ddpilot – Page 21 – daydreampilot

September 16, 2009

Culismo

“Shampoo” Acrylics on canvas

While on my trip to Spain, I had the chance to sit down and chat with my friend Alejandro Kobiakov about his work. His paintings and drawings bring a smile to my face. They are witty, colorful, charming and skillfully done. I personally enjoyed his charcoal studies as well as the more playful scenarios. One can see his influences of Keith Haring, Boris Hoppek, and he also draws inspiration from Picasso.

© all images by Alejandro Kobiakov

His idea for this series originated from a simple peach and it’s distinctive shape. This sparked a new world, a new genre: Culismo (‘culo’ meaning ‘ass’ in spanish) , with an array of alike characters and the stories they will tell. His latest projects have been sculptures, and most recently, an animation which you can view here. Alejandro likes the idea of reaching a high-level of mass appeal with his work, yet he wants to give his viewers a equal level of intimacy with his narrative. His latest exhibit starts tomorrow, Thursday Sept 17th at Plantazero in Barcelona, Spain, and runs until late October.

Check out Alejandro Kobiakov’s portfolio @ http://www.culismo.com

Below is my favorite of his, reminds me of my time in Barcelona…

“Fantasies and memories of a recent Madrid” Acrylics on canvas

September 2, 2009September 10, 2010

odd nerdrum – updated

Swedish (or Norwegian?) born painter, Odd Nerdrum is one of my favorite painters today. His technique is impressive. In my opinion, he’s today’s Rembrandt. Yes, mind you, his subject matter can be quite explicit and rather blunt, but you can’t ignore his raw talent. He’s up there with the greats.

I was googling him for inspiration…and found a blog post by a painter who had attended a workshop of Nerdrum’s. His post describes Odd’s techniques from canvas stretching, priming, color mixing, and brushwork detail. There are some great moments in this class that the author shares. I loved it and think you should read it (Below).

A Class with ODD NERDRUM http://fishingjunk.com/?p=55

3 weeks ago, I went to PAFA for a weekend workshop with Odd Nerdrum. I didn’t quite know what to expect at first. I hauled a 2 bags full of painting gears to philly and I didn’t even paint once. But guess what? it was still worth it.

So what did we do in this 2-day workshop? Most of the time, we watched him paint a portrait of a his student, from start to finish. It took him about 9-10 hours (1.5 days. We actually had the option to paint along side with him, but most people didn’t want to miss out on watching him paint). There was also a performance of Curatoriat (a play he wrote), a slide lecture and a critique session of workshop participants’ works. Continue reading “odd nerdrum – updated”

September 1, 2009September 2, 2009

Dali, Prado and Reina Sofia Museums

I’m BACK. Yessss… and what a trip it was! I have fallen in love with Barcelona. Madrid was not bad either… but I can see myself zooming around the Barcelona streets with my bike after a day at the beach.. mhmm… I did a lot of walking and sightseeing, also visited a few museums… Here’s a link to all the art work and street stuff I could shoot. I really loved the Dali theatre-museum and the Reina Sofia. There was some incredible work I’ve yet seen. I did want to visit local galleries but didn’t have the time in such short notice, plus everyone was closed for vacation, but it’s ok, I will be back… Hope you enjoy the photos.

August 20, 2009

off for a bit…

Hi friends, I will be traveling tomorrow to Spain and will be offline for a few. I’ll be visiting museums, galleries, and artists friends of mine, so I should be back with a bunch of great stuff for you to see.

See you soon.

August 18, 2009

Prozess @ Lyons Wier Gallery

Last night I attended the opening of Prozess, curated by Jazz-Minh Moore. The show included an array of artists with very interesting work. I personally loved Brian Dettmer’s book, Nivi Alroy’s desk, Chantel Foretich’s music box and Jeff Sims’s tea cup video. The show is only up for one week! So if you have a chance, swing by. More photos here.

August 16, 2009August 17, 2009

listen to Basquiat’s funky beat bop

http://www.lostateminor.com/2009/07/31/jean-michel-basquiat/

Unbeknown to many, the tragically brilliant American artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who set the art world alight with his neo-expressionist work before dying of an overdose in 1988, also produced a hip hop track of some note, collaborating with fellow graffiti artist Rammellzee under the mindful direction of the legendary Fab 5 Freddy. The resulting track, Beat Bop, is a spicy window into New York in the early 1980s.

August 15, 2009August 17, 2009

the real guitar hero

Les Paul passed away Thursday, August 13th at age 94. For some of us who just recognized the name as the guitar brand… Here’s a great NPR’s Fresh Air story about the man and his many accomplishments. Did you know he invented reverb? overdubbing? He wrote songs and, oh yea, built some great guitars! The NPR story includes a interview with Les Paul as well. Great listen.

r.i.p. 1915-2009. AP photo: Les Paul and wife, Mary Ford. 1951.

August 12, 2009August 12, 2009

now I know where my membership money goes….

