Jose Clemente Orozco’s mural series The Epic of American Civilization is housed in the basement of Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College.  Currently closed to the public because of renovations, the murals were painted between 1932 and 1934 and present a vibrant, unsettling history of the Americas.

In 1936, Jackson Pollock traveled to Dartmouth to see the Orozco murals, and much of his work of that time was influenced by his experience of Orozco’s paintings.  Last month, I was lucky to see pieces from the artists side by side in last month’s exhibition at Dartmouth’s Hood Museum, Pollock and Orozco: Men of Fire.

womensweardaily:

Q&A: Yayoi Kusama, Pop Artist

Eyeing one of the galleries stacked with her psychedelic paintings at Manhattan’s Whitney Museum of Art Monday afternoon, Yayoi Kusama said, “I’m genius.”

At 83, the beyond-prolific artist wasn’t overstating her career.

WWD: It has been many years since you were in New York. What strikes you about how the city has changed?
Yayoi Kusama: When I was living here in the Sixties, it was like the city was at the utmost point of the world. There was more energy. Today it lacks energy.

WWD: You once said that had it not been for art you would have killed yourself. Do you still feel that way?
Y.K.: I feel that way exactly. There’s not one day that I don’t think about death. The fact that I paint helps me to keep these ideas away and continue.

For More

[Top: Yayoi Kusama]

[Bottom: Pieces from the exhibit at the Whitney Museum of Art.]

I saw her exhibition at the Tate Modern in London back in March, and it is a must-see. Can’t wait to see it again in New York.

fiveo-clockshadow:

The Obliteration Room Yayoi Kusama

I saw a much-smaller-scale version of this at the Tate Modern in March, and only after the room had been covered in dots, so the impact was mitigated (and I was disappointed by the lack of piano!). That said, Kusama’s London exhibition continues through June 5 and is a must-see for anyone passing through. They prohibit photography inside the exhibition (the Obliteration Room is in a separate area of the museum), so I’ve been trying to find a comprehensive collection of images online.

The Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art project in Detroit, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011. According to its website:

The focus of the Heidelberg Project (HP) is rooted in the need to improve the under-resourced and horribly blighted Detroit community where the project was founded.

We continue this mission, as we began, by providing hope and inspiration to local children through art and education programs and hands-on workshops.

(These pictures were taken in October 2010.)