Thursday, May 22, 2008
Pixel Pointillism: The Art of William Betts
Stumbled upon a brilliant exhibit at the Yaletown Jennifer Kostuik Gallery during lunch break today. Texas based artist William Betts (whose website curiously bares an "iPhone Optimized" icon) taps into the Big Brother omnipresence of our modern world, taking webcam and surveillance video screencaps as his subject matter and, by exchanging pixels for pointillism, reinterpreting them in often abstract and beautiful ways.
Says Betts in his Artist Statement:
"Today we have so many layers between the individual and direct experience, it fundamentally changes how we see the world...I am intereseted in how far removed I can get from the subject and the painting itself and still make paintings."
Definitely worth seeing in person if you get the chance. The exhibit runs until June 8th.
Stumbled upon a brilliant exhibit at the Yaletown Jennifer Kostuik Gallery during lunch break today. Texas based artist William Betts (whose website curiously bares an "iPhone Optimized" icon) taps into the Big Brother omnipresence of our modern world, taking webcam and surveillance video screencaps as his subject matter and, by exchanging pixels for pointillism, reinterpreting them in often abstract and beautiful ways.
Says Betts in his Artist Statement:
"Today we have so many layers between the individual and direct experience, it fundamentally changes how we see the world...I am intereseted in how far removed I can get from the subject and the painting itself and still make paintings."
Definitely worth seeing in person if you get the chance. The exhibit runs until June 8th.
Labels: Art, Signs of Our Time, Vancouver Galleries
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Art I Pass By - #17
Thursday, March 20, 2008
New Work by Erin McSavaney
Erin McSavaney wrote me recently to let me know about his upcoming show of new work at the Atelier Gallery from April 5th to the 28th.
From his artist's statement:
"Based on rules and parameters, architecture is premised on the
creation of boundaries. But time and usage have the ability to strip
intent and function from a building, revealing its inhabitants'
successes and failures. Surfaces, stained and battered, become porous,
transparent. Evidence of beginnings, middles, and ends are clear."
Not to be missed.
Erin McSavaney wrote me recently to let me know about his upcoming show of new work at the Atelier Gallery from April 5th to the 28th.
From his artist's statement:
"Based on rules and parameters, architecture is premised on the
creation of boundaries. But time and usage have the ability to strip
intent and function from a building, revealing its inhabitants'
successes and failures. Surfaces, stained and battered, become porous,
transparent. Evidence of beginnings, middles, and ends are clear."
Not to be missed.
Labels: Art, Erin McSavaney, Vancouver Galleries
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Upcoming Screening
What: In the Realms of the Unreal
Where: Gallery Gachet
When: March 28th, 7:30pm
What: In the Realms of the Unreal
Where: Gallery Gachet
When: March 28th, 7:30pm
Labels: Art, Film, Vancouver Galleries
Throwup Throwdown
This past Saturday evening, local street artists Jerm9ine and Andrew01 engaged in a battle of words and pasteups outside of the Gallery Gachet at 88 E Cordova. I wasn't able to attend (have i mentioned the chaos engine that is my life these days?) but made it down on Sunday afternoon to survey the aftermath. Brilliant and engaging, more performance poetry than graffiti, it is exciting to see things like this happening in our fair city. Documentation of the event by jerm9ine, cameraman and shallom can be found here.
Also be sure to catch the current exhibition at the Gachet, Internal Guidance Systems: Contemporary Outsiders that includes artists from UK, Sweden, France, Australia, USA and Canada. Until March 29th.
This past Saturday evening, local street artists Jerm9ine and Andrew01 engaged in a battle of words and pasteups outside of the Gallery Gachet at 88 E Cordova. I wasn't able to attend (have i mentioned the chaos engine that is my life these days?) but made it down on Sunday afternoon to survey the aftermath. Brilliant and engaging, more performance poetry than graffiti, it is exciting to see things like this happening in our fair city. Documentation of the event by jerm9ine, cameraman and shallom can be found here.
Also be sure to catch the current exhibition at the Gachet, Internal Guidance Systems: Contemporary Outsiders that includes artists from UK, Sweden, France, Australia, USA and Canada. Until March 29th.
