觀音, 觀音, 觀音!

(In Roman alphabet: Kwan Yin, Kwan Yin, Kwan Yin!)

I saw and photographed too many pieces of artwork to count, during my visit to the Museum of Korea today; even though it was a return visit, I found enough new things to keep me very occupied!

Here's the first installment - showing only depictions of our favorite transgender heroine. (There are even more Kwan Yins here - including a painting which was installed in too dim a location to be photographed at all.) The vast majority are Korean.

FYI, Korean artwork will be referred to by their general dynasty era, as follows:

• Three Kingdoms period, 57 BCE - 600 or so
• Unified Silla, 600 or so - 918
• Goryeo (Koryo), 918 - 1392
• Joseon (Choson), 1392 - 1910 (1897 - 1910 is called "Korean Empire")
• Japanese occupation, 1910 - 1945
• Republic of Korea, 1948 - today
  

A Kwan Yin mirror from the Unified Silla era.
Unified Silla also had transgender warriors called Hwarang (though modern-day Korean Confucio-Christian historians strongly deny the transgender aspects).
Who knows - in a previous life, I might've been a Hwarang using this very mirror.

A Unified Silla era Kwan Yin, dug up in Seoul in the 1960s.

A standing Kwan Yin, from the Goryeo era.

Another Goryeo-era standing Kwan Yin.

A sitting Kwan Yin, from the same era as the previous photo.

The only non-Korean statue in this post. This one is a male Avalokitesvara from 9th Century India.

During the Unified Silla era, the people of Silla's defeated rivals formed a kingdom to the north, called Balhae. It was the only Korean state ever to have a multiethnic population, and its territory included all of Korea from Pyongyang up, most of Manchuria, and parts of Russia around Vladivostok. Balhae also had a tradition of Kwan Yin worship, as seen in this statue.

Noteworthy is that Koreans tended to house their Kwan Yins in a separate hall on a Buddhist temple complex, as opposed to erecting huge outdoor statues, as is the case in China, Japan, and Taiwan.

By the way, the Goryeo-era Kwan Yin that I had previewed in the last post was taken off display, unfortunately. It is currently visiting Brussels, Belgium as part of a special exhibition on Korean Buddhism.

Greetings from Seoul

Good evening! It's almost 2PM on Tuesday 9/16 here in Seoul. I landed here almost 9 hours ago, and on the bus ride into downtown from the airport, was able to see some signs of how the new Lee Myung-bak regime, a major supporter of the US Republicans, has been making middle-class life ever harder.

I am within walking distance of the National Museum of Korea, which I had previously visited, but will probably visit again today to fight the jet lag. (It's free admission anyway.) If I do, I will upload some new photos in addition to my last batch. It's open for another 4 hours.

For now, I will leave you with a preview, from the museum's website: a 14th Century Korean Kwan Yin statue, in her trademark pose. Kwan Yin (觀音) is known in Korean as Gwaneum (관음), though in English texts, the Korean convention is to use the Sanskrit male name Avalokitesvara. (I wouldn't feel so flattered if someone put up a portrait of me somewhere - and captioned it with a male name.)

Kate Blanchette as Elizabeth 1

I love this stained glass window. I am going to have to try painting a copy for myself someday.

The Arnolfini Marriage

Ummm... Not sure why, but I find this one totally creepy.

Aztec

Andrew Kamondia from Kenya: African Art

At the Hair Salon

Always Room for More on a Matatu

A Kwan Yin statue for sale

I came across this statue for sale, at Eastern Serenity, which also sells plenty of other Buddhist paraphernalia.

From the site's description of the statue, a modern-day replica of Northern Song China original based on a 19th Century reproduction:

"This Chinese Song dynasty image mid-way in the gender transition from the Indian and masculine icon of Avalokitesvara to its Chinese and feminine variation adopts the languid seated pose known as lalitasana - seated with the right hand resting on the raised knee - suggesting the confidence of royalty and the self-assurance of imperial power. Style reinforces the courtly image of ease femininity and grace."

In other words, this is a transitional piece from male Avalokitesvara to female Kwan Yin. Just like me.

The whole reason for the gender change is also explained; it was to take the qualities of Avalokitesvara (his ability to hear the cries for help and sacrifice himself for humankind) and augment him with the qualities of China's fertility and procreation Goddesses, so that practitioners of indigenous Chinese Goddess religions could easily adopt Buddhism. Otherwise, the male supremacy of Orthodox Buddhism (which stated that only men could reach true enlightenment) would've been a much harder sell.

Here's the actual page selling the statue. I am tempted to order one, and might - unless I find a nice Kwan Yin statue for sale during one of my numerous Buddhist temple visits in South Korea.

Eastern Serenity

The site also sells another Kwan Yin statue - this one has a dozen arms, sort of like Hindu God Vishnu. Kwan Yin has been known to grow multiple faces and arms to better be able to do her work.

Women Who Run With the Wolves poster

A poster with a lot of text.  And yet the art design stands alone. A poster that lives wherever I live.  I love all of it from the border to the major art portion to the print.

Congrats Cedric!

I was expecting to help Cedric finish up a canvas we started, but the lights going out kinda stopped that. We will get back to it asap.

But besides that, Cedric went yesterday for his orientation into his first job in the domestic oilfields. It is a really good job and we are very proud of you Cedric.

Try to keep all your fingers intact or we will just have to teach you to draw with your feet!

HAHAHA!

Raphael again.

Christy, I think you posted the sketch of Angel on the right.  Forgive me if you posted both of these.  They are so entrancing and exceptional that they will probably be posted over and over, I expect.  Could that be his son?  

Raphael: Madonna of the Chair

Looking at and commenting on the painting by Titian posted by Christy made me think of others of the masters who painted the real beauty of women - and not a perception of beauty designed by the cosmetic and diet industries.  Of course I looked to Raphael and the first picture that came up was this absolute beauty.

Now the baby may appear to be a little sumo wrestler.  He looks so heavy he makes me tired.  The love captured here is complete.  The mother is not the walking skeleton of today's magazine promotion.  She's a beautiful, soft, fleshy woman.  This is a scene of childhood.  The memory of a mother's lap.  The painting is beautiful and the memories are too.

Request for Christy

Hey Christy,

As I kept blogging, a wild idea went through my head.

I wanna commission you for some Buddhist art. Specifically, two renditions of Kwan Yin.

The first rendition will have Kwan Yin dressed in a pink pleated miniskirt, with matching pink suit jacket. She could even be marching with a CODEPINK delegation! (Hey, if the neocons can say Jesus was a Republican, we can definitely claim Kwan Yin for the peace movement!) The second rendition will have Her dressed in a tunic sweater (color of your choice), along with black leggings and boots.

In both cases, Kwan Yin will be wearing a double-female-symbol necklace.

As for her face, you can use a hybrid of faces from historical Kwan Yin statues (which I shared here before) with my face. :) Yes, I am trying to turn myself into Kwan Yin - hahaha! (The outfits described above are indeed my trademark outfits, btw.) But seriously though, capturing Kwan Yin's energy and integrating her grace into my everyday life - to hear the cries of people and do something about them - are the reasons why I am going on my retreat.

I won't be able to take delivery of your artwork after you finish, but I will give you a fair compensation.

Thanks in advance!

Ally McRepuke

Religious Art

When I get to South Korea, you can count on the following from me when it comes to religious art.

• Plenty of Buddhist art, for their historical value, and out of respect that DiAnne and I carry for Kwan Yin.
  
• As much shamanistic art as I can find, before the Christian extremists wipe them out forever.
• No Confucian art, as they are the reason why Korea became such a backward country in the royal era (and to a lesser extent, even today). I am firmly against belief systems that set strict arbitrary hierarchies between people. Confucians have also suppressed the Buddhists for spreading "dangerous" concepts such as equality.
• No Christian "art," as there is no such thing as Korean indigenous Christian art. They are busy copying the works of the superior white (often American) men - Korea is the only place where drawing Jesus and Mary in the form of the natives is considered blasphemy. Lots of subservient Confucian influence in Korean Christianity - hence their blatant support of the US Republicans. Christians, led by the new government, are very busy cracking down on Buddhists and shamans. (And funding California's gay marriage ban initiative.)
  
