All posts by Pierrick Senelaer

Founder of the Art-Pie site. I design and code websites and apps Monday to Friday from 9 to 5 and enjoy drawing, painting and visits to museums and galleries at night and weekends.

Jota Leal’s Star Wars themed artworks

Jota Leal was born in a humble little town in eastern Venezuela, in the mid-eighties. He began drawing and painting at a very young age, and never studied fine art. He attempted to sit in class as a child of six, but ran away after being forced to paint plastic fruit and empty bottles.

Jota’s style results in a synergy of remarkable painting skill and a probing sense of the subject’s soul, and often tweaked with a remarkable sense of humor. Leal works with pencil on paper, acrylic on board, and acrylic on canvas to achieve his amazing images.

Jota Leal from Venezuela probes the subconscious, showing that depth can be shown with humor and whimsy. — Juxtapoz Magazine

Jota Leal | Art-Pie
BOBA FETT
Jota captures Star Wars villian, Boba Fett in a classic pose, with exceptional coloring.
This dramatic acrylic on canvas painting measures 20″ x 28″.
Jota Leal | Art-Pie
MARRIED WITH CHILDREN
Imagine Mathew Brady, the famous Civil War photographer having taking a familiy portrait from Star Wars. Jota creates a wonderfully bizarre and funny grouping of iconic Star Wars characters, all posed in some classic 19th Century scene. Expertly painted. 24′ x 30″ Acrylic on stretched canvas. Ready to hang.
Jota Leal
CHEWIE
Chewbacca with some robotic enhancement. What could be the story here? Maybe in the next, next episode in a galaxy far, far away. Beautiful landscape coloration by Jota. 36″ x 24″ Acrylic on canvas.
Jota Leal | Art-Pie
THE VANISHING OF OBI-WAN
Wonderfully surreal painting from the Star Wars universe by Jota, in a beautifully illuminated, Dali-esque style. Fine art comes to a galaxy far, far away. 36″ x 24″ acrylic painting on canvas.

Hibernate winter show at Hang Up gallery

Hibernate is an amazing selection of works from some of Hang-Up‘s favourite urban and contemporary artists.

With brand new limited edition prints and original artworks from the likes of Mark Powell, Pure Evil, Delphine Lebourgeois and Joe Webb as well as sought after collectors pieces from Takashi Murakami, Banksy and Invader.

We included below some of the pieces from the show

WHAT – Hibernate
WHERE – 81 Stoke Newington Road, Stoke Newington, London N16 8AD
WHEN – until 31/12/2015

Banksy - Christ With Shopping Bags | ART-PIE
Banksy – Christ With Shopping Bags – Signed Limited Edition Screenprint of 82
Delphine Lebourgeois | ART-PIE
Delphine Lebourgeois – Superhero I – Limited Edition Screenprint of 35

New Banksy in Calais depicts Steve Jobs

Banksy in Calais | Art-PieYou’ve probably heard of Banksy‘s Dismaland, a dystopian amusement park which closed its doors in October of this year.  However you may not have known the installations used for this art project have since been transferred to the port-side town of Calais France by volition Banksy himself.  Labeled “Dismal Aid”, the timber and building materials have been repurposed into housing, children’s play areas, and community centers for the 7000+ Syrian refugees.

At the same time, Banksy has taken this opportunity to spread a few messages about the situation of “The Jungle”, the largest refugee camp in Western Europe. Three new pieces with very strong messages can be seen around Calais – read on below to see the images and brief descriptions.

The Steve Jobs Piece

With weathered clothing and an exhausted body language we see a depiction of Steve Jobs, sporting the now notorious expression from this iconic photograph.  Steve carries an old Macintosh computer and a bin bag or rucksack on his shoulders. The message? Jobs is himself a son of Syrian migrants, he is of the same lineage as the refugees escaping ISIS today.

In a rare public statement to accompany the piece, Banksy expressed his drive and the message:

“We’re often led to believe migration is a drain on the country’s resources but Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant. Apple is the world’s most profitable company, it pays over $7billion a year in taxes – and it only exists because they allowed in a young man from Homs.”

Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie
Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie

The Medusa Piece in the Center of Calais

Based on French artist Théodore Géricault’s Raft of The Medusa, Banksy updates the dark and striking piece with a small background image of a modern cruise ship or luxury yacht. The boat, like the original piece, is embroiled in an intense struggle with the sea.  The message of “We are not all in the same boat” speaks for itself.

Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie

The Young Boy Piece on the Beach

A silhouette of a young boy can be seen looking through a telescope while a vulture watches over him. The message of hope, future and dreams is cast harshly against a looming potential reality of darkness and death.

Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie

These artworks have been well-received by the city of Calais with an official statement in the local newspaper by mayor Natacha Bouchart, describing their value for the city.  The city has expressed their commitment to protect the pieces behind transparent plastic shields, so the message and artworks remain intact for the foreseeable future.

Thomas Allen at Foley gallery

Foley Gallery is very pleased to present Thomas Allen’s solo exhibition Paint by Numbers.

Inspired by a View-Master and “pop-up” books as a child, Allen became interested in recreating these three-dimensional experiences by using old books and pulp fiction paperbacks as still life subjects.

Thomas Allen - Art-Pie

In producing his new series of photographs, Paint by Numbers, Allen has gone to the hardware store and has selected standard paint swatches to use as his primary generative medium. As announced at Allen’s 2009 solo show Epilogue at Foley, Allen has parted ways with his signature use of cutting from book illustrations.

Utilizing wit to illustrate titles such as Birthday Cake, Carnival Candy, and Sweet Tea, Allen playfully employs the idea of color with historical and cultural associations. Titles offered in the paint swatches are implicative: his deftly cut figures reference popular subjects, each of which are enlisted by the name of the paint sample they are carved into.

Allen selects figures such as Donald Trump or Gene Wilder, subjects able to perform the lexicon of narrative titles like Blowfish and Golden Ticket. In the process of assemblage, Allen is able to create narratives that reveal the constructed nature of images and incorporative aspects of collage, photography, and montage.

What – “Paint numbers” by Thomas Allen
Where – Foley gallery 59 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002
When – Until 24/01/15