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MS. COSMOPOLITE

Monday, September 22, 2008

 

Identity

Tonight the museum opened a new exhibit. Identity: Unlimited Editions is a juried presentation of Los Angeles’s top printmakers (from LAPS, the Los Angeles Printmaking Society) and their expressions of personal identity.

The age-old question of identity is intimately tied to one’s experience of life. Each of us is influenced by our principles, beliefs, and values that bind our perceptions together and shape our identity. How we understand and experience our ethnicity, religion, gender, profession, sexual orientation, or memory composes our consciousness and ultimately our sense of self. An ever evolving process, the exploration of self can yield fixed, mixed, lost, or (perhaps frequently in our globalized world) conflicted identities.

As I roamed the gallery and marveled at the diverse range of creative expression and the richness of printmaking techniques, I felt most comforted by the simple (and universal) image of a fingerprint digitally printed in hot pink ink. The work was not the most beautiful, intricate, or unique—yet the image stayed with me throughout the evening.

As I enjoyed my glass of Pinot Noir with guests in the courtyard, I considered the conundrum posed by identity. A full expression of individuality seems essential to a dynamic society yet, also can lead to defined categories and artificial boundaries (woman, artist, gay, Latino, married, immigrant, Jewish, educated, etc.). How do you promote diversity and individuality while creating unity? (Hint: Become a cosmopolite!)

This interesting question was vividly posed by the late, great Edward Said in his seminal book Orientalism:
Can one divide human reality...into different cultures, histories, traditions, societies, even races, and survive the consequences humanly?
Curious to know what you think.

Ms. Cosmopolite.

This entry posted by CAFAM Web Master @ 2:27 PM   2 Comments

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

 

Tower of Babel


For me, great art needs to ignite both my mind and feed my soul. These days I am feeling rather spoiled being able to be see Josh Dorman’s fantasyscapes in the mezzanine gallery of CAFAM every day. (If you haven’t already seen "Within in Four Miles": The World of Josh Dorman, plan a visit soon! Check out the LA Times review for more information!) In the gallery entry stands Josh’s masterpiece, The Tower of Babel, a 8 feet tall painted collage created on vintage maps and constructed out of 32 panels. There are literally thousands of details to discover and every viewing feels like a new treasure hunt. Last week I found a baby footprint (created by Josh’s baby daughter) and a Halliburton truck fleeing from a construction site. Like Pieter Brueghel’s famed Tower of Babel, Josh’s contemporary work reflects the hubris of human action and arrogance in a powerful way.

According to the biblical story, Babel was a city that united humanity, with all inhabitants speaking the same language. (“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech”, starts the story in the Book of Genesis.) The fate of the city changed when the townsfolk decided to build a tower so tall that it would have "its top in the heavens." God, witnessing the people’s arrogance and false motives, sent down to earth confused languages and scattered the people throughout the world. The beauty of diverse languages certainly adds flavour and dimension to our world but, also makes communication a bit more challenging... As I mourned the destruction of the two towers in NYC last week, the blight left by the “confusion of languages” felt palpable and I prayed for a return to Babel minus the tower.

Peace,


Ms. Cosmopolite

This entry posted by CAFAM Web Master @ 1:28 PM   2 Comments

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

 

Hello from Ms. Cosmopolite

Well, hello there and welcome to Ms. Cosmopolite!


Come on in and enjoy a cup of tea with me. I am having a pot of Mai 68 – “a tea with a scent of revolution”, a special edition blend by the Paris-based specialty merchant Fauchon, an ideal choice for our first conversation. You can find it here.


Allow me to introduce myself to you as a lady does – slowly and with a bit of play. If you are already familiar with the Los Angeles-based Craft and Folk Art Museum (the homeland for Ms. Cosmopolite), you probably know that the museum was founded in 1965 by a group of determined women on a mission to celebrate global cultures in an authentic way. Today CAFAM is run by a group of diverse, globally minded women that have brought the museum’s mission of promoting cultural awareness into the 21st century with gusto. The Ms. in the blog title plays tribute to the XX chromosome, which is plentiful in CAFAM’s DNA. (This is not to say that we don’t appreciate the XYs in our mist but that is an entirely different topic ;-))


A Cosmopolite is defined as someone who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; or a cosmopolitan person. Naturally, one does not feel at home unless one senses comfort and contentment. Cosmopolites are a particular group of folk that have embraced a philosophy of universal values and peace. For example, someone can travel the world over and not be a cosmopolite if he isn’t able to experience comfort when embracing something unfamiliar. This idea is nicely reflected in the passage below from O. Henry’s short story, A Cosmopolite in a Café:

“…for I held a theory that since Adam no true citizen of the world has existed. We hear of them, and we see foreign labels on much luggage, but we find travelers instead of cosmopolites.”


So, now you have a sense of Ms. Cosmopolite’s nature. Here you can expect lively and engaging discussions on all things global, from art, culture, and beauty, to the very real politics and policies that are well, rather un-cosmopolite. A slice of life behind the scenes of the museum can also be expected...


I invite global and local citizens to enjoy a cup of culture and comfort with me on a weekly basis.


Ciao for now,

Ms. Cosmopolite


This entry posted by CAFAM Web Master @ 11:10 AM   1 Comments

Cosmopolite \koz-MOP-uh-lyt\, noun:
1. One who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person.

ABOUT MS. COSMOPOLITE

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About Ms. Cosmopolite

Ms. Cosmopolite is a blog offering a feminine perspective on art, culture, politics, and life behind the scenes of a museum. Created by the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, the blog is primarily written by its current Executive Director, Maryna Hrushetska (a blonde who vaguely resembles the blog's representative illustration). Written with a blend of whimsy and substance, Ms. Cosmopolite reinforces the museum’s worldview of building common ground through the universal lens of art. Discussion topics range from exhibition themes, social and political commentary, and all things Venusian.

The Ms. in the blog name is homage to both the group of women that founded the establishment in 1965 and the current all female full-time staff. Additionally, a cosmopolite is defined as someone who is at home in every culture; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person; and magnificently embodies the museum’s current mission.

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