Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Teresa Margolles
Teresa Marolles' "Frontera" reflects on the dramatic scale of drug trafficking in Mexican society. The artist has used basic but very striking elements to create the works in "Frontera", and despite their minimalist style, they reveal great emotional depth and tragedy. The works go beyond the specific context that gave rise to them, with a universal value that explores our mechanisms of denial and the taboos still surrounding death and violence in contemporary society. The Museion exhibition features walls where executions took place, that the artist took down in Mexico and rebuilt in Bolzano—Muro Baleado (Culiacán), 2009, and Muro Ciudad Juárez, 2010—along with the works Plancha, 2010 and Cubo, 2010, a minimalist cube weighing a ton made out of iron from reinforced concrete taken from demolished buildings. The Bolzano exhibition will also be the first opportunity to see the filmed action Camiseta, created specially for "Frontera" and shot in the cities of Juarez, Kassel and Bolzano.'
seriously powerful. English transcript to the interview above here.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Mexico's Drug War, Feminized.
I recently read an article by Damien Cave for the New York Times about Mexico's drug war and specifically the involvement of women. These powerful photos above within the Ciudad Juárez prison are by Katie Orlinsky which really brought Caves words to life... super intense. Check out the slide show here.
Poses - Yolanda Dominguez
"Yolanda Domínguez is a Spanish artist who works from what is disquieting, handling situations that are sensitive and disturbing for the spectator. Her aim is to generate social criticism and a reaction." She definitely succeeds in her piece above called Poses. There is a sense of humor in the work that keeps me watching and waiting to see how people interact with these "models" that seem to have had mental breakdowns. But in the end the public gives them exactly what they've always wanted... they take pictures of them and give them plenty of attention. funny.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Greta Alfaro
Greta Alfaro's Ictu Oculi is just amazing. Her play on chaos and vulnerability is so visually striking. I also love her "In Praise of the Beast"- there is such a humor within nature at times.
Amy Stevens
"The Confections series began as a response to turning 30. It was a celebration of birthdays, color, pattern and obsessive absurdity. My original idea was to bake 30 birthday cakes for myself and photograph them. I didn’t quite make it to 30 cakes in time for my thesis show, but I sure got a lot of ideas from those first cakes. I ordered a kit from Martha Stewart.com and watched an instructional video on decorating cakes. When I quickly discovered my cakes were never going to look like the ones in the video and the pamphlet, I decided they were better off in their exuberantly imperfect states. With over 70 cakes constructions to date, I’m often asked, “Why still with the cakes?” Cakes are the centerpieces of celebrations and symbolic trophies evoking nostalgia and awe. Historically, cake has played a significant role in womens’ lives. Women have used cake as both an outlet of creativity and a symbol of female power politics. In my constructions of these photographs, I am commentating on not only cake itself as a rich cultural symbol, but of the domestic fantasy world of contemporary home decorating and cooking magazines and television shows. It’s a fantasy world where entertaining, cooking and decorating unite. It’s a place where one needs to have a beautiful home, decorated seasonally, in order to entertain friends with gourmet meals and elaborately concocted desserts.” – Amy Stevens
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Paa Joe
This aeroplane coffin, made in 1951, was the first such coffin in Ghana. Made by brothers Kane and Adjetei Kwei, the coffin was their final gift to their 90-year-old grandmother who had never been in a plane but told them she often day-dreamed of flying.
The tradition for fish coffins is believed to have originated in the village Teshi, where fishermen were buried in two canoes bound together in the shape of a fish.
I was so happy to find information on Paa Joe today. When I was in 2nd grade I remember reading an article about him in Nation Geographic for kids. He's an artist/craftsman from Ghana that makes these amazing coffins to reflect the what the owners profession was during their life (prostitute to fisherman). It was such a beautiful amazing imaginative craft that I began to daydream about all the things I wanted to be burried in. And maybe that's a bit morbid ...but it was a light hearted funny idea at the time.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
MOVE LEARN EAT - Rick Mereki
44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles
3 pleasures of life.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
David Barth
David Barth is an extremely talented 12 year old boy with autism. He has been published in a book titled Drawing Autism which included David's drawing called "Birds" which included 397 different species. super cool stuff.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Matt Lifson
Matt Lifson's explosive surreal paintings are pretty amazing. It's even more amazing that he's only 26. He currently resides in LA where he is getting his masters at Otis.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
CANADA
BATTLES - Ice Cream from CANADA on Vimeo.
Scissor Sisters - Invisible Light from bat on Vimeo.
You might recognize the style from El Guincho's Bombay video, all of which were directed and produced by CANADA, a super creative Spanish company. They do everything from advertising to music videos. I love the flashes of quick stunning imagery- very provocative but in just the right way.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger is an artist with an obvious graphic design background. Her trademark black and white images with confrontational red and white text speaks to power and control. Her work has been displayed publicly in a typical advertising setting so it has that same attraction and play with its luring promise of fulfillment but it allows us to discover its deception.
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