Day 14: Venice Day 4, Saturday September 21, 2019

Day 14:  Venice Day 4, September 21, 2019

Quote of the Day: How late is it?

YT, DB, THB, YT  (they hit 50 year anniversary last year)

Weather: Another gorgeous day, this is getting ridiculous

Department of Corrections: this time with artist attributions

Gabriel Rico

Jamie Cameron

Christian Bendayan

Back to normalcy: here and there chasing art, not near as intense nor as good works to see. There are a huge number of installations around town and today and tomorrow are dedicated to seeing some of them (it’s impossible to see them all even if you knew where to look).

Breakfast: no pics, THB somehow had a camera-ectomy during the night and now he is not sure where anything is.

THB and DB go off to a nearby island to see the Sean Scully exhibit. In short: a wonder!

Our stop for Scully exhibit, on an island nearby

Scully exhibit is split between the church, San  Giorgio Maggiore, and a building behind the church

You can step inside

The James Turrell effect

Scully sketch

Two of three figurative paintings

detail

The next set of paintings are shiny, not easy to photograph oil on aluminum

Notice drips at bottom

Notes

Stained glass (note chicken in doorway being shoo'd outside)

Another tower

Homage to Serra?!

Statue inside church near a Scully painting

Large glass installation

Another exhibit: Thomas Stearns

Glass work from early 70s

Stuart introduces himself, he was a student of Stearns in Philadelphia and gives us info on Stearns. It was very nice of him to introduce himself. 

SMC goes off to handle some prior arranged meet-ups and we find her at an art jewelry gallery. No surprise!

The gallery is in a hotel

We then wander around town looking for SMC’s second meet-up: it’s at a spot THB DB found two years ago, then it was closed for lunch.  

Work by Liisa Hashimoto; we met here in Osaka, helped her make a gallery connection in Berkeley and have several of her pieces

Fortunately SMC has called/texted to say we’re coming because it’s almost lunch time. And, while our two navigators use their navs, the store is right where THB remembered. Hmmmm…Ohmyblue.

After the meet-up, it’s back to near where we dined last night (DB recognized the location). It’s a reco of the owner of OhMyBlue…pizza and salads. THB orders too much food because we order two individual pizzas that feed a family of 6 where we come from. Not bad! Around $70 or so for 3 of us.

Pizza process, dough is being kneaded by machina on right

It's almost a habit, THB is having a beer again at lunch, local draft and very good

And he's corrupting DB!!! She's drinking the half pint, breaking in gradually

There's just one size: large

SMC salad, quite good

Salad to share

THB's pizza: large (a version of LoCoco's #12, and very good though cheesy)

Two more stops after lunch, one a revelation and one that THB thought way below average.

Foundation Prada: free for old people

The revelation

Installation art though Kounellis says he is painting

Hard to tell if this is Kounellis or repair work; staff confirms it is a Kounellis

This is actually a painting, another statement by Kounellis is he hears the music in his work

Most work in the retrospective is from late 60s, 70s and 80s

THB loved this piece

Almost all the work is untitled

THB saw this installation many times in the Levi's plants

Burlap

Scrap metal, a few of the individual pieces are slightly colored

We just miss the event of the trip: every two hours they ignite the instruments!

If THB understood the staff member, this is soot marks on the wall (no wonder given the previous piece)

Large dead fly on cotton on a pedestal

Explanation of piece below

Another explanation

Small cones of coffee on a half of a scale...aromatic

Armoires hanging from ceiling reminding THB of coffins

This piece could easily have been in the 2017 Biennale show in the Arsenale. That curator had lots of "environmental" pieces (Rugoff did not)

2400 glasses of grappa. No pics inside the room, people kept bumping the glasses and turning them over

Now on to the Carpenter's Workshop, there are a number of them around the world. This time they are set up in Franchetti Museum

THB definitely thought this was a dysfunctional show, more design than art

In the Franchetti museum, $10pp (very overpriced as THB thought they were trying to sell work)

Maarten Baas, human clock erasing hands and painting them back on every minute

Stuart Haygarth; THB should have saved his plastic beach trash and made a chandelier. Maybe he can use the washed up cigarette lighters he has been saving

Part of Franchetti collection

Francesco Guard, circa 1760, our hotel is just off to the right (if it was here then...)

Finally, return to the hotel (everything appears to be working, is THB dreaming?) for blogging and needlepoint.

We’re dining at Al Covo with SMC, YT and YT, another two course meal (except the YTs and THB have desserts, so a 3 course meal for some). THB very happy with his first courses (sharing two with DB) and much less so with the next, one of the many breaded/fried entrees. With three glasses of wine and two sprizzones, $360 for five.

Sprizzone of Aperol for DB, Campari for THB

Amused bouchie

Anchovies on toast

Smoked mackerel on toast

Stuffed squashblossoms

 Burrata with lots of cherry tomatoes

SMC snaps the pic

Papardelle with mushrooms

Frito misto

Fried sardines: too bready, THB should've asked for lemon. Not a light dish

THB and YT (female) each order combo peach/raspberry gelato. Too much cream and not enough flavor

Back to hotel after a long wait at the vaporetto stop (a guy “jumped” the turnstile by squeezing through with DB….50-60 years old, wearing a sports coat and slacks) at 11pm. THB knackered, maybe time to put the horse out to pasture.

Shots from around town:

One of at least 4 large cruise ships in port

THB ended up in women's restroom: the toilet seat came off...is that so the toilet converts to a bidet? One of those mysteries of female life that THB was totally unaware of

And women need to be told where the flush button is located. Really? 

On other hand, women get the upscale brand of hand dryer

The "cafe" to the restaurant

The Express service exists even in Venice

THB could post 100s (1000s?) of Venetian church steeples

Some people do there laundry on Saturday

Do apartments in adjoining buildings hang laundry on some sort of pre-arranged schedule?

At one spot near the Rialto Bridge there is a gondola-ferry service. E2 to cross per person, takes less than a minute. Gondoliers do not sing, they don't even warm up to sing.

A behemoth cruise ship comes or goes