A 97 year old, nearly blind man who works wonders with MS Paint

His name is Hal Lasko, his nickname Grandpa. What he did for living is something we will probably never see again – he was a graphic artist back when everything was done by hand. He then had to retired and his caring family had the genius idea to introduce him to the computer and especially to Microsoft Paint.

Since then Grandpa spends ten hours a day moving pixels around his computer paintings. Some would call his work pointillism, others 8-Bit art but it might be a bit of both.

Anyway, another inspiration that is Hal Lasko, The Pixel Painter. We have included below a video interview of the artist plus a few examples of his works.

Hal Lasko | Art-Pie

Hal Lasko | Art-Pie

Hal Lasko | Art-Pie

Chen Wenling’s farting bull

When we first noticed Chen Wenling’s “What You see Might Not Be Realsculpture, we immediately wanted to find out more about the artist and his work. This is not the name which jumped at us but the rather amusing look of the sculpture – yes it a farting bull!

Here is what Zhu Qi says about Chen Wenglin’s sculptures

Chen Wenling’s sculptures represent the spirit of collective imagery that defines China after her entrance into consumerist society. His work uses a mythological form that encompasses the spiritual insemination that overtook a generation with materialism in the 1990s, as well as the self-awareness and post awareness era everyday spirit of Chinese after the 1990s.

"What You see Might Not Be Real” (or the Farting Bull)
“What You see Might Not Be Real” (or the Farting Bull)

Zhu Qi adds –

Two main themes are prevalent in Chen Wenling’s sculptures, the first being an expression of the extreme human condition, the latter being an expression of the spiritual imagery of a consumer society.

The “farting bull”, we will refer to the work above using this – so much more fun, is a reflexion ab about the infamous global financial crisis.

The man getting crushed by the bull is Bernard (Bernie) Madoff who is an American fraudster and a former stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.

Chen Wenglin’s “farting bull” has also been used in several other sculpture works. We included below a few examples of these as well as more about the “What You see Might Not Be Real” sculpture – the piece first described above

"What You see Might Not Be Real” (or the Farting Bull) | Art-Pie"What You see Might Not Be Real” (or the Farting Bull) | Art-PieChen Wengling | Art-PieChen Wengling | Art-PieChen Wengling | Art-PieChen Wengling | Art-Pie Chen Wengling | Art-Pie

10 Fidel Castro & Cuba Related Street Art Pieces

Fidel Castro passed away last Friday, he was 90 years old. We browsed the Internet and gathered below a few pics of street art all related to either Cuba or its most famous Prime Minister – Fidel Castro

Here are 10 Fidel Castro & Cuba Related Street art Pieces.

By svetercze, Bergen (Norway)
Fidel Castro Cuba Street Art | Art-Pie

Mural of Fidel Castro & Ernest Hemingway, La Havana (Cuba)
Fidel Castro Cuba Street Art | Art-Pie

Fidel Castro, La Havana (Cuba)
Fidel Castro Cuba Street Art | Art-Pie

Cuba, Trinidad
Fidel Castro Cuba Street Art | Art-Pie

Fidel Castro Cuba Street Art | Art-Pie

Fidel Castro, Cuba
Fidel Castro Cuba Street Art | Art-Pie

Who is Fidel Castro?

Fidel Castro | Art-PieFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who governed the Republic of Cuba for 47 years as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2006 (de jure until 2008).

Politically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party socialist state; industry and business were nationalized, and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.

Dale Grimshaw at Signal gallery – Moreish

Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieWe made our way down to one of our favorite art galleries to check out the new set of works from Dale Grimshaw that makes up his new show entitled “Moreish”. Having seen a few previous shows from the same artist, we knew that we were up for another display of strong emotions from the artist and we were right.

This time, the artist looks at the notion of “excess” that is spreading in modern societies and which seems to affect an increasing number of people. Here is what the artist had to say about it “It is a case of enough is never enough. The ‘haves’ want more and the ‘haves not’ can pay for it. Once we get that acquisitive taste, we just want more and more”

As the title of this show suggests – Moreish, the food element is everywhere in Dale Grimshaw’s pieces and they are piling on top of each other and dripping down faces of the characters the artist using in his paintings. This certainly gives a sense of a “too much” but also of a “waste” which “moreish” behaviour might lead to. The color palette used here – black/dark background in most cases combined with fiery colours, clearly translate the negative artist’s view on that notion of excess spreading in our societies according to him. A a result, the atmospere of the show is rather thick and heavy and you can almost feel its weight on your shoulders.

It is also worth pointing out the variety of characters that are depicting in Dale Grimshaw’s work, from the sweet and soft women’s faces to the rather alien looking “thing” which, apart from perhaps warning us what will happen if we embrace “excess, will add even more tension to the show.

From a more technical point of view, Dale Grimshaw’s techniques are just amazing. Oil and acrylics are the main mediums for this set of new works while canvases  and wooden boards are the main supports used here. If we had to pick a piece out of the lot and on a pure aesthetic point of view, ” The Platter” (oil on board) would be the one. The color palette is striking. See pictures below

The Platter
Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieDale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-Pie

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The show runs until the 23rd November 2012
Signal gallery | 32 Paul Street London EC2A 4LB | 020 7613 1550

Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieDale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-Pie

Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieDale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-Pie

Jester Jacques at the Other Art fair

This is it. Last stretch before the start of The Other art fair and the display of delightful artworks as usual. We are also looking forward to see our friends at Jester Jacques gallery who will hold their fort in the bar area – nice.

True to themselves and always believing and supporting of the emerging art scene, Jester Jacques gallery will most certainly please use with a pertinent selection of artists for the fair. Artwork from Rob Bellman, Chris Daniels, Super Future Kid, Steven Quinn and Nicholas Goodden will be showcased.

We have included below our favorite artwork for each artists and hope to see you at the fair.

Nicholas Gooden
Nicholas Gooden

Super Future Kid (left) | Chris Daniels
Super Future KidChris Daniels

Steven Quinn (left) | Rob bellman
Steven QuinnRob Bellman

The Other art fair

STREET ART