MEOW? CAW?

 

More passing color at Pridefest. I don't think cats and parrots can be friends. Fashion, however, can create all kinds of genial combinations. Look however you like. You may get attention (and maybe that's the point) but no one here will disapprove.                   

TOWER GROVE PRIDE

 

We have two major annual Pride events. There is a big parade downtown in June, which I was not able to attend this year. This weekend we have what is called the Tower Grove Pride Festival, named for the city's second-largest (and my favorite) park. Stages, entertainers, food, artists, craftspeople, churches, healthcare, politics (guess what kind), social services, clothing (some provocative), and lots and lots of interesting strollers. This dad and I are like the shortest distance between two points on a plane, but we are open minded and sympathetic.                     

CROSS-CULTURAL YIN YANG

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe meets Hello Kitty. One could not be more Mexican (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe), the other more Japanese. Everyone has seen advertising on top of taxis, and there was a time when many St. Louis cabs had illuminated signs on the top that said "Our Lady of Guadalupe - Queen of the Americas."  I never figured that out. Hello Kitty might as well be a Shinto demi-god. My granddaughter likes tacos much more than sushi but that has no effect on her fashion sense.                      

HOW’S YOUR AUTOFOCUS?

 

Ooh, this makes my eyes wobbly. Another toy vendor at the Hispanic Festival. Maybe I should have set a greater DOF and higher shutter speed but I was shooting on the fly. Is it okay to inhale this stuff?

I should get out on the street today looking for stuff but it's supposed to pour and pour. The front end of Helene, probably, passing through here while it is devastating northwest Florida and western Georgia. Maybe it will find Ron DeSantis.                

¡QUE LINDA!

 

Pero que triste. Lovely woman, flawless skin, but utterly blank affect. I'd like to know what the story is but the lens does not see all.                                                  

BAND OF GUNNERS

 

Gunners? I think that's how the name of the band, Banda Artillerros, translates into English (corrections invited) but it was more like heavy artillery. This was just a small part of the Mexican orchestra playing in the plaza at the Hispanic Festival. There were these three trumpets, the tuba behind them (with a microphone taped in the bell), two trombones, two clarinets, accordion, drum kit, congas and two singers. My sound app said it reached 110 db in front of the stage, enough to start causing some serious damage. The musicians were not wearing ear plugs. The crowd loved it.            

THE PERFECT SALESMAN

 

There were people hawking all sorts of things and there were plenty of children at the Hispanic Festival. This salesman's dress and demeanor seemed pretty heavy for his wares. It was a good thing my granddaughter wasn't with me. If she had been, she would have pulled the fingers out of my hand if I didn't buy her something, preferably Hello Kitty.    

AT THE HISPANIC FESTIVAL

 

I still have lots of sculpture photos in the can, TinType and conventional, but I wanted a change of tone. Our Hispanic Festival took place this weekend. The Latino population here isn't as big as many American cities but it's growing. This couple danced to an impossibly loud, large and energetic Mexican band. I'll show something about them shortly. I'm shocked the members have any hearing left.                   

THE MALE GAZE IN TINTYPE

 

I think I get it, but that’s more for the women in my life to judge. I was a chubby, awkward, geeky young man, and perhaps that spared me from the more callous competitive attitudes of my peers. After all, there is a woman who has put up with me for 50 years, to my great good fortune.

This is in the sculpture garden behind the St. Louis Art Museum, Aristide Maillol’s The Mountain, https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/10289/, Maillol’s work is primarily about female nudes. The mountain here may be the left leg, with the right  encased in the lead base. It’s not clear in TinType, but the hair appears wind-blown.                 

THE BALLOON GLOW DIDN’T WORK OUT SO WELL

 

It’s nice that St. Louis has so many public events and festivals. The bad news is that they have gotten so crowded as to be almost unbearable. The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is in its 54th year. It’s the usual hare and hounds chase. The night before they have a balloon glow. After sunset, they inflate on their gas jets at the sound of a horn, glowing vividly in the night. It’s spectacular.

