ODES TO THE DIVINE MOTHER

Odes to the Divine Mother is out on Amazon now

I am happy to announce four years of work on the Odes to the Divine Mother has come to flower. Click HERE to order. It is out on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

I look forward to your comments. MARKUS

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A CEO’s ART LOOK: THE GENIUS OF DR. ALBERT C. BARNES

A Recent Visit to the New Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia

One is in awe after visiting the new building and relocation of this exceptional art collection, one of the best amassed by a private US collector, Dr. Albert Barnes, of some of the best paintings of powerhouse artists of the Impressionists and Early Modern era. In the beginning of the last century, Dr. Barnes and a German chemist, Hermann Hille, devised the formula for Argyrol, from which Barnes made a fortune. He bought out his partner in 1907 and became the CEO of the pharmaceutical A.C. Barnes Company (which he would sell very profitably in 1929, before the great crash). Much of his profits he used wisely to gather one of the best private art collections in the world. Recently Sondra and I traveled to Philadelphia mainly to see this collection in its new surroundings (moved to a new building in downtown Philadelphia in 2012 from its original suburban location in Merion, PA). We were not disappointed.

First of all, the new building, amounting to a new and major small museum, is stunningly simple and beautiful. Designed by an architect couple, Tod Williams & Billie Tsien, it has minimalist coherency with emphasis on its natural elements, both architectural, horticultural, and material. And, as in all good works of art, it has some delightful surprises, such as this:

There is a reflecting pool along the front facade that is only a few inches deep, whose bottom is filled immaculately with slate gray river rocks, providing an almost Zen-like quality of silent contemplation. This pool is repeated in the entrance vestibule. But here, circumventing the edge of the pool, is a statement by Dr. Barnes, cast in bronze, made to start the visitors’ mind to work in the proper direction to receive what is offered inside:

“THE MOST INTERESTING THING IN THE WORLD TO ME HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FREE SPONTANEOUS EXPRESSION OF HUMAN NATURE — WHETHER IN A THOUGHT, A SYMPHONY, A POEM, A PAINTING, A STATUE OR AN ACT OF EVERYDAY LIFE THAT SHOWS THE QUALITIES OF MIND, HEART AND SOUL WHICH, IN MY OPINION, ARE THE INDISPENSABLES IN ANY WORK OF ART”.

— Dr. Albert Barnes 1925

The collection of paintings, sculptures, and well crafted objects inside certainly offer these “free and spontaneous expressions of human nature” which embody very lofty “qualities of mind, heart and soul”. Dr. Barnes’ foresight was nothing short of incredible.

From the Barnes Foundation website:

The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture.” The Barnes holds one of the finest collections of Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Henri Rousseau, Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine and Giorgio de Chirico, as well as American masters Charles Demuth, William Glackens, Horace Pippin and Maurice Prendergast, Old Master paintings, important examples of African sculpture and Native American ceramics, jewelry and textiles, American paintings and decorative arts and antiquities from the Mediterranean region and Asia. The Barnes Foundation’s Art and Aesthetics programs engage a diverse array of audiences. These programs, occurring at the Philadelphia campus, online, and in Philadelphia communities, advance the mission through progressive, experimental and interdisciplinary teaching and learning.

THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S NEW BUILDING & ELLSWORTH KELLY SCULPTURE

Some of the best paintings of Cezanne, Matisse, Renoir, Van Gogh, Seurat and other Impressionist and Early Modern artists are here in this collection. One is overwhelmed by this body of art works. One’s mind is blown to think that primarily one man put together this artistic offering (now valued well over 25 billion dollars in today’s art market), then miraculously left it into perpetuity for the enhancement and artistic enlightenment of the public. That is true philanthropy.

Here are some of the masterpieces it contains:

VAN GOGH

GAUGUIN

CEZANNE

MATISSE

SEURAT

The Barnes collection presents painting at its best, and in a way that people can make contact with the creative spirit inside of themselves. Too often art is presented in an intimidating, high minded’ aloofness which boggles the viewers into thinking there is some great gulf of separation between recognized art masterpieces and their own immutable creative spirit. Dr. Barnes wanted to bridge that gap and give something to the common person, which could elevate them out of the doldrums of low self esteem and limited thinking, and put them in contact with new possibilities of their own creativity.