Labels: Art, Street Level, Vancouver Galleries
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Art I Pass By - #16
Thursday, February 14, 2008
James Cauty's Gasmask Prints
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Tokyo Graffiti Scene
For some time now, I have been on the lookout for examples of Japanese street art. The uncanny means by which Japan adapts Western culture, reprocesses it and then spins it out as something altogether hyperreal, combined with the ever-prevalent superflat movement suggested that there must exist something extraordinary in the darker corners of the Tokyo streets.
So it was great to read PingMag's recent piece on The Ghetto, a former love hotel in Shin-Okubo that has been converted into a skater shop/graffiti space. The article also provided links to flickr groups on Tokyo Street Art and throughout Japan. But I found what I was truly looking for in the calligraphy of designer/artist USUGROW which is an incredible hybrid of not just Western and Japanese scripts but also Arabic influences. Kakkoii desu yo!
For some time now, I have been on the lookout for examples of Japanese street art. The uncanny means by which Japan adapts Western culture, reprocesses it and then spins it out as something altogether hyperreal, combined with the ever-prevalent superflat movement suggested that there must exist something extraordinary in the darker corners of the Tokyo streets.
So it was great to read PingMag's recent piece on The Ghetto, a former love hotel in Shin-Okubo that has been converted into a skater shop/graffiti space. The article also provided links to flickr groups on Tokyo Street Art and throughout Japan. But I found what I was truly looking for in the calligraphy of designer/artist USUGROW which is an incredible hybrid of not just Western and Japanese scripts but also Arabic influences. Kakkoii desu yo!
Labels: Art, Design, illustration, Japan, Street Level, Superflat, Typography
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work: The Binge
I am fairly convinced at this point that the best places to find art in this city are on the walls of the abandoned laundromat at the corner of Main Street and 14th and the equally vacant warehouse at Quebec St. and 2nd (with a few scattered treasures to be found in between).
I am fairly convinced at this point that the best places to find art in this city are on the walls of the abandoned laundromat at the corner of Main Street and 14th and the equally vacant warehouse at Quebec St. and 2nd (with a few scattered treasures to be found in between).
Labels: Art, Art-I-Pass-By, Street Level
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Google Earth vs. The Bible
In one of the most blatant epoch incongruities since Spartacus's Rolex-wearing Roman, Australian artists, The Glue Society have rendered satellite photographs of various Biblical events as though seen via Google Earth. Awesome.
In one of the most blatant epoch incongruities since Spartacus's Rolex-wearing Roman, Australian artists, The Glue Society have rendered satellite photographs of various Biblical events as though seen via Google Earth. Awesome.
Labels: Art, Photography, Signs of Our Time
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #14
Found in the alley between East 1st and East 2nd, just off Scotia, Vancouver BC.
Found in the alley between East 1st and East 2nd, just off Scotia, Vancouver BC.
Labels: Art, Art-I-Pass-By, Street Level
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
The World is Superflat
Playing online companion to the retrospective exhibition on Takashi Murakami that is currently showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, an eight part exhibit tour with the artist himself + bonus videos including the making of the Oval Buddha.
Playing online companion to the retrospective exhibition on Takashi Murakami that is currently showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, an eight part exhibit tour with the artist himself + bonus videos including the making of the Oval Buddha.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #13
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Re:Read
“The idea is that one artist takes a hardcover from a book, tears out the pages and draws in one half (or half draws in both halves) of the binder/diptyque. In a nod to Ray Johnson, the two books are mailed (swapped) and each of these will be finished by the other.”
-from the intro to the Flickr group “The Library” by Alex Itin, the current artist-in-residence at the Institute for the Future of the Book.
“For the past five hundred years, humans have used print — the book and its various page-based cousins — to move ideas across time and space. Radio, cinema and television emerged in the last century and now, with the advent of computers, we are combining media to forge new forms of expression. For now, we use the word "book" broadly, even metaphorically, to talk about what has come before — and what might come next.”
