We always look with interest artists that use mediums one might not even think it can be used in any art process. This is exactly what Olga Ziemska is. Sculptor and public artist who lives & works in Cleveland, Ohio, she would use willow branches, wires, Conch shell, locally reclaimed birch logs or plaster hand casts
We have included some of her works below
Meet Mehdi Ghadyanloo, a proficient street artist from Teheran, Israel.
The artist style is ‘illusion’ and his works always need you to look again and again to understand what it is all about but that illusional aspect is most definitely why so many people appreciate it.
Surreal scenes are often depicted in his murals such as a man floating up into the sky and holding on helium balloons.
Mehdi Ghadyanloo is a painter and designer based in Tehran, Israel. His street art is extensive. What makes his artworks particularly intriguing is that they are full of dimension that tricks the brain.
Held 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.
Here is part II of my afternoon spent on Brick Lane spotting the creativity that transpires off its wall. If you missed the beginning, here is part I.
Architecture is often looked over isn’t it? But when you come across architects such as the belgian artist and architectural photographer Filip Dujardin, you have to share a bit of love and make you aware of his works.
He just had a show at Highlight Gallery in San Francisco and we hear that the works focused on “fictional buildings that Dujardin has created using a digital collaging technique from photographs of real buildings around Ghent, Belgium.”
One will classify these as “absurd“, as the “René Magritte and Raoul Servais” of architecture.
What do you reckon?
First seen on Slamxhype
In our first group show in the new Paul Street space, we are presenting four very interesting artists whose work links and entwines in very winning ways. It’s a fine match between the abstract and figurative ends of the painting spectrum.
However, this is not a one sided game, but an exploration of overlapping skills and techniques, that will make excellent viewing, if not producing any obvious winners.
Dan Baldwin
Of the two strongly figurative artists in the show, Dan Baldwin is best known to the UK. His dynamic and intricately subtle paintings are a familiar and respected part of the contemporary/urban art scene.
Joram Roukes
Joram Roukes is a new name to the UK. Roukes large-scale oil paintings have a sense of fantasy and humour that is superficially akin to Baldwin’s work. However, there is a more robust and serious purpose to these works, which gives them a powerful and dark effect.
Andrew McAttee
The absence of any familiar figurative imagery seems to create an unnerving sense of emptiness. This is indeed joyous and decorative work (Power Pop Art as the artist calls it), with a childlike directness, but somehow there is still a sense of a void, giving the work an edge.
John Squire
His artwork first came to public notice with the very popular Pollockesque album cover designs for his band. Since then, his work has been paired down and has become generally abstract in form.
When
10th February Private View.
11th February – 5th March open to public.
Where
Signal gallery – 32 Paul Street London, EC2A 4LB
Words by Signal gallery
New-York based street artist and real painter, Dan Witz masters the technique called “trompe-l’oeil” with his technique – he uses metal grate graphic that he backs with a 1/8″ thick plastic that give the lifting effect and then the 3D effect is achieved.
Head to the blitz website to check out the latest series entitled “What the %$#@?” (WTF) series and pocket you one up for just 30 dollars.
Check out the video about Dan Witz 3D street art:
Last time a major show about Rene Magritte happened was in 1992 at the Hayward gallery, London. This time, Tate Liverpool is having a go at presenting us a character known to be a sexual obsessive with a twisted mind – the perfect definition of a surrealist painter, some would say, which Rene Magritte was.
Reading about his biography and it does not take long to get to the bottom of his deviance. Rene Magritte saw his mum getting pulled out of the river she threw herself in, she only had her nightdress wrapped around her head, the rest was naked. Rene Magritte was 14.
A direct link to this traumatic event can definitely be seen in The Lovers, painting he made in 1928 and on display at the Tate Liverpool for this show.
Commercial works have also taken a large place in Rene Magritte’s life and this show dedicates a large section to them – Rene Magritte did not get rich until late in his career and resorted some freelance graphic design work. One of his main clients was the Belgian couture house Norine.
What – René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle
Where – Tate (Liverpool)
When – 24 June – 16 October 2011
Related links
René Magritte: The artist who turned the world on its head (The Telegraph)
René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle – exhibition (The Guardian)
I have always found that acrylic paint used in conjunction with spray paint is a definite winner and give you astonishing results. However, it is difficult to master both mediums for most of us unless you are Will Barras.
Bad Reception, his latest show at Stolen Space, brought to us a series of works never exhibited before which, for most of them, have been painted using acrylics and spray paint (oil and ink have also been used for some of the works).
