Dish-Houston

BY DISH CONTRIBUTOR DONNA SAA:

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston almost never disappoints and this time they have come through yet again to bring a beautiful exhibit. Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski was brought to the museum on its tour and opened on February 12^th and will be open until May 6^th. The Jules Olitski exhibition shows major paintings of his from 1960 through 2005. He painted for 5 decades and continued through 2006 and passed away in 2007. The collection was brought to the MFAH with special support and funding by Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Wilson and Mr. and Mrs. Melvyn L. Wolff. The exhibit began and was organized by the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and will be in Houston until May 6^thbefore traveling to the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio and then the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington D.C. It is easy to Google the pieces of Jules Olitski and see the paintings as pictures in the image tab, but the pictures taken of the art do not do it justice. It is impossible to capture the true essence and message of Olitski’s paintings in a picture. This exhibit is a must see.

Patutsky in Paradise 

The moment you walk into the museum the exhibit sits straight ahead. The abstract style of Olitski’s works makes the eyes and soul sparkle though the colors and elaborate unique style. The exhibit is set up mainly chronologically from his first works through his last. When you start at the beginning of the exhibit, one of the first paintings are spray-painted with a spray gun. These were the second style of his painting career done from 1965-1970, yet they deserve special notification. It can be difficult to imagine an elegant piece created with spray paint. The paintings are illuminated and delicate in such a way that it is hard to believe that it was created with such a harsh piece of machinery. As the years progressed so did the style of the paintings. You will see that some of the paintings seem to be only one color – black. “How could this be art?” You start to ask yourself. Here is a suggestion – sit in front of the paintings for a few minutes, the longer the better, and you will start to see the painting transform before your eyes. The colors beneath the painting seem to come out to speak to you through the darkness. The message received is that there is color and light through what may seem dark and dreary. The hope that illuminates in this style is extraordinary and heart warming. Through his paintings, it is difficult not to notice that many of his paintings include circles and seem to be goings off of the canvas. The reasons for this are to represent the limitless powers of the universe and that all things are infinite and have no boundaries. Hope and dreams are clear messages through many of his majestic pieces. The last wall of the exhibit is by far the most vibrant. The colors, the style, and the design do not even matter when looking at these pieces, although definitely overwhelming, but the vibrant style makes you feel so many emotions from chaos to confusion then to togetherness and composition. Olitski was even mistaken as a new, fresh artist with the passion of someone in their 20s. The irony is he did the pieces at the end of his life in his 80s. The beauty and exquisite taste of Olitski never died or withered throughout the trials of his life, experiences, or even age. His life through his paintings brings the average person a hopeful glimpse at life. Through his paintings we can feel a hope that life does not end at a certain age, that passion does not wither through the spans of time, and that love and hope will always be in your heart through any experience that you face.