-from the mission statement of The Institute for the Future of the Book
“The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford in England is the only place you are likely to find an Ethernet port that looks like a book. Built into the ancient bookcases dominating the oldest wing of the 402-year-old library, the brown plastic ports share shelf space with handwritten catalogues of the university's medieval manuscripts and other materials. Some of the volumes are still chained to the shelves, a 17th-century innovation designed to discourage borrowing. But thanks to the Ethernet ports and the university's effort to digitize irreplaceable books like the catalogues -- which often contain the only clue to locating an obscure book or manuscript elsewhere in the vast library -- users of the Bodleian don't even need to take the books off the shelves. They can simply plug in their laptops, connect to the Internet, and view the pertinent pages online. In fact, anyone with a Web browser can read the catalogues, a privilege once restricted to those fortunate enough to be teaching or studying at Oxford.”
-from The Infinite Library by Wade Roush
“The Library Project's aim is simple: make it easier for people to find relevant books – specifically, books they wouldn't find any other way such as those that are out of print – while carefully respecting authors' and publishers' copyrights. Our ultimate goal is to work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages that helps users discover new books and publishers discover new readers.”
-Google Book Search Library Project
“The idea is that one artist takes a hardcover from a book, tears out the pages and draws in one half (or half draws in both halves) of the binder/diptyque. In a nod to Ray Johnson, the two books are mailed (swapped) and each of these will be finished by the other.”
-from the intro to the Flickr group “The Library” by Alex Itin, the current artist-in-residence at the Institute for the Future of the Book.
“For the past five hundred years, humans have used print — the book and its various page-based cousins — to move ideas across time and space. Radio, cinema and television emerged in the last century and now, with the advent of computers, we are combining media to forge new forms of expression. For now, we use the word "book" broadly, even metaphorically, to talk about what has come before — and what might come next.”
-from the mission statement of The Institute for the Future of the Book
“The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford in England is the only place you are likely to find an Ethernet port that looks like a book. Built into the ancient bookcases dominating the oldest wing of the 402-year-old library, the brown plastic ports share shelf space with handwritten catalogues of the university's medieval manuscripts and other materials. Some of the volumes are still chained to the shelves, a 17th-century innovation designed to discourage borrowing. But thanks to the Ethernet ports and the university's effort to digitize irreplaceable books like the catalogues -- which often contain the only clue to locating an obscure book or manuscript elsewhere in the vast library -- users of the Bodleian don't even need to take the books off the shelves. They can simply plug in their laptops, connect to the Internet, and view the pertinent pages online. In fact, anyone with a Web browser can read the catalogues, a privilege once restricted to those fortunate enough to be teaching or studying at Oxford.”
-from The Infinite Library by Wade Roush
“The Library Project's aim is simple: make it easier for people to find relevant books – specifically, books they wouldn't find any other way such as those that are out of print – while carefully respecting authors' and publishers' copyrights. Our ultimate goal is to work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages that helps users discover new books and publishers discover new readers.”
-Google Book Search Library Project
Labels: Art, Literature, Signs of Our Time
Monday, October 22, 2007
A New Violent Conception of Life and History
"Today we give birth to a new violent conception of life and history, which exalts the battle against ... the toadies of false power, slaves to the global market. You wanted just a red carpet; we want a city entirely in vermilion..."
– Excerpts from the statement made by the Neo Futurist group Azionefuturista after they threw a bucket of dye into the Trevi Fountain on Friday colouring the water red.
“We will fight with all our might the fanatical, senseless and snobbish religion of the past, a religion encouraged by the vicious existence of museums. We rebel against that spineless worshipping of old canvases, old statues and old bric-a-brac, against everything which is filthy and worm-ridden and corroded by time. We consider the habitual contempt for everything which is young, new and burning with life to be unjust and even criminal.”
– Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Manifesto of Futurism
February 20, 1909
“The art of Pio Diaz and Thyra Hilden is not aggressive and destructive, they do not demolish what cannot be replaced. Their art is a symbolic burn, their fire is an illusion...By projecting live burning flames on the Trevi Fountain and other famous architectural monuments, the artists interact with cultural icons and provide us with a statement to make us feel the power of destruction and consider the aggressiveness of culture.”
– Line Rosenvinge on artists Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz who projected flames onto the Trevi fountain in 2005
“After gorging himself on various coloured foodstuff. Jubal Brown enters the Museum Of Modern Art in New York and projectile vomits blue over Composition in Red, White and Blue by Piet Mondrian.”
– Art Crimes
"Today we give birth to a new violent conception of life and history, which exalts the battle against ... the toadies of false power, slaves to the global market. You wanted just a red carpet; we want a city entirely in vermilion..."