I was walking towards the entrance of the gallery and could see some of Will Barras’ works and my first thought was ‘wow, it looks amazing from here’. I was eager to go in and check the show out.
The fact that most of the works are large scales pieces gives you the tone of the show – bold. A quick look around the gallery and it became obvious to me that the composition in his works is heavy and busy which, coupled with the large scale aspect make the whole experience very overwhelming. Add to this a varied and strong colour palette and often you get some sort of dramatic or epic feel to the painting, it is almost exhausting to look at his works as you need to look and look again to get the whole picture, to get the story behind it.
Indeed Will Barras intend to tell us a story, the story of Mr Benn – read more about iton the Stolen Space website
Will Barras’s technique is really remarkable, he manages to combine urban/graffiti techniques with more traditional mediums such as acrylics or oil and the result is breathtaking and definitely achieve to blur the line between abstract and reality – what is really going on these paintings?
“I want to maintain the natural flow and energy, the tension between abstract and figurative, while developing and elaborating on a narrative. To generate a multiple choice of possibilities of what could be happening Ideas usually develop from the everyday mundane, broken phone converations and awkward situations …” Will Barras
The show ran until the 14th November 2010.
NB: if you wonder whether the motorbike was part of the show, well not really. Will Barras decided to leave it there after the opening night. Random but it did fit well with the show!
ART-PIE
I must admit I don’t often think about how design is all around me. I could say it is embedded in my life, from when I wake up to when I go to bed. My alarm clock, the typography in my book, the label on my favourite bottle of plonk and the lamp I switch off at night.
If you think design is just function, think again. Immerse yourself in the top floor of The Design Museum with their Designs of the Year exhibition.
This array of international pieces span: Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Product and Transport. Feast your eyes on this ‘look book’ across the design spectrum for the museums Design Awards. A high profile judging panel decide the best entries in each of the seven categories. The category award winners and the overall winner of the Design of the Year Award shall be announced in April 2012.
Turning function on its head, the Design Museum display also includes works poking fun at design in computer functions with – Your Browser Sent A Request That This Server Could Not Understand – an illustrated depiction of the internet by Koen Taselaar.
Designs of the Year looks outside the box; not just new spangled technology or expensive materials. Noma Bar (above) produces simple shapes, that reveal hidden possibilities, whose negative and positive spaces draw the eye every time. There are designs that are simplistic, that save lives. The Earthquake Proof Table by Arthur Brutter and Ido Bruno (below) is astonding in its clean back to basics design that could help thousands.
Shopping online and on the move is nothing new but South Korea have taken mobile and digital aspects to the next level. Homeplus Tesco Virtual Store is the result – below. Choose your item from their virtual store!
Augmented reality is given a breath of fresh air by Swappu, creating a ‘holo-deck’ feel, well, okay it’s not quite up to Star Trek level. The animations are great and the playfulness of it will be a hit for kids. Its a soft and easily lovable digital world that shall no doubt advance rapidly.
See the app in action here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBmLWdjtzPw
One Thousand Cranes for Japan is a charity project that aims to inspire and bring people together to be part of a final creation. Members of the public can choose, download and print off the paper designs to fold into their own origami creation. A chance to be part of the designs final creation, it’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s not meant to be.
The Comedy Carpet (below images) takes typography bold and big. It reminds us font is more than just Arial and Times New Roman selected on a computer screen. This gigantic installation, created by Why Not Associates, sprawls out in front of the Blackpool Tower and features over 160,000 granite letters embedded in concrete. It refers to the work of more than 1,000 comedians and comedy writers, giving a visual form to jokes, songs and catchphrases.
The Crates (below) by Naihan Li & Co is a product that is a must for the clothes obsessed, and those who need organisation of all their essential fashion items. See just how functional a plain industrial looking crate can be, reacting to our clothing hoarding and need for storage.
This work is in stark contrast to Sarah Burton‘s now infamous handmade lace that’s delicately on display. This painstakingly handcrafted work was stitched into the nations memories on Kate Middleton’s wedding dress.
The wide spectrum at the Designs of the Year should open up your eyes to the flexibility and intricacy of design and its ability to problem solve, whilst looking back to the past for inspiration.
With mass market production all to easy to snub, design is at an exciting point; using mass production processes to save lives but taking us back to simplicity, creating unique angles on our lives.
The Designs of the Year exhibition runs 8 February – 4 July at The Design Museum. For tickets and information click me!
