Katrina Rupit new show at Westbank gallery

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Kathrina was born in Mexico City and studied visual arts and photography at the University of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Her native country means that her work is infused with a rich vitality and a colourful exuberance. As an Urban artist, she produces work which is perhaps softer and more lyrical than her male contemporaries. She has a deep admiration for iconic female figures, especially her compatriot Frida Kahlo.

Over the last couple of years Kathrina has lived and worked in Dublin, Ireland and has become a vital fixture of the vibrant street art scene there.

Kathrina uses an array of mediums to achieve an extraordinary effect – From spray paints, newspaper collage and urban markers to assemblage of cardboard, door parts and even Popsicle sticks. She is constantly challenging the means of urban representation, reinventing the genre in a feminist context.

Her work is deeply tied to her Mexican roots, addressing social issues such as racial discrimination and embracing a culture without the curse of violence and gangs.

She is the voice of a new generation, producing artwork that is bold and seductive. Like Frida before her, she is conscious of the innate power of her gender. She excites the male gaze with her portraits being alive with a raw sexual energy. They are alluring and even provocative.

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Kathrina’s technical ability and artistic representational skill are first rate, creating both an awareness of environmental issues and tapping into the Mexican concept of the cycle of life, seen in the celebration of ‘Dia de los Muertos’.

The physicality of life in Kathrina’s work is seen in her numerous performances and live events, which is a crucial aspect of her practice. She wants the work to be alive, she wants the audience to see the process in action and feel the creative energy as it happens.

4 awesome photo manipulations by Leo Rocha

When asking Leo Rocha about making striking images to publicise Ecuador and its tourism, I wonder whether the tourism board of this country knew that they were in for a treat! I do not know for you but we think here at Art-Pie that these are pretty awesome and we definitely want to go and check out Ecuador now!.

Made by Koenig & Partners ad agency. CGI by Luiz Alves and Javier Porcel. Retouch by Leo Rocha, Ramon Saroldi and Marceu Lobo.All you need is Ecuador | Art-Pie All you need is Ecuador | Art-Pie All you need is Ecuador | Art-Pie All you need is Ecuador | Art-Pie

Fairies Wires sculpture by Robin Wight

Robin Wight & his fairies wires sculptures | Art-PieSculpture is a fantastic form of art and here, at Art-Pie, our interest is growing every day.

Especially when you see what a bit of imagination and craftsmanship can do.

Meet Robin Wight, artist based in Staffordshire (England) who has taken wires sculptures to the next level.

Fairies at the bottom of the garden

Here is what he says about how his interest for wires fairies sculptures came about. You will indeed notice that the artist has a keen interest in depicting fantasy characters, like fairies, in his sculpture work.

“In 1920 two little girls photographed fairies at the bottom of their garden and created a news sensation. As we know, the photographs were fake, but the story captured the imagination of people who wanted to believe.

A couple of years ago, while trying out my new camera, I took the picture (right) in the woods at the bottom of my garden. It was only later when looking at the results that I spotted the figure in the tree (above). Its obviously a trick of the light coming through the trees. What else could it be?

Whatever it is, it captured my imagination and inspired me to use the idea in my sculpture.”

Robin Wight & his fairies wires sculptures | Art-Pie

Just a hobby for now

We understand that Robin Wight only started making Fairies sculptures recently and while it is still a hobby, he hopes to make a living out of it. We do not see why people would not pay for the artists’s creations as they will enhance any garden or parks.

“I only started wire sculptures about a year ago. I’ve been refining the quality and technique and I’m now happy to start doing commission work (before my garden turns into a theme park). Its currently a hobby which I’d like to make a career, but let’s see how much interest there is first. Every fairy is a handmade sculpture uniquely crafted to your desired pose and installation requirements.”

Robin Wight & his fairies wires sculptures | Art-Pie

Robin Wight & his fairies wires sculptures | Art-Pie

Let your creation go wild and make wires sculptures yourself!

If you are interested in how Robin Wight makes up his wires sculptures, you can head onto his website and read his detailed step-by-step section. I did not imagine how tedious, it would seem, such creations take.

Even better you can even download your FantasyWire Starter Kit

The Stitch project, raising environmental issues awareness through art

Stitch is an organisation that raises environmental awareness through the arts. Stitch does this by hosting events that use art to inspire and engage people with environmental issues. The guys at Stitch will use a variety of different events such as art exhibitions, photography competitions and short film festivals to appeal to people in different ways.