– Excerpts from the statement made by the Neo Futurist group Azionefuturista after they threw a bucket of dye into the Trevi Fountain on Friday colouring the water red.
“We will fight with all our might the fanatical, senseless and snobbish religion of the past, a religion encouraged by the vicious existence of museums. We rebel against that spineless worshipping of old canvases, old statues and old bric-a-brac, against everything which is filthy and worm-ridden and corroded by time. We consider the habitual contempt for everything which is young, new and burning with life to be unjust and even criminal.”
– Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Manifesto of Futurism
February 20, 1909
“The art of Pio Diaz and Thyra Hilden is not aggressive and destructive, they do not demolish what cannot be replaced. Their art is a symbolic burn, their fire is an illusion...By projecting live burning flames on the Trevi Fountain and other famous architectural monuments, the artists interact with cultural icons and provide us with a statement to make us feel the power of destruction and consider the aggressiveness of culture.”
– Line Rosenvinge on artists Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz who projected flames onto the Trevi fountain in 2005
“After gorging himself on various coloured foodstuff. Jubal Brown enters the Museum Of Modern Art in New York and projectile vomits blue over Composition in Red, White and Blue by Piet Mondrian.”
– Art Crimes
Labels: Art, Signs of Our Time
Friday, October 19, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #11
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Separated at Birth?
Wow. Today's post at daily dose of imagery bares an incredibly uncanny resemblance to Jeroen Witvliet's Structures series!
Wow. Today's post at daily dose of imagery bares an incredibly uncanny resemblance to Jeroen Witvliet's Structures series!
Labels: Art, Jeroen Witvliet, Photography
Monday, October 01, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #10
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #9
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The Collected Links of Ray Johnson - #1
A ways back, I posted an entry about starting a couple of recurring artist series, the first of which commenced that evening on Raymond Pettibon. Perhaps the series itself could have been titled "The Two Rays" seeing as the other artist, for whom this post finally signifies the beginning of his own series*, is Ray Johnson. Chances are you have never heard of him. But once you get a taste of his work and start to grasp his position in the New York art world in the second half of the 20th Century, you realize that herein lies the missing link that ties everything together.
I have posted about Ray before here. That posting was commented on* by one Bill Wilson, a former stagehand of Ray's who followed up days later with an email asking me for my snail mail address so he could send me "Ray Johnsonalia". To which, of course, I complied and for my efforts was rewarded with a fairly substantial envelope containing a number of postcard reproductions, exhibit invites and essays on Ray Johnson.
All of which I am planning to finally get around to scanning and posting as part of this series. In the meantime, tonight's first entry takes form as a stumbled upon flickr group called "New York Correspondence School".
A ways back, I posted an entry about starting a couple of recurring artist series, the first of which commenced that evening on Raymond Pettibon. Perhaps the series itself could have been titled "The Two Rays" seeing as the other artist, for whom this post finally signifies the beginning of his own series*, is Ray Johnson. Chances are you have never heard of him. But once you get a taste of his work and start to grasp his position in the New York art world in the second half of the 20th Century, you realize that herein lies the missing link that ties everything together.
I have posted about Ray before here. That posting was commented on* by one Bill Wilson, a former stagehand of Ray's who followed up days later with an email asking me for my snail mail address so he could send me "Ray Johnsonalia". To which, of course, I complied and for my efforts was rewarded with a fairly substantial envelope containing a number of postcard reproductions, exhibit invites and essays on Ray Johnson.
All of which I am planning to finally get around to scanning and posting as part of this series. In the meantime, tonight's first entry takes form as a stumbled upon flickr group called "New York Correspondence School".
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Ray Johnson
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Collected Links of Raymond Pettibon - #2
Mike Watt (yes, that Mike Watt) has posted a great gallery of photos that he took in Raymond's studio a few year's back as well as a collection of Black Flag gig posters.
Mike Watt (yes, that Mike Watt) has posted a great gallery of photos that he took in Raymond's studio a few year's back as well as a collection of Black Flag gig posters.
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Raymond Pettibon
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Floating Canvases
"My intention is to create work that asks questions about the implications of urban sprawl and its impact on the environment. I am interested in creating psychological narratives set in closed systems that express the behavior of and the interaction between humans and animals. The dystopian model creates a dynamic playing field where I can experiment with these ideas and forms."
