Ceramics of the Ancestors: A Spring Day at the Mall

Photos of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in 

Washington DC. 

This weekend the museum's first bi-lingual exhibit (English/Spanish), Ceramica de los Ancestros (Ceramics of the Ancestors) opened to the public. It is a temporary exhibit that will be on display until 2015. If you live in the Washington DC area or are visiting in the next few years I recommend you go and see this beautiful exhibit of ceramics, pottery, jade, and gold from Central America. 

NMAI Photo from the Exhibit

"The ceramics these diverse communities left behind, combined with recent archaeological discoveries, help tell the stories of these cultures and their achievements. The exhibition examines seven regions representing distinct Central American cultural areas that are today part of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama." (quote from the exhibit press kit).

There are some beautiful ceramics and sculptures in this exhibit. My favorite are the different portrayals of women. Some are whimsical and some are mysterious, but all are beautiful. The detail on some of the works on display are amazing and really provide a historical and social record of daily life and of  the spiritual beliefs of the people in this area a thousand years ago, and still today. 

There are also a few beautiful jade carvings and gold pins that are again amazing in their detail.  You can get a little taste of the exhibit from the Smithsonian video below:

My visit to the exhibit was too short and I know I will go back several times before the exhibit closes in early 2015. 


(Photos of Washington DC and the NMAI Museum are mine, sorry they're not perfect quality, but it was still a lovely almost spring day)


 

Dean O'Gorman: Fili is a Photographer

Dean O'Gorman who plays Fili in The Hobbit is also a talented photographer. An exhibit of his work will be at the Page Blackie Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, from June 19-23

www.pageblackiegallery.co.nz

There are a couple of interesting recent interviews with O'Gorman about his work and about working on The Hobbit.

There's a Q&A with O'Gorman from the No Magazine website- a quote below:

http://www.nomagazine.co.nz/good/qa-dean-ogorman

"What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you on set? Every day on The Hobbit is pretty surreal working with Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits. One day I found myself in a barrel floating down the Pelorus river in Nelson."

Photo by Dean O'Gorman

In an interview with Stuff.co.nz O'Gorman talks about his work as an actor, as an artist, and how the war in Vietnam inspired the work on exhibit in Wellington this month:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/7108341/From-Middle-earth-to-Vietnam

"At first glance, a viewer could believe that all the photographs O'Gorman will have on show - most are in colour and a few in black and white - were actually taken of American forces in the Vietnam War. Several appear to be candid shots, caught in the moment of battle or on patrol, and are as mesmerising as any of the great photo journalism from the time. There's also a series of posed portrait shots of soldiers, some who look as if they've just come off a battlefield.

O'Gorman wasn't even born until after American forces left Vietnam, so he obviously wasn't there. The next assumption is that he took them on the set of a war movie. But the Vietnam-era United States Army helmets stacked in a corner of his garage, along with bits of uniforms and heavy flak jackets provide a clue. The military items - some sourced cheaply from Trade Me, some more expensive items from collectors - have been essential for what he's created.

Almost like a movie director, O'Gorman dressed and set up the shots himself. He roped in friends to play the soldiers, and fellow cast members from The Hobbit. (One photograph features British actor Adam Brown who plays the dwarf Ori, and another has Luke Evans, who plays Bard the Bowman).

O'Gorman, who fell in love with photography at school, was a big fan of Vietnam War photographers including Larry Burrows and Don McCullin, as well as other war photographers such as the legendary Robert Capa." http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/7108341/From-Middle-earth-to-Vietnam

Aidan

Luke

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I wish I was in Wellington this month to see O'Gorman's exhibit.  I also wander if they have a party to open the exhibit, and I'm sure they will, most art gallery's do, whether Fili's close relatives will be there.

His brother Kili:

and his uncle Thorin:

Note:  Saw tweet from O'Gorman that gallery opening was yesterday June 19.  No photos of the event? 

Hope if you're lucky enough to be in Wellington that you'll stop by and see the exhibit and let us know in the comments what you thought. Thanks!

Marilyn Monroe, Dennis Leary, and Jane Austen - Movie, Television, and Literature Art and Museum News

Marilyn Monroe Statue Unveiled in Chicago

A 26-foot-tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe was recently unveiled on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. The sculpture by artist Seward Johnson shows Monroe in a pose from the film "The Seven Year Itch". 

Actor Dennis Leary Donates Props from his Television Show

Denis Leary  recently donated props, costumes and other objects from his TV series "Rescue Me" to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington DC.  Donations included Leary's firefighter costume, helmet and tools.  The FX  television drama is about firefighters dealing with the grief of losing friends and relatives at ground zero on 9/11.

Rare Jane Austen Manuscript sold at Sotheby's 

Last week Sotheby’s sold the earliest surviving manuscript for a novel by Jane Austen – The Watsons – which sold for £993,250 /$1,601,218 /€1,125,748, triple its pre-sale high estimate. It was sold to an anonymous bidder. The work is believed to have been written in 1804 and never published during Austen’s lifetime. The Watsons remains incomplete.