“What is a Creative?” That’s the theme of this week’s podcast where Stephen and Rob are flying solo (duo?) on another ‘hot cocoa show.’ Check out the outline below with timestamps if you want to skip to a particular topic. We talk about why our career (animation) and creative careers in general are a bit different and sometimes hard to relate to by those that aren’t in this type of field, what type of pressures we’re under and how we cope with them, and the all important topic of wrestling work and personal projects at the same time. What is the deeeallll with objective and subjective criteria?? Drinking game to NOT do… sip whenever I say objective or subjective. Yea, don’t do that.

My hope for this week’s episode is that we articulate why being in a creative field is so weird and seemingly incomprehensible to even those close to us and why that may not matter (and that’s a good thing). I kept this episode clean so if you want to send this to someone who you feel doesn’t understand you, wants to, and you don’t have the words or time to try explaining it… feel free! And let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. How do you understand your career? How do you deal with the unique pressures it presents?

Annotations:

 
Stephen’s VLOG series in creating an animated short (playlist includes episodes 1-8) mentioned at the 1:19:55 mark in this episode of the podcast

 
Check out more of your hosts:
Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)
Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)
Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)

And please Rate/Review us on iTunes
… and Rate/Review us on Stitcher while you’re at it! (=

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Hunt for Inspiration – a recent solo gallery show featuring artwork by Jamie Martinez at the Galerie Protege in Chelsea was incredibly well received in its opening reception.  The basement level gallery was buzzing with excited viewers of all kinds.  A mixed lot of artists, enthusiasts, collectors, photographers and more talked with excitement while taking iPhone photos of the work – reveling in the unique qualities of the geometric images that emblazon Martinez’s canvases.

The show contains a collection of artwork demonstrating the progression in the artist’s concepts of geometry and abstraction as it develops over time.  Early versions of Martinez’s work are actually “abstract fabric artwork” as he describes them, using “abstract digital images that examine the beginning process of my work,” explains Martinez.  These early artworks are composed of overlapping triangular pieces of brightly colored fabric that are sewn together on top of a canvas, creating a collage-like conglomeration of textures and shapes, somewhat reminiscent of a quilt, which perhaps alludes to more simplistic and early forms of artwork.

Intermingled amongst some of the earlier fabric pieces are second stage artworks or pieces that are the next phase of evolution in the progression of Martinez’s concept.  These second level artworks vary as some are composed of vast fields of tiny triangles creating seas of color and texture, while others are highly complex, featuring a more three dimensional element, as they are larger images composed of hundreds of small painted wooden squares, or tiles, which are affixed together to create a mosaic style, singular large image.  From a distance, these vast collections of squares, which are further divided into tiny triangles, begin to come together to illustrate an extremely distorted face.

Next to these paintings are small signs that read, “Use your camera to see the image”.  The signs imply that once you photograph the image (or even just use your cameras view finder to look at the work) it is somehow again changed in form.  This is a recurring theme in Martinez’s work, and as demonstrated in Hunt for Inspiration, when viewed through a camera, the paintings do indeed look different, and almost become more clear and vivid in digital form.

“The birth of my paintings start with an idea for a series; then I go on the internet and find images that appeal to me and express what I want to communicate in my painting.  Once I have the images that are provocative… I focus on how to deconstruct the images using triangles and paint the image so it can only be appreciated when seen through technology.”  – Jamie Martinez

This aspect of Martinez’s work creates an intriguing commentary, as it requires the viewer to use a digital interface to experience physical artwork in its most vivid form.

The final phase of artworks in Martinez’ concept depicts further evolved and elaborate images which are again broken down into distorted geometric patterns.  These third level paintings are painted directly onto canvas, but in this version the images use a wide variety in scale of triangles, creating tiny clusters of shapes which illustrate a smoother transition in shading and texture.  These images portray distorted faces of various animals in both regal and aggressive poses.

