Meet Eddie Breen: piggyback art

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About 10 years ago, Chris Sammartano (Eddie Breen is his ‘brush name’) stumbled upon a “horrible” painting at a flea market. He bought it for a dollar, picked up some art supplies, and got to work transforming the staid church scene into his own vibrant vision.

An hour or so later, he had created “Piggyback Art,” an exuberantly surreal style that reimagines found works with layers of text, color, and offbeat graphic elements. Continue reading Meet Eddie Breen: piggyback art

ROA at Black Rat Press

On my way to BRP (Black Rat Press), I knew I was up for a treat. I knew I would hang out for a while and enjoy ROA’s installation.

What makes ROA so popular is definitely his unique style – (very often) large black and white scale wildlife animals made of spray paint but also his ability in putting together quite clever installation integrating his wildlife characters. Flip out/ flip in some wood panels or just walk round and get a new angle on the installation and you can now see something completely different, the inside of the animals or the outside in this case.

ROA at Black Rat PressROA at Black Rat Press

ROA at Black Rat PressROA at Black Rat Press

We appreciated also ROA’s effort to push its creativity further by integrating x-rays light effect in one of his work. Close the flap and you see the fur of the animal, open it and the inside of the animal is revealed with an X-ray effect (see below)

ROA at Black Rat PressROA at Black Rat Press

ROA’s wildlife is powerful and definitely worth seeing with your own eyes. More pictures of the installation below.

The show is now over.

ROA at Black Rat Press

ROA at Black Rat Press

ROA at Black Rat Press

ROA at Black Rat Press

ROA at Black Rat Press

Art For Heart's Sake – Charity Auction in aid of Kids Company

Margarita by Carne GriffithsThere is still time to go and see the Art For Heart’s Sake – Charity Auction in aid of Kids Company which runs until the 17th February 2012. Art For Heart’s Sake is a social enterprise that seeks to raise awareness and encourage charitable donation through creative engagement.

Some of the noticeable work on auction is ‘Margarita’ by Carne Griffiths. The artwork has been specially created for the exhibition, and is painted in tea and ink onto 540gsm watercolour paper, yes tea!

Other donated works includes artwork from David Spiller, Adam Bridgland, Charlotte Cory, Zoe Mendelson, Inject Love – Brusse and Hanse Cora, and will also feature 100 photographic prints all available to buy chosen from an amazing 5400 submitted works in the hipstamatic sponsored competition

Bid online for this work by visiting the art for heart’s sake website www.artforheartssake.co.uk

 

Shintaro Ohata – the sculptor painter

Shintaro Ohata is one of these artists who will show you something new, who will inspire you, either through a raw and obvious talent or/and because something gets taken to the next level, high, so high it is not reachable by the common creative soul.

Painting meets sculpture or is it rather sculpture redefines painting, I am actually not sure. I am looking at Shintaro Ohata’s works with interest. I then learn that the sculpture elements in his work are actually made of polystyrene and the actual painting is mainly made of acrylic.

shintaro-ohata-featured

This series of works depicts every day scenes of people going about their business but these become much more than that under the artist’s direction. The 3D effect that is created by the sculpted elements, mainly humans or animals, is disconcerting and confuse you as to what you are looking at – a sculpture with a painted background or a painting which includes a sculpture element.

The fusion of the two mediums is pretty remarkable here. Kneel down and look straight and you might not realise that there is a sculpture element, so much so that painting and sculpture elements are binding each other but take a few steps back and the 3D angle is now clear and the artwork has got a completely different feel to it.

We cannot wait for Shintaro Ohata to have a show in London

Shintaro Ohata | Art-Pie Shintaro Ohata | Art-Pie Shintaro Ohata | Art-Pie Shintaro Ohata | Art-Pie Shintaro Ohata | Art-Pie

First seen on Arrested Motion

Tatsuo Horiuchi | the 73-year old Excel spreadsheet artist

Meet Tatsuo Horiuchi, a 73-year old Excel spreadsheet artist. Yes I know, you must be thinking “Excel spreadhseet, wth?!. While millions of us would dive into the software and try to make sense of crazy formulas, Tatsuo Horiuchi has turned it into an amazing art generator.

And guess what, it  is only just before retiring that he thought he had to do something new in his life and went on buying a computer, discovered Excel and has now mastered like no one the tool to produce pretty eye catching pieces.

“I never used Excel at work but I saw other people making pretty graphs and thought, ‘I could probably draw with that,’” says Tatsuo Horiuchi

“Graphics software is expensive but Excel comes pre-installed in most computers,” explained Horiuchi. “And it has more functions and is easier to use than [Microsoft] Paint.” adds Tatsuo Horiuchi

This artist is annoyingly good at what he does. Back to my formulas for my part.

Tatsuo Horiuchi | Art-Pie

Tatsuo Horiuchi | Art-Pie

Tatsuo Horiuchi | Art-Pie

Have a peek at some of the Excel spreadsheets, it is pretty incredible
Cherry Blossoms at Jogo Castle (2006)
Kegon Falls (2007)

First view on Spoon & Tamago

Havana Club presents Wall Project @ Rich Mix

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie
Click to enlarge

The Project is an art competition that will allow emerging talents to gain exposure in one of East London’s cultural hotspots. The twelve-month project includes three commissions launched by three live events, hosted in conjunction with the start of Rich Mix’s new seasons.

