Art

Ronen Goldman: The Surrealistic Pillow

Mar 17

Tel Aviv based Israeli artist Ronen Goldman‘s work from the year 2012 onwards has caught the attention of visual art critics and commentators, and one can see why. Apart from showcasing his proficiency and considerable skills in generating extremely imaginative visualscapes through digital photo manipulations, Ronen’s work also has a streak of social satire and commentary infused with dream-nightmare states. Tapping into long traditions of 20th century surrealistic art and marrying it with 21st century digital tool sets, Ronen’s surrealistic pillow is a memorable and provocative statement. Take a look.

Liu Bolin: Standing still, still Standing

Feb 08

Contemporary performance artist Beijing based Liu Bolin expresses himself by getting painted on his shoes, trousers, jacket, face and hair. A graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Beijing, Liu takes a stand, literally, against what he considers totalizing, unyielding forces, be it late capitalist, marketized consumerism or regimes of political command and control – the individual in each case is annihilated, symbolized by the corporeal evaporation of the one standing alone in Liu’s performance art. Liu is often misunderstood, not surprisingly, by those not familiar with his work – “He is the one who is standing only, and others are painting him with brushes in hand – how is HE the artist!?”. In each of Liu’s performances, he is in complete control, not the ones holding the brushes. He locates the site, directs them (almost cinematic here) to do what they have to do, is fully responsible for the paint used, and above all, presents his bodily self as the canvas. Yes, he stands still, hope he is still standing.

Gregg Dunn: Neuroscience Painting

Aug 11

1. Cerebellar Lobe

Gregg Dunn, neuroscientist, is a lover of Japanese Edo scroll and screen painting. He discovered that the elegant forms of neurons in our brains can be painted expressively in the ‘sumi-e’ style. Neurons may be tiny in scale, but they clearly posess the same beauty seen in traditional forms of far eastern minimalist painting traditions. Dunn offers a unique persepective to our ‘skull tissues’ of neurons, glial flares, hippocampus, the cortex, synapses, and ganglion. Take a look.

Jennifer Maestre: Sculpting with Pencils!

Jul 04

Jennifer, a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design got inspired by sea urchins. What followed was an obsessive love affair with pencils as a medium, not for illustration but for sculpting! Take a look at her sharp sculpting skills.

Clive Cooper: Watermelon Sculptor!

Jun 29

An artist has to find expression, whatever be the medium. Art enthusiast, and now rather well known sculptor Clive Cooper makes his living as a full-time government clerk out of Vancouver, Canada, where he pursues sculpting as a hobby and as a means to supplement his income by providing his sculptures for weddings and parties. Halloween as one would expect, is always a busy time for him. Working with a remarkably difficult and ephemeral medium, he makes short work of it. Take a look.

Exit Through the Gift Shop – Banksy (2010)

Jun 17

Banksy made this exhilarating piece centering around Frenchman Thierry Guetta, himself (in his usual hooded brilliance), and the curious, and lamentable question of ‘What is Art?’. Watch! Read More…

Street Art I

Jun 13

I have always regarded ‘street art’ with a great deal of respect, primarily because it does not seek a gallery audience, is embalmed with a ‘guerillaesque’ spirit, creates ‘beauty’ in ‘ugliness’, has ‘transformative’ and metamorphic goals, is skeptical and irreverent, and mostly, the creators seek anonymity. So unlike the art-market gallery space.