Part 1
MoLAA stands for Museum of Latin American Art. MoLAA is the only museum in the Western US that features contemporary Latin American art. Opened in November 1996, in Long Beach, California, MoLAA’s purpose is to educate the public on contemporary Latin American art through a rotation of a permanent collection featuring well known artists in Latin American countries who have little or no recognition in the US.
The YouTube video provided a virtual tour of the museum and showed clips from their collection of various artists and their work. The works included folk art, metal works, oils, canvas, sculptures, photography and contemporary use of other materials such as glass and electronics. Some of the paintings were traditional in style while others were more contemporary. I enjoyed viewing the sculptures displayed in their sculpture garden. Additionally, MoLAA’s gift shop sells work from Latin American artists and I especially enjoyed viewing and the Peruvian Nativity scenes. (I own one and I find the craftsmanship endearing.)
MoLAA also produces “Night’s In” events that provide a context for the art that they show. The purpose of these events is to give the people an idea of the countries from where the art comes from. These events provide music, dance and culture of the country because “art is not produced in a vacuum.” (Night in Brazil)
References
Clip 1
A virtual tour of MoLAA
Clip 2
MoLAA tour
Clip 3
Night in Brazil @ MoLAA
Spotlight on Jose M. Fors
I was attracted to Fors work, “Gelatin Silver print “Letters VI 2005”, when viewing the MoLAA virtual tour. I enjoy photography and a few years ago, I took a group of students to SF MOMA to view a photography exhibit. I especially enjoy photos utilizing gelatin silver printing techniques. Fors work displayed at MoLAA uses this processing technique.
Fors shot his first photograph in 1982 & 1983 and his first photos predominantly capture broken and old things in his artistic expression for waste. Fors doesn’t seem to have a large following which might be due to his 15 years of using a consistent themes threaded throughout his work which would explain the lack of information and examples of Fors’ work. This consistency is rare in contemporary Cuban visual art.
Fors photographic mosaics have nature as the fundamental theme. His photographs “revitalize the theme of nature in contemporary Cuban photography but also renews the place and significance of nature as an object of representation in Cuban visual art.” (Molina) Fors selects “places and relocates objects he’s going to photograph” and manipulates the image through “inversion of color and the effects of the repetition of images.” (Molina) Fors is a well known master visual artist from Cuba who specializes in contemporary mixed media and rediscovered photography as a means of artistic expression during a time when photography was beginning to be incorporated into Cuban art.
References:
BOYCOTT Art Gallery; ©2000-2009 ARTMAJEUR.COM
Molina, Juan Antonio. José Manuel Fors: Dry Leaves. La Habana, 1996. Translation by Carlos Lopez Cruz and Esther Tato Borja
Part 2 - Review of Classmates Work from Week 4
Kathy wrote how it was important to know about Freire's upbringing as a child and that he fought for those oppressed in the world. In her summary she says that Freire spent his life attempting to level the "playing field between the poor and under privileged".
Maria learned that Freire believed that everyone had a right to an education and that he did not allow anything or anyone to force him to change his beliefs. She also learned that Freire used his experiences and his research to help educate those around him regarding social issues.
Michael thought that Freire's upbringing "shaped his concerns for poor people and became the foundation of his educational viewpoint." Michael wrote that Freire's educational theory is based upon a philosophy that a student-teacher's role should be interactive and more democratic. He also indicated that Freire's work "promotes and inspires liberation, dignity, and the ability to change".
Michele thought that the quote, "To speak a true word is to transform the world" spoke how Freire could "commuicate effectively to all backgrounds" as a result of his upbringing and concerns for the underprivileged and create a new way of thinking about education.
Nancy believes that we should understand that Freire's theory of education "grew out of his desire to see the oppressed under-class liberated from the oppressors in society." She also noted that "Freire is best known for his attack on the 'banking method' of education and promotion of the 'problem-posing' method in its place" and that education needs to have an "emphasis on dialogue between the teacher and student in the learning process".
Robert - Freire embraces a non-orthodox form of teaching with the emphasis to bring justice to both the poor and oppressed through political activism. Robert also feels that Freire was a "progressive thinking educator and humanitarian, and spent his life trying to enrich other's lives with education, consciousness, culture and freedom." Robert has discovered another hero through his education process.
Sara wrote that Freire "knows what it means to not have resources or a strong income, and this makes getting a good education a very big challenge" and she believes "this experience is what helps Freire connect with the people he is teaching because he can relate to them."
Shannon believes Paulo Freire was a "scholar, an intellectual, a philosopher and a revolutionary". She also noted that "praxis seems to be the core of what Paulo Freire believes - that all teaching and understanding, all words and beliefs are ultimately here for efficient action to achieve a harmonious yet diverse world."
Stacy wrote about Freire's life long work and how he demonstrates his "self made humanitarian life. His life is a living demonstration of his own philosophies. His diversion from the standard hierarchy and pecking order of conventional learning and teaching is both refreshing and true to human spirit. His methods have a focus on depth, understanding, interactive learning, exploration, intelligence, challenge." Great Sumamry!
Susan wrote that "Freire is a Brazilian philosopher who developed theories that has been used to bring literacy to poor people" and his "methods for developing literacy caused people to want to change society".
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