The next Stitch show is right upon us: “Focus on Nature” Open Photography Competition Submissions. It opens this Monday 5th March and will run until the 23.

They ask for a £5 donation per image you submit. These funds go towards contributions to these two fantastic organisations listed below. Find out more information about the show from the Stitch Facebook event page or on the Stitch website.

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/
http://www.back2earth.org.uk/

A video of a previous show held at The Diary is included below

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Snow circles by Sonja Hinrichsen

There are many ways of enjoying snow, some would get strapped on their snowboard and speed down the slopes whilst other may just look at it falling down. Sonja Hinrichsen thought otherwise, radically so even.

She gathered five people and warned them they will be needed for a few hours, 3 to be precise. To do what? Snow circles. Filmed from the air and the whole thing acquires another dimension, majestic and surreal. Video and pictures below.

> View another drawing from Sonja
> Full photoset for “snow circles”

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Fragile, a new show by Dan Baldwin at Gallery 8

We have had to wait for three years but it is now upon us – “Fragile”, the new solo show by Dan Baldwin is opening tomorrow to the publich at Gallery 8. We hear that the artist will explore the concepts of mortality and beauty. As always, the new works by Dan Baldwin promise to be distinctively colourful defying categorisation as figurative or abstract, real or imaginary.

For those not so familiar with Dan Baldwin’s works, expect encompassing ceramics, silkscreen prints, resin, acrylics, spray paint and found objects carefully mixed together and resulting in complex and intricate pieces. It is also worth to point out that most of the objects in his uses have been collected since he was a child.

Big City | Art-Pie
Big City

The show will present another set of large-scale acrylic works where the artist continue the exploration of symbolism and narrative. By contrast, the artist has also developed a series of abstract canvasses which are devoid of any motifs but instead explore further his fascination with colour harmony. In comparison to others in the exhibition, these works evoke a positive response in the viewer but still ask us to consider the uncertain and short-lived nature of human happiness.

Sacrilegium by Dan Baldwin | Art-Pie
Sacrilegium – click to enlarge

A large proportion of the show will be dedicated to a series of delicate ceramics, a medium with which the artist has started to experiment further in recent years. Now working with a Sicilian pottery workshop, the artist is creating increasingly elaborate urn-like vessels which are representative of death and the fleeting nature of our existence. The most ambitious to date is perhaps “Sacrilegium” (2013) which is adorned with a real human skull cast in clay as well as 20% pure gold paint, crucifix, cherubs and an antique Russian bear figurine. These motifs increase the funerary connotations of the object, making it appear fragile in more ways than one.

But Dan Baldwin’s exploration of new mediums in his art does not stop here. He has also developed a series of large-scale tile paintings for the exhibition. “The Picnic” (2012), for example, is made up of 96 tiles overlaid with several glazes and precious metals. The dreamlike scene is filled with juxtapositions of life and death, innocence and corruption; children play with a severed head whilst Mickey Mouse dances with a skeleton. In a final act of ‘iconoclasm’ the artist smashed the tiles before assembling them, to demonstrate their fragility

The Picnic | Art-Pie
The Picnic

What – “Fragile” the new solo show by Dan Baldwin
Where – Gallery 8
When – 20/9 till 5/10/2013 (private view on the 19/9)

Digital media: a Skullphone project

Digital Media, the new solo exhibition by Skullphone, aims to bring the playfulness, obsession, irony and anxiety of the Los Angeles-based artists’ renowned street installations into the Subliminal Projects space.
In Digital Media, Skullphone examines the contradictions inherent in outdoor digital signage, demonstrating cause for both wonder and concern over the increasingly ubiquitous medium. The artist explores advertising, government and private enterprise signage, and the California landscape on which outdoor media proliferate, making permanent on panels what is removable and reprogrammable in outdoor space.

Although of the same spirit as his past work, Digital MediaIthink marks a distinct visual departure for the artist. His use of mirror-polished, black-painted aluminum panels is a cold and slick leap from past works on found wood, weathered metal, and wheat-pasted paper. Skullphone’s painting technique employs a deliberate dot grid system, and his painted color is expanded to a limited palette of red, green and blue. This shift corresponds to the artist’s recent inspirations and exploits with outdoor digital media. Through painted pointillism, the imagery dislocates as the artwork is approached.

N.B: The words above have been taken from the website www.subliminalprojects.com

Watch below the preview of the show which is currently running until the 2nd July 2010 at the SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS GALLERY, Los Angeles, USA.

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