My first thought the second I saw the first picture was a local artist, Pauline Lim (https://www.paulinelim.net/). She lives in a condo developed by local artists out of a former A&P facility (bakery, cannery and foundry) next to the railroad tracks, which is financially sustained by having units designated for both artists and non-artists (Brickbottom, for the locals who didn't already guess). Visiting her place during open studios is always unsettling to me, but I keep going back. Her artwork was one of the two pieces (prints, not originals) stolen from a construction fence. I'm sure there's a better story than this (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-wbz-newsradio-1030-audio-28657113/episode/art-stolen-off-somerville-fence-in-144115514/), but it was the easiest one to find.
Thanks Martini! I studied art and my art history textbook at the time had to be supplemented with female artists because there were NONE in the main textbook. They didn't feel there were any female artists worthy of being in it. NOT kidding. Unfortunately Leonora wasn't one of the artists in the supplemental texts so I have never heard of her before. I'm going to research her now for sure because I love her work!
Ditto. About the only female artist I saw in art history textbooks while I was studying art history was Georgia O'Keeffe. Frida Kahlo later. Artemisia Gentileschi is now another, but even she didn't show up until Italian writer Anna Banti helped bring her into the light in the 80's. Carrington is currently riding a well-deserved wave: good. But what astounds me even today is that the now many books that deliberately focus on women artists still manage to miss out on so many significant ones. I've never seen such a book feature Winifred Knights, Buffie Johnson, Bertha Lum, Doris Lee, Emily Mason, Dod Procter. I've yet to see a single book that features Kateryna Bilokur, one of whose paintings should be used for the Ukrainian national flag, and of whom Picasso said that if France had such a painter she would be a household name.
My greatest piano teacher as a young'un had surreal artwork on all the walls of her studio. I would gaze at them as I waited for the student before me to come to the end of their lesson. It certainly made an impact on my taste, I love them.
Had the great honor of meeting Ms. Carrington years ago when she was in Oak Park, Illinois (visiting one of her sons, I believe). As striking in person as one would expect...
Me too! I made sure to see Frieda and Diego and some street art and some galleries (all absolutely wonderful), but I didn't have enough time to seek her murals and statues out. I'll just need to make a return trip.
Her art mirrors her life. Born into wealth and privilege she could have cruised an easy path in the upper crust of British elites.
Yet she followed her muse rigorously. Her family, alarmed at her choices, actually had her committed to a mental hospital for this. She never abandoned her course despite efforts to "cure" her.
Do not think that her joining the circle of elite French surrealists made her life any easier. For this almost exclusively male club only treated her as a novelty and attempted to pigeonhole her as an "inspirational muse".
She never quit painting despite the headwinds constantly pushing her to do so.
Her memoir bears a reading and she also wrote a nice volume of short stories. If you think her paintings are unsettling then you might by pass the short stories.
Maybe it's just me, but that painting of the rolling green fields with a triangle of denser vegetation displaying an inviting circular water feature looks pretty "disguised female genitalia" to me, even with the woman draped in Bessie's skin standing on one metaphorical thigh.
For sure, a lot of Surrealiam delves into sexual themes, particularly as it works to represent a link between the conscious and dreams. However, “Green Tea” is apparently influenced by Carrington’s time in a sanitarium, with the woman wearing a strait-jacket. Although the artist herself often left interpretation up to the viewer, so perhaps she meant some of what you see there too.
Not for me, because surrealism isn't my cuppa. However, I now know about an artist I didn't know about before. And any day I can learn something is a good day.
My definition of a good day for many years has been a day where I learn something and nobody gets hurt. Some days do put that definition to the test, though.
And in my own defense, practically every word I utter/type should be taken with a grain of humor. This is a disclaimer, since the humor didn't take the other day, and I was almost mowed down by friendly fire. Oof.
Amy Coney Barrett seems to be liberal curious. I can't say that she's a solid conservative vote at this time. She may go full Souter and become a reliable liberal voice in the next term or two.
Just think: That LawDork condemnation of the Supreme Court's open power grab was written BEFORE they took unto themselves sole power to decide whether a President can be prosecuted for crimes, and whether a Presidential act is a crime or the legitimate performance of Presidential duties.
Make no mistake, they are trying to destroy Constitutional checks and balances in favor of their own power to be the ultimate arbiter in everything the government does. If Republicans weren't so fucking nuts they'd be as pissed about it as we are.
So I really thought, in 2020,. that Biden picked Harris as Veep so that he could step aside and have her be the shoo-in Democratic nominee in 2024. I did not anticipate that the White House and the national party would just sit on their hands while the MAGAs created a narrative of VP Harris as an incompetent demon America-killer. I really do blame the Democrats' decades-long political incompetence for this one, and not the Vice President. They threw away a major asset to the party and to the campaign and, well, here we are.
