Visit to the NAU Art Museum: Violence Exposition

As Arizonians must already know, we have three excellent public universities that take outstanding positions in the fields of medicine, engineering, business, research, art, among other subjects. Although it will sound too opinionated, I feel particularly proud to be called a "Lumberjack" and to belong to such an exceptional school of arts as it is Northern Arizona University. Aspects of this university that have always caught my attention have been its beautiful panoramas, weather, and, of course, art programs, which are constantly being supported by phenomenal and very talented students and staff. The NAU Art Museum is the living proof of this last statement.

Although I have been trying to get more involved with the artistic surroundings at Northern Arizona University, there has been a particular exhibition at this art museum that has caught my attention, and this was the violence exposition that took place about two semesters ago. As I went to visit the NAU Art Museum Violence Exposition, I was honestly impressed by the works of art that I was luckily able to admire at this gallery. Two in specific that were exceptionally appealing were Karen M. Gutfreund’s “LifeDeath” and Rafael Blanco’s “Alma’s Identity”. Both pieces were reflecting truthful historical events that were marking a return in today’s society, and talking about the paintings themselves, they were extremely well-portrayed by their medium and use of oil and other media.

Karen Gutfreund. "LifeDeath". 

First of all, Gutfreund’s “LifeDeath” at first had a pretty negative impression on my opinion on society. I felt miserable and disappointed on the many complications that we are putting our world into. Seeing a baby being put into a missile projection made me realize that, in some way, that is the exact result of our actions, not only in other countries, but also here in the United States. By trying to maintain war in other locations, we are also hurting our newborns and general population by not only physical harm, but by what they hear and admire every single day on TV. We see the same story over, and over again, but with different victims. Adding to that, I also felt interested by the picture collage located underneath the infant; all of those pictures of everyday people have a really strong and moving effect on spectators because of the way that the artist relates the victim to the rest of our society and even loved ones; in other words, Gutfreund can be articulating that at least one of these individuals could be your own partner, mom or dad. It brings a sense of union, but at the same time, it combines it with a sense of fear.

Rafael Blanco. "Alma's Identity".

On the other hand, Blanco’s “Alma’s Identity” was more of a personal issue rather than a more solidary one. In this painting, Rafael Blanco is portraying a “Chicana”, which refers to, in this case, a woman born in the United States with Mexican roots. Although my case is a little bit different, since I was taken to Mexico as a baby and then brought back to Arizona as a 15-year-old adolescent, I too know what it is like to be standing with a different flag in each hand. The use of oil on canvas in this painting definitely provokes a powerful reaction, because without being 100% realistic, this young lady is capable of making you feel her confusion and pride as if she were standing just in front of you. Her presence is so clear and resilient that it made her become my favorite piece at the entire gallery. 

Furthermore, it is needless to say that a piece of art has an infinity of meanings, simply because our opinions are free to be as diverse as they come. That is to say, visiting art galleries and specific exhibitions that we feel interest in--or not--lead you to realize more about yourself than about the artworks that you are able to admire there. Art does help us to understand the world around us, and at one moment of our lives, even the music that we listen to, the poems that we read and the paintings that we decide to analyze are the best means of communication towards our own souls. 

"Atomic Ranch: Midcentury Interiors" by Michelle Gringeri-Brown and Jim Brown

Today’s discussion is around Michelle Gringeri-Brown’s book “Atomic Ranch: Midcentury Interiors”, and I have to say that I found this last one truly fascinating, since although I am not a fan of the midcentury design itself, I must admit that its elegance is doubtlessly present throughout every space along the same lines. 


The photographs in this edition were taken by Jim Brown, who also shared several of his ideas throughout the different ranch houses presented in the book. An ideology of his that I still cannot find the words to express how true it is, it’s when Brown states that interior design is quite a personal subject, and that although it is built through history and the basic elements of any artistic composition, people are still capable to greatly vary among similar styles (Brown 9). I believe that this is particularly found in a style such as this one, while taking into consideration that midcentury design is a term involving many aspects of what can be considered contemporary and modern. 

The horizontal feel is constant in these residences, and if we look closely at the common details of these houses, we can admire a tremendous emphasis for natural resources utilized in the diverse designs. Although a style such as prairie could also provide us with this combination of metal, glass and wood, the midcentury style is definitely motivating the owners to live in a wood box, instead of the typical glass box that we see in more modern environments. Yes, wood and brick seem to be essential parts of this category of design, but the question here is if this is remotely crucial for its organization. To answer this, it is kind of curious that we must move forward in the book and, really, in time, to start identifying a different subsection of what it was once known as midcentury.

Brick vs. wood, tile vs. carpet, one-story vs. two-story…It is really all up to you.Let’s submerge ourselves into these “atomic” ranches, and purchase the newest edition of Michelle Gringeri-Brown’s book “Atomic Ranch: Midcentury Interiors”.

Erin Gates' "Elements of Style" - Review

For this new entry, I have decided to talk about an actual interior designer that I truly admire; she is also a blogger and author of the book “Elements of Style: Designing a Home & a Life”—which I have selected for today’s discussion—and this is Erin Gates! Erin’s blog “Elements of Style” has been around since 2007, and she has been providing outstanding advices for the world of design since then.

In her book, she separates each chapter by different sections of a typical home: The Entry, The Living Room, The Kitchen, The Dining Room, The Family Room, The Bedroom, The Bathroom, The Nursery, The Office, The Closet, The Sunroom & Outdoor Spaces. Now, you might think the same thing that I thought when my friend gave me this book last Christmas: “Oh, another Interior Design book of someone whose greatest aspiration is to become the next Frank Lloyd Wright of our civilization.” Well, this is not the case.

Erin Gates provides different aspects of her personal and professional life as a designer to literally build even the least significant detail of her diverse interior and exterior spaces with love and passion. She opens our eyes into the various styles that we can choose from when talking about every area of our homes, and personally, the one that caught my attention the most was the entry. Who would have thought that a space that is commonly seen, as she mentions, as “…a place to hang out a coat and toss a stack of mail.” (Gates 9), can get to be this relevant into someone’s life? 

With her chapter “The Entry”, Gates introduces us to what our actual entries are saying about the rest of our home. Because of her ideas, now I am actually able to see my home as a book, and the entry as its introduction. When an introduction of the book is just this endless piece of tedious and monotonous text, I just tend to leave it aside and wait until I finish other more interesting works than that one. This also applies for our house entry; if this last one is uniquely decorated by our keys and mail, the expectations of our guests become instantly lowered in drastic ways. This is when Erin Gates makes us wonder and think what the entry of our house is saying about the rest of our taste for our interior and exterior surroundings.

Furthermore, I personally loved the great diversity of styles that Gates provided us. She gives us the modern style along with its geometrical lines, the finished wood and its gleaming accents, but at the same time she also gives us a more country-like option, with the new country feel that simple characteristics such as a stripped rug and the utilization of leather wrapping can constitute it. If I can give my opinion on this one, I would say that the ideas around the glamorous style seemed to be the most appealing to me, since I consider myself totally classic, but my love for color also keeps pushing me towards a more contemporary interior style. Hence, this feminine and classical elegance is definitely what I would be looking for when decorating my first stable apartment or home.

If you guys are dying to know more about this stylish interior designer and blogger, or if you just need inspiration for your own home, I highly recommend Erin Gates’ book, “Elements of Style: Designing a Home & a Life”. Let her guide you with her own process of building that nest that everyone needs eventually. Gates is the perfect example of an open mind for visuals, and I know everyone can adopt at least one of her concepts for their own lives.