This time on Uproxx.

How one artist is using symbolic imagery to unlock literary secrets.

Dance is power to educate and entertain.

An American museums treasure trove of European masterpieces.

A California sculpture redefining the vessel esthetic that's all about to happen on art rocks.

Art rocks is made possible by the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and by viewers like you.

Hello, and thank you for joining us for Art rocks with Me.

James Fox Smith, publisher of Country Roads magazine.

Please meet a Louisiana artist who has developed a vocabulary of symbolic images, which she's using to encode messages in her art.

Lake Charles is Heather Ryan.

Kelly shares the history of vanitas painting and why it captivates her.

But the traditional imagery of vanitas is far from all that is going on in Heather Kelly's work.

Come look beneath the surface with us.

Vanitas painting is a convention of painting that uses objects in a symbolic way.

Vanitas symbols would include things that are fleeting, like a flower that will quickly fade, or a soap bubble.

Maybe even things like money or beauty or all of those things that are transitory and temporary.

And so the paintings are really meant to be like a moral prod to you to focus on what's important.

And I'm interested in vanitas painting just because it has a whole tradition to it.

But also I'm interested in developing my own vanitas symbols.

Objects are important to me, as you can see from looking around my house.

The objects are like protagonists acting out the ideas for me.

And so I'll have objects that I've either found or have been given to me, and I'll use them in my paintings to work out ideas that I'm thinking about.

And the other category besides object painting are paintings that are related to the writings of James Joyce.

And for the last 20 years or so, I've been thinking my way through Finnegans Wake, which is a complicated and rich source as a point of departure, really.

It all started when I was a freshman at Southern Methodist University.

My literature class, we read portrait of the Artist and Dubliners, and I love those books.

And I remember one day my teacher said, well, if you liked portrait, then you'll probably like Ulysses.

And if you like Ulysses, then there's Finnegans Wake.

And he said, it is almost impossible to grasp and get your mind around.

And so those words stayed with me for years and years.

I finally did come around to reading Ulysses, and I loved it.

I heard my grandmother's quirky phrases in it.

My Irish grandmother, right in my and all her scatological sense of humor and her fear of thunder.

All of that was present in Ulysses when I was reading Ulysses.

My first instinct was to do these drawings.

They're related to the text, but they're not exactly illustration.

Or Ulysses plays with style.

Most novels there's a story that goes forward and their characters and all of that.

But Joyce's work is so very predetermined.

In a way, it's about itself.

That's what the series of paintings allowed me to play with artistic styles and reference different time periods in that little series.

And then when I kind of work my way through Ulysses, I thought, well, then there's Finnegans Wake.

And so I turned to that, and I've been caught in the web of Finnegans Wake.

That's a remarkable book.

And Finnegans Wake even more so, is about itself.

If you know about Ulysses or Finnegans Wake, you'll get a certain kind of content from the work.

But I think it's important for the work to stand on its own.

The illustration tends to be very dependent upon the text, and you have to know the text in order to appreciate it.

But I'm interested in making works that have a resonance in themselves on the very first page of Finnegans Wake.

There was a 100 letter thunder word.

And so I did a series of prints based upon the ten Thunderbirds.

That cycle of prints is in the collection of the New York Public Library and the Harry Ransom center over at the University of Texas.

I was able to show some of the works based upon Finnegans Wake last summer in Antwerp at the Royal Academy of Art, connected to the University of Antwerp.

And then the summer before I started work in Toronto.

Also had a choice conference there.

I like to work with oil just because it's an expressive medium.

It gives you some time to play.

You can model the surfaces in a way that's harder to do with acrylic.

This painting is based upon a couple of sources.

A very early memory of mine is I was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and I was sitting on the driveway in the winter time, and there's snow on the driveway.

I was probably 3 or 4 years old, quite early, and I remember moving away the snow and seeing the rocks of the driveway beneath the the snow that was there.

And just the appearance of that I thought was lovely.

It struck me as a child, and that memory is still with me.

There are Milagros in the painting, and they're little votive elements that are associated with Mexican religious worship, and they're often attached to a statue and so forth.

But the eye and the ear are a reference to Finnegans Wake, because it's something that you need to read it with your eyes, but hear it with your ears while you're reading it.