It's not the Democrats' fault. This country learned its lesson -- the people will not vote a woman for president. When you hear someone say they *would* vote for a woman just not *that woman* you know they are lying. There is never a woman good enough.
It won't vote for a woman for President YET. And the first one won't likely be a Democrat, unless the electoral environment is so inherently a landslide situation that the only requirement for a victorious Democratic candidate is that they have a pulse. Otherwise, misogyny in otherwise Democratic voters will simply alienate parts of our base, but will not bring in right-leaning independents to compensate for their lost votes.
However, a conservative/Republican candidate WILL bring in left-leaning independents to compensate for misogynistic losses among their own base. That's why so .many people say that the first woman President will probably be a Republican.
But once that glass ceiling is finally broken, being a woman will no longer be such a crippling liability. It'll just be one of many factors voters will weigh when deciding who to vote for.
A suggestion for the runaway judicial system: Use the time honored management technique of flattening the organization. Abolish the lower courts, promote all judges to justices of the SCOTUS. Existing justices to enter lottery for chambers with the other ~850 former circuit and appeals court judges. Chief Justice office relo to Four Seasons Landscaping.
From The Fucking News: “A snap survey of reaction to Biden’s debate against former Pres. Donald Trump showed that Biden had lost a key constituency: People paid to ignore substance in a medium that values style and performance and actively discourages meaningful engagement with serious policy issues that have material impact on people’s lives.”
While sarcasm, to be fair that’s a not insignificant fraction of even Democrat voters…
On the way out to get the old CR-V inspected - it expired in April. Here's to hoping it's not gonna need thousands of dollars in work. At least I have a reputable independent guy that knows me, not a chain like Mavis, that tries to upsell every customer coming thru the door. "Oh, just an oil change? Whew, you got here just in time. You need new struts."
Geeez, I hope the Ukrainians always keep a few folks around to make sure guys like Johnson don't get accidentally near any sort of information that Russia shouldn't have.
I think that should read: "@RepMikeTurner & bipartisan delegation @BettyMcCollum04 , @RepRonnyJackson, @RepTonyGonzales & @RepJohnJoyce to discuss how the republican Congress can cut the aid sent to Ukraine"
Leonora Carrington is your hed gif artist today. I find her Surrealist paintings and sculpture mysterious and intriguing. Learn more about her and her fascinating life here: https://open.substack.com/pub/martiniambassador/p/the-feminine-surrealism-of-leonora
My first thought the second I saw the first picture was a local artist, Pauline Lim (https://www.paulinelim.net/). She lives in a condo developed by local artists out of a former A&P facility (bakery, cannery and foundry) next to the railroad tracks, which is financially sustained by having units designated for both artists and non-artists (Brickbottom, for the locals who didn't already guess). Visiting her place during open studios is always unsettling to me, but I keep going back. Her artwork was one of the two pieces (prints, not originals) stolen from a construction fence. I'm sure there's a better story than this (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-wbz-newsradio-1030-audio-28657113/episode/art-stolen-off-somerville-fence-in-144115514/), but it was the easiest one to find.
Looks like a Sylvia Plath dreamscape. Iconic.
Thanks Martini! I studied art and my art history textbook at the time had to be supplemented with female artists because there were NONE in the main textbook. They didn't feel there were any female artists worthy of being in it. NOT kidding. Unfortunately Leonora wasn't one of the artists in the supplemental texts so I have never heard of her before. I'm going to research her now for sure because I love her work!
Ditto. About the only female artist I saw in art history textbooks while I was studying art history was Georgia O'Keeffe. Frida Kahlo later. Artemisia Gentileschi is now another, but even she didn't show up until Italian writer Anna Banti helped bring her into the light in the 80's. Carrington is currently riding a well-deserved wave: good. But what astounds me even today is that the now many books that deliberately focus on women artists still manage to miss out on so many significant ones. I've never seen such a book feature Winifred Knights, Buffie Johnson, Bertha Lum, Doris Lee, Emily Mason, Dod Procter. I've yet to see a single book that features Kateryna Bilokur, one of whose paintings should be used for the Ukrainian national flag, and of whom Picasso said that if France had such a painter she would be a household name.
So in short, a LOT more work to do here.
like
My greatest piano teacher as a young'un had surreal artwork on all the walls of her studio. I would gaze at them as I waited for the student before me to come to the end of their lesson. It certainly made an impact on my taste, I love them.
I find myself mesmerized by these enthralling images; a magnificent treat for the eyes and the artist within.
Her Tarot deck is a treat, too:
https://50wattsbooks.com/products/the-tarot-of-leonora-carrington
Those are simply magnificent! I wish like hell that I had $100 to spend on a deck of my own.