The stunning, isometrically-inclined work of Josh Keyes.
"My intention is to create work that asks questions about the implications of urban sprawl and its impact on the environment. I am interested in creating psychological narratives set in closed systems that express the behavior of and the interaction between humans and animals. The dystopian model creates a dynamic playing field where I can experiment with these ideas and forms."
The stunning, isometrically-inclined work of Josh Keyes.
Labels: Art, Edge of Chaos
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #5
Thursday, May 03, 2007
An Intolerable Beauty
Chris Jordan's photographic essays seem to always be preoccupied with uncovering beauty in the spoils of our society. Discarded circuit boards take on a patchwork air, while a rack of waterlogged dresses hints at a rainbow in the otherwise twisted wake of a post-Katrina New Orleans. In his series Running the Numbers, he uses statistics as his subject, producing compelling large scale photographic collages that serve as visual representations of societal numbers that are often too collosally abstract to even try to comprehend.
As Jordan states: "I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity."
Chris Jordan's photographic essays seem to always be preoccupied with uncovering beauty in the spoils of our society. Discarded circuit boards take on a patchwork air, while a rack of waterlogged dresses hints at a rainbow in the otherwise twisted wake of a post-Katrina New Orleans. In his series Running the Numbers, he uses statistics as his subject, producing compelling large scale photographic collages that serve as visual representations of societal numbers that are often too collosally abstract to even try to comprehend.
As Jordan states: "I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity."
Labels: Art, Disasters, Edge of Chaos, Photography
Monday, April 23, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way to Work - #4
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Art in Vancouver: Erin McSavaney
Young, local artist Erin McSavaney's collection of gritty, urban canvasses opens at the Atelier Gallery this coming Saturday and runs through to May 12. Looking forward to it.
Young, local artist Erin McSavaney's collection of gritty, urban canvasses opens at the Atelier Gallery this coming Saturday and runs through to May 12. Looking forward to it.
Labels: Art, Erin McSavaney, Vancouver Galleries
Monday, April 09, 2007
Hunter's World
Those of you who visit this site on a semi-regular basis will be aware of a series that I have been posting to since this past November titled Great Counterculture Logos (the irony of this moniker has never been lost on me btw) and, more recently, of the email that I received from artist/designer Paul Pascarella in which he descibes a little of the process that went into the creation of the Gonzo Dagger (Part 5 in said series). There was also mention in that correspondence of a portrait that he did right after HST's death, a tribute of sorts to the Good Doctor which I subsequently expressed interest in, whereby Paul forwarded along to me this sneak preview of what he calls, Hunter's World.
So there you go. As far as the purchasing details for this work: there are prints of the painting still availlable in two sizes and editions. The memorial edition of 40 prints, 32x 26 for $950, and Hunter's World Edition of 75 prints, 24x18 for $350. Purchase of the original canvas itself is currently only available to the Hunter "inner circle". Selah.
Those of you who visit this site on a semi-regular basis will be aware of a series that I have been posting to since this past November titled Great Counterculture Logos (the irony of this moniker has never been lost on me btw) and, more recently, of the email that I received from artist/designer Paul Pascarella in which he descibes a little of the process that went into the creation of the Gonzo Dagger (Part 5 in said series). There was also mention in that correspondence of a portrait that he did right after HST's death, a tribute of sorts to the Good Doctor which I subsequently expressed interest in, whereby Paul forwarded along to me this sneak preview of what he calls, Hunter's World.
So there you go. As far as the purchasing details for this work: there are prints of the painting still availlable in two sizes and editions. The memorial edition of 40 prints, 32x 26 for $950, and Hunter's World Edition of 75 prints, 24x18 for $350. Purchase of the original canvas itself is currently only available to the Hunter "inner circle". Selah.
Labels: Art, Great Counterculture Logos, When the Going Gets Weird
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way to Work - #3
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The Collected Links of Raymond Pettibon - #1
I'm starting a new series tonight, one of two new ongoing artist features that I aim to keep posting to in the weeks, months, decades that follow. Raymond Pettibon, in my opinion is punk rock's answer to Andy Warhol, cynically stoking his work with such truly american made pop culture references as handguns and baseball, celebrity murder and mickey mouse. It is brilliant and dark and always provoking. But what makes me a fan most of all is his use of text and the hand drawn representation of design layout in his work. He is a designer's artist to be sure.
