Blog type: Art & Sculpture

Ellison Keomaka’s Art at 7140 Optima Kierland

Posted on by Hunter

Pairing unique, tasteful works of art with our buildings is an integral part of design expression with Optima projects. We recently sat down with artist Ellison Keomaka, to discuss the process and inspiration for his most recent contributions to 7140 Optima Kierland. – you can read more about our history with Keomaka here. 

While creating commissioned artwork for 7180 Optima Kierland last year, Keomaka was simultaneously working on pieces for 7140. “Because I was working on these two bodies of work at the same time, much of the inspiration for the 7140 artwork flowed from what I was creating for 7180,” says Keomaka. 

Armed with an understanding of the building’s design, materiality and sense of space, Keomaka decided to explore a grand palette, bold textures, and adventurous methods — “a playground of color and an exciting experiment,” explains Keomaka. 

Letters From Home at 7140 Optima Kierland
Letters From Home at 7140 Optima Kierland

Partially inspired by his own experience in the military, Letters From Home is an “assemblage work” as Keomaka explains, “that speaks to the emotional stories of soldiers receiving letters from home.” The assemblage includes images from issues of Life Magazine that date back to World War II, with two blocks of bright blue and red that meet to form a shape that resembles the back of an envelope.

Some Kind of Sunset at 7140 Optima Kierland
Some Kind of Sunset at 7140 Optima Kierland

Keomaka’s personal favorite, Some Kind of Sunset captures the idea of the endless shifts in the sun’s position. Working over a period of two months, Keomaka used pearlescent and fluorescent paints to animate the surface of the canvas, allowing the colors to adapt and change with changes in the natural light striking the surface throughout the day.

Desert Dance at 7140 Optima Kierland
Desert Dance at 7140 Optima Kierland

As the title suggests, Keomaka created this piece as a kind of dance that responded to music he was listening to while painting. “Working with music is a big part of my artistic practice,” Keomaka states. “For this work, I was listening to a playlist that included Kanye West, Coldplay and movie soundtracks, and I used my brushstrokes and color choices to respond to the eclectic mix,” he shares.

The Space Between at 7140 Optima Kierland
The Space Between at 7140 Optima Kierland

Comprised of vertical bands of bright colors, The Space Between may seem like it is one of the more simple works of art created by Keomaka for 7140 Optima Kierland. However, color and texture are precisely what make this piece stand out. Keomaka mixed primary colors to create unique hues that live in the spaces between yellow, blue and red, while using a squeegee tool to control the flow and texture of the paint on the canvas to add to the sense of flatness and precision.

Keomaka’s bold and experimental artwork echoes the creative brilliance and ingenuity that we care deeply about at Optima. His ability to translate these artistic gestures into works that activate the public spaces at 7140 Optima Kierland add immeasurably to the beauty and warmth of the interior environment — for residents as well as for all who pass through the building.

Modern Museums Around the World

Posted on by Nancy

As lovers of great design, Optima’s appreciation for both architecture and art itself runs deep, and there’s no better place to indulge this passion than at a modern museum of art. And with modern art and Modernist architecture sharing so much in common, it’s no wonder that many of these institutions are often housed in innovative and captivating buildings. Today, we’re taking a look at some of the best modern museums around the world — from the collections they contain to the structures that define them.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao – Bilbao, Spain

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, located in Bilbao, Spain. You’ll recall from our Subsects of Modernist Architecture Series that Gehry was part of the Deconstructivism movement on Modernism in the 1980s. This museum, established in 1997, boasts an impressive collection of modern art, as well as site-specific installations from artists such as Jeff Koons. The building itself has been described as “the greatest building of our time” by architect Philip Johnson, and “a fantastic dream ship of undulating form in a cloak of titanium,” by critic Calvin Tomkins in The New Yorker.

Bildmuseet – Umeå, Sweden

Bildmuseet is one of Sweden’s foremost venues for international contemporary art, a part of Umeå University and the public heart of its arts campus. The strikingly Modern building was designed by Henning Larsen Architects in collaboration with White. A living and breathing work of art itself, the building’s facade is made of Siberian larch wood that fades to a silver-grey color over time. In its lifetime, Bildmuseet was nominated in 2013 for the Swedish Kasper Salin Prize and the European Mies van der Rohe Prize and has been described as one of the world’s most beautiful university museums. 