Had the great honor of meeting Ms. Carrington years ago when she was in Oak Park, Illinois (visiting one of her sons, I believe). As striking in person as one would expect...
Oh wow, how very cool!
Wait ...this isn't about the TV family from "Dynasty"?
Not interested.
Honestly, when we were in Mexico City, I would have loved to have seen some of her works up close.
Me too! I made sure to see Frieda and Diego and some street art and some galleries (all absolutely wonderful), but I didn't have enough time to seek her murals and statues out. I'll just need to make a return trip.
I know a place to meet up. The famous La Boguedita del Medio of Havana has a branch in Mexico City. The mojitos are great.
Thanks for this.
Her art mirrors her life. Born into wealth and privilege she could have cruised an easy path in the upper crust of British elites.
Yet she followed her muse rigorously. Her family, alarmed at her choices, actually had her committed to a mental hospital for this. She never abandoned her course despite efforts to "cure" her.
Do not think that her joining the circle of elite French surrealists made her life any easier. For this almost exclusively male club only treated her as a novelty and attempted to pigeonhole her as an "inspirational muse".
She never quit painting despite the headwinds constantly pushing her to do so.
Her memoir bears a reading and she also wrote a nice volume of short stories. If you think her paintings are unsettling then you might by pass the short stories.
Aaaand I ordered a book of her short stories just now!
She also wrote one of my favorite short novels, "The Hearing Trumpet," about a group of women committed to an elder care "facility" deciding to rebel.
I LOVE short stories, thanks for the suggestion
like
Yeah, reading her bio I was thinking "Oh boy, I'm sure the family loved THAT"...and right away, there came the mental institution part.
Love me some Nora Carrington! Thanks MartiniGlambassador!
I think you were the one that suggested the topic, so thank YOU!
That was me! Welcome!
Maybe it's just me, but that painting of the rolling green fields with a triangle of denser vegetation displaying an inviting circular water feature looks pretty "disguised female genitalia" to me, even with the woman draped in Bessie's skin standing on one metaphorical thigh.
I once mistook a high altitude aerial photo of the Nile River Delta for that. It all depends on your frame of mind.
For sure, a lot of Surrealiam delves into sexual themes, particularly as it works to represent a link between the conscious and dreams. However, “Green Tea” is apparently influenced by Carrington’s time in a sanitarium, with the woman wearing a strait-jacket. Although the artist herself often left interpretation up to the viewer, so perhaps she meant some of what you see there too.
http://www.eirarojas.com/feminine-feminist-and-sinister-p-5#:~:text=The%20painting%20explores%20a%20clear,(La%20dame%20ovale)%2C%201942
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
My dyslexia saw
Sometimes a cider is just a cigar
That could happen, too. I mean, given the right mushrooms.
More likely, sometimes a cider is just the right mushrooms.
That would be the Master's dissertation/thesis I would expect from you.
Dyke, Crip: 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎. 2024, Wonkette University Press.
Where can I get a copy (for a friend, natch)?
Ha. In the most Freudian Slip of Needing Glasses Moments...I saw "for a friend, snatch".
This coffee is broken, it's not working.
There'd be a lotta, "Mmmm, genitalia," in there.
So it would be like any regular day plus credits. Winning!
Not for me, because surrealism isn't my cuppa. However, I now know about an artist I didn't know about before. And any day I can learn something is a good day.
My definition of a good day for many years has been a day where I learn something and nobody gets hurt. Some days do put that definition to the test, though.
Love that stuff!
That's some goddamn nightmare fuel right there, Tini.
Surrealism isn’t for everyone, I guess. Hitler sure hated it, for example.
I love it. I just spent 10 miutes staring at it, slack-jawed...but that's my resting pose, anyway. On to your post, to find out more...
Um, you mean, like, Leonora Carrington?
The Yr Wonkette Self-Appointed Proofing/Editing Dept thanks you for your service.
Heehee.
Oh no, did I fuck up somewhere?
Only at the very first word. :)
Oh duh, up fix.
I’m my defense, I have to type up the descriptions quickly when the post goes up and sometimes I flub or fat finger.
Hey--who wouldn't?!
You managed to stretch the morning Tabs budget for just enough to buy that vowel. Amazing.
And in my own defense, practically every word I utter/type should be taken with a grain of humor. This is a disclaimer, since the humor didn't take the other day, and I was almost mowed down by friendly fire. Oof.
It's early in the morning. No one can be counted on to see anything correctly yet.
Monday mornings are the worst.
Amy Coney Barrett seems to be liberal curious. I can't say that she's a solid conservative vote at this time. She may go full Souter and become a reliable liberal voice in the next term or two.
Just think: That LawDork condemnation of the Supreme Court's open power grab was written BEFORE they took unto themselves sole power to decide whether a President can be prosecuted for crimes, and whether a Presidential act is a crime or the legitimate performance of Presidential duties.
Make no mistake, they are trying to destroy Constitutional checks and balances in favor of their own power to be the ultimate arbiter in everything the government does. If Republicans weren't so fucking nuts they'd be as pissed about it as we are.
test
Oh no, I didn't study!
test
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant..."
Ah, I think I've discovered the commandment Louisiana *really* wants to see reinstated.
So I really thought, in 2020,. that Biden picked Harris as Veep so that he could step aside and have her be the shoo-in Democratic nominee in 2024. I did not anticipate that the White House and the national party would just sit on their hands while the MAGAs created a narrative of VP Harris as an incompetent demon America-killer. I really do blame the Democrats' decades-long political incompetence for this one, and not the Vice President. They threw away a major asset to the party and to the campaign and, well, here we are.
It's not the Democrats' fault. This country learned its lesson -- the people will not vote a woman for president. When you hear someone say they *would* vote for a woman just not *that woman* you know they are lying. There is never a woman good enough.
It won't vote for a woman for President YET. And the first one won't likely be a Democrat, unless the electoral environment is so inherently a landslide situation that the only requirement for a victorious Democratic candidate is that they have a pulse. Otherwise, misogyny in otherwise Democratic voters will simply alienate parts of our base, but will not bring in right-leaning independents to compensate for their lost votes.
However, a conservative/Republican candidate WILL bring in left-leaning independents to compensate for misogynistic losses among their own base. That's why so .many people say that the first woman President will probably be a Republican.
But once that glass ceiling is finally broken, being a woman will no longer be such a crippling liability. It'll just be one of many factors voters will weigh when deciding who to vote for.
A suggestion for the runaway judicial system: Use the time honored management technique of flattening the organization. Abolish the lower courts, promote all judges to justices of the SCOTUS. Existing justices to enter lottery for chambers with the other ~850 former circuit and appeals court judges. Chief Justice office relo to Four Seasons Landscaping.
That sound you are currently hearing is the sound of MAGA heads exploding
Alex Thompson @AlexThomp
Jill Biden is on the July cover of Vogue. Just dropped this AM.
https://x.com/AlexThomp/status/1807725012213735664
Simone Biles should join the WNBA when she's done with gymnastics. Her dunks would be the stuff of legend. https://substack.com/profile/155708860-1d5051d5221d/note/c-60603612
Supreme Court: Trump not fully immune from criminal charges.
6-3 decision by some real criminals
Criminals, but not smooth ones. Michael Jackson’s legacy still stands.
From The Fucking News: “A snap survey of reaction to Biden’s debate against former Pres. Donald Trump showed that Biden had lost a key constituency: People paid to ignore substance in a medium that values style and performance and actively discourages meaningful engagement with serious policy issues that have material impact on people’s lives.”
While sarcasm, to be fair that’s a not insignificant fraction of even Democrat voters…
I'd say that that is less "sarcasm" than it is "trenchant media analysis." It's withering, but it sure ain't wrong.
On the way out to get the old CR-V inspected - it expired in April. Here's to hoping it's not gonna need thousands of dollars in work. At least I have a reputable independent guy that knows me, not a chain like Mavis, that tries to upsell every customer coming thru the door. "Oh, just an oil change? Whew, you got here just in time. You need new struts."
Passed inspection AND a Nice Times: cost: $0.00. Doesn't happen often.
I approve of Mavis, as long as it's Auntie Mavis:
https://auntiemavis.substack.com
I have to admit I hadn't known her. Along the lines of Indigenous/neurodivergent, she puts me in mind of Terra Vance, who I much admire.
For a Ronnasecond I was thinking Auntie Mame. That too, I guess.
"Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death."
https://archive.ph/2024.06.29-170311/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/supreme-court-joke-not-funny-1235050011/ Rolling Stone link.
Thank you for this.
Geeez, I hope the Ukrainians always keep a few folks around to make sure guys like Johnson don't get accidentally near any sort of information that Russia shouldn't have.
https://x.com/USAmbKyiv/status/1807770299414491372
Welcome back to Kyiv, Chairman of the House Intel Committee
@RepMikeTurner & bipartisan delegation @BettyMcCollum04 , @RepRonnyJackson,
@RepTonyGonzales & @RepJohnJoyce to discuss how U.S. assistance is supporting Ukraine against Russia’s brutal invasion.
I think that should read: "@RepMikeTurner & bipartisan delegation @BettyMcCollum04 , @RepRonnyJackson, @RepTonyGonzales & @RepJohnJoyce to discuss how the republican Congress can cut the aid sent to Ukraine"
Today is the day SCOTUS tells us we can have a Dictator for Life!*
(*but only if he** is Republican.)
(**women need not apply, natch.)