We'll get started this evening with this small gallery as well as a series of interviews from Art:21. Enjoy, and if you know of other great Pettibon links, be sure to send them my way.
I'm starting a new series tonight, one of two new ongoing artist features that I aim to keep posting to in the weeks, months, decades that follow. Raymond Pettibon, in my opinion is punk rock's answer to Andy Warhol, cynically stoking his work with such truly american made pop culture references as handguns and baseball, celebrity murder and mickey mouse. It is brilliant and dark and always provoking. But what makes me a fan most of all is his use of text and the hand drawn representation of design layout in his work. He is a designer's artist to be sure.
We'll get started this evening with this small gallery as well as a series of interviews from Art:21. Enjoy, and if you know of other great Pettibon links, be sure to send them my way.
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Raymond Pettibon
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #2
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Somebody is trying to tell you something
Can inspiration occur after the fact? Yesterday's post, the first in a new series entitled "Art I Pass By On My Way To Work" could very well have been born from a website that I stumbled upon today. Written On The City, a project by the troublemakers over at Language In Common "celebrates the conversation that's happening on the walls and sidewalks of the places we live."
Can inspiration occur after the fact? Yesterday's post, the first in a new series entitled "Art I Pass By On My Way To Work" could very well have been born from a website that I stumbled upon today. Written On The City, a project by the troublemakers over at Language In Common "celebrates the conversation that's happening on the walls and sidewalks of the places we live."
Labels: Art, Art-I-Pass-By, Street Level, World at Large
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Communication as Art
At the end of the fifties, at time when the bohemians still ruled the East Village, a New York artist named Ray Johnson began corresponding w/ the others of the Avant Garde scene through a prolific series of collages that he sent through the post. These collages, which Johnson labelled "moticos", created a network with thousands of fellow artists around the world, laid the foundations for Pop Art and came to be known as The New York Correspondence School. And yet despite this influential position Johnson, once considered to be"the most famous unknown artist in America", remained an enigmatic figure residing determinedly in the underground; far beyond the gallery circuit; known of by many but never known very well by anyone.
Johnson's life and work is the subject of the documentary "How to Draw a Bunny" (2002) which frames its retrospective between the mysterious events of January 13th, 1995 when Johnson's body was found floating in Sag Harbour. To this day, no one has determined what happened. Some say it was suicide, his "final performance" that, as with his life, Ray Johnson tackled death under his own conditions.
At the end of the fifties, at time when the bohemians still ruled the East Village, a New York artist named Ray Johnson began corresponding w/ the others of the Avant Garde scene through a prolific series of collages that he sent through the post. These collages, which Johnson labelled "moticos", created a network with thousands of fellow artists around the world, laid the foundations for Pop Art and came to be known as The New York Correspondence School. And yet despite this influential position Johnson, once considered to be"the most famous unknown artist in America", remained an enigmatic figure residing determinedly in the underground; far beyond the gallery circuit; known of by many but never known very well by anyone.
Johnson's life and work is the subject of the documentary "How to Draw a Bunny" (2002) which frames its retrospective between the mysterious events of January 13th, 1995 when Johnson's body was found floating in Sag Harbour. To this day, no one has determined what happened. Some say it was suicide, his "final performance" that, as with his life, Ray Johnson tackled death under his own conditions.
Labels: Art, Ray Johnson
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
No Ritual Can Heal
Currently showing at the Met and corresponding with a book of the same name, Robert Polidori's New Orleans After the Flood: Photographs hauntingly documents the post-Katrina devastation of the once Big Easy. With the same passion that affected his photographic essay on Chernobyl in 2001, Polidori once again succeeds in capturing the magnitude of loss and human folly in each frame.
For more info check out John Updike's review of After the Flood in the New York Times Review of Books.
Currently showing at the Met and corresponding with a book of the same name, Robert Polidori's New Orleans After the Flood: Photographs hauntingly documents the post-Katrina devastation of the once Big Easy. With the same passion that affected his photographic essay on Chernobyl in 2001, Polidori once again succeeds in capturing the magnitude of loss and human folly in each frame.