• I will make a few exceptions for Christian "art" - I will photograph and post plenty of obnoxious, illegally posted Christian stickers on subway trains, power poles, and other public places. I will also photograph and post lunatic Christian missionaries on street corners blasting their doomsday scenarios.
• There is a mosque in Seoul as well, but I will stay away as well, as the Muslims are complicit in Christian theocracy both in South Korea and in the US (where Muslims were overwhelmingly Republican until W betrayed them).

Wish me luck!

Flatstock

Flatstock poster convention coincides with Bumbershoot at the same venue and is the most amazing and overstimulating display you will ever see! American Poster Institute






The FLATSTOCK poster show series is presented by the American Poster Institute (API). It is an ongoing series of exhibitions featuring the work of many of the most popular concert poster artists working today. The FLATSTOCK shows provide the general public with an ongoing series of opportunities to see fine poster art in person and to meet the artists who've created it -- they provide the API with a way to present the poster artists collectively while showcasing the breadth of individual styles they represent. heading now to Germany & Chicago

A Titian

Venus and the Lute Player, 1565

Antinous

Lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian



Vibia Sabina, wife of Hadrian

Notice

As you may have noticed, I've been using small amounts of Chinese script in my posts. It'll only continue as I post artwork that I run into in South Korea.

Some Koreans will hate me for using Chinese script instead of the outstanding Korean alphabet (as I previously mentioned, Chinese script is banned in North Korea, and becoming increasingly rare in South Korea as well). But given that the audience of this blog is non-Korean, and given that most East Asians (and some non-East Asians) readily understand Chinese characters, I will continue to use Chinese script to clarify concepts. And since Chinese characters are iconographs, they are perfect for this purpose.

I will be using traditional Chinese script for South Korean artwork, as South Korea's Chinese character set (漢字, hanja) is based on them, having never been seriously reformed. However, this is changing, as most younger South Koreans tend to learn simplified Chinese script, along with spoken Mandarin Chinese.

If you have Windows Vista or Mac OS X, both Chinese and Korean scripts should properly display without any tweaks. If you have Windows XP, you'll have to install East Asian character sets through the Control Panel.

Speaking of Japanese invasion of Korea...

A Chinese-Korean alliance drove the Japanese invaders out of Korea in 1598, as I mentioned in the last post (and leading to Chinese shrines being built all over Korea at the request of the Chinese emperor). And above is one key component of that warfare. (It's only a replica, as no originals exist today.)

DiAnne will be happy to know that this ship is called the Turtle Ship. Many consider it to be the first ironclad ship ever built, though it's not a full ironclad unlike the Civil War-era ironclads in 19th Century US. It's oar- and sail-powered, boasts many cannons and a ram, and the spikes on the roof prevented the Japanese sailors from boarding. It is credited with destroying the Japanese navy and ending the horrible warfare that reduced Korea's arable land to one-third of what it was before.

Note the face drawn at the bottom of the bow - it is one of the several artwork options that adorned the actual Turtle Ships in service.

The above replica is at Seoul's War Memorial, which I will not visit during my stay. I am staying away as it glorifies the McCarthyist mentality of South Korea's military, in particular the Marines whose first major accomplishment is touted as "destroying the Communist insurgency along the southern coast and Jeju Island." The so-called insurgency was actually peasants with no knowledge of Communism, rebelling against the government of President Syngman Rhee (a Korean-American favored by the US due to his anti-communism, above more qualified but left-leaning leaders who actually did more for the Korean independence) and its coddling of collaborators of the Japanese colonial rule. Rhee's war crimes rival that of Kim Il-Sung and the North Koreans during the Korean War, and I do not wish to legitimize any of that. As a result, I will not have any more pictures of this Turtle Ship.

More on the Japanese collaborators: while South Korea's government declared itself as the successor to a Shanghai-based anti-Japanese group named the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and even took over its title (大韓民國), for much of its history it was run by Japanese collaborators, including 18-year unitary executive Park Chung-Hee (AKA Masao Takaki), rather than members of the Provisional Government.

