Video Reviews: The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art & An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan

Questions and Topics for Your Blog Posting:

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
I found the video The Lowdown on Lowbrow:West Coast Pop Art to be unlike anything I've every seen. 'Lowbrow' refers to a person regarded as uncultivated and lacking in taste. Neanderthals had 'lowbrows', so it is also a referral to someones lack of intelligence. As with an art 'movement', there are many subheadings to Lowbrow art, such as Tiki Art, Psychedelic Rock Paintings, Cowboy Culture Art and Pop Surrealism. After WWII, New York City became the art capitol of the world, prior to WWII Paris, France had been the center. Therefore east coast art was synonymous wit high class art. Lowbrow art began in California, as far west as you could get without going to Hawaii. Much of the Lowbrow art seen in this video reminded me of Mad Magazine. I have always thought that the artist/illustrators who create Mad are quite talented. 

The video An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured art that would be considered by Lowbrow artists to be high class. While their were many works that in the Lowbrow video that I find to interesting, my heart belongs to museums like The Met. My BFA is in Art History, so I felt more comfortable and knowledgeable with the work discussed in The Met video. In the east coast art world, Philippe de Montebello was the head of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for 30 years, and had approximately 30 special exhibits per year. While Lowbrow artists feel that their art is more 'accessible' to people, The Met also works very hard to show many different exhibits and artistic styles, sure to please many different patrons.
 
2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.
 I felt that the second video, An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, had more relation to the creation of my fictional art exhibit. This video showed much of what goes on behind the scenes to set up a show, and to my surprise their were many curators who were highly specialized in a particular area of art. They would present potential acquisitions to De Montebello, and he would have the final word as to whether or not a work was purchased for the gallery. During his tenure over 84,000 works were acquired for The Met.
 
3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project? 
Both films were interesting, but I do not feel that the Lowbrow video added as much to my depth and understanding of art concepts as The Met video did. Perhaps that is due to my own biases. As Philippe de Montebello said, an art curator is "...never completely neutral". I myself prefer the artwork featured in The Met, and while many feel that this is 'highbrow', I truly believe that all museums wish to invite everyone to see and enjoy what they have to offer.