“My new paintings deal with the validation of images, our obsession with our smartphones and the relationship between art and technology. When you look at my paintings in person, you don’t see the clear image. Technology validates the images and only through it can you clearly see the details of my work. Then after it’s posted online–it takes a life of its own.” – Jamie Martinez

Hunt for Inspiration provides a provocative look at both the evolution of Jamie Martinez’s work as an artist as well as a highly intriguing commentary on society’s reliance on technology to interface with reality.  The images in the show range from simplistic geometry to highly evolved and elaborate compositions which require technology in order to gain a full experience of their contents.  The viewer is left with much to contemplate after seeing this show, including the question of which is the real artwork; is it the digital image or the physical painting, and how will this affect the future of art creation and appreciation?  Many of these questions are left unanswered, although it is clear that neither the digital image nor the physical painting are complete without the other.

Hunt For Inspiration is currently on display at Galerie Protege, 197 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan, and closes April 23, 2015.

Writing by Lia Simone
Photos by Cojo

The post Hunting For Artistic Inspiration In Manhattan With Jamie Martinez appeared first on Artiholics.

You’ve may noticed that a good number of bus shelters and billboards around the city are not so lame anymore. In the rush of traffic and commutes we don’t normally pay attention to trifles such as outdoor advertisements, but lately there have been some reasons to wait for the next bus.

It won’t take you long.  You can spare a couple of minutes to spend with the art displayed in your bus stop. If you just scan it with your smartphone you’ll immediately discover more about the piece, the artist and its history, as well as the museum it comes from.

This is not a natural phenomenon as you can expect, but a nationwide campaign to promote American art and raise awareness for a group of museums. The art will be displayed in all sorts of billboards, telephone kiosks, subways, newsstands, bus shelters, and oversized screens such as the all mighty LED screens of Times Square.

This artistic campaign is a collaboration ( #ArtEverywhereUS ) between the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and five museums: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Dallas Museum of Art, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and The Whitney Museum of American Art. These museums aim both at educating the public and of course sparking interest in the American art they display at their sites.

Once you are aware of the existence of this campaign, the images surprise you everywhere. There are 58 different art works disseminated around the City, and all over the country, but that’s too much of a wide field for this modest urbanite. The big screens in front of the Madison Square Garden spot art from time to time. The horribly overcrowded Port Authority Station displays “The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme” by Joseph Stella in the steps of a random staircase. Inside metro cars, or in a pathway at 14^th Street, the list becomes too diverse. You can drive by 23^rd Street between 8^Th and 9^Th Avenues and get instinctually stopped by a big Rothko that resembles a STOP sign. We can travel to Egypt in 8^th and 38^th Steet. Or reconcile with your lovely one at Broadway and West 91^st because after all we get along so much better than the couple in Grant Wood’s American Gothic.

American Gothic, 1930 by Grant Wood

My Egypt, 1927 by Charles Demuth

Written and Photographed by Alejandro Pardo

The post What the ART is Going on with my Bus Stop Advertising? appeared first on Artiholics.

The Hamptons, New York – Thursday, July 10, 2014

In the mood for a summer art fair and some upwardly mobile schmoozing this weekend?  Pack up the family, rent a car, and get ready for a brisk two-hour road trip to Art Hamptons, the official art fair of the Hamptons. 

#ArtHamptons  is the premiere international contemporary & modern art event of the summer. Two fellow Artiholics and I will be in attendance.  We will be leaving the city sometime in the next hour for a hopefully uneventful Summer drive to the fair, in our “Hamptons Casual” attire.  We of course had to google how casual “Hamptons Casual” is.

Hamptons “REALLY” Casual.

The festivities kick off with the first look from 5-7pm where we will be photographing and hobnobbing with the black card social elites . Nothing but the best hor d’oeuvres by Cheffe Colette @ The Inn Spot on the Bay, complimentary open wine bars sponsored by Sequoia Grove, sparkling wine & specialty cocktails (courtesy of AVIV 613 VODKA).

After that from 7-9:30pm we will be taking even more pictures with the VIP’s at the opening night preview party, where we will witness thought-provoking performance art, enjoy complimentary wine bars, sparkling wine & specialty cocktails, and tour through 85 prominent gallery displays from 10 countries.

Art Hamptons is open to the general public Friday and Saturday from 11am to 8pm, Sunday, 11am to 6pm.

https://www.facebook.com/ArtHamptons

60 Millstone Rd, Water Mill, NY 11976  < This is where we are going on google maps, because the gps doesn’t know where Nova’s Arc is. Wish us luck!

