Austrian Painter Maria Lassnig's first US Solo

Maria Lassnig has exhibited a fiercely idiosyncratic independence and has persevered in her autonomy consistently eschewing fashionable trends, while remaining oblivious to her standing in the art world, asserts Platow. Instead of responding to popular contemporary movements, Lassnig has developed her own stylistic and thematic approaches, giving her work a timeless quality and a cohesive aesthetic. Lassnigs gripping body-awareness paintings visually project the bodily sensations the artist is feeling. Lassnig wrote about her work in Artforum: "Figuration comes about almost automatically, because in my art, I start first and foremost with myself. I do not aim for the big emotions when I'm working, but concentrate on small feelings: sensations in the skin or in the nerves, all of which one feels." The results are striking, biologically deformed but familiar images that show heightened color and limbs and facial features out of place or shape, reflective of the body's inner sensitivities. Her most distinctive paintings are the body-awareness paintings, self-portraits that represent her internalized senses by depicting her figure in distorted, alternate-reality poses. She calls a separate group of works her "drastic paintings, describing their pure realism, a little embellished and uglified. A series of paintings of couples exemplifies her attraction to beautiful subjects and challenging textures, as the artist paints her models in loving embraces and playful poses, or enveloped in luminous plastic sheeting, focusing on the qualities of light and shadow that bind the figures.

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Virtual Street Reality

Before, art was just put on a paper or canvas, but now it's on the streets. And no, it's not graffiti! it's a Surreal art that you couldn't even imagine that it was possible. Julian Beever is an artist that totally made a difference into our perspectives on art. He made us see that art could be drawn any where and you could still be amazed on where it's at and how you USE IT. In the picture he drew a girl in the pool and it looks so real that he's gonna actually dive in it! He's done so much more than just drawing the girl in the pool, he made illusions that he's digging the ground for gold, a coke bottle that looks life size, and much much more. He's very talented and has a definite creative imagination!

The artist: Julian Beever is an English artist who is famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. Its peculiarity? Beever gives his drawings an anamorphosis view, his images are drawn in such a way which gives them three dimensionality when viewing from the correct angle.



Original Artical & more of his art work

Modern Photographs

Do you see this beautiful picture above? Just look at it for a little while. I actually had caught myself staring into this picture for a quite a while and just exploring and discovering the different aspects of this photo. By just exploring the different aspects of this picture, it made me calm and a lot more relaxed. I know it may sound crazy but its true. The exhibition, that holds this portrait, traces the evolution of photography in the 20th and 21st centuries, from early Pictorialist works that mimic the moodiness of late 19th-century painting, through the Modern formal experimentations of the Constructivist and Bauhaus schools, to the documentary ethos of mid-century America and the large-scale, staged tableaux of our own time. As indicated by its title, the exhibition also examines three prominent themes highlighted by the selection: depictions of the metropolis, modern machinery, and the human figure. On view at the Parrish Art Museum though 30 November, 2008. A number of works highlight the relationship between photography and other art forms, including portraits of such prominent artists as Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg.

Among the photographers represented in the exhibition are Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Eugène Atget, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Bill Jacobson, André Kertész, William Klein, Sally Mann, Robert Mapplethorpe, Duane Michals, Irving Penn, Robert Rauschenberg, Man Ray, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sam Taylor-Wood, Andy Warhol, and Gary Winogrand.

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Lehman's art collection future uncertain

The collapse of finance behemoth Lehman Brothers has sent the Wall Street teetering on the edge of its seat. Lehman has been a staple in American markets since 1850 so it is no surprise why its failure was a big deal for investors. But stocks may not be the only Lehman assets who fates are uncertain. I would bet that not a lot of folks know about the company's huge artwork collection, which numbers to 3500 across all of its global offices. Among some of the works in Lehman offices, according to BBC news, were made by artists like Takashi Murakami, Andreas Gursky, and Jasper Johns. Their works are now possibly on its way to the market, along with others such as those in Neuberger Berman, a company Lehman Bros. bought in 2003. These collections would most like be placed under auctions. Folks like art adviser Judith Selkowitz said that the company should not be brash with their sales activities and advised that everything should be "orderly." In general, the BBC article noted that the practice of buying art by hug private companies has been waning in previous years. The article did not specify a specific cause, but it could be a fair assumption that financial crunches are factors in the decline of art patronization.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a4BqiycH4C_s&refer=muse

NEA will lose chief

USA Today reported the forthcoming resignation of National Endowment of the Arts chairman Dan Gioia early next year. Gioia had held his post since being appointed by George Bush in 2003. He replaced an earlier Bush appointee, composer Michael Hammond, who died of an illness early in his tenure. Gioia still would not have finished his four year term when he steps down, but he said that he would like to "to return to [his] private life as an artist. (Italie 2008)" The NEA chairman from Santa Rosa, California is a Stanford Univerity alumni and poet, publishing literature such as The Gods of Winter and Interrogations at Noon.

Gioia, according to former NEA chairman Frank Hodsoll, did a good job in promoting art to people who are not necessarily considered to be connoisseurs. This comment was related to projects under Gioia's tenure, most prominently the Big Read, Poetry Out Loud and "Operation Homecoming. The said program "a compilation of stories written by soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. (Italie 2008)"

NEA, in general, is not usually a newsmaker, but it is usually lambasted by conservatives as a wasteful agency that must be abolished. Despite this, Gioia said that he typically a Republican voter, although he considers himself to be an independent.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-09-12-endowment-arts-gioia_N.htm?csp=34

PHOTO SOURCE: www.wikipedia.com

Is Graffiti ART?

