It was a delight, if not a surprise, to spy the work of Niki de Saint Phalle on Peter Dundas’s fall mood board. The pairing makes perfect sense: Not only was the artist the subject of a just closed exhibition in Paris, but her exuberant work falls right in line with the Italian house’s famous prints, and their love of pattern and color.

This project was done by my fab leave replacement. I'm always searching for ways to incorporate more sculpture into my curriculum. I feel like it's very easy to get caught up teaching 2D work to the detriment of 3D work, so I was really glad she was starting off my fifth graders year with this project. The sculptures are based on Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti: "All the art of the past rises up before me, the art of all ages and all civilizations, everything becomes simultaneous, as if space had replaced time. Memories of works of art blend with affective memories, with my work, with my whole life." More information can be found: Giacometti at ArtStory The sculptures were done using cardboard bases, thin armature wire (I like it to be thin enough that the students can cut it with scissors and not pliers), paper towels, mache mix, and black, brown, and metallic paints. The project took about 6, 40-minute periods. FYI, I stumbled across the site mentioned above while researching a bit on Giacometti The sites mission is to explore art in "a fresh and clear way". Hmm, it may make for a good resource! The Art Story Another great site is the Giacometti Foundation

Gilbert and George are one of those art-dynamic-duos that I'd heard of but didn't know anything about. So I went to their current show at the Brooklyn Museum of art...and, it was weird. They met in art school in London in 1967 and have been collaborating ever since. They're so outspoken and quirky (and lovers) that I think they were simply made for each other. They always include themselves in their large scale photo collages...wearing suits (well, sometimes nude) and looking strangely serious. Many of their pieces include bodily fluids (Oh, there's Gilbert's poo!) blown up on a grand scale. This was the piece I liked in the show, because I did like their stained glass style. (Whoever designed the Red Hot Chili Peppers album cover for Blood Sugar Sex Magik must have liked it, too.) But a lot of their work was either way too creepy and aggressive for me... ...or too "we like young boys" pornographic for me. Um, yeah. No thanks.

Niki de Saint Phalle (French-American, 1930) was part of the Nouveaux Réalistes group, which she joined in 1964 through her husband, artist Jean Tinguely.