Doors in Art Works
I found these two works of art pretty interesting and as a door darling I must include them in my collection. The painting is hanging in the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi. The artist is Anil Kuranjai (1940-2001) and he was part of group of radicals calling themselves the Hungry Generation. The studio “Devil´s Workshop” in Benares (also known as Varanasi) was a meeting point for many artitis and they established a gallery which - funny enough- was called “Paradise Cafe” ; this was in the late 60s and a lot of American beatnicks (poets Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder)loved to hang out there, too.
The painting is called “Door of Kurma“. Kurma, in Hinduism, is the second of 10 avatars of the supreme god Vishnu, the god preserver (Shiva is the destroyer). Kurma came in form of a turtle. What this has to do with this door…. your guess is as good as mine.
In another art work, this time a zoomed-in lock image highly enlarged, we find the beauty in detail . The artist Sanjay Bhattacharya, born 1958, and like Anil a Bengali, took photos of “Found Objects” (name of the exhibition) and made them appear like abstract art. I found this quite brilliant and have been seeing things on the street quite in a new light since seeing his works. Even doing my own art from the streets photos now.
Sorry that this is a bit blury and of course the colors are much better in the real, but still it gives you an idea. His works are currently on exhibition in New Delhi in a privately run gallery. Hope they wont suit me for showing this stuff here.
Doris Duke Doors
Hey, door darlings, I just saw the movie “Bernard and Doris” on HBO about the life of American tobacco heiress Doris Duke (1912-1993) and when I googled her, because I didnt know a darn thing about her, I found out she was a door darling too. When she married in 1935, she went around the world for her honeymoon and started buying incredible things in every country. She picked up some amazing doors, too, and later had them brought to her Hawaiian home called “Shangri La” where she recreated rooms in Turkish, Morrocan, Indian or Persian style. My, what fun a few million dollars lets you have…..
Sure would be lovely to have this sliding door out of marble, wouldnt it, perhaps between your bath and built-in closet or walk-in wardrobe, or leading toward the veranda?
Well, no matter how poor or rich we are, we all must walk through a lot of doors, and good old Doris, well, with her pocket book, doors just opened automatically. I wonder if that became boring for her with time. Dont forget to create you homes in your own style, so how about painting a fake door(trompe l´Oeil style) here and there, if you cant afford the one Doris got. It´s definately something I always wanted to do. I already tried it with some stencil on the terrace walls.
This is one was seen on http://www.trompe-l-oeil-art.com/trompe.html
Anything is possible and the illusion is for free
Oh and some people have blogged about the Duke style, go check it out.
http://thepeakofchic.blogspot.com/2007/06/doris-dukes-shangri-la.html
http://stylecourt.blogspot.com/2007/12/gifts-from-doris-duke.html
Door Poetry
It´s Sunday, darlings, and I feel like poetry. Let´s go to Emily Dickinson (1830–86) and listen to what she has to say in her cycle of poems LIFE (111th)
| A DOOR just opened on a street— |
| I, lost, was passing by— |
| An instant’s width of warmth disclosed, |
| And wealth, and company. |
| The door as sudden shut, and I, |
| I, lost, was passing by,— |
| Lost doubly, but by contrast most, |
| Enlightening misery. |
Did you get it? It´s, if I see clearly, about suddenly getting a glimpse of a better world, which only enhances one´s own misery. The comparison, or rather the knowledge of more out there, now let´s the person feel worse about his own conditions. An impressive door and a view at dusk into someone ´s fancy home can surely evoke not happiness but envy. But we shall try to keep on focusing on beauty alone, beauty, darlings!