Tag Archives: Art

Paint Me Like One of Your French Girls.

Posted on April 4, 2013 | 3 comments

Rewind. Sorry, initially missed this week’s passion post. But here it is… Hopefully it was worth the wait.

So I originally came across this artist in one of the many magazines my brother sends me from the discarded mail bin at his work (believe it was a NYLON). Anyway, I was immediately infatuated with her work and am super excited I can actually used RCL blogging as a gateway to actually sit down and research something awesome…

Alexa Meade is more than your average oil painter. Get this–she doesn’t paint people… She paints ON people. Legit! She paints on and around her models to create a picturesque scene, then snaps a photograph. The results are incredible. One would never guess by first impression that the images are actually OF her models. It’s only when you look deeply into the painted figure’s eyes that something seems to be up. It’s such a crazy process, I still don’t completely comprehend how she does it. Instead of making her painting look lifelike, she makes life look painting-like! 3D literally becomes 2D!

Alexa_aboutpage

^Self Portrait^

Blueprint

Blueprint_1

Concealed
Concealed

Nocturne
Nocturne

Power ExchangePower_Exchange

TransitTransit

Sorry these images are a bit small, but check out her website for larger photos and other cool works: http://alexameade.com/portfolio.html

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C’mon, Don’t Be Spineless!

Posted on March 13, 2013 | 4 comments

Here we go!

With the growing  Western fascination with the digital age, the number printed volumes of books are declining. More seem to be continually discarded or recycled with each coming year. Many artists have sought out this orphaned media in attempts to comment on our changing cultural state. One of these innovative creators is Robert The.

Born in New York in 1961, Robert The studied philosophy and mathematics and actually did not start creating the pieces for which he is most well known until 1991. He utilizes discarded books to make unique, and usually controversial, sculptures. In his own words, The explains that these forsaken books “are lovingly vandalized back to life so they can assert themselves against the culture which turned them into debris.” And if I do say so, he does a pretty darn good job!

Robert-The-5robert-the-book-art-8robert-the-kniga-05book-gun-03-curatedmag
robert-the-smallThe one below definitely got my emotions especially, as I am a huge Beatles and John Lennon fan.the_book_art_of_robert_the14
the_message

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, some of his work comments on heated topics such as religion and ethics. In these pieces, he definitely manipulates the emotion of the viewer to provoke a thought process, letting silent words tell his story. And his ideas definitely speak volumes!

vlamboyant-robert-the2

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A Date for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2013 | 1 comment

Lolz at my title for this week… It will make sense hopefully by the end of the post…

But actually, if you’re seriously STOKED for THON (who isn’t?!) I suggest you read last week’s artist of the week post instead of (or before) this one. I think you’ll really like it. 😉

Anyway, back to dates… I don’t know why I remembered this artist today, but I thought it’s interesting enough, but also simple enough to squeeze into this week’s blogging even with our intense “deliberation.” hah. But anyway, I’ve actually seen this artist’s works in person at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and, to me, his was a refreshingly unique concept.

This is On Kawara.

on kawara48_On Kawara_2 JUIN 2000Clipboard-1kawara-1978-apr_27_1978kawara3

On  January 4, 1966 On Kawara of Japan commenced his project appropriately titled Today. In this series, which he still continues today at age 80, he paints the date (in whichever standards of the country the painting takes place in, hence “Juin”) everyday by using by-hand calculations and his own painting precision–YEAH THAT’S ALL DONE BY HAND! And not only does he create these seemingly flawless pieces, but he then packs them into special storage boxes, carefully wrapped in the daily newspaper of his current location. As you can see, he prefers  small-scale, dark-hued works with the exception of a period in the late 70s when he experienced with warmer colors. Also, for most, if not all, he actually paints around the white canvas to create the words and numbers in negative space. Oh, and if he doesn’t finish a painting by the end of the day, he destroys it. Badass old man, huh?

But even more than his incredible skill to create images that resemble those of digital processing,  his conviction to continue until his death never ceases to amaze me. Such dedication is inspiring–to be so committed to something for so long… I wonder if he still loves the project as much as when he started it?? Hmm….

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Even If You Don’t UnderSAND Ukrainian

Posted on February 6, 2013 | 1 comment

Hello again! (привіт!)

So this week’s artist is one I’ve wanted to showcase for awhile, but kept forgetting and/or finding other equally sweet talent. I chose Kseniya Simonova not only for her incredible skill and artistic finesse (which you will soon witness), but also the unbelievable emotion she draws from her viewers, especially during the piece I have chosen. All of her pieces are a journey in themselves as their production is usually planned, recorded, and put to beautiful music, highlighting many aspects of Ukrainian tradition, daily life, and past hardships. And how does she do it? All with sand!! It’s absolutely amazing.

At first, I was going to show you one of my favorites, a piece about the Holocaust that she did for Ukraine’s Got Talent (she won!)… but after a little more perusing on her website, I found something I think will speak to all of you a bit more: a video she uploaded on Feb. 4th for World Cancer Day appropriately titled: “Never Give Up!” It’s so wonderful and one of her best works for sure… She even uses colored sand in this one! But with THON right around the corner, I figured everyone could appreciate this one together as next weekend (and as long as it takes) we fight to put an end to pediatric cancer. FTK!

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_fltrV5L38

Here is her website. I REALLY think you should check out more of her videos  if and when you have a little more time… http://simonova.tv/en/

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Mmmm, whole wheat.

Posted on October 4, 2012 | 1 comment

All right, time to break it down…

This week, I’m not sure why exactly, but I’ve decided on an artist I’ve known about for awhile for the artist of the week: JR.

