Wegman World

The Academy Awards

The Oscars are on this weekend.  There will be many parties. Expectations are high.  A lot of people ask me who I think will win. Honestly I don't know. I wish I could be of more help.

-- WW

Recent listening

Each Thursday we will be posting a recording of music that Bill has enjoyed in the last week.

 

 

Available here for purchase.

Wednesday's Postcard

Giant Wall of Music

I absolutely love classical music. Lately I have been indulging in the spectralists: Tristan Murail and Gerard Grisey. They are 20th century French composers who emerged in the 1970's at IRCAM both having studied with Messein.  

from TristanMurail.com via Sonorous Objects // Imaginary Space

To me the music is quite freeing.

However...
When I'm listening to music while I work, especially when I paint, I have remember to reign in the feeling I get that I am a genius.

William Wegman, Curly Bach, 2010 (snapshot)

Some examples of how music can reach us:

1. Example of live music:  opera

2. Example of music on the radio:  broadcast from symphony hall

3. Example of a record:  Mozart, Jupiter Symphony, Otto Klemperor conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra

4. Example of a tape recording:  Mozart, Symphony #40, Colin Davis conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle

5. Example of a cd recording: Ochegehm Missa Prolationem, Hilliard Ensemble

6. Example of a mp3 download: Radulescu Intimate Rituals

My idea is to put them all together into one giant wall of music.

 

--WW

Funney, yet strange

This fantastic card was sent to the studio after a class visited the recent retrospective, Funney/Strange. 

We will be periodically posting children's art that is inspired by the work of William Wegman.  

Art: 21, featuring William Wegman and Steve Martin

 

Art: 21 is a PBS produced series on contemporary art. The above episode is #3 from season 1, and features Bruce Nauman, Kerry James Marshall, Maya Lin and Louise Bourgeois. William Wegman and Steve Martin created the introduction.

Wednesday's Postcard

 

Each Wednesday we will be showing a postcard from Bill's collection. He has thousands of cards, which he has been using in his artwork since the 1990's.

 

Westminster

Image courtesy of The Library of Congress

 

Madison Square Garden (more of a building than a garden) is only a dozen or so blocks from my home.  It opened on February 11, 1968, constructed by Robert E. McKee of El Paso, Texas.  I myself visited El Paso in l978, ten years after the completion of the building.

Far from El Paso lies the MSG, situated between 31st and 32nd streets and 7th & 8th avenues in New York City.  I usually check out  the Westminster dog show during its stay in February. More round than square, MSG hosts a plethora of sporting and entertainment events year round. 

I enjoy visiting the waiting and grooming areas at Westminster more than the showing arena, which to me seems unfathomable. What are the judges looking for? I don't know.

Around the perimeter are stations of commerce: dog food, supplements, grooming aids, etc. It's really crowded and you have to inch your way around but to make up for the inconvenience you can get free stuff sometimes.

It's not really a great idea to bring your dog because you will have to keep it kenneled until your breed gets called up to the arena to be judged.

Of course I have to check on the weimaraner contingent back stage. I'm not sure how weimaraner people feel about what I do. Some disapprove I have heard. I have contributed to making the breed more popular. Overly popular perhaps. Shelters are crowded with weimaraners abandoned by people who think they are easy to live with and find they are too much trouble. Weimaraners are high maintenance. Please don't get one unless you have a lot of time and energy. If you do, then get two. Adopt if possible.

-- WW

Twenty Years Ago Today

Twenty years ago today, the New York Times ran this profile.

"Construction Work", William Wegman, 1993

We mean it, really.

"Visitors Welcome", William Wegman, 1979


Welcome to William Wegman's new blog. We will be posting about art, music, dogs, book, hockey and whatever else comes to mind.