The Timken Museum of Art may be an unlikely venue for a video portrait of Robert Downey Jr.
But if Downey is lying on a slab of concrete a la Rembrandt's 1632 oil painting "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp", then it actually fits quite nicely.
Last Thursday, a crowd gathered at the Timken Museum in Balboa Park for the opening reception of Robert Wilson: Video Portraits. The four portraits on view feature celebrities and performing artists in vignettes referencing art works by the old masters. Each of the videos looks like a still image; you have to pay close attention to detect any movement.
Wilson is a prolific artist who has worked in theater, set design, dance, opera and the visual arts. He designed and directed Philip Glass' opera "Einstein on the Beach" and is considered a seminal figure in avant garde theater.
Tuesday (3/1) on These Days, we'll talk with Timken's director John Wilson and Matthew Shattuck, a producer who's worked with Wilson on his portraits. Until then, here's a taste of what people were looking at during the Robert Wilson opening.