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Credit: Axxter on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa – Cape Town, South Africa

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (or Zeitz MOCCA, for short) is a contemporary art museum in Cape Town, South Africa, and boasts the title of being the largest museum of contemporary African art in the world. The building, which was commissioned through a public/private partnership between the V&A Waterfront and German businessman, Jochen Zeitz, is actually made from a converted historic 1921 grain silo. According to Zeitz MOCAA records, “The architects, Heatherwick Studio, aimed to conserve and celebrate the original structure’s industrial heritage, while simultaneously excavating large open spaces from the 42 densely-packed concrete cylinders from which it was comprised.”

Niteroi Contemporary Art Museum — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It’s no surprise that the Niteroi Contemporary Art Museum, located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is one of the city’s main landmarks. The futuristic building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer with the assistance of structural engineer Bruno Contarini. Thanks to its strategic design, this museum offers more than just art to admire — the tall, angled windows offer sweeping views of Guanabara Bay and Sugarloaf Mountain. Beneath the structure, architect Niemeyer also designed a reflecting pool that surrounds the cylindrical base “like a flower.”

As an artform all on its own, the architecture of these museums stands strong alongside their impressive modern art collections. 

 

Sculpture Spotlight: Sundance

Posted on by Nancy

As devout fans of Modernism, at Optima we love to experiment with form and function. That’s how Optima Co-Founder David Hovey Sr. got into sculpture. Combining his love of art with his interest in materials, David Hovey Sr. began manipulating steel to create striking sculptural pieces that play to Optima’s architectural spaces. Today, we’re examining one of his sculptures: Sundance.

While many of our sculptures manifest in a variety of sizes and colors, Sundance is notable because of its goliath frame. Standing at thirteen feet tall, this impressive structure and its bold angles make a lasting first impression. The piece expresses the nature of the thin steel plate from which it was fabricated, showcasing structural potential with three-dimensional, dynamic components and an inviting sense of openness.

It’s no coincidence that Sundance is nestled in the landscaped courtyard of Optima Camelview Village. Sundance is built literally and metaphorically to connect to the ground, giving the sculpture context and roots within space. Meanwhile, being swathed in vibrant primary hues, the sculpture plays complement to the property’s red architectural details and the vibrant color palette displayed throughout the gardens.

Another perspective of Sundance sculpture

Whether we’re experimenting with form, function, size or color — at Optima we love to playfully implement sculpture as yet another component of thoughtful design.

Female Weavers and the Bauhaus

Posted on by Nancy

The Bauhaus is a renowned institution in the history of Modernist architecture — and art in general. But what may come as a surprise to many: the most commercially successful department of the school was actually the Bauhaus weaving workshop. And even more notable, this workshop was run by a slew of highly innovative, influential female designers.

Anni Albers, Originally produced by the Bauhaus Workshop. Black-White-Red, 1926–27 (produced 1965). © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Anni Albers, Originally produced by the Bauhaus Workshop. Black-White-Red, 1926–27 (produced 1965). © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Defying Expectations

When the Bauhaus opened in 1919, the progressive school was heralded as an equitable place. In fact, its founder Walter Gropius even wrote in the Bauhaus bylaws: “Every eligible person whose talent and training are considered adequate will be accepted without regard to age and sex.” Gropius’s philosophy was stronger in theory than in action. He later became known for believing men thought in three dimensions, while women only thought in two.

Because of this gender bias, when women applied to the school, they were directed away from heavy craft areas, such as carpentry and metalwork, to a workshop considered more appropriate for women. This was the weaving workshop, which Gropius even referred to as “the women’s section” of the school.

Like many other women in architecture, the female weavers at the Bauhaus wouldn’t be put down by others’ limited perspectives. Designers such as Anni Albers, Gunta Stölzl and Otti Berger took the two-dimensional textile craft and breathed new life into it. In addition to creating patterns that were both commercially marketable and had deep influence on the fine arts world of the time, these female weavers also played with form and function. They took weaving beyond the two dimensional — inadvertently, defying Gropius’s backwards beliefs.

Claire Zeisler, Free Standing Yellow, 1968, shown at Weaving Beyond the Bauhaus. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Claire Zeisler, Free Standing Yellow, 1968, shown at Weaving Beyond the Bauhaus. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.