Follow-up article coming Monday 7-14-14

Photos by Rick Friedman for Art Hamptons.
Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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Harlem, New York City – Thursday, June 26, 2014

Harlem has had its ups and downs throughout its history, to say the least. One of its shining times was the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s, in which African American culture was booming with Southern cuisine, music, art, excitement, and creativity. During the Harlem Renaissance, between 7th avenue and Lenox, there were over 125 entertainment places that operated, which varied from cellars, lounges, speakeasies, cafes, taverns, supper clubs, rib joints, theaters, dance halls, bars and grills. 133rd Street was known known as “Swing Street”, because it housed cabarets, a jazz scene during the Prohibition era, and was named “Jungle Alley” because of “inter-racial mingling” on the street. The area has also seen great sadness stemming from poverty, crime, disease, and ongoing gentrification. Harlem is a cultural epicenter that has given rise to major hip-hop artists such as A$AP Rocky, Immortal Technique, Tupac, P Diddy, and Azealia Banks, to name just a few. There is a strong spiritual component to Harlem, as there are over 400 churches and religious congregations. The area is constantly going through change, turmoil, and celebration. For the past two years, I have lived on 100 West, 141 street, right up the block from the mural of Big L, and the Harlem Hospital which houses a massive glass painting on 135th street and Lenox. I have been a guest of Harlem, but I am about to take part in a new change within it: The Harlem Arts Festival.

The Harlem Arts Festival, is happening in Marcus Garvey Park, a 20.17-acre park, surrounded by flat lawns and playing fields. The park is bounded by 120th Street and 124th Street and by Madison Avenue on its east side. The Festival is the culmination of an extraordinary amount of work  by J.J. El-Far, Neal Ludevig, and Chelsea Golding, three extremely ambitious entrepreneurs who see the potential in Harlem’s art scene as what it once was, and what it can become. This is the festival’s third year, and I have a strong feeling it is going to be bigger and better next year.

The following are just a few of some of the over 40 artists behind the Harlem Arts Festival of 2014.

Artist, Lance Johnson, with collage merging with paint in stunning imagery.

Zest Collective, a group of movement artists – some from Julliard and others from the Alvin Ailey School. I will be combining the talent of Zest Collective dancers with Andrew Kaminski Art audiovisual projections enhancing their movement, the night of the Opening, at MIST, this Friday, June 27th from 7:30 – 8 pm. In this video, I combine their movement with my video projections. 

There are musical acts such as Isaac Katalay, who sees art as an outlet to promote positivity for humanity.

Paul Tabachneck, whose smooth voice exudes his love and passion for music and his life.

Tiffany Latrice, with her figurative representations juxtaposed with vibrant patterns.

Alice Mizrachi is a working artist in Harlem, and has been prolific with works on canvas and murals.

The schedule for the Festival is here, and it runs from June 27th (the opening night), Saturday, June 28th, and Sunday, June 29th. I hope to see you there!

Written by Andrew Kaminski 

The post The Harlem Renaissance is back in the 2014 Harlem Arts Festival appeared first on Artiholics.

Meryl Meisler is a Brooklyn based photographer who captured a very tumultuous, dangerous, and simultaneously glamorous era in NYC history – the 1970s and 80s. During that time, Manhattan was erupting with surreal characters and scenesters, gallivanting in iconic night clubs, while across the bridge in Bushwick, Brooklyn, there was destruction, arson, looting, the crack epidemic, and tensions between the disenfranchised communities that resided there. She taught in a Bushwick public school and with camera at the ready she bore firsthand witness to the opposing worlds, which existed just few subway stops apart.

Meryl carried a medium format camera nearly everywhere she went, and caught a glimpse into two very different social environments. One of those settings was the disco-era music and dance scene. She snapped photos of William Shatner, Andy Warhol, Grace Jones, and frequented  Studio 54. She went to places like the Paradise Garage, one of the most powerful House music venues of all time.

