Bellissima And Inka Essenhigh: Between Worlds

The museum I chose to visit for this paper was the Frist Center for the Arts. I was very excited to do this project because since the Frist does not have a permanent collection I hadn’t seen any of the current art there yet so it was all going to be new since the last time I was there. When I went the two exhibits I focused on were “Bellissima!: the Italian Automotive Renaissance 1945-1975” and “Inka Essenhigh: Between Worlds.”

I began my museum experience in the Bellissima! Exhibition. I am not typically one for cars. I can never relate to the people that freak out over a cars certain make and model so at first I thought I would have to drag myself through this part. Turns out, cars are beautiful. This exhibition was all about the “visual dynamism and spirit of innovation charactering coachbuilt cars, concept cars, and motorcycles produced in Italy during the post-World War II economic revival

This artists “phantasmagorical scenes depict the threshold between intuition and spirituality with hallucinogenic intensity.” She links humanity to nature through her work by sparking our visual imagination. Essenhigh has influences from Baroque, Thomas Hart Benton, and even Walk Disney in her pieces represented in the ambiguities of space and depth, pliant characters, and kinship with fantastic literacy. These paintings are representative of Surrealism. Typical for artist of this style, Essenhigh “loves the unexpected associations that arise from automatic drawing, in which surprising elements come into being through chance and improvisation.” Formally, her works have departed from blended forms and soft atmosphere to enhancing the pure colors, crisp edges, and flat shapes. This styles reminds me greatly of Salvador Dali, one of my favorite artists, whose works are thought provoking while the solidness of the lines and color contrasting are so pleasing for me to look