A Collaborative Cohort

While the other workshops of the Bauhaus dealt in the highly theoretical and abstract, and often struggled to succeed commercially, the success of the weaving workshop stood in stark contrast. Besides its practical success, the workshop was also notable in the way that its female members taught to and learned from one another in a deeply collaborative process. Because Bauhaus members like Albers went on to teach their learnings globally, the impact of this collaboration is still seen in the weaving world today on figures like Sheila Hicks, Claire Zeisler and others. 

Most recently, the Art Institute of Chicago hosted an exhibit titled Weaving Beyond the Bauhaus, which ran from 2019-2020. The exhibit explored the influence of the Bauhaus weaving workshop across the Atlantic and across the decades. In lieu of traditional placards for each work, viewers navigated the exhibit by reading quote cards from various women in the field, all of whom were in conversation with one another, and with one another’s work. 

The women weavers from the Bauhaus exemplify an ongoing trend in the world of architecture and design: despite the odds or expectations, female designers are always ready and willing to rise to the challenge.

Auguste Rodin and the Beginnings of Modern Sculpture

Posted on by Nancy

Our appreciation for Modernism extends past architecture into all mediums of creative thought, including our love for sculpture (and our own sculpture at Optima). Sculpture has long been an artistic expression across decades and culture, but the beginnings of Modern sculpture sparked with renowned visionary, Auguste Rodin. 

Setting the Stage

By the 20th century, sculpture practices in Europe largely revolved around Neoclassical and Romantic ideals. Contour and clarity defined figures, and artists were inspired by the art and culture of classical Greek antiquity. Often sculptors even portrayed their subjects in Roman costume instead of contemporary clothing. But the world of sculpture would see dramatic change at the 1900 Paris Exposition, when Auguste Rodin would use the world’s fair to unveil a new way of thinking when it came to sculpted form. 

Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin. Credit: public domain.

Auguste Rodin 

Rodin came from a working-class family in Paris and throughout his turbulent youth, taught himself to draw and paint. Eventually, he learned the trade of ornamental design and sculpture, but by the 1890s, had grown exhausted of the style. Rodin was a naturalist, more concerned with character and emotion than he was with tradition, idealism or decorative beauty. His work emphasized detailed, textured surfaces and the juxtaposition of light and shadow, a style that was met with criticism initially. At the Paris Exposition, Rodin showcased a series of pieces that would turn an entire industry upside down at the turn of the century.

Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin, which displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin, which displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Modern Sculpture

Modernist styles that followed Rodin’s debut included Art Nouveau, Cubism, De Stijl, Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism, among many others. It seemed that once the creative floodgates were open, artists ran with the possibilities of bending form past the boundaries of traditional realism. Especially since the 1950s, Modernist trends in sculpture have become increasingly more flexible to include new materials, abstractions and approaches. And we’re thankful they’ve made such progress; it’s allowed our own expressions of form to flourish over the years, and contribute beautiful, unique sculpted pieces to our Optima communities. 

Sculpture Spotlight: Curves and Voids

Posted on by Nancy

As devout fans of Modernism, at Optima we love to experiment with form and function. That’s how Optima Co-Founder David Hovey Sr. got into sculpture. Combining his love of art with his interest in materials, David Hovey Sr. began manipulating steel to create striking sculptural pieces that play complement to Optima’s architectural spaces. Today, we’re examining one of his sculptures: Curves and Voids.

Curves and Voids at DCHGlobal Whale Bay House in New Zealand.
Curves and Voids at DCHGlobal Whale Bay House in New Zealand.

Like all original Optima sculptures, Curves and Voids can be found across our properties in various colors and sizes, as evidenced above. But what never changes is the form of the piece: Curves and Voids plays with the expression of steel and explores ideas of its potential. This play is demonstrated in grand, sweeping curves that make up the various sculptural components. Meanwhile, voids are laser cut within the sculpture’s steel planes. These holes provide gaps and textures to contrast and juxtapose the sculpture’s curves. 

The sweeping curves of Curves and Voids play perfect complement to the stark Modernist lines in our communities. At Optima Sonoran Village’s sculpture walk, Curves and Voids stands boldly expressed in natural Cor-Ten steel. The steel’s raw coloration was chosen so as not to compete with the vibrant colors in the building’s facade and landscaping. Meanwhile, at Optima DCHGlobal’s Whale Bay House in New Zealand, Curves and Voids is supersized in the courtyard, becoming a show stopping statement piece for contemplation. 