Meryl Meisler referred to the initial lines of A Tale of Two Cities when describing the then NYC dichotomy between extravagant Manhattan nightlife and the struggling nightmare of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” – Charles Dickens

I went on a walk with Meryl, and then she took me out to lunch. Her eyes glowed with compassion and warmth. She currently lives in Chelsea, and she supervises/teaches future art teachers at NYU. Her new exhibition highlights photos published in her new book by Bizarre Publishing, called A Tale of Two Cities & her work is displayed in Bushwick’s Black Box Gallery (12 Jefferson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206). She sent me photos, some of which have never been released. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did:

The original Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, and later to become the Priceline spokesperson, William Shatner is seen above. Meryl didn’t seek these people out, they just showed up in her life without her going out of the way. They seemed to be bizarre characters that had found their place in the media.

I love this one, it’s almost as if there was a crossover with disco night life into the grime and neglect of Bushwick.  My guess is that this depicts the relics of the night a woman got drunk, and experienced that shaky, exciting time. The shoes are evidence of god-only-knows what kind of misfortune and tales of love and loss that accompanied this shoe’s original owner.

 Meryl described Grace Jones (follow the link to view Jones’ YouTube video, ‘Cannibal Corpse’) as a diva, and when she walked in, she looked fabulous and divine.

This photograph cracks me up, the overt abundance of pubic hair, and the benevolent yet devious grin of the man contorting his body. Not to mention the guy with the flamboyant hat, in a mesmerized daze.

I said, “why not ask her for a photo of herself?” This photograph exemplifies the sexy and exuberant energy that I witnessed Meisler to possess ( she is standing to the left).

Meryl talked about where these three amigos wound up – one in jail, one died, and one still lives in Brooklyn. This photo was the first one that caught my attention due to the presence of innocence that had the immanency of destruction and pain.

To see more of Meisler’s photos, check out the show in Bushwick.

Meryl Meisler’s
A TALE OF TWO CITIES:
DISCO ERA BUSHWICK
exhibition and book launch
Exhibit open through September 10, 2014
Gallery Hours: Daily, 11am – 4am
BIZARRE PUBLISHING
8.5 x 11 inches
180 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9910141-1-8
$40.00 USA/CAN

Written by Andrew Kaminski

The post Is This Bushwick’s First Hipster? Meryl Meisler Photographed The Neighborhood Before It Was Cool appeared first on Artiholics.

New York City – Monday, April 21, 2014

Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson, immediately caught my attention with its entrancing, artistic trailer. I was drawn to Johansson’s gaze, and the comparison of director, Jonathan Glazer to Stanley Kubrick.

Artiholics gives the perspective of culture as told from an artist’s perspective, therefore I aim to do exactly that with this film that employed an artist’s eye to so many frames of the film [SPOILERS TO COME].

If you’re looking to see a film that doesn’t have a conventional Hollywood plot with predictable punchlines, but rather disturbing and at times uncomfortable dialogue between bizarre characters, ‘Under the Skin’ delivers that and leaves you feeling like you transported to some strange place that only an off kilter story and captivating cinematography can bring you.

The film offers a full spectrum of rich landscapes. A vast beach, rocks on the shore, violent waves, with a crying infant in its vastness and threatening tides. An urban environment, architecture surrounding busy crowds of civilians, with faces and interactions overlaid on top of one another in an orange luminescent glow suggesting the seemingly infinite layers of personalities and entanglement of connections immersed in a metropolis.

A forest dense with green towering pine trees bending and swaying in powerful gusts of wind that Johansson loses herself in as she is swallowed in bright scorching flames to contrast with the vegetation. The film concludes with the billowing clouds of grey smoke exuding into the abysmal sky Johansson’s extraterrestrial host descended from.

The chilling serenity of the natural settings is mirrored by the haunting scenes of the house Johansson lures her male victims in to harvest their skin and essence. The house is entered through a cellar door, and the unsuspecting and sexually hungry men are immersed in darkness with a stark light on them and Johansson, as she takes off her clothes. “Come to me,” she tells them seductively. They walk with a masculine strut, and as they inch closer, they start to submerge into a reflective black liquid.

One after another, men are lured into her deadly residence, and only after multiple men, does the camera reveal what occurs under the black surface the men have walked into.