More on the Turtle Ship: Word has it that when Hyundai's CEO went to the UK to seek financing to start a shipbuilding business, he won British lenders over by showing a 500-won banknote, which depicts the Turtle Ship. He was quoted as saying "my country once built this ship. I have no problem building ships." Hyundai is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world today - and went on to also do construction and automobiles.

Chinese art in Korea

I will not be heading for China on my upcoming trip - too much expense and hassle. So I will have to improvise during my stay in South Korea. Fortunately, there is some Chinese art at the National Museum of Korea, which I visited before and will return to. In addition, there is a Chinese-style shrine just outside downtown Seoul's eastern gate, called Dongmyo.

In China, a general named Guan Yu, who died in 219 AD, is often revered as a deity, by both Buddhists and Taoists. Guan served his sworn brother Liu Bei, who led one of the three major factions vying for the control of China at the end of the Han Dynasty. The stories and the heroics of this turbulent era have been told for generations, being written down in historical fiction form in the 14th Century. That novel, titled Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義 in China and 三國志 in Korea), is considered required reading for many East Asians, and is beloved by just about all Korean men.

Dongmyo is a shrine to Guan Yu, the only surviving example among several that once existed in Seoul. In Confucian Korea, Guan Yu worship never really had a tradition, but when Ming China allied with Korea to drive the Japanese out in 1598 (Japan had just been unified into a single militaristic state, and wanted to pass through Korea to invade China, but when Korea refused passage, it started pillaging Korea), it wanted some Guan Yu shrines built on Korean soil, as the spirit of Guan Yu supposedly appeared to help the Chinese soldiers during their battle against Japan. The shrine was built in 1601 with joint Chinese and Korean funding, with the signs written by the Chinese emperor himself. Later, when Ming China collapsed and was replaced by the Manchu Dynasty (who were not Han Chinese, but "barbaric" outsiders), the Korean Confucians started worshipping at Dongmyo, out of their continuing respect for the defunct Ming Dynasty.

As Koreans have become less pro-China and more nationalistic in the past 130 years or so, Dongmyo fell into disrepair and was forgotten, until Chinese tourists started visiting it in the past ten years or so. Currently it's open but under renovation, so I don't know how much I will be able to see. For now, I will share a couple of pre-renovation pictures. I will also add that some left-wing nationalists in South Korea want Dongmyo completely demolished, as it is a reminder of Korea's historic subservient attitude to China (and by extension, to Imperial Japan later and to US Republicans today); South Korea is the only country that I know of, where liberals are more nationalistic than conservatives (elsewhere, usually it's the conservatives who are nationalistic).

Dongmyo's garden. The architecture is a hybrid of Chinese and Korean styles; the structural elements are Chinese, but the color schemes are Korean.

Gold-plated statue of Guan Yu, with two of his four guardians visible to the side.

Amazing!

Zhang Zeduan 1736

Click here then scroll!

Click here for more!

That is freaking INCREDIBLE!

Even better!

Edit by Rachel AKA Ally McRepuke: "Asian Art" tag added.

A Lady Listening to Music 1750

Indischer Maler

I like very mucho!

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Artist Katsushika Hokusai

Edit by Rachel AKA Ally McRepuke: "Asian Art" tag added.

The Black Brunswicker (1860)

Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896) English Artist

From Here

Millais spent three months painting "The Black Brunswicker." Studies for the work exist both in the Lady Lever Art Gallery’s archives as well as in Tate Britain.

Millais used Charles Dickens’s daughter Kate as the model for the girl and a private in the Life Guards for the soldier. Each had to model separately for this passionate scene because of the strict Victorian morals of the time.

Millais wished to be historically accurate in making the girl’s dress look quite antique. (It is actually a compromise between the fashions of 1859 and 1815 when waists were still kept high). The intensity of emotions is well conveyed in the close encounter of the couple, the girl’s body attempting to obstruct the soldier from his task and prevent his destiny.