There are places where you are actually allowed to "tag." Only one I could think of is at Venice Beach. In my opinion I really don't think that Graffiti is bad. It's only bad if you send out a wrong message right? I've seen some artwork painted hugely on the LA freeway. And all the artwork that is posted on the walls of the freeway are sending out a good message. People can express their feelings through dance, music, writing, why not art? All graffiti doesn't necessarily mean bad, but it's just on the matter of where you tag. I love looking and analyzing good art, and I never consider it bad unless it had a bad message behind it.

For you as a reader, what are your views on taggers?

News Center 4 (KRON-TV San Francisco) reported on the evening news for November 20, 1995 that Sunnyvale Police have arrested fifteen juveniles for some $32,000 of graffiti damage. A one month investigation by diligent officers resulted in the arrest of the vandals. The vandals will be billed for the damage they caused according to the report. If the kids can't pay their parents will. (Comment: As it should be.)
Don't you think that's a little extreme?

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Beautiful garbage

Naples, Italy has gained a bad rap for stinking lately. I mean, um, literally. So terrible is its garbage problem that it has garnered the attention of the world media. It is news like that that makes me feel less worse about the clutter in my room.

Painter Liu Xiaodong has apparently seen something so striking in Naples' dilemma that prodded him to pack his paint brush and canvas and head off to Italy. Xiaodong, as with many artists, are filled with idealism and and inquisitiveness. According to Time Magazine, Xiaodong's works has dealt "with the consequences of modernity, depicting the forgotten faces of peasants in the Tibetan desert, or families displaced by the rising waters of the massive Three Gorges damn project. He's also done portraits of prostitutes in Thailand, and high school students in Boston." Naples is just the newest addition to his social consciousness. According to him, he is puzzled that a country in such a developed continent could have a seemingly mundane problem as garbage disposal. And so, for six days, he and his staff of eight toiled amidst prospects of mild diseases and even intrusion my local mafia groups in order to capture the image of Naples, Italy' stinking reality.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1840280,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

Waterhouse & Dodd presents the acclaimed Michael Canning

If your really into art, chances are you've heard of or about Michael Canning and his beautiful paintings. You've probably heard about him winning the prestigious Oriel Gallery Award at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin back in May of 2007. Well he's at it again with his second solo exhibition. In October we welcome Michael Canning back to the Waterhouse & Dodd gallery for his keenly anticipated second solo exhibition. His first, in April of last year, was rapturously received and indeed all 26 paintings had sold out within four days of the opening. Since then, Michael has exhibited in Ireland and in America, to great critical and commercial acclaim. Thematically linked to previous exhibitions in that the compositions will feature the flora and fauna of Michael’s native Co. Limerick, this show will also include some dramatic works on paper, an aspect of Michael’s oeuvre that we did not cover in our first exhibition. Often large in scale, and utilising various mixed media, these works could be considered more challenging and experimental. We first exhibited these ‘drawings’ at the Art20 Fair, New York, in November of last year where they caused quite a stir, selling out on the opening night. Prices for paintings and works on paper range from £1,800 up to £7,500, and the exhibition will consist of 29 new and previously un-exhibited pieces. A fully illustrated colour catalogue will be produced to accompany the exhibition. On exhibition 29 October through 21 November, 2008.

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Zingmagazine: capturing art's laissez-faire nature

Hey, so when does the next issue of your favorite come out? A week from now? A month? Certainly, you can answer that for yourself, but not if you are an avid follower of ZingMagazine. The magazine has no fixed pattern of releasing their issues, although that is done on purpose. And at least for me, I think that that is a great way to portray nature of the art they produce; spontaneous and loose. ZingMagazine covers a wide variety of art, including (but not limited to), fashion, poetry, music, paintings, etc. Everyone with some creative juice flowing through their system is encouraged to submit their works to the magazine. Zing Magazine is the brainchild of Devon Dikeou, and was born in 1995. The first issue came to about 100 pages. It was initially just a magazine, but soon branched out into other ventures such as publishing books and producing CDs. It is also affiliated with a nonprofit art group in Denver called the Dikeou Collection, owned by the Zing Magazine's founder and his brother. According to Wikipedia, Zing Magazine has produced work from artists such as Kenneth Goldsmith, Rainer Ganahl, Spencer Finch, Zac Antoni, Mrcel Dzama and more.

PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.zingmagazine.com/drupal/

Amy Winehouse look-a-like

Amy WinehouseI saw this photo on www.deviantart.com and it reminded me of the music artist, Amy Winehouse. This model has the teased/poof hair with a similar eyeliner as Amy. Amy sets off a rebellious look that only some can pull off. This model above did a job well done at it. From the structure of her face to what she's wearing, she sets a vibe to not mess with her. The photo itself was very urban and the lighting made this model stand out. The first thing I thought was "Rehab." And when I see Amy Winehouse in this model, I don't mean it in a bad way. Although Amy has some issues with herself, she still inspires such style to a model and his/her photographer. The photographer named this picture, "My name...Just a Stranger." You could obviously tell that the photographer made her a little paler than an average person, but you are supposed to see her a stranger. The photographer used simple colors and added simple props in the background. It just shows you don't need a lot to made a person STAND OUT. There is such beauty to this picture that gives a calm feeling and it's easy on the eyes.

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