Mackenzie D. Cooper Fine Art

    I went to the Alluring: An Evening of Opera event at the Tulsa Performance Arts Center Saturday evening. I found this event online through the Center’s Facebook page, and I thought it looked interesting enough. This was a concert, not so much an opera, with Tulsa Symphony that also had two opera singers there.They all played and sang bits and pieces of different operas through the whole thing such as Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, Rigoletto, Paliacci, Cavalleria rusticana, La bohemia, Carousel, Susannah, and The Merry Window. The female opera singer is Sarah Coburn who is a soprano and the other is Stephen Powell who is a baritone. Apparently, they travel all over the country to sing, so I am assuming they are not necessarily from here. I may be wrong. The guest conductor for the Tulsa Symphony is Daniel Hedge and it looks like he’s a pretty accomplished conductor, having conducted other symphonies in other cities such as Oregon, Detroit, Seattle, Indianapolis, Colorado, San Diego, Columbus, and Phoenix. Amongst other things.
     Funny thing is that I accidentally got to theater super early and I didnt know it until after I got there. I knew beforehand that there was going to be a pre-concert lecture with the guest conductor and I had thought it was scheduled at 6:15 when it was actually scheduled at 6:30, and I had gotten there around 5:40. I was literally the first person there when I got into theater. There were not many people at all when I gotten into the building and the door to the Mezzanine section was actually unlocked, so I just helped myself in. I was there before the ushers were and when they saw me they were asking me how I got in there. Jesus. I didn’t mean to do any of that.
    Anyway, again, not a good photo. I definitely thought the female opera singer’s dress looked very pretty. It is such a nice glossy green and flowy dress.

 I managed to go to Tulsa’s First Friday Art Crawl in the Tulsa Arts District of downtown Tulsa earlier this evening for March. I had missed January’s and February’s First Friday dates already due to exhaustion from other stuff I am handling in my personal life and I wanted to make sure to make it to this one. I managed to go and visit the 108 Contemporary gallery, the new location for Tulsa University’s Henry Zarrow Center of Arts and Education on Archer Street around the corner from it’s original location, the Living Arts gallery, as well as an art market that was held in the Tulsa Symphony building in the same area. I make sure and try to scope out what I can each time I come down there every month. I just want to talk about it not because I am reviewing it or making any judgements at all. I actively go to art exhibitions, like Philbrook Museum’s Rembrandt to Monet exhibition just this last week, or anything else for that matter. I very often visit these same galleries for First Friday every month to see what’s happening in the local art community. I just want to experience new things that I’ve never got to experience yet and I just want to share that experience, is all. I will make sure to credit the artists of the art pieces I am discussing here.

     The exhibitions I mainly went to discuss visiting is the Works of Soveriegnty at Tulsa University’s new locationand the Champagne and Chocolate at the Living Arts gallery because the works that I liked more than others are currently in those shows. The Works of Sovereignty exhibition, as explained in the gallery,  is to “examine the artistic and historical struggle for native sovereignty, re-examining the boundaries that have sought to limit this tribal authority, while also reinterpreting the very land itself.” I am attaching the photo of quotation to this blog. I love seeing art from Native American artists and it is often by favorite to see in galleries. I have a real soft spot for native art and Native American culture, especially that of the Cherokee tribe, in that I had read up on the history of the Cherokee tribe and even took classes when I was a teenager and in college to learn the language. I love going to powwows if ever I have the chance to and some of my best photography, I think, came from a Keetoowah powwow in Talequah, Oklahoma for the national Cherokee Holiday many years ago. I digress. My favorite for sure of this show is Photograph of Native Woman by Ryan Redcorn of the Osage tribe here in Oklahoma. I really love the multiple floral drapery seen over this lady’s shoulder and how it makes the image really beautiful with the combination of the blanket that she also has wrapped around her, and the contrasting of colors and patterns of all of it makes it all pop out. I think the photography is so nice and I think the lady looks so pretty with all that is happening, and it makes her look so dignified. The second piece that I really enjoyed are Running Shoes by Semurai Designs and Walela Knight, first of the Cherokee tribe and the latter of the Choctaw tribe. The third is Red Earth Sunset by Brittany Postoak of the Mvskoke tribe. I loved all the bead work in both of these works and how it is all so detailed in its patterns and the creativity of the idea of the running shoes. Plus the variation of the meaning of Seminole in it’s language. My favorite piece of the Champagne and Chocolate exhibition is Lost City by Dean Wyatt. I think it’s cool that Dean was able to create a very detailed but yet abstract representation of a city with simple techniques. I like how they detailed each section of the painting with color to illustrate and insinuate architectural structure or clouds in the sky, and I think the richness of color also makes it a strong piece. 

     This was my fun for the day today. I hope whoever reads this find the artwork nice and intersting, too, as I think it is. I have another event I am going to on Saturday night and I am hoping it will be very interesting and entertaining. That’s all from me right now. 

I went to see the Robert Peterson, Alexander Hogue, and Monet to Rembrandt exhibitions at the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Wednesday February 22, 2023. I was super excited to go to the Monet to Rembrandt exhibition because I knew there are going to be art from well-known artists there such as Titian, Bouguereau, El Greco, and Delacroix. Also Monet and Rembrandt, of course. I never had the opportunity to experience famous artwork from European artists from centuries ago, and I’ve only experienced the works of Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. As far as majorly knowned artists goes. Thankfully when I went there, there were not a whole lot of people so I didn't have to worry as much about being in people's way. I say that one of the frustrating moments in going to a big exhibition, especially at museums like the Philbrook, is having to wait on other people to move out of the way or just being in crowded spaces in general because of the density of people that are there. I feel like I can't put my full attention on the art itself and that's why I very much dislike it. I very much enjoyed seeing Monet, Titian, El Greco artwork for the first time.

These photos are taken by myself Wednesday morning while visiting, hence my name on the bottom of each photo. The first photo is of William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s ‘Return of Spring.’ The second is Monet’s ‘Small Country Farm at Bordighera.’ The third is Rembrandt’s ‘Portrait of Dirck van Os.’ The fourth is Titian’s ‘Portrait of a Man of the Cornaro Family with a Falcon.’ The last photo is Delacroix’s ‘The Entombment.’

     As my first real blog on my website, I’ll share about attending the Rolston String Quartet concert at the Tulsa Performance Arts Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma earlier today on February 19, 2023.

     This was my first time attending a string quartet concert and I initially had no idea who these people were when I discovered that they were scheduled to play, but I thought it would be interesting to attend anyway and the tickets were cheap. I did end up enjoying the whole thing and I am glad that I went. They played a composition that involves actual yelling as a part of it. That was interesting. Lol I always try and branch myself out and experience new things and I picked this as my recent attempt. I am thinking to buy a ticket for what I believe is an opera event at the Tulsa Performace Arts Center, as well.

     Anyway, boring blog post but I wanted to try and be more involved on this platform in some way.