Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian

Lecture on Abstraction in Art by Wall Street Journal Art Critic at DCA on Thursday

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On Thursday, Oct. 17, Lance Esplund will give a lecture on “Abstraction” at the Darien Community Association (DCA) as part of their DCA Art Lecture Series this fall on “The Art of Looking” based on the author’s recently published book. — an announcement from the Darien Community Association

As the author and educator tells us, “Abstraction is often considered a Modern invention—and certainly, abstraction was reborn in the early twentieth century—and yet abstract art existed alongside representational art in Paleolithic caves.”

In his discussion he contrasts the two ways of making art, both of which are intuitive reflections from artists of the contemporary society that they live in — whether that be ancient Greece and the Renaissance and art that re-creates the look, and three-dimensional space of our world or, during periods of political and domestic tumult, a shift toward artworks that “suppress the outside world’s look and space: {and reflect} our inner unrest and sense of alienation.”

Esplund breaks down the gallery walls to help us understand that the New Now (!) artists at the Venice Biennale share their interpretive explorations of humans living in the year 2019 with the 15th century Italian artist Leonardo, who was the first artist to explore the interiority of a human being — in a face. All lectures will be followed by a luncheon specially designed by Diane Browne Catering. The DCA’s 2019 Art Lecture Series Sponsor is DRBank, formerly Laurel Road Bank.

Growth by Jean Arp and Slave by Michelangelo

DCA Lecture Series ‘The Art of Looking’ Begins Oct 3 with Wall Street Journal Art Critic

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Darien Community Association’s annual Art Lecture Series this year is The Art of Looking presented by Lance Esplund, art critic for The Wall Street Journal. — an announcement from the Darien Community Association

On four Thursdays in October, Esplund will present the lecture series based on his book, “The Art of Looking: How to Read Modern and Contemporary Art.” The Oct. 3, 10, 17 and 24 lectures begin promptly at 11 a.m., with luncheons to follow. Drawing on his experience beginning as an artist, becoming an award winning teacher in the classroom and now as acute observer in national media of art exhibitions in the United States, Esplund will be sharing his insights of interpretation to allow integration of the viewer’s understanding of both modern and contemporary art with what has preceded it — the ballast of art history.