For more info check out John Updike's review of After the Flood in the New York Times Review of Books.
Labels: Art, Disasters, Photography, World at Large
Friday, November 03, 2006
"In this light...whisper, 24"
On June 13th, 2006, artist Jeroen Witvliet bought a number of newspapers and proceeded to cut out images from their pages. From this collection, he would select those which he responded to most and paint them. In doing so, they became something new; stripped of its context and caption, the painting forced you to confront the image for what it was.
As Jeroen writes:
"I come across images of people described as insurgents and a mention of their nationality, no other description given. Persons are being categorized and abstracted by the caption, and the language used. A number gives the score of the dead, even further abstracted. A system of classification starts to take place. A value is attached to the words describing an event. Described one way a life has value, classified another way it loses value and this way of description can be used for many, including political, reasons."
Jeroen's exhibition, "In this light...whisper, 24", opens tonight at the Cristall Gallery from 6 - 9pm and runs until the 22nd.
Read my interview from last year with Jeroen here.
On June 13th, 2006, artist Jeroen Witvliet bought a number of newspapers and proceeded to cut out images from their pages. From this collection, he would select those which he responded to most and paint them. In doing so, they became something new; stripped of its context and caption, the painting forced you to confront the image for what it was.
As Jeroen writes:
"I come across images of people described as insurgents and a mention of their nationality, no other description given. Persons are being categorized and abstracted by the caption, and the language used. A number gives the score of the dead, even further abstracted. A system of classification starts to take place. A value is attached to the words describing an event. Described one way a life has value, classified another way it loses value and this way of description can be used for many, including political, reasons."
Jeroen's exhibition, "In this light...whisper, 24", opens tonight at the Cristall Gallery from 6 - 9pm and runs until the 22nd.
Read my interview from last year with Jeroen here.
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Collaborators, Jeroen Witvliet, Vancouver Galleries
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Washed up in the morning surf
Environmental arms developers.
Liquid Sculpture.
Print & patterns & more patterns.
Rabbit hunting with Run Wake.
And the return of the Sugarcubes.
Environmental arms developers.
Liquid Sculpture.
Print & patterns & more patterns.
Rabbit hunting with Run Wake.
And the return of the Sugarcubes.
Labels: Art, Washed Up In the Morning Surf
Monday, September 18, 2006
Barely Legal
Photos from Banksy's LA exhibit, Barely Legal.
UPDATE: An interview with the elusive artist over at LA Weekly.
Photos from Banksy's LA exhibit, Barely Legal.
UPDATE: An interview with the elusive artist over at LA Weekly.
Labels: Art, LA, Street Level
Monday, August 21, 2006
First Person Shooter Glasses
Monday, August 07, 2006
The Strange Celebrity World of Brandon Bird
Monday, July 31, 2006
Untitled Days: New Work from Jeroen Witvliet
Jeroen dropped me a line today to let me know that he has a new series posted on his site called Untitled Days. As timely and thought provoking as ever.
More info on Jeroen can be found here.
Jeroen dropped me a line today to let me know that he has a new series posted on his site called Untitled Days. As timely and thought provoking as ever.
More info on Jeroen can be found here.
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Collaborators, Jeroen Witvliet, Vancouver Galleries
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Feanne's Daily Drawings
Here's a new one for the daily visits: Feanne's Daily Drawings is exactly what the title promises. Well, sort of. It actually seems to be more like once a week or so with a sporadic entry of two or three drawings at a time. But what does get posted is worth checking out. Even more great work can be found on her main site.
Here's a new one for the daily visits: Feanne's Daily Drawings is exactly what the title promises. Well, sort of. It actually seems to be more like once a week or so with a sporadic entry of two or three drawings at a time. But what does get posted is worth checking out. Even more great work can be found on her main site.
Labels: Art
Sunday, June 18, 2006
BIMPE IV
While down on Granville Island at Vidfest last week, we stumbled upon The Fourth Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition (BIMPE) on display at the Federation Gallery. The exhibit is exactly what its title suggests: an eclectic range of small scale etchings, woodprints, linocuts, mezzotints, metal engravings, and digital prints. Very inspiring. Not only that, the prices for the prints are equally miniature in comparison to other artwork in this city. If you are on the Island before June 25th, be sure to check it out.