Ellie and I arrived a half hour before the preliminary events started and 2.5 hours before sunset. We got one of the last spaces in the nearest parking lot. We sat in the car for an hour running the AC (not so bad, it’s a hybrid), killing time on screens. Ninety minutes before sunset we walked down one long hill and up another to get to the main field. Then Ellie, who is afraid of insects, wouldn’t sit on the grass because ants might get in her clothing. It was so hot, humid and crowded we went back to the car, at least for a cool off. We decided it was pointless and we left as the sun was setting. Huge numbers of people were still streaming in.        

WHITE GHOST IN TINTYPE

 

Yoshitomo Nara”s White Ghost, https://citygardenstl.org/art/yoshitomo-nara/, needs a background note, which I think is a problem with some contemporary art. Your experience when confronting the piece is essential, of course, but there may be layers of meaning that require more information. Nara’s work often represents children or dogs, or, as here, something of a blend. The note on the Citygarden website linked above, if it is accurate, expects too much from the viewer.

Hope to get much more color and excitement in the next few days. This weekend is the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, https://greatforestparkballoonrace.com/. Tonight is the balloon glow. At dusk, the balloons stay tethered but periodically blast up with flame. creating an otherworldly experience. It’s going to be packed but my granddaughter and I will give it a shot.                 

BUSINESS CASUAL IN TINTYPE

 

Just the thing for a St. Louis man to wear to a late summer social event. But it makes me think of the words of a certain native St. Louis writer: We are the hollow men/ We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw. 

Austrian sculptor Erwin Wurm’s Big Suit, https://citygardenstl.org/art/erwin-wurm/#, asks a lot of questions. I like art that pokes. Many people walk past something like this and think it looks weird/cool/stupid/baffling, then keep on movng. I’d rather stop and wonder about what’s going on.                         

SAINT LOUIS SCULPTURE IN TINTYPE - PINOCCHIO

 

These images seem like they come from another time, which I guess is the point. Still in Citygarden, Jim Dine’s Big White Gloves shows Pinocchio exultant, although I’m not sure why. He seems to be some way from his goal of becoming a real boy.

There was an article in the local newspaper yesterday about prominent public sculpture in our town. I know some but not all. Lots of ideas.                    

SAINT LOUIS SCULPTURE: A TINTYPE SERIES

 

When I did my New York street photography program in May, everybody was experimenting with a camera app for iPhones called TinType, https://hipstamatic.app/app/tintype. It is Inspired by daguerreotypes, tintypes, and other photographic processes from over a hundred years ago. We got some pretty cool results.  Since St. Louis has lots of outdoor sculpture and I have nothing better to do, I decided to use it for a series. Other than the Arch, this is our emblematic sculpture, the Apotheosis of St. Louis, standing in front of the art museum.                

MADELEINE MONDAY

At the Cardinals baseball game. She calls these things stuffies and - I can’t be sure - she may have over a hundred. The big one in the middle is the Cardinals’ mascot, known as Fredbird. The one on her right was the give-away at the game. The one on her left was made by one of the nurses when her mother was hospitalized last year.              

HEY, MISTER, TAKE OUR PICTURE!

 

An old guy walking around with a big camera can get people’s attention. Passers-by sometimes engage me. The most common question is “get any good ones today?” Most common answer, said in a pleasant tone: "Ï’ll know when I download them.”  Rarer but much more fun question is “hey, mister, wanna take our picture?” The answer is always yes. I offer to send them a copy and give them my card. Hardly anyone contacts me.

I met these young people in Citygarden, our wonderful downtown sculpture park. The picture was originally in color, of course, but the light was hazy-bright-harsh and my Photoshop skills were not up to fixing it. Still, you can often get a good monochrome conversion.              

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

 

I don’t have much interest in sports. The violence and exploitation of American football horrify me. But I do have a soft spot for baseball. It’s what I grew up with, when a kid could get a cheap seat at Yankee Stadium on the day of the game for what was in a kid’s pocket. Now I support the St Louis Cardinals. They are having a mediocre year, after a terrible one last season. We rarely attend.

But we got tickets for last Sunday. They had a promotion giving kids a free Cardinals teddy bear. My granddaughter, Ellie, who has the largest collection of stuffed animals and things (a stuffed cup of bubble tea!) in Missouri coveted yet another one. The Cardinals got smacked around but the day was beautiful.

I said I’m not much for sports but we’ve been to a couple of first division soccer/football matches in Buenos Aires, and that was a lot of fun.               