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) — Glenn D. Lowry earned $1.32 million in pay and benefits running New York’s Museum of Modern Art in the year ending in June, down from $1.95 million the year before, as the museum cut costs amid the recession. – Bloomber.com article

I have to agree with this current director being a good one. The MoMA never disappoints, always has a good rotation of different work, and I has been expanding its arsenal… But I never thought the salaries were so high! Nonetheless, this is a interesting article looking into this part of the artworld I never thought about. Read the Bloomberg.com article here.

Here’s another one, this one from Ben Davis of artnet.com, talking about ‘the museum bubble’, pay-cuts, salaries, recession and art.

Richard Serra at MoMA’s garden.

The MET.

The Guggenheim.

August 8, 2009August 9, 2009

Photographer Clayton Cubitt

‘Forth From the Folds of a Cloud, and One Star Follow Her Footsteps’, Decay Series, pigment print, soil, black mold, water stains. 24×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt

Some might see the subject matter for his personal work as too vulgar, raw and uncomfortable. But I find them beautifully executed and skillfully produced. Siege has a way of capturing people and their emotions, whether its a very raw and personal experience or their intimate anatomy, he knows how to make them beautiful moments. His sexual confidence always bleeds through a lot of his work as well, which is great to observe.

Siege has recently been experimenting with ink and decay in his work. His latest, “Decay and Fugue State” series is gorgeous. I love his subtle and fragile use of color, its beautiful, stark and surreal subjects, contrasted with the decaying elements of the print itself or a sudden spat of angry ink.

(left) ‘Fixed His Eyes Upon Her, as the Saint of His Deepest Devotion’, Decay Series, pigment print, soil, black mold, water stains, whitewashed antique baroque frame. 32×44 inches, 2008. (right) ‘And Somewhere There’s Someone Who Cares, With a Heart of Gold To Have and to Hold’, Fugue State, pigment print and India Ink triptych, 72×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt

‘And Somewhere There’s Someone Who Cares, With a Heart of Gold To Have and to Hold’, Fugue State, pigment print and India Ink triptych, 72×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt

Fugue State Triptych, pigment prints and India Ink, 72×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt

You can find Siege all over the interweb, I personally enjoy reading his blog CONSTANT SIEGE.

Here are a few links to the latest reviews and interviews:

Eyemazing’s “Operation Eden: A personal chronicle of what hurricane Katrina has done to my poor proud people.”

Interview Magazine’s Deeper Underground: Clayton Cubitt.

Whitehot’s Clayton Cubitt Interview.

And most recently, featured on Tokion magazine, now in newstands.

His website/portfolio.

August 5, 2009August 6, 2009

Gawker’s MOM & POPism

Gawker Artists got 28 graffiti/street artists to contribute their work on these wallpaper store fronts (curated by Billi Kid reinterpreting James and Karla Murray’s latest book, Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York), which were surrounding this very nice rooftop at a Soho party last night… I was torn about it during the evening. I sat with a friend and took in the environment, people watched and exchanged thoughts on the situation.

I have to admit, it felt a bit awkward for me. Contrived. Out of place. I see the graffiti/street art world as the anarchists artist medium, but the soho elite in their attempts to be part of a surfacing underground culture is part exploiting it, and the artists themselves are either allowing themselves to be exploited or are in on the joke. I do think it is important to bring up the conversation of graffiti picking up momentum and gaining praise as an art form… but it just seems wrong to force these two completely opposite (and mostly clashing) worlds together. But then again, some might argue that street artists trickling into the gallery world would be just as blasphemous. Yet it does bring up an interesting conversation. What do you think of this mesh? Are you comfortable with it?

I thoroughly enjoyed the work by the way, as I enjoy and respect graffiti. It just sparked this question that I thought I’d share and would love to hear from you. Pictures from the party on my flickr.

August 2, 2009September 17, 2009

Francis Bacon at the MET

The first major exhibition in New York in 20 years devoted to one of the most important painters of the twentieth-century, Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective will feature 130 works (65 paintings and 65 archival items) that span the entirety of the artist’s full and celebrated career.

May 20, 2009–August 16, 2009 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

update (aug.2): I saw the show today….. a must see. Absolutely loved it. My favorite were his portraits from the 1960’s, particularly “Three studies for a portrait of George Dyer” from 1963 (below).

Study for head of George Dyer, 1967.

July 31, 2009July 31, 2009

wanna hang at a meth lab?

Deitch Projects on 18 Wooster st. has an interesting project by Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe called BLACK ACID CO-OP. It’ll be running until Aug. 15th. Be ready to sign a release form and experience a stuffy, burnt, messy, dirty, dark, claustrophobic, and skeevy meth-lab environment.

These guys did a good job transforming the space into a trashed trailer/abandoned 70’s ski lodge. You can go up and down stairs and get a feel of the underground meth culture… At one point, you’ll be inside a Chinese porn store, then find yourself at a beautiful museum-like room with its walls busted through. The back rooms, where the action happens, are torn up, burnt and pretty destroyed, the bathrooms are disgusting and the hallways seem dangerous to walk through. I felt like a investigator going through a freshly raided meth house. I forgot I was in the city for a second…