It's very, almost physically interactive as a book.

The rabbit doesn't have necessarily symbolic overture, but I like just the appearance of the rabbit.

Also, there's a little book, Milagro, that references the many books that I love to read, Finnegans Wake.

That painting is a vanitas painting and it has a clock in it.

Oftentimes there are timepieces that are referenced as subject matter in vanitas paintings.

The clock in this piece is one that was for my family, but also there's a hand of blessing that is on my studio wall, and there's a vase that belonged to my grandmother.

So there's a lot of family history that's pulled together in the painting.

On the right hand passage of the painting, there's a black and white passage that's based upon a photograph of Phoenix Park.

There's an obelisk in the background and water in the foreground.

The painting that seems to be a purse is called Her Devotions, and it has a lot of religious medals and ribbons.

And there are milagros on the surface of the purse or this bag.

It's a woven kind of a sissel bag, I believe.

Is the material.

And it's inside of my closet in my room.

It's almost like a shrine inside of there.

And so it's a very faithful rendering of this bag.

I've been working on a series for a long time, paintings of books that are trompe loi, and the term trompe loi means fool your eye.

I render the books about twice life size, but I try to render them with as much information about the surface as possible.

So this book is something I've found.

I actually probably found it in the trash pile and it was utterly destroyed.

The cover is torn, the binding is coming off of it, but it has this beautiful kind of form to it.

And so I rendered the book in all of its kind of sad condition.

And that's part of the series.

In addition to painting, I make artist books.

And what artist books are is simply artwork that takes the form of the medium of a book.

This one is, a hardcover accordion book called A battle.

I initially made a collage, and this is a digital version of that, but the accordion is a wonderful sculptural form of a book.

It can be held in your hand and read almost as a, as a codex book.

Or it can be set up on the table and viewed as a sculpture.

I have blank books.

This is a book that is related to Finnegans Wake.

Story.

Yellow is actually shown in Antwerp last year.

There's a box of books called The Midden Heap in relation to Joyce.

So most of the work that I've done regarding Finnegans Wake.

There's a section of paintings, but a large portion is related to artists books.

Seeing artists on TV is great, but they and their works are better in the flesh.

So here are some of our picks for notable exhibits coming soon to museums or galleries near you.

To learn more about these and other events in Louisiana, keep your eyes peeled for a copy of Country Roads Magazine.

And while we're at it, PBS's Uproxx website features an archive of previous episodes.

So to see any episode again, just log on to LPB.

Dot org.

The Repertory Dance Theater in Salt Lake City, Utah is being lit up by the power of dance since its founding in 1966.

To further its mission, the company offers various educational programs that touch the lives of tens of thousands of students and teachers each year.

We visit one Salt Lake School, North West Middle to learn more.

Kids need a way to express.

Yes, it is very important that they're able to speak and articulate intelligently.

But let's be real.

There's moments where we're not comfortable doing that.

And kids need an outlet.

And to be able to move and to be able to be creative and express in a different way is so important and vital.

I think it's important to teach dance for many reasons.

I think one is I personally feel that, you have to teach kids how to use their bodies and not be afraid to move.

We like to think that we ignite the creative voice in students of all ages, and through dance, they can tell their stories.

They can create, they can explore.

Students can develop all kinds of attributes that helps them become complex thinkers, imaginative leaders as well as followers.

They are really able to, develop themselves and articulate who they are to dance.

One.

Repertory Dance Theater was founded in 1966 as a professional modern dance repertory company, which was unusual and daring at the time very revolutionary and were still revolutionary.

Generally, we serve around 25 to 27,000 students a year.

And that is within the breadth of our program.

So whether we are going to them or they are coming here to see a show or something, that's every program we will offer.

We offer creative movement classes, which is where we go into the school, and we teach one classroom at a time.

Create a movement session.

Which can be anywhere from a half an hour to 45 minutes.

And that kind of depends on the school schedule.

I'll leave that up to them.

We also offer assemblies where the students will all come in to the gym, and the company will come into a performance.

We also do, in the schools, professional development for the teachers themselves, if they're interested in doing more movement in their classrooms.

And then they're also welcome to come here to the theater to see for it or whatever.

So we are doing that year geared towards elementary students.

