art, music & travel.
Congratualtions to my college bud Angela Cunningham for winning The ARC Scholarship Fund 2009 Annual Scholarship Competition prize!!!!! This is very exciting news and I am so very proud and happy for this extremely talented girl. Congrats Angela!
Cast Painting (2009). Oil on Canvas. 22 x 18 inches.
Purchase Award. Maria (2009). Pencil on Paper. 8 x 6 inches.
More of her work here.
© marikeeler
I’ve been enjoying the brisk air and falling leaves… also a lot of painting and even more work. I hope you are being as productive…
my studio. © marikeeler
prepping new paintings. © marikeeler
I watched the documentary on Henry Darger last night… This man was deep in his own world… his story is intriguingly odd, charming, creepy, sad… Yet he created such a magical world behind closed doors. No one discovered his talent until he died an old man… you must watch it and dab into this bizarre double life.
Ran into a Paul Richard tree stump this morning… such a treat.
close-up here.
Check out Paul Richard’s website and learn more about this well-dressed eccentric man, street artist and painter.
© Alex Kanevsky Twins’ Bath 66″ x 66″.
Just ran into Alex Kanevsky on the interwebs. wow.
© Alex Kanevsky T.S. 24 x24
Read an interview with Alex done by my friend Bjorn at vivianite.net here.
“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
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).
© Odd Nerdrum – his website
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”
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.
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.
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.
detail of Vivacious Arcade, Oil on wood. © Alexandra Pacula.
I took some time to stop by Mighty Tanaka‘s latest show including both artists Alexandra Pacula & JMR. Very different work, but they fit together well in this large gallery… JMR’s abstract, bold & colorful shapes were very vibrant and great to look at in this vast white space, I personally enjoyed his more sculptural pieces. Across the way were Alexandras’ large paintings of a darker color palette, showcasing the sometimes blurry nightlife in NYC. Her oil paintings have wonderful color and her brushwork was free-flowing yet thought through. JMR’s line work and layered pieces were also great to study and take in. Tomorrow is the last day to check out the show before it comes down, so sneak over to 139 West 14th St in Manhattan before 8pm and see it all for yourself. I took some shots, view them here.
© JMR.
Below is a video of JMR working on one of the pieces for the show…