The dark and enclosed space enhances the tragedy of the scene. The work appeals both to spectators’ patriotism and sentimentality. The only distraction is perhaps the brilliant shine of the girl’s dress, its creases tempting spectators’ tactile senses. The dog at the soldier’s feet also draws attention to the humanity of the subject.

On the wall of the room an engraving of a painting by J.L. David (1748-1825), depicting Napoleon crossing the Alps serves as a reminder of Waterloo while also alluding to current events in 1860, when Napoleon III entered upon a war in Northern Italy in an attempt to expel the Austrians.

Palin Pancake

Still no lights... Updated

Crap.

Update.

Almost 9 pm still no power. No one is even working on the tree that took out the lights.

It is so freaking hot and humid I just want to gag.



Updated Update...

Almost 9 am, still no power.

This is getting annoying.

Gustav - meet Christy

Christy is in the eye of the storm right about now, so I'm posting this work by Gustav Klimpt, called "The Kiss".

Let's all say a prayer for our girl Christy, and hope they are all hunkering down some place safe.

Chinese and Japanese Gardening

As I promised - photos from my visit to The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens today. My emphasis today was on Chinese and Japanese gardening, though there is a lot more to see here, including a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, some British art, and even fake Greek vases.

These lions guard the entrance to the new Chinese garden, just opened this year. Gardeners were flown in from Suzhou, a city famed for its water gardens, to create this one. Suzhou also provided the Sun Yat-sen Garden in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in 1986, though this one is much bigger and prettier.

Water lilies on the pond, with some buildings and a covered corridor in the back.

A pagoda in the middle. Love the architecture!

Another view of the pond, highlighting a stone bridge.

Some bonsai trees at the Chinese garden. Bonsai is normally understood as a Japanese art form, but the Chinese also have it.

Tiles. These contrasting shapes follow the Taoist yin-yang philosophy - a harmony of opposites.

The main entrance gate. The characters are read right-to-left. They are pronounced "Liu Fang Yuan," meaning "Garden of Flowing Fragrance."

Another shot of the pond, showing the vegetation of the Chinese garden with the San Gabriel Mountains in the back.

The Japanese garden is a short walk away, and existed for decades, with its components coming in from neighboring Pasadena, where a Japanese garden previously existed and failed. One of the components is this bridge.

Another component is a traditional Japanese house, complete with this tea room.

Some old pine trees on rocky terrain.

The Zen Garden. The raked gravel signifies water waves. The Japanese call this Karesansui, or "Dry Landscape Garden."

Some of the dozens of bonsai trees, of all species and sizes, maintained next to the Zen Garden.

I walked through a bamboo forest to leave the Japanese garden - and as I looked back, I saw lions again!

Well, this isn't really Asian art, but I threw this in for Woz and Kangaroo; there is also an outstanding Australian garden at Huntington, as seen here.

Before I left, I took in a temporary exhibition of Los Angeles photographs, running from the 1870s through today, showing the triumphs, the sorrows, and the explosive development of Los Angeles and the surrounding region. One note from those photos: Los Angeles around 1910 was a hotbed of "open shop," or anti-union, movement, and pro-labor saboteurs ended up bombing the Los Angeles Times headquarters for its hardcore unionbusting activities.

My original plan was to continue to the cool ocean and see the Korean Friendship Bell in San Pedro, but I was too exhausted to continue (the drive is 30 miles!). I had to cool down at the Huntington's bookstore, where I continued to take in Chinese and Japanese art - including a statue of Kwan Yin. (No photos allowed in the store, sorry!)

I probably won't post any more artwork until I arrive in Seoul. Hoping to become a modern-day Kwan Yin during my retreat - I really wish I could hear people's cries and do something about it.

More Asian art coming soon

I just spent this hot afternoon at Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, located in San Marino, California. It's had a nice Japanese garden for decades, and this year gained a Chinese garden as well.

I'll post photos and share some of my experiences shortly. But for now, I need a nap - I am completely knocked out from the heat.

I am working with my apprentices,

Cedric is on a canvas now, I will post some new art in just a bit.

Picasso: Child With a Dove

Oh wow!  I just tripped over this.  No doubt I'm showing my ignorance but I've never seen it before and I think the whole painting is beautiful.