And with that, we offer a study guide and also some different ideas for them to take back to their school and use inside the classroom.

I've been working with Arts since 2004, but more closely in the last six years since I've been here at Northwest.

In my time here at northwest, RTT has, also asked me to be on the board to help with the educational component.

And RTT works very closely with my students, throughout the year.

When I took the class at school, it was a first of all, kind of uncomfortable.

But then as we went on, I was getting really used to it.

I was having a lot of fun.

And, the best part of it was when we got to go on field trips or when we all were able to.

I like when the teacher had us make our own beach, and then when we all presented it together, it sounded really cool.

I like that they don't treat us as like we're little kids.

They treat us as a for adults and that we can add our own and that they'll be like, here's a choreography.

I want you to learn it and show me how you do it.

And maybe we can make some changes to adjust for you and how you what type of human you are.

All of the teachers were like really encouraging and very like energetic.

So that brought a lot of the kids, including me, up a lot.

So we are more confidence in ourselves to dance in front of all those people.

But you need something that'll be like there to be like, oh, I get to go to dance class now and I get to be my own person.

I get to come up with some choreography, I get to use my own music.

And that's what we do here at Northwest Middle School, is we make sure that we get to come up with our own dances.

And our teacher, she's just like, here, I'll pick your music and you can just throw whatever you want in it, and I'll come check and make sure it's something different that you're not used to.

And I want to push you further than you usually are.

That's why I think the arts are important, because it pushes you to do things that you're not used to.

I also appreciate the fact that RTT is an incredibly diverse, company, and their desks come from all different walks of life.

My school is very diverse.

I think we have 20, nine countries represented and 32 languages that are spoken.

And TT has Caucasian, African American, Latin American dancers.

And my students really need to be able to see people who look like them.

After we leave a school, we always leave them with as many ideas as I can possibly give them physically in their email, in their, minds, through just experience as I can.

And, and then I just hope that they will take 1 or 2 ideas and try them out, see what happens.

Our world needs dance.

Our world needs art.

RTT is at the forefront of of pushing for just that.

We we all know that the arts are at the very top of the chopping block.

When it's time to get rid of something in education.

And what I absolutely love about art is they are there to say no and push and make sure that our students are being served the way that they need to be served.

And I will be supportive of RTT and what they stand for till the day I die.

Well, you know, we really believe in the power of dance.

It can change lives.

It can inspire students.

It can help them connect with the world at large.

It can help validate who they are and all you really need to do is to go into a theater and, be open to the ideas, the music.

The language of of movement.

And we know that, we can change lives through dance.

We.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, recently received a transformative gift.

Over 100 outstanding 17th century examples of Dutch and Flemish works in oil by some of the masters of that genre.

These pieces, which represent the Dutch Golden Age, constitute the largest gift of European paintings in the museum's history.

Take a look at how curators reacted to this amazing announcement.

They together, by any standard, are a collection of masterpieces.

And with ours, the collection exists.

Here we can say the sum is truly greater than the parts.

Museum of Fine Arts director Matthew Teitelbaum is talking about the collection of Dutch and Flemish art, now hanging on his museum's walls.

Flowers so vivid you long for their scent.

Still lifes that appear as though the table has just been set and thoroughly enjoyed.

Landscapes with distinctly Dutch skies of blue.

They appeared virtually overnight as a promised gift to the museum.

It was momentous enough for a ribbon cutting.

How significant is this gift for the Museum of Fine Arts?

I don't think we can overstate the importance of this gift on so many levels.

It makes our collection of Dutch and Flemish painting doubled in size, almost the largest gift of European painting in the museum's history.

The work is from the Dutch Golden Age, spanning the 17th century and it includes what's considered one of the finest Rembrandts still in private hands, says MFA senior curator Ronnie Baer.

So when you come to see our culture, you will see why Rembrandt is one of the great artists of all time.

On the one hand, he's showing us his talent as a portraitist and how he can capture an essence of a person, and on the other, his virtuosity with a brush.

The promise to gift of 113 works comes from two Massachusetts families who spent decades assembling their collections.

Rosemarie Van Otter Lowe says that as she and her husband began acquiring their criteria was simple find the best work by the best artists.

