of the exhibit as a whole.