UCSD's Stone Poetry

UNDA-Finlay

Many different forms of art cross over and flow from one form to another. Poetry can be translated into paintings; myths are carved into sculptures, and vice versa. Some of the most fascinating pieces of art incorporate two or more artistic forms into one cohesive whole. Ian Hamilton Finlay was a Scottish artist who is well known for his sculpture and poetic writing. In his commissioned sculpture for the Stuart Collection at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, Finlay carved poetry into stone, entitled: “UNDA.” Finlay also used the dichotomy of wild nature and controlled culture.

Just north of the playing field between the Humanities building and the Thurgood Marshall College student apartments sit five large, roughly cut, English limestone blocks. On each block the Latin letters V, N, D, A are carved in various orders. A ‘S’ form separates some of the letters indicating that one should transpose the letters it separates. Using this formula, each block reads UNDA. It is a one-word poem repeated over the stones.

This statue was Finlay’s first outdoor sculpture in the United States. It seems to relate the message that all art is connected to nature as closely as this one piece. Simplicity and beauty become one with the environment, making Finlay’s sculpture seem timeless. The use of Latin letters contributes to the classical nature of the sculpture as well. After deciphering and contemplating Finlay’s UNDA poem, visit Thumbprint Gallery, on Kline Street in La Jolla, to see more art by local artists. The gallery is open from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Source:

http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artists/finlay.shtml

La Jolla Snake Makes One Pause for Thought

Snake Path-Smith

They say ignorance is bliss. However, through curiosity, through study, through knowledge does one truly find oneself. It is a theme that has been discussed in countless texts, including the Bible. Artists and authors have toyed with the boundaries of moralistic stories related to the theme of knowledge and sin. The Stuart Collection at the University of California San Diego in La Jolla has their own piece that explores this idea: “Snake Path” by Alexis Smith.

The path is constructed of colored hexagonal slate tiles that create the scales of a serpent. The body of the snake makes a 560-foot, winding path, with its head and tongue leading the pedestrian to the Geisel Library. The snake wraps its body around part of the concrete walkway. Coils of the tail create small circular gardens. One of the gardens is representative of the Garden of Eden with pomegranate and other fruit trees. A bench in the garden is inscribed with a quote from Thomas Gray: "Yet ah why should they know their fate/When sorrow never comes too late/And happiness too swiftly flies/Thought would destroy their Paradise/No more, where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise." A large granite book sits beside the Snake Path with a quote from Milton’s Paradise Lost: “And wilt thou not be loath to leave this Paradise, but shalt possess a Paradise within thee, happier far."

The connections of the snake, the garden, and the book are clear. The Snake Path leads students and pedestrians, around the garden, towards the knowledge held within Geisel Library. The Snake Path may also allude to the growth of the students, their development, and preparation for the “real” world.

The Snake Path is a meditative walk, allowing one to think about the meanings and ideas behind its construction, and location. To learn more about contemporary, lowbrow, and local art in La Jolla, visit ThumbprintGallery on Kline Street. The gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Source:
http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artists/smith-a.shtml

An Impressionist Take on La Jolla

California Coast

The history and tradition of art in La Jolla is long and filled with extremely talented individuals. Maurice Braun was an influential impressionist painter who worked in La Jolla and around San Diego for a great part of his life. His artwork is said to have captured the life and light of Southern California in ways other artists could not. Braun also became a prominent person in the La Jolla artistic community.

Braun was born in 1877 in Hungary. His family immigrated to the New York when he was four years old. He studied fine arts at the National Academy of Design. In 1909, Maurice moved to San Diego, drawn by the landscape and the Point Loma Theosophical Society. A year later Braun founded the San Diego Academy of Art. Braun was a founding member of the La Jolla Art Association. He split his time between the East and West coasts for several years after that, painting wherever he could. In 1929 he joined the Contemporary Artists of San Diego.

The plein-air paintings of Maurice Braun shone a spotlight on San Diego, and more specifically, La Jolla. “The Jewel” shines bright and sun-drenched in his seascapes. His other landscapes fully grasp the feeling and atmosphere of the hills and trees around San Diego. Some of these landscapes could be compared to Monet’s Haystacks. It is no wonder that Maurice Braun is considered to be one of the most influential painters of his time.

Maurice Braun’s impact on the La Jolla artistic community lives on in the La Jolla Art Association and the San Diego Academy of Art. To learn more about the local art community, visit Thumbprint Gallery on Kline Street in La Jolla. The gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-4pm.

Source:

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-4/pdf/v54-4Stern.pdf

http://mauricebraun.com/

La Jolla's Beauty Draws in Artists

Balboa Park: California Tower from Alcazar Garden, Alson Clark

California draws all kinds of people to its shores. The inland landscapes offer a wealth of interesting views and sights, while the coast is always marveled for its amazing vistas. These panoramas entice landscape artists to come and practice their art. One of the more nomadic artistic individuals, Alson Skinner Clark, spent most of his summers in the 1920s traveling the California coastline between Laguna Beach, San Diego, and La Jolla.

Clark was born in Chicago. He began his art career taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago at the age of 11. After his public education, Clark attended many prestigious art schools in the United States as well as in Europe: the newly formed school of William Merritt Chase in New York, Académie Carmen in Paris with the atelier of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Académie Delecluse with Alphonse Mucha, and studied painting during his travels to France, Holland, and Belgium. He moved to Pasadena after serving as an aerial photographer in World War I.

Clark’s French impressionistic style and exceptional rendering skills made him wildly popular. His paintings of the San Diego mission and of Balboa Park evoke a calm emotion from the viewer. These works brought much attention to the beauty of San Diego and La Jolla. Clark also painted extravagant murals in Los Angeles and Pasadena. In 1921, Clark became a teacher at the Stickney Memorial School of Art.

The inspirational effects San Diego and La Jolla have on artists continue to this day. The local art community of La Jolla has grown to embrace a wide range of art including contemporary, urban, and lowbrow genres. To see more local art visit Thumbprint Gallery on Kline Street in La Jolla. The gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12pm to 4pm.

Source: 

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-4/pdf/v54-4Stern.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alson_S._Clark

http://alsonclark.com/