Friday, April 2, 2021

Hiding in Plain Sight

 


Last Saturday I went to the Heard Museum to see the exhibit called "Hidden in Plain Sight".  It contained the artwork of Leon Polk Smith (1906-1996).  Smith was born and grew up in Oklahoma  and had contact with Native American tribes in that area.  He was influenced by their use of color and shapes in their crafts.  The paintings above and to the left were painted around the 1945 time frame and were known as hard-edged abstract compositions.  All those patterns caught my eye immediately.  The close up to the left was called "Homage to 'Victory Boogie-Woogie' #1".  What a name.  






Here is another one with interesting patterns.  It is called "Inca" and dates to around 1970.



As you can see from these photos, his work is very abstract with bold colors.  I liked the way he used unusual shapes for many of his works.  It was certainly a unique exhibit about an artist who had a style completely his own.  


13 comments:

biebkriebels said...

Love to see a museum in reality again, all of them are still closed here...

Stefan Jansson said...

Some great paintings here.

Travel said...

Wow, I look forward to the museums opening again. That is incredibly hard work to paint, well for me, I never did "color inside the lines."

PerthDailyPhoto said...

The Heard Museum looks like an excellent exhibition space Sharon. Shows these colourful, original pieces beautifully 💙

William Kendall said...

These do catch the eye.

RedPat said...

I love these pieces, Sharon! What a great place that gallery is to show them off so well. I have never heard of this artist so will have to google him.

RedPat said...

I've just been checking out his work and I love it, Sharon! Thanks for showing us this show.

Maria said...
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Bill said...

A wonderful exhibition. The shapes and colours really get your attention.

Steve Reed said...

Cool paintings, especially in the gallery shots that show them grouped together. The "Homage to Victory Boogie Woogie #1" is a reference to Piet Mondrian, whose last (and unfinished) painting was called "Victory Boogie Woogie." (I didn't know that until I looked it up, but I did know Mondrian had one called "Broadway Boogie Woogie," so I suspected the reference was to him.)

Revrunner said...

Striking, especially as displayed in that space.

Gemel said...

These are eye catching.

Aimz said...

oooh I like the Inca one