HEROES AND VILLAiNS

 

So much of the wall art I see at Paint Louis and other places looks like Marvel comic books on steroids. (But, um, I’m getting some in my spine later today. It has its uses.) Being old and not ever being a comic book reader (unless you count Mad Magazine), I don’t get the ethos. What are the artists trying to express or communicate? Inquiring minds want to know.             

THE BIG GUY

 

I’ve never seen anyone use a stencil before at Paint Louis but it makes sense. It’s been hard for me (knowing nothing about the techniques) to understand how the artists get the small details right. The colorful arcs emphasize the big chest and belly, as does the pose with hands behind the back. I particularly like the top of the head scattering into crazy energy mist.           

UP AGAINST THE WALL

 

Missed yesterday’s post. Today is two weeks post-op and things haven’t gone as smoothly as I would have liked. A little harder to get out on the street.

So back to Paint Louis. This picture gives some overview of how the process works, albeit just a short selection. The whole thing runs about two miles or 3 kilometers. It becomes a linear art gallery.                  

ARTISTS FIRST

 

Some noble thoughts in this Kieth Haring-ish mural. But maybe it’s better to start at the base of the pyramid, focusing on food, shelter and health care.                

HEY, MISTER! WANNA BUY SOME ART?

Like the paintings on the flood wall and wish you could have some on the wall of your living room? Not for me. Most of it would haunt my dreams. Someone must be interested but I didn’t see a lot of product moving.                

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

 

Is anyone out there old enough to at least know of the once-popular radio drama, The Shadow? https://www.oldradioworld.com/shows/The_Shadow.php The intro was always "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” I pride myself on loose associations, and that was what immediately came to mind when I photographed this section of the Paint Louis wall.                     

MENTAL HYGIENE

 

Some of the wall art at Paint Louis is pleasant fantasy, some political, some social commentary, but to me a lot of it is deeply disturbing. Sure, I’m in my 70s (okay, boomer) and would not understand lots of what’s happening to younger people. Nevertheless, much of the work communicates - to me - a dark, distorted, even apocalyptic world. It is so skillfully executed, but what motivates it? Some of it reminds me of the well-known English artist, Francis Bacon, https://www.francis-bacon.com/paintings, whose images curl my toes and make me look away. 

Other than that, have a nice day. 😃                

LAST CHANCE SALOON

There were many vendors' tents at Paint Louis. A variety of merch, food and drink, but none so bluntly displayed as this. I recognized the address on the back of the tent as the former location of a notorious biker bar. I didn’t think biker bars ever went out of business, except maybe by arson.              

QUALITY CONTROL

 

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Of course, the taste of that eye is shaped by culture and experience. I get some of the esthetic of the wall painters on a visceral level but there is plenty that puzzles me. My parents didn’t get the Rolling Stones, either.                       

EVERYBODY PAINTS

 

I’ve never gone to the earliest phase of Paint Louis. The artists must start with a plan, perhaps on a grid, to transfer their designs onto a large section of wall. There is also a puzzle (to me) about the enormous scripts that all follow a similar style (to my eye) and look much alike. What do I know. I’m old.  

We wanted to go to the big Japanese festival at our botanical garden yesterday and got tickets in advance. When we arrived around 11 all of the remote parking lots were full. Literally nowhere to put your car, so we left. Big disappointment, photo ops missed.              

PAINT LOUIS 2024

 

Labor Day weekend around here brings the return of Paint Louis, the annual event in which a 2+ miles stretch of the Mississippi River floodwall is turned over to graffiti artists from around the world. You may or may not like the style but this takes a lot of skill and effort. The work may not be art school standard but you can’t pull this off easily. And imagine the expense for all that paint, equipment rental and transportation. More to come.                               

CITY DAILY PHOTO SEPTEMBER THEME - BRIDGES

 

CDP’s September monthly theme is bridges. Given the rivers around here, we have plenty. This was taken at the dedication of the newest one across the Mississippi, the awkwardly named Stan Musial - Veterans Memorial Bridge. (Stan Musial was, by acclamation, the greatest player in the history of our baseball team.) Simple is good. Crossings from other City Daily Photo members around the  world can be found here.

I was more creative about theme days when I was younger. CDP had bridges as a theme 14 years ago. This is what I posted,