We went to see the wall painted by Remi Rough and it is ace – see pictures below

More about the project below:

The Havana Club Wall Project is a celebration of the unique spirit of the Cuban city of Havana. It will embody the unique and inspiring attitude that reflects the true values of the Cuban capital – humanity, spontaneity and creativity – all of which are synonymous with authentic Cuban rum.

Artist Remi/Rough is launching the Havana Club Wall Project with his interpretation and vision of the values that make Havana so unique. The celebrated urban artist has been specially commissioned to design and paint an interior wall that runs the entire length of the Rich Mix events space. The Wall Project is then open as a competition to encourage amateur or professional artists to submit their interpretation of the true values of Havana.

Two winners will then launch the following seasons with their designs on Saturday May 7th and Friday 2nd September. Entries are submitted by e-mail to visualarts@richmix.co.uk, a selection will be posted on the Havana Club UK and Rich Mix facebook page to invite public feedback and final judging will be made by a panel led by Remi/Rough.

Entries must be submitted by: March 7th – with the winning wall design on show from May to July 2011 / OR / July 2nd – with the winning wall design on show from July to September 2011 For further enquiries please contact Krista Booker krista@theneonhub.com or 0207 729 5129

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie
Click to enlarge

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Related links
> Havana Club UK
> Rich Mix London on Facebook

ART-PIE

Internal Objects and the Objectified Self

“Lacan revises and enriches the myth of Narcissus, so passionately in love with his image that he plunges into the water and is drowned.”[1]

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Bathroom, (c)2011 Hayley Harrison
Bathroom, (c)2011 Hayley Harrison

The mirror holds peril. Revealing truths unwanted or enticing the loss of the self to an objectified world. The creation of our self-identity begins with how we respond to our image in the mirror in infancy. We either recognize the ‘other’ and begin the process of socialization or we retreat to find the maternal object and become locked in the death wish.[2] Psychoanalytical theory is of course more complex and involved than that simple description. But the significance in the simplified description is the relationship of self to object. We begin to understand we are an object which occupies space, distinct from others or we seek the comfort and reassurance of objects to satisfy our longing, beginning to see everything as an object available to satisfy us.

In Kleinian theory, the ‘internal object’ is “a mental and emotional image of an external object that has been taken inside the self. The character of the internal object is coloured by aspects of the self that have been projected into it. A complex interaction continues throughout life between the world of internalised figures and objects and in the real world…the state of the internal object is considered to be of prime importance to the development and mental health of the individual.”[3]

Her, (c)2011 Hayley Harrison
Her, (c)2011 Hayley Harrison

We are bound to objects as a means to understand the world, ourselves and the complex relationships we have throughout life. Any kind of exploration of self and identity must perforce include a discussion of objects. This ‘Me’ of Mine has delved into several aspects of this ‘object relationship’, through the work of Kate Murdoch and memory association with personal identity development, Annabel Dover and the complex personal codes and emotions imposed on objects, Cathy Lomax and objects which represent self-image and emotional states and now with the work of Hayley Harrison and her use of objects as an expression of an inner self:

“I think we have to be in the ‘right’ place both internally and externally and that’s when a conversation occurs. For me self-recognition through the external is experienced in its ‘purest’ form when we are here, now, rather than through our pasts or futures.  We can be taken off guard by something, something perhaps poetic that throws us into the present. Whatever that something is, we just have to come into relationship with it.  When we experience one of these rare conversations between the internal and external I believe we come back to ourselves, much like Jacques Lacan’s famous discourse with the sardine can. Ultimately within these moments we are looking into a mirror.”

Read more of my interview with Hayley, Speak Me Many Times .

Read past interviews with Kate Murdoch, Annabel Dover and Cathy Lomax.


[1] Roundinesco, Elisabeth, “The Mirror Stage: an obliterated archive” from The Cambridge Companion to Lacan, edited by Jean-Michel Rabaté, 2003, Cambridge University Press, accessed online  at: http://artsite.arts.ucsb.edu/~arts1a/outlines/The_Cambridge_Companion_to_Lacan.pdf , 25 June 2013

[2] Ibid.

[3] Melanie Klein Trust, http://www.melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/internal-objects ,accessed 25 June 2013

The Super Flemish Pop Icons by Sacha Goldberger

Sacha Goldberger | Art-Pie

Sacha Goldberger is a French photographer born in 1968. He has worked as artistic director in several well-known agencies. Otherwise, he has written and worked on many books and is now known all around the world.

He became famous especially for his photo series “Mamika”, a grandmother superhero performing tasks of daily life. Mamika, the real grandmother of Sasha, is quite a funny person.

Mamika by Sacha Goldberger | Art-Pie

The artist latest exhibition, which was recently held an exhibition at the School Gallery Paris was entitled “Super Flemish” and transform Pop Culture icons into the style of 16th Century Flemish aristocrats.

You will recognise Hulk or Spiderman but also Star Wars characters.

Sacha Goldberger | Art-Pie

Sacha Goldberger | Art-Pie

Sacha Goldberger | Art-Pie

Sacha Goldberger | Art-Pie

Sacha Goldberger | Art-Pie

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