Any visit to this cultural masterpiece, the Barnes Foundation museum and collection, which provides an exceptional ART LOOK for the people, is going to be uplifting. Just the building itself is remarkable. The spaciousness of the great room outside the entrance to the collection is a breathtaking combination of light, natural materials of limestone and huge woolen woven panels, and a cathedral-like proportion that accomplishes a spiritual preparation for the art pilgrim to receive the gifts of the art works inside.

THE GREAT ROOM

The new Barnes Foundation on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway of Philadelphia is a jewel in the crown of this fair city’s cultural heritage. Undoubtedly, it is is a tribute to a CEO of a corporation, Dr. Albert Barnes,  who had the undaunted vision to put his money to work for the expression of the best the Human Spirit has to offer. He did not stop short. Let this new Barnes Foundation be the only testimonial needed to prove that art in corporations can be the crowing glory of any humanistic commercialized venture when its own head has the foresight to enrich, not merely employ, those people around him/her who enhance and enable his/her good fortune.

— Markus Ray, Nashville, AUG. 2014

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ALTARS IN YOUR HOME

AN ALTAR is a vortex of spiritual ENERGY

It is beneficial to have a Place for the Sacred to rest and reconnoitre in your space, in your house, in your life. ALTARS are important concentrated platforms for this to take place; they are energy vortices that  “call in” the Divine Forces to balance, guide, heal and direct your life. They are places where you can “surrender your problems”. They are places where you can lay down all your grievances and come to complete forgiveness of anyone or anything, and any situation or condition.

We have an Altar in every room of our house. Here is one with Ganesh and Hanuman, Babaji, Tara Singh, Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi and Abe Lincoln. This is a place where I cannot lie to myself. I filled this altar with men who never lied, therefore they represent TRUTH. In their PRESENCE I can cleanse myself of all my negative thoughts and come to a silence of mind and body that is respectful of the Life I have been given. ALTARS are definitely places where you can “reboot” and “delete” the things that are not working in your life. You can put yourself at the feet of TRUTH and LOVE, and ask for HELP, in ways that you can use and need the HELP. Divine Forces are ALWAYS available to anyone who has an ALTAR, and who USES IT for inner clarity.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE & VISION for “ART LOOK”

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?

“ART LOOK” with Markus Ray is an interactive web log dedicated to ART, the LOOK-ing at ART, mostly at visual ART…PAINTINGS & PHOTOS…as well at the “inner visuals” discovered by LOOK-ing with the mind in the reading of POEMS.

It is designed to involve the LOOK-ers with an opening in their VISION. It is our deepest and highest desire at “ART LOOK” to raise the consciousness of the viewer into greater states of JOY and well BEING.  The purpose of all ART is to UPLIFT and INSPIRE….and by LOOK-ing at ART, if you are not uplifted and inspired, then the artist did not do a proper job, or you have not stretched your mind adequately to take in the vision being given.

“ART LOOK” is educational, in the sense that it teaches and inspires us in the ART of LOOK-ing. As in any ART, it becomes mastered by PRACTICE. The real ART of seeing is a inner action of merging and connection of the “see-er” with what is “seen”. It is a communion of sorts, a getting inside the qualities of what is being “LOOK-ed” at.

Beauty and truth are qualities of real ART. We want to LOOK at them here at “ART LOOK”. There are other fine qualities too, but those are two of the highest ones.

It is our sincerest wish to inspire and uplift you. If you feel PURE JOY, even for  a second by LOOK-ing here at ART, then we consider our job worthy of the effort. And in that process of doing our job, we hope to inspire and uplift ourselves.

It is a journey we “take together” to the heart of our being. It is a true SERVICE. As Henry David Thoreau said, “The greatest service a man can do for his fellow men is to rise to the height of his own BEING.” So we want to rise to that height and bring you along with us.

At “ART LOOK”, this is our highest goal. We endeavor though ART to just LOOK at our real SELF….of TRUTH AND BEAUTY….and accept the remarkable BEING we are….WHO embodies these qualities and arrives at an immense inner JOY!

THANK YOU for exploring art with us here at “ART LOOK”. To read a more complete statement of our PURPOSE & VISION, Click Here.

MARKUS RAY, Founder and CEO of “ART LOOK”