Daily Art Quote:

"I only know this – that you can't give advice to an artist."

~Louise Nevelson

Today's art quote is from one of my favorite artists.  She isn't one of my favorite artists due to her work, but rather due to her personality, and because she became special to me while I worked on a theatre show about her life (and art).  

Back in 1993, I worked for a very small "fringe" theatre in Seattle called Pilgrim Center for the Arts.  I worked as a scenic artist for some shows, and then eventually stage managed several shows there.  One production that we presented  during the summer of 1993 was a series of shows by Helena Hale.  Helena Hale toured around different art galleries/art museums around the United States (and elsewhere - Europe, Canada? - if I remember right) presenting her "One Woman Theatre" in which she depicted the lives of several different artists.  In 1993 she had already been touring around for a couple years, and for our productions she did one week of Georgia O'Keeffe, one week of Louise Nevelson, and one week of Mary Cassatt.  She then did a whirlwind week at the end where she rotated between those different shows each night.

I loved her Georgia O'Keeffe show because there was a long slide show of her artwork, and I felt that she was very interesting.  But, the Louise Nevelson show was always so fun.  Helena would start the show on stage as herself (Helena).  She would sit down at a vanity (with the mirror removed) and face the audience as she began to talk about Louise Nevelson.  As she talked, she was putting on make-up - so that she LOOKED like Louise Nevelson by the time she was done.  So - she transformed right in front of the audience.  It was so cool!  Unfortunately, Helena passed away several years ago, and I simply can't find any photos of her in costume or in her shows.  I can still find references to her shows, though.  They were quite popular.

Louise Nevelson, photo by Richard Avedon, 

If you have never heard of Louise Nevelson, please look her up, and take a minute to look at her work.  She was well known for her sculptures that consisted of misc. (usually) wood pieces, which she assembled.  She usually would either paint them all black, all white, or all gold.  She was also known for being rather flamboyant, and always wore fake eyelashes, in fact sometimes more than one pair of eyelashes layered on top of each other.

Louise Nevelson – Untitled, c. late 1970s

The only one of her pieces that I have seen in real life is called "Night Flight I" and is located at, and owned by, the Seatac Airport (near Seattle).  It used to be much easier to access - way back when, prior to one of their many remodels.  It is now located in a little more difficult to reach area of the airport.  This link tells you how to navigate the airport to view it.

And, here is a link to another of her pieces located at the Southwest Florida International Airport.

Yesterday's Daily Art Quote