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The very evocative Victor Lundy’s sketchbook

Victor Lundy | Art-Pie
(Victor Lundy)

We were instantly moved when we looked at Victor Lundy’s sketchbook.

The quality of the drawings is impressive and the story behind them heart breaking : Victor Lundy’s documented his time in the army and fighting in the second world war.

We appreciate the soft yet very efficient touch in Lundy’s drawings. We feel that his drawings were done in one sitting, no erasing but a driving hand screen printing, if you like, what his eyes recorded.

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A ‘natural-born’ skilled individual

We learned that Victor Lundy was born in New York City in 1923 and very young, he showed some artistic skills which will lead him to attend New York University to study architecture, specialising in the Beaux Arts style.

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

A will to help post-war

Lundy did not have to be involved with war but the thought of  doing his bit in rebuilding Europe once World War II was over was very strong, so much so that he voluntarily joined the Army and very quickly ended up at the very forefront of the action.

This is at that time where he would capture any faces, scenes or moments in his sketchbook.

We included a few drawings of the very evocative Victor Lundy’s sketchbook (all images below are courtesy of LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

DIGITAL ART

The incredible digital art of Erik Johansson

Erik Johansson is one of those guys who have raw talent. He excels on digital photography and produces outstanding results. And you know what? He has not have any formal training in photography or studio art — or even classroom instruction in Adobe Photoshop

Erik Johansson is keen on surreal landscapes and often depicts characters trapped in their surroundings in some temporal break down.

We have included below the Cut & Fold (2012) piece as well as a very interesting video that will show you how Erik Johansson got to the end result.

Here is what the digital artist says about the work: “Inspired by the cut-along border of a magazine coupon, I wondered what a landscape would look like if it were peeled back along a road’s dotted line like a coupon.”

Cut & Fold by Erik Johansson

Cut & Fold – Behind The Scenes from Erik Johansson on Vimeo.

Here are other works from Erik Johansson

Downside of the Upside (2009)
Downside of the Upside (2009)
Go Your Own Road (2008)
Go Your Own Road (2008):
Uncategorized

Our Aim is to Survive, photographs by Brian J Morrison

Our aim is to survive by Brian J MorrisonThis work is the result of an exploration into the area of masculinity and social stereotypes. As a documentary photographic essay the work opens the doors to a lesser-seen area of society in an attempt to challenge pre-existing British stereotypes surrounding male identity and firearms.

Our aim is to aim is to survive focuses on Blackpool Pistol and Rifle Club: it’s physicality as a space, the people who use it and the inter-relationship between the two. These images are bound together through their formal presentation yet each image contains a strong individual presence in many cases confirming expectations but in others, interestingly confounding and challenging both the preconceived ideas attached to firearms and Shooting Clubs.

The Blackpool Pistol and Rifle club as been running since 1948 and is a typical example of what you would find in many shooting clubs throughout the United Kingdom. After a 1997 firearms amendment outlawed all but muzzle loading and single shot pistols, the membership to these clubs dwindled. As with many things within contemporary society the unfashionable quickly becomes lost and the
traditions of old soon turn to nostalgia. The walls of this club speak of a time gone; the faux wooden panels and the photographs proudly displayed offer an insight into “the good old days”. However they spoke as much about an acceptance of their fate as it offered a reminder into the past. The unfashionable has already become nostalgic whilst still in existence. To emphasize the idea of ever shifting social opinions I have offered a critique on the normative opinions associated masculinity and firearms by mixing the past and present contained within each frame.

Throughout the work the viewer is encouraged to draw off there own pre-existing opinions before eventually having these opinions subverted. By using masculinity as a focal point, symbolic links are drawn between the continually changing view of masculinity and the decline in popularity of those things that
do not fit within today’s society.”

““an acceptance that photography at the least can capture the present and the visible, he (Coekin) adds an understanding that what we know of the present what we know, and don’t know, of the past and the future”
David Campany on Chris Coekin’s piece Knock Three Times.

Words from Brian J Morrison

See more on Brian J Morrison website

Our Aim Is To Survive by Brian J MorrisonOur Aim Is To Survive by Brian J Morrison

CONTEMPORARY ART, REVIEWS

SPQR at Pure Evil: Monochromatic shades

Another exhibition by Signal gallery which I had penciled in as soon as I’d heard about it. The artist, SPQR, has been on the circuit for quite a while now and is a prolific stenciller, so I was not surprised to find, hung up on the walls of Signal gallery, technically very good, quality stencils.

For his first solo show in the UK, SPQR looks at how art can be used to express your disagreement about things surrounding you: society, media, economy, etc. At first sight, and maybe for the non-expert in street art, you may think that what you are looking at is ’some Banksy’, eg. (see pictures below) the reference to a chain of supermarkets and making fun of the police etc, are a parallel with Banksy’s sense of humour.

But SPQR’s stuff is as good as Bansky no doubt, even better perhaps and not just because of his unwillingness to cash in on the hype and fame like other street art artists. But based on what I saw in this show, and in particular the piece in the shop window of the gallery, thumbs up for SPQR

Go on SPQR, a bit of fame and hype you probably deserve won’t hurt, you would just be selling some art, some good street art, which everyone needs in their life!

What would you say: SPQR better than Banksky?

The show ran until the 28th September.

Related links
> Signal gallery
> SPQR website

ART-PIE

 

PREVIEW

The London Original Print Art Fair

Click to enlargeHeld at the Royal Academy of Arts, the London Original Print Fair offers an opportunity to view works from all periods of printmaking, from the earliest woodcuts of Dürer, to the latest editions by contemporary masters.

The intimate, boutique Fair provides a friendly atmosphere for both budding collectors and seasoned print enthusiasts to engage with dealers and artists.

The London Original Print Fair brings together 50 print specialists from across the globe in London’s favourite boutique art fair. Works of art for sale span 500 years of printmaking: from old and modern master prints to the latest editions by today’s leading artists.

The London Original Print Fair’s dealers, galleries and studios offer a wealth of expertise and knowledge to engage with collectors both just starting out, and those building on established collections. This year is the Fair’s most international yet: alongside the UK’s very best dealers and print publishers are galleries and studios from three continents.

Artists represented at the Fair include Rembrandt, Goya, Whistler, Picasso and Warhol, alongside the latest work by Michael Craig-Martin RA, Bridget Riley, Sir Peter Blake and more.

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS