Street Art & "Green Villain" Graffiti Project Jersey City + Food: Sole a la Meuniere

ART:

Street Art

at THE

Green Villain 

Graffiti Project 

Jersey City, NJ

+ REAL STREET ART

a photo-essay

It seems "Street Art" is the new graduate school for young artists. This issue of ARTSnFOOD takes a look at two approaches. 

The first approach looks at a project by the production company, "Green Villain". They invited all the local graffiti artists in Jersey City, NJ, to transform a former Pep Boys Auto Center building into a "Street Art - Art Space", creating a (brick/mortar/plaster/spray-paint) graffiti gallery show for the community to enjoy. The building will be demolished, for new construction after the show ends, such is the fate of graffiti.

The second approach is a photojournalistic point of departure for "Street Art" i.e.: "found art" on the actual streets of NYC.

Approach 1) A Graffiti Invitational Exhibition - "The Green Villain Graffiti Project", Jersey City, NJ. (The inside and outside of this building was given over to graffiti artists for an exhibition of their talent. Our coverage is of the exterior artworks only.)

Detail of the graffiti wall directly above, can you find the fire hose connection in the art?

A long wall sequence left to right, (1 beginning).

Sequence left to right, (2).

Sequence left to right, (3).

Sequence left to right, (4, end).

complete east wall from coverage at http://massappeal.com/green-villain-pep-boys-demolition-exhibition/

(Source: All (unattributed) photos were taken from public access views of the building's exterior, by ARTSnFOOD staff.)

(Link - for interior photos of this exhibition, Google: The Green Villain Graffiti Project)

Approach 2) "Real Street Art", a short photo essay of one NYC street!

Photographs by Jack A. Atkinson.

(Source: All photos by Jack A. Atkinson, ARTSnFOOD.)

FOOD:

Sole a la Meuniere

(Fillet of Sole with Oranges and a Butter Sauce)

Ingredients:

2 large oranges

3 large tomatoes

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp flour

pinch salt and pepper

2 fillets of sole

4 tablespoons butter

5 slices of bacon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 tsp chopped mixed herbs

Directions:

Peel orange and cut into sections 

Place orange sections between two microwave plates and heat for 10 seconds.

Set orange sections aside and keep warm.

Skin, quarter and remove pip from the tomatoes. 

Saute the tomatoes in butter for 1 to 2 minutes.

Set tomatoes aside and keep warm.

Mix the salt and pepper in the flour.

Lightly flour the fillets. 

Heat a  frying pan melt 1/4 cup of butter in it.

When the butter is frothing, lay in the fillets and fry until golden brown on each side, turning only once. 

Arrange fillets on a serving dish with a grilled slice of bacon between each fillet.

Garnish the stack with  oranges and tomatoes.

Strain the sauce from the the frying pan, re-heat and drop in the remainder of the butter. When frothing, quickly add the lemon juice, 1/4 cup of white wine, herbs, and boil for 1 minute. 

Pour over the dish and serve at once.

(Source: Recipe from the Atkinson Family Cookbook.)

Until later,

Jack

ARTSnFOOD is an online magazine dedicated to providing artists and collectors around the world with highlights of current art exhibitions, and to encourage all readers to invest in and participate in "The Joy of Art"® and culture. All rights reserved. Concept, Original Art, Text & Photographs are © Copyright 2015 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. Any gallery, event, museum, fair or festival photographs were taken with permission. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.

Sigmund Freud's Study and Desk - Full of Art Objects + FOOD: How to Microwave a Baked Potato

ART:
Sigmund Freud's
Work Space and 
Desk was Full
of Art Objects

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, moved to London from Vienna after the Anschluss (Nazi invasion) of Austria in 1938. Although he was already 80 years old with just 1 year before his eventual death, together with his family he was able to bring over his entire collection of furniture and antiques. 

Taking a closer look inside his awe-inspiring study you can observe the Biedermeier furniture alongside his collection of Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Oriental antiques. 

Amongst the legion of pint-sized figurines on his desk lies a 19th century Qing Dynasty table screen, figures from Greece’s Hellenistic period (300-250B.C.), the head of Osiris (Egypt, third intermediate period, 1075-716B.C.) and Isis suckling the infant (Egypt, late period, 664-525B.C.). The shelves containing books of his favorite authors (Goethe, Shakespeare, Heine, Multatuli, Anatole France) are adorned with Egyptian death masks from the 19th Dynasty (1292-1190B.C.) 

He was clearly a widely read and cultured man who even went so far as to describe himself as a ‘godless Jew’. Throughout his life he travelled to many an archaeological site and often used his collection as a metaphor when comparing our changeable and fading conscious thought to the unchangeable unconscious thought, 

“I illustrated my remarks by pointing to the antique objects about my room. They were, in fact, I said, only objects found in a tomb, and their burial had been their preservation.” 