We always thought that we were just temporary, caretakers of this art.

And we've always, known that at one point we would give it away.

The MFA deserves it.

It's a wonderful institution here in Boston.

It's well known around the world.

With the paintings also comes the funds to establish a center for Netherlandish art at the MFA, which fellow donor Susan Weatherby says should make the museum an international destination for study.

To bring this critical mass, really of of paintings that really do complement one another.

And I think that this will unfold as people study the collections until then, the works are warm and welcoming enough that you can practically curl up with them.

California has produced its fair share of groundbreaking artists during 70 years spent actively creating in the San Francisco Bay area.

Ceramicist Ruth Rippon has influenced the whole evolution of vessel based ceramics, and is often credited with elevating pottery works from everyday functional objects to sculptural fine art.

Rippon shares her story with us.

And my mother was very instrumental in my becoming an artist.

I was either to be an artist or a stenographer, or if I if the artwork was not successful.

Well, it must have been exciting for me because I never gave it up.

That was just it's always a challenge and a pleasant way.

Jackie and Mandy and I knew very little about Ruth when, I got started on this exhibition.

When I started looking at Ruth body of work, I was very surprised and impressed at, the diversity and the technical expertise it takes to produce such a wide variety of beautiful objects.

She did everything that you can do with clay, pretty much.

I was always aware of the negative space of the objects, like a plate or a, bottle, as well as the positive space that you create when you attempt to design the surface of a piece.

I had not really touched much clay until I went to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.

So when I was living in San Francisco, I did.

I did a lot of walking to school and other places and and in North Beach especially, I had noticed the women, two women sitting, usually older women, well-endowed, and just talking, being together and that, that inspired a whole series of, works.

I think, some of her large stoneware female figures are incredibly, beautifully done.

And they're not just technically beautifully done, but there's obviously a great deal of warmth and feeling that has gone into those figures.

I think the harmony in her work stems from the joy in Ruth herself.

So I think that leads to the harmony that you see throughout her body of work, even though there's an incredible diversity.

Ruth is very much a storyteller and most of her work.

There's a fish.

Yeah, that's.

But fish and water were important.

Parts of my designs are.

Each one is individual.

I did a couple of poetical pieces.

I made a hand with a finger parting.

That was I called you.

And, That's the army.

Want to, I guess feather.

Some of the mythical ones were the most challenging trying to express, and or like a round plate.

I guess I start working and then that one special part of the piece suggests another.

It's very important for a museum to carefully document the work of the artists that live in its region.

Wow.

It looks really good.

I would say that Ruth is greatly responsible for the vibrant tradition of clay that we are lucky to have in Northern California.

She laid the groundwork for the greater appreciation of clay as a fine art, especially in this region.

She started working at SAC State in 1956, just about nine years after the school was established.

This was at a time when, at least in the United States, Clay was still considered by most a craft.

It wasn't really associated with high art.

Ruth was particularly as an educator, not just a skilled artist, not someone who could just teach her students physically how to do things, but it was how to bring, commitment and joy to the process.

The idea for this when I was taking a son, Matthew, in my backyard, you know, just enjoying the warmth.

Now, I thought of them as my children since I had none of my own.

I thought that they were my children, my students.

I taught what I was taught, and, hope that the message got to the students and showed up in their work.

Not just like my work, but creating their own style of working.

Roots legacy as an educator and artist set an example for young artists, too, just to let them know that they can do their own thing.

I think quite honestly, every piece in the show she did, she did for herself.

She was the person she had to please.

And then there's always the hope that, yes, somebody else would be pleased, too.

But this was fun to do to the carving.

I just wanted to express my own thoughts about things that meant something for me to to make that.

And I was I was glad it was appreciated and that for someone to want to have it.

That's the way I feel.

I have done enough.

I'm old enough and I it's it's not easy work, you know.

Clay is very dense, very hard, heavy to work with.

But I enjoyed every minute I would.

And that is that for this edition of Art rocks.

But never mind.

Remember Art lover, you can always watch episodes of the show at lpb.org/art rocks.

And if that's not enough for you.

Country Roads Magazine is a great resource for enriching your cultural life with art, cuisine, escapes, and events all across the state.

So until next week, I'm James Fox Smith and thank you for watching.