Category Archives: FEATURE

This is how you look on drugs

Drug taken: MDMA (click to enlarge)
Drug taken: MDMA (click to enlarge)

Les Baker V’s INEBRI-NATION project is one of a kind. One may look at it as another purely photographic work while others a bold take on drug use and in some cases, abuse.

Meet Les Baker, a New Mexico-based photographer who has embarked on the most ludicrous, yet interesting in many aspects, projects taking portraits of people at the moment when the subjects reach the ‘high’ state on different drugs.

The idea behind it is to showcase just how diverse the effects can be, with many various transformations of individuals’ faces. And this is why we like the concept, because we believe the last thing a drug user wants is to face their face in such a state.

Another point worth highlighting is the array of people who took part in this project. You may have thought participants are all drug addicts or heavy users and perhaps from a disadvantaged background, but you could not be more wrong.

“The individuals featured in this series showcase the diversity of those who use mind altering substances. They include students, servers, doctors, soldiers, lawyers, politicians, mothers, fathers, artists, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, and judges,” .

The Creators Project spoke to him about his influences, his visions, and why he started the project in the first place, so head over to find out more about it.

In the meantime, we included some of these portraits below, notice the caption for them which tells you what drug these (brave) souls are on.

Would you be up for having your face which you may not feel but you probably like it <– some may have worked out the reference to this tune “Can’t feel my face” by The Weekend… fitting nicely uh? 🙂

Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
LSD
LSD
Cocaine
Cocaine
Crack Cocaine
Crack Cocaine
Oxycontin
Oxycontin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin
Ketamine
Ketamine
LSD
LSD

Happy Easter, related street art and graffiti around the globe

Aww Easter… Always a good time, not so much for the religious aspect but rather more for the bank holiday weekend and looming indulgence of chocolate bunnies and eggs.

Another thing to look out for are many Easter-themed street art and graffiti works. We browsed the web and compiled a small collection for your eyes only.

And for those who don’t know what Easter is, this below is for you – thanks Wikipedia

Easter,[nb 1] also called Pasch[nb 2] or Resurrection Sunday,[nb 3] is a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in theNew Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion by Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.[5][6] It is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

N.B: the image above is by Interesni Kazki

Click any pictures below to enlarge or launch the slideshow

Easter | Art-Pie ghetto-easter-graffitieaster__by_scorpionblaze-d3eudn2

happy_easter Easter | Art-Pie Easter | Art-Pie

 

Easter street art | Art-Pie Easter | Art-Pie Easter | Art-Pie Easter | Art-Pie

“Silence = Death”: The Political Art of Keith Haring

Keith Haring was a street artist at the heart of the urban art movement in 1980s New York. He was also a gay man diagnosed with AIDS. Partly as a result of living with these stigmas, his work often bears a strong element of political and social critique.

He was one third of a trio of New York street artists at the helm of the growing movement. He, Richard Hambleton and Jean-Michel Basquiat regularly met to discuss each other’s work, and sometimes collaborated.

He first began using public spaces as his canvas whilst studying at New York’s School of Visual Arts, when he started drawing on blank advertising panels in subway stations.

Whimsical human figures drawn in bold and clear outlines became his trademark. They contrast with the heavy subject matter of much of his work. In his art he called attention to the AIDS epidemic afflicting gay men in the 1980s.

Silence = Death by Keith Harring | Art-Pie

He made his targets state and society. The Reagan and Bush administrations neglected to fund research into treatments and a cure for the disease. This negligence left AIDS sufferers in the dark, without support, whilst religious leaders and the media continued to blame gay men for the problem.

One of his most famous works is a commentary on the epidemic called Silence=Death, which depicts a crowd of figures covering their ears as if to avoid the horrible truth of AIDS. Overlaying the crowd is a pink triangle. The Nazis gave this symbol in the form of a badge to concentration camp inmates imprisoned for their sexuality. The symbol was reclaimed by the gay community in the 1980s.

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

In the mid-80s Haring set up ‘pop shops’ which sold his imagery on t-shirts, buttons, bags and stickers. The shops made his work accessible at low cost to everyday people and were an innovative way of disseminating pop art.

After he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, Haring felt a renewed determination, sensing the urgency of his work.

Some critics described his art as freer after his diagnosis. Robert Farris Thompson wrote that “in his art he found the key to transform desire, the force that killed him, into a flowering elegance that will live beyond his time.”

He died in 1990 as a result of AIDS-related complications. But his work lives on, his figures still a recognised visual language in the 21st century.

Spray cans sculptures

We instantly fell in love when we first saw these little wonders of sculpture. Kresimir Buden 2Fast is the sculptor behind these creations which obviously are graffiti inspired.

The artist is based in Zagreb (Croatia) and use various brands of spray cans from Montana to Ironlak.  You will have noticed the Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans version amongst others.

I do not know for you but we particularly like the green one. What about you?

Click on the images below to launch the slideshow

Kresimir Buden - Art-PieKresimir Buden - Art-PieKresimir Buden - Art-PieKresimir Buden - Art-Pie

Kresimir Buden - Art-PieKresimir Buden - Art-PieKresimir Buden - Art-PieKresimir Buden - Art-Pie