While down on Granville Island at Vidfest last week, we stumbled upon The Fourth Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition (BIMPE) on display at the Federation Gallery. The exhibit is exactly what its title suggests: an eclectic range of small scale etchings, woodprints, linocuts, mezzotints, metal engravings, and digital prints. Very inspiring. Not only that, the prices for the prints are equally miniature in comparison to other artwork in this city. If you are on the Island before June 25th, be sure to check it out.
Labels: Art
Monday, June 05, 2006
Crucial Viewing: Beautiful Losers
A documentary on the artistic subculture that emerged in the early 1990's influenced by skateboading, grafitti, pop culture and the D.I.Y. aesthetic.
A documentary on the artistic subculture that emerged in the early 1990's influenced by skateboading, grafitti, pop culture and the D.I.Y. aesthetic.
Labels: Art, Crucial Viewing, Design, Street Level
Monday, May 08, 2006
More New Work by Jeroen Witvliet
It seems Jeroen Witvliet has been busy with a new series called Text and more panels added to his Pan-orama series. Enjoy.
For more info, check out my interview with Jeroen here.
It seems Jeroen Witvliet has been busy with a new series called Text and more panels added to his Pan-orama series. Enjoy.
For more info, check out my interview with Jeroen here.
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Collaborators, Jeroen Witvliet, Vancouver Galleries
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Art by Number
SIGGRAPH hosted a talk this evening called Art by Number:Generating Dynamic Art with Flash with presenters Jeremy Thorp of Blprnt.com and Gary Stasiuk of Liquidjourney.com. I am a hack coder at best so I should let the work speak for itself, although I do suggest checking out Jer's DarwInstrument which essentially applies a combination of genetic theory, selection of the fittest and mutant variables to the evolution of a more pleasing musical sound -- yeah, exactly.
I won't pretend that I know what I'm talking about here but I do love the art and the philosophy behind it. Anyone who has read "Chaos" by James Gleik will have an understanding of how complexity is responsible for the patterns of nature; and anyone who is an artist will know what I mean when I refer to the "happy accident". Both of these ideas play a role in Generative Art. It is a matter of setting initial conditions without a predetermined outcome and then observing what becomes of the end result.
There are a great number of artists that are practicing similar forms of generative art. I have been a fan of Joshua Davis' algorithmic creations for years and his recent collaboration with BMW is pretty damn cool. As is the work of Jared Tarbell of which I blogged about a few months back.
But what caught my attention the most this evening was a reference by Jer to the artist Manfred Mohr, who was creating beautiful and minimalistic computer-generated algorithmic art as early as 1969. Considering the direction that we have since taken in our culture and techonology, it is amazing that Mohr has not earned a more recognized place amongst the great artists of the 20th Century.
SIGGRAPH hosted a talk this evening called Art by Number:Generating Dynamic Art with Flash with presenters Jeremy Thorp of Blprnt.com and Gary Stasiuk of Liquidjourney.com. I am a hack coder at best so I should let the work speak for itself, although I do suggest checking out Jer's DarwInstrument which essentially applies a combination of genetic theory, selection of the fittest and mutant variables to the evolution of a more pleasing musical sound -- yeah, exactly.
I won't pretend that I know what I'm talking about here but I do love the art and the philosophy behind it. Anyone who has read "Chaos" by James Gleik will have an understanding of how complexity is responsible for the patterns of nature; and anyone who is an artist will know what I mean when I refer to the "happy accident". Both of these ideas play a role in Generative Art. It is a matter of setting initial conditions without a predetermined outcome and then observing what becomes of the end result.
There are a great number of artists that are practicing similar forms of generative art. I have been a fan of Joshua Davis' algorithmic creations for years and his recent collaboration with BMW is pretty damn cool. As is the work of Jared Tarbell of which I blogged about a few months back.
But what caught my attention the most this evening was a reference by Jer to the artist Manfred Mohr, who was creating beautiful and minimalistic computer-generated algorithmic art as early as 1969. Considering the direction that we have since taken in our culture and techonology, it is amazing that Mohr has not earned a more recognized place amongst the great artists of the 20th Century.
Labels: Art, Collaborators, Design, Edge of