To the right of his desk stands his illustrious and original analytical couch, made enticing with its array of plump velvety cushions. Freud would himself sit out of view behind his patient in a green tub chair and listen to their ‘free association’. 

He would start each of his sessions by asking his patient to say whatever came into his/her head without any conscious selection, something that has become a fundamental method of psychoanalysis today. 

Freud's diplomas and awards in his study.

(Source: Text Wikipedea, photos coutesy of the Freud Museum, London)

FOOD:
How to Microwave
a Baked Potato

If you are craving a satisfying baked potato, but don't have the time to bake it for 30 or 40 minutes, the microwave version is as good as the traditional baked version yet ready to eat in only 10 minutes.

Ingredients
1 large russet potato

Directions

1. Wash the skin of the potato, then dry with a paper towel.
2. Prick several times using a fork.
3. Place the potato on a microwave-safe plate.
4. Cook on full power for 5 minutes.
5. Turn over and continue to cook for about 4-5 minutes more (depending on your size of potato the cooking time will vary).
6. Cut a slit opening in the top and push the ends to bloom.
7. Add your favorite condiments.
8. Serve.

Until later,

Jack

ARTSnFOOD is an online magazine dedicated to providing artists and collectors around the world with highlights of current art exhibitions, and to encourage all readers to invest in and participate in "The Joy of Art"® and culture. All rights reserved. Concept, Original Art, Text & Photographs are © Copyright 2015 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. Any gallery, event, museum, fair or festival photographs were taken with permission. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.

George Washington's Life Mask (cast) at the Morgan Library NYC + FOOD: Creamy Seafood Salad

Engraved portrait
of the first U.S. President,
George Washington.

ART:

George Washington's

Life-Mask (cast)

at the Morgan Library

NYC

In portraiture a likeness is always the big question mark. Generally people don't even like photographs of themselves, much less artistic interpretation, filtered through the eyes and hands of a human.

Most people visiting The Morgan Library in Ner York City take particular notice of the "Life-Mask of George Washington". Created in 1785, it is the unique, original plaster casting from a mold made of the first U.S. President's face. (Note: G.W. was lying down at the time.) 

The sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon wanted the casting as a go-by for two of his sculptures: (one) a clay bust that's still at Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate and (the other) a life-size marble sculpture in the rotunda of the Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, VA. 

The Morgan's life-mask represents a true likeness of our country's first POTUS.

Included below are photos of the life-mask from several angles, in addition to photos of the two final sculptures by artist Jean-Antoine Houdon. Also find some painted portraits of George Washington by other artists, to demonstrate how far off the mark most of them were.

Bust at Mount Vernon
from life cast as reference

by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon.

"Life-Mask of George Washington" 

by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon.

Statue in the Virginia State Capitol Rotunda from life cast as reference by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. "Life-Mask of George Washington"  by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. "Life-Mask of George Washington"  by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. "Life-Mask of George Washington"  by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. "Life-Mask of George Washington"  by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Painted Portrait of George Washington Painted Portrait of George Washington Painted Portrait of George Washington Painted Portrait of George Washington (Source: All life-mask photos were taken with permission, by ARTSnFOOD staff. Other photos of artworks are from Wkipedia) FOOD: Creamy Seafood Salad with tarragon dressing

Serve this seafood mix on a bed of watercress or butter lettuce, or as a sandwich in toasted brioche buns or on crusty bread.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. peeled, deveined medium shrimp (30 to 35 per lb.)

1 lb. sea scallops

1/2 lb. cleaned calamari, bodies cut into 1/2 wide rings and tentacles cut in half lengthwise

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. grated lemon peel

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh tarragon

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. each kosher salt and pepper

1/2 cup coarsely chopped watercress leaves

1/4 cup drained capers

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water top a boil over high heat. Add shrimp, scallops and calamari. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep just until shrimp are ink on the outside and opaque but still moist-looking in the center of the thickest part (cut to test), about 3 minutes. Drain seafood and immerse in ice water until cold; drain again.

2. Meanwhile, combine mayonnaise, lemon peel and juice, tarragon, mustard and 1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper in a food processor. Whirl until smooth.

3. Combine seafood, watercress, capers, and dressing in a large bowl. Add more salt and pepper to taste. 

4. Gently stir in the avocado & serve.

(Source: Recipe from the kitchen of fellow artist Michele Harris.)

Until later,

Jack

ARTSnFOOD is an online magazine dedicated to providing artists and collectors around the world with highlights of current art exhibitions, and to encourage all readers to invest in and participate in "The Joy of Art"® and culture. All rights reserved. Concept, Original Art, Text & Photographs are © Copyright 2015 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. Any gallery, event, museum, fair or festival photographs were taken with permission. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.