ATM: Art, Tiles, Mosaics... an adventure in creativity

Illuminating Art

On very short notice my friend BG announced she wanted to see Illumination: The Paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Miller Pierce at the Orange County Museum of Art. As the exhibit is closing September 13 we hustled on down to Newport Beach last Saturday, the 6th.

These four women artists were paired up, one famous, one relatively unknown: Georgia O’Keeffe with Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin with Florence Miller. I have to admit the only one I am familiar with is Georgia O’Keeffe, who happens to be one of my favorite artists—no surprise there. What was a revelation were the works of Agnes Pelton. I immediately fell in love with and established a connection with several of her paintings.

While I enjoyed the O’Keeffe paintings on display, a couple of which were new to me, I was totally enraptured with the discovery of Agnes Pelton (who lived from 1881 to 1961). I love abstract art because to me it has a spiritual quality that realism can never achieve. It comes from the deepest corners of the imagination and leaves the interpretation to the viewer. But like any kind of art, there is good and there is rubbish. Fortunately, Pelton’s art belongs in the first category.

She was also a poet, and as a sometime artist, sometime poet myself, I appreciate this combination. In fact, I am not a big fan of reading poetry by itself, but combined with visual art, it takes on a different dimension.

I am really surprised that Agnes Pelton is not more of a household name. And while not belittling Georgia O’Keeffe in the least, perhaps, like a splendid little wine from a small winery, she is better served to a small audience who can truly appreciate her. I am grateful that I discovered this wine and intend to keep my eyes open for more of it.

As there doesn’t seem to be much available in print on Agnes Pelton, your best bet may be to acquire the catalog for this exhibit which sells on Amazon for forty bucks ($15 less than at the OCMA bookstore—although I am sure OCMA would appreciate your dollars more than Amazon).

I haven’t said anything about Agnes Martin or Florence Miller. While their work was interesting, it didn’t blow me away like the paintings of Pelton—or O’Keeffe. If you want to see for yourself, hurry on down.