Whether we’re experimenting with form, function, size or color — at Optima we love to playfully implement sculpture as yet another component of thoughtful design.

Phoenix Public Art: Air Apparent

Posted on by Nancy

An otherworldly sculpture and public art installation in Phoenix pushes viewers to ponder the color of the sky. Air Apparent is a Turrell Skyspace installation, located on the campus of the University of Arizona Tempe. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the work, from its inception to its impact on viewers today.

Artist James Turrell has been making Skyspaces since the 70s, earning international recognition for his innovative work. Air Apparent, installed in 2012, is no less impressive. The immersive art experience is a wondrous structure that frames the sky, using LED lights to “optimize color perception at sunrise and sunset.” Turrell himself describes the concrete and steel structure as “a specifically proportioned chamber with an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky.” The experience for the viewer, then, becomes a surreal rumination on their own perception, grounded only by the work’s alien architecture. 

The ASU Skyspace is the third in the area, but the only one that’s open 24/7. Located at the intersection of Rural and Terrace roads, ASU President Michael Crow has declared the artworks’ proximity to “three of the most sophisticated science facilities on Earth” as anything but accidental. One of the nearby buildings, the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 4 (ISTB4), is renowned for designing instruments to enable scientific exploration of other worlds. The labspace includes public outreach areas to invite visitors into the scientific and engineering challenges that invigorate studies of Earth and the universe.

Air Apparent was designed by Turrell in collaboration with architect William P. Bruder, and is set in a desert garden designed by landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck. We’re wowed by the installation’s architectural feats and the deeply thoughtful way it relates back to the surrounding environment — you just have to see it to believe it. 

The Work of Anita Malfatti

Posted on by Nancy

There have been many leading ladies in the history of Modernism; one of whom is Anita Malfatti. Malfatti is widely regarded as the pioneer of the Modernist movement in Brazil — sharing with her home country the style that had already taken American and European culture by storm — and leaving behind a life that would inspire generations to come. 

Life in Brazil

Anita Malfatti was born Ana Catarina Malfatti in Sao Paulo in 1889 to a family of immigrants; her father was a civil engineer and her mother was a painter, and a highly-cultured woman. Malfatti’s mother was her primary teacher, and a huge source of inspiration as Malfatti began to explore creatively while growing up. Due to a congenital defect that made her left arm nearly immobile, Malfatti was forced to paint right-handed even though she was left-handed. Nevertheless, Malfatti wasn’t deterred from her passion for the visual arts.

Pursuing art in Brazil was limiting at that time. The country lacked cultural institutions and had a limited scope of art theory compared to its global counterparts. Much Brazilian art at the time was in the classical, romantic style and was concerned with nationalistic interpretations of Brazilian pride and culture. So while Malfatti began her studies at Mackenzie College in Sao Paulo, the local arts scene was not enough to satiate her curiosity, and in 1912, she left for Berlin.

Anita Malfatti, Festejo na Roca. CMMECPC. (2023-10-05). MMEC 029/2015: Retrieved from museum-digital Brazil

The Work of Anita Malfatti

In Berlin, Malfatti spent four years studying at the Royal Academy of the Arts under famous expressionist artists. There she began to hone her artistic style of expressionist portraiture and metal engraving. After, Malfatti returned temporarily home to host her first solo show in Brazil in 1917-1918. The show received negative reception and was seen as too modern, bizarre and self-indulgent. 

Despite the uproar at the time, that solo showcase was the first introduction of Cubism, Expressionism, Surrealism and Futurism in Brazil. Recognition of Malfatti’s innovation was soon to come in Brazil. In 1922, Malfatti returned to Sao Paulo festival, The Week of Modern Art, in 1922, alongside other Brazilian Modernist artists (Tarsila do Amaral, Mario de Andrade, Menotti del Picchia, Oswald de Andrade), earning themselves the name  “The Group of Five.” The group’s presence that year made revolutionary strides in how Modern art was perceived and utilized in Brazil.

Malfatti continued to explore her artist expression, leaning towards the naive and folkloric later in her life, until she eventually died in 1984. By then, her influence on the artistic DNA of Brazil was undeniable, and her impact on Modernism remains profound today.