Although not as popular as Banksy, Shepard Fairey, or Space Invader (although he, too, is French), JR primarily produces what society dubs as “street art.” He, is very unique, however, in comparison to many of his associates as he does not stencil or generate elaborate political posters, but rather wheat-pastes enlargements of his personal collection of photographs wherever he deems appropriate.

Starting out as a “tagger” at 15, he eventually began taking photographs of he and his friends on their graffiti adventures. Soon after, he began pasting his small images around his home city, framing them with spray paint, and creating sidewalk galleries. Over the next decade, he experimented with larger, or rather ENORMOUS, images, from a few square feet to the size of houses. The personalities and emotions depicted in his portraits are of outstanding quality. Many feel immediately drawn in and connected to the portrayed individual.

JR does many awesome projects, including my current favorite, Face 2 Face (2007), in which he shot a series of up-close photographs of both Palestinian and Israeli people with the same occupation. These photos were in unique perspective and represented each person in their own manner. The images were then blown up and pasted in various cities on both sides of the dividing wall, as well as on the wall itself. When curious passers-by, often silenced by the controversial idea, questioned JR in his doing of this, he asked them to differentiate the people by ethnicity. The majority could not.

All of his projects are so. They speak volumes on things often casually ignored or carelessly tolerated. He won the TED prize in 2011 (Woo, a connection to the class!) for his latest project—Inside Out—which I strongly encourage you check out on your own time. It’s definitely worth it and you can watch the brief 2012 TED follow-up video at http://www.jr-art.net/videos/ted-talk-2012.

Palestine/Israel Wall; Face 2 Face (2007)

Portrait of a Generation; project (2004-2006)

Here is a link to his official website: http://www.jr-art.net/projects

Well, that’s all for this week. Peace. -Viv

 

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“Water” You Looking At?

Posted on September 20, 2012 | 5 comments

Prepare to be astounded…

At first glace, the image I have chosen for my header image for this blog looks like an interesting choice of photograph… Think again! This “photo” is actually an image painted by a woman named Alyssa Monks. This week’s incredible artist has nearly flawless photorealism skills. Beginning to oil paint as a child, the 35-year-old has been painting similar works for close to a decade. For years she has experimented with many distorting/concealing elements including water, steamy glass, and vinyl and as you see, possesses an uncanny ability to portray moments with unmatched detail and with an essence of her subject’s personality. Surprisingly, many of her paintings are self-portraits, for she fears models may be self-conscious and wants her paintings to be as natural as possible. She often paints images of people in the shower, swimming, or sleeping; however, more recently she has begun experimenting with varied levels of abstraction. She explains this transition with profound accuracy:

“When I began painting the human body, I was obsessed with it and needed to create as much realism as possible. I chased realism until it began to unravel and deconstruct itself,” Alyssa states, “I am exploring the possibility and potential where representational painting and abstraction meet – if both can coexist in the same moment.” (from Official Website)

I personally prefer her photorealistic works, but can respect this artistic shift in that it shows her progression as an artist. She’s already a master in her domain and is allowing herself to branch out which is awesome. I highly recommend that you check out more of her work. It’s truly unbelievable! Such a beast!

“Reserve,” 2011.“Fish,” 2007.

Her website is below:

http://alyssamonks.com/index.asp

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I’ll take Passion for 300, Alex.

Posted on September 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dearest people of my English class,

What’s up? I’m doing all right, not too shabby. I’ve decided to focus my passion blog on art, although I’m not completely sure how exactly I will organize it topic-wise. I think most weeks I will do an “Artist of the Week” post, but I may occasionally throw in some of my own project ideas…

Before I begin, here is some background information about myself… From a very young age, I’ve had a strong love for drawing and art. My family and teachers have always supported this interest; however, my k-8 grade school did not have the money to support an art program and as upperclassmen, my 8th grade class participated in the same basic projects as the 3rd and 4th grade. We even resorted to acrylic paint mixed with glue for an “oil paint substitute”! When I got to high school, my art classes became a haven. I’d never before experienced such guidance and accessibility to so many mediums! I loved being able to try many different things even if I had to adhere to project guidelines. This may sound super lame/corny, but I aspire for my mixed media pieces to push the viewer to question his/her surrounding environment and love the tagline listed above: “Welcome to Curious City.” I’m a little upset I couldn’t schedule any art classes this year, but hopefully this blog will push me to keep up a little art during the school year and if so you’ll probably see a lot of portraits because they are my favorite.

Speaking of portraits…Here comes my first “Artist of the Week,” yo!

I originally had another artist in mind for this post, but in respect to 9-11’s recent anniversary I found a different artist… Some of you may have already heard of her, as her charitable work is nothing new. In 2003, Kaziah “The Goat Woman” Hancock, began painting portraits of fallen U.S. soldiers from the war in Iraq/Afghanistan and concurrently founded Project Compassion for this cause. Escaping a rough youth in a polygamist society, she now manages a goat ranch in Utah. She alone has created nearly 1,000 portraits since the project’s start and with partners has produced over 4,000 paintings of loved ones lost in the warzones of the Middle East. She notoriously does not accept any money for these pieces and never turns down any requests. After Ovarian Cancer rendered her infertile, she sees these young men and women (and her beloved goats) as her children and during an emotional speech finished with: “You have my heart, so I give you my hands.”

One of Kaziah’s portraits (Jason R. Arnette)

It’s so refreshing to see someone making such a difference in other’s lives and her supreme conviction and dedication in continuing this project for so many years without hesitation. Her genuine and honest character is also extremely remarkable… She inspires me to one day be as devoted to something that I believe in as she is and I hope you experience the same!

Below is the link to her website:

http://www.kaziahthegoatwoman.com/kaziah.html

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