Scottsdale Public Art: Jack Knife

Posted on by Nancy

We love Scottsdale for many reasons, one of which is its vibrant and bustling arts scene. Home to the Scottsdale Arts District, the city makes its unique voice heard through striking public art such as Jack Knife by Ed Mell. To understand more about the local arts scene and to celebrate its impact on the city our residents call home, today we’re exploring the work and artistry behind Jack Knife.

Jack Knife boldly commands attention at the intersection of Marshall Way and Main Street in Downtown Scottsdale — the center of the Scottsdale Arts District — mere steps away from Optima Sonoran Village. The piece is the perfect introduction to the city’s history and culture, depicting a rider astride a bucking horse modelled after the official city seal. The bronze sculpture, which sits on a high pedestal, stands over eight feet high. Even more notable: Jack Knife is Ed Mell’s first ever large-scale sculpture. 

Completed in 1993, Mell says of his work: “Jack Knife has a reverence for the Old West. It is not traditional, but yet it has a traditional theme. The angularity accelerates the power and energy of the rider and horse, more than accurate depiction.” While the piece may have been his first large-scale experimentation, Mell is one of Arizona’s premier artists. 

Mell grew up in Phoenix, and his artistic practice is inspired by the natural beauty and wonder of the desert. He works primarily in oil paint, creating natural expressions of the Western landscape that exhibit striking colors and Cubist elements. This bold, graphic style is translated evidently into Jack Knife, and the artists’ passion for Arizona shines through, too. 

It’s passionate creations like these that inspire us every day, and make us proud to call Scottsdale Optima’s second home.

The Work of Mark Rothko

Posted on by Nancy

It’s no secret that at Optima we love bold colors and clean, Modernist lines. That’s why we’re so drawn to the work of artist Mark Rothko, an American painter known for his rigorous use of colors, shape and form. Today, we’re taking a deep dive into the preeminent artist’s life and work.

Mark Rothko in Yorktown Heights circa 1949. Courtesy of Brooklyn Museum, photo by Consuelo Kanaga.
Mark Rothko in Yorktown Heights circa 1949. Courtesy of Brooklyn Museum, photo by Consuelo Kanaga. No copyright restrictions.

The Life of Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko was born September 25, 1903 in Latvia (then in the Russian empire) to a pharmacist father. His father was an intellectual of modest means, raising a Jewish family in a time and place where it was highly taboo to hold such an identity. Rothko attended cheder, a traditional Judaic elementary school, until his father made the decision to emigrate from Russia, for fear that his sons would be drafted into the army. 

In 1913, Rothko landed in Portland, Oregon in the states, where he went on to attend U.S. school and became an active member of the local Jewish community. Taking after his father, Rothko had a strong voice and point of view on many issues. When he landed a scholarship to Yale University in 1922, Rothko started a satirical magazine that lampooned a school he believed to be flawed — and it was unsurprising when Rothko dropped out just a year later.

Out on his own, Rothko found his way to the art world.

The Work of Mark Rothko

In 1923, Rothko began working in New York City’s garment district and enrolled at Parsons School of Design and started taking classes at the Art Students League. He was taught by Cubist artist Max Weber, and influenced by other artists such as the surrealist Paul Klee. As Rothko continued to surround himself with artists and began exhibiting at galleries, his work was becoming recognized as a force of its own, set apart by his unique understanding of color.

While Rothko continued to rise to critical acclaim, it wasn’t until 1949 when he painted his first “multiform” and discovered his most signature style. Marked by bold geometric forms and striking primary and secondary colors, he became more and more particular about his works. Almost always painted in vertical frames, Rothko even went so far as to suggest viewers should stand exactly 18 inches from his work for optimal consumption. He believed color was “merely an instrument” and that his paintings expressed human emotions such as “tragedy, ecstasy and doom” and should henceforth move the viewer to tears. 

Rothko continued expressing his strong point of view until his untimely death at age 66 in 1970, when he committed suicide. While his story had a tragic end, his legacy lives on, marking him as a true master of new American art.

person name goes here

Apply

Maintenance Supervisor

Glencoe, IL





    Acceptable file types: *.pdf | *.txt | *.doc, max-size: 2Mb