In astonishment, the male character moves his limbs with a tinted blue glow on his skin. He spots another being submerged near him. The other has wrinkled flesh, as if he had instantly lost half his weight in a few hours. The two males, facing their surreal predicament, grasp hands, revealing the difference between the wrist of one and the deflated elastic appearance of the other. In a sudden and shocking moment, the wrinkled character is sharply sucked down into the depths of the abysmal darkness. The scene cuts to the bottom of a rectangular tunnel, flowing with sparkling blood pulled towards a vanishing point.

Although it is utterly horrifying, the liquid the characters are submerged within has a solitude and a silence that we can only barely reach in a deep meditation.

Under the Skin takes us through layers of human experience, and as we follow Johansson through cityscape, humans cape, forests, stillness, sexuality, fire, and snow, I considered how we travel from youth until death, searching for something or someone to fill our days, but the only quality that will take us away from our pain, lies beneath us, within us, under the skin.

Written by Andrew Kaminski

The post Layer by Layer ‘Under the Skin’ Artistically Takes Us… [SPOILERS] appeared first on Artiholics.

This afternoon in cities around the globe, people are gathering in town squares to beat the shit out of each other.  Luckily they are using weapons purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond.  That’s because it’s International Pillow Fight Day! If you want to join in on this fun interactive flash mob, check out the list of cities and see where one is happening near you.  Then just show up, and bring a pillow.

If you want to take the fun to the next level, and you have a decent Halloween costume still laying around, the theme for this year’s fight is Superheroes vs. Villians.  If you are in NYC, the pillow fight takes place at Washington Square Park at 3:00pm.

Rules: Please follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and fun pillow fight for everybody!

• + Soft, feather-free pillows only!
• + Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at once.
• + Do not swing at people without pillows or with cameras.
• + Remove glasses beforehand!
• + Deposit pillows in donation boxes or take them with you.
• + Pajamas welcome.

If you don’t want to join in the fray, you can come with a camera and take pictures.  It’s not often you get to see 5000 New Yorkers whomping on each other with pieces of fluffy furniture.  For every five pillow people there is one person who just shows up to take pictures, so you also never see this many cameras in one place.

A great venue for marketing your artblog for example.  If you have a funny, or important  message you want out there to the world, write it on your pillow.  It will be photographed hundreds of times, it will be posted to facebook hundreds of times, and it will be posted on flickr, used in magazines, and shared by social media, 100s  or 1000s of times.

And you have a good shot in getting interviewed.

I attended and photographed the second annual International Pillow Fight Day in NYC back in 2007.  I drew the ArtSucks logo on both sides of a pillowcase and sent my girlfriend Molly in to do battle.  She is only 5’2″ but packs a wallop.  That pillow fight day took place at Union Square Park, but I assume they have outgrown that park and have since moved to their current location, Washington Square Park (the one with the arch and the fountain in the Village).  Here are some never before published photos of the insanity:

Thanks to the writing on the pillow it was easy to keep tabs on her in the crowd, well, before all hell broke loose and the fight started and feathers started flying, then not so much.

It’s not a party till some pillows start to get damaged, then it starts to look like a truck transporting chickens exploded.

The match that lights the flame.

This is seriously fun, you will see more people smiling and laughing than you have in a while, and you will be smiling too, even when you are getting clubbed in the head.  It is pure childish fun, and something you don’t get to experience as an adult very often.

The guy wearing a shirt that reads “MEAN PEOPLE SUCK” getting clobbered by a pillow that says Art Sucks.

A pillow fight selfie 🙂

Someone brought a futon mattress to a pillow fight.

I hope you didn’t need to use those lungs.

This guy thought ahead.

This ginger haired girl had a chicken fighting technique of pillow fighting.

Having the height advantage is good, but also makes you a good target.

Guys can ride on shoulders as well, it just takes a little team to get them up there.

He soon becomes just another pillow in the crowd.

Best bet is to wear leather or at least something not wool or a material that feathers like to embed themselves into.  A lesson I learned that day.

As the fight winds down the park looks like a snow globe that has been freshly shaken, and the particles are starting to settle.  People are winded, and their arm muscles (muscles many of them aren’t used to using) are completely spent.

Written and photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

Many thanks to Molly Roberson for taking a pillow beating to get these shots. International Pillow Fight Day was created as a flash mob art project by Newmindspace.

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Thursday, April 3, 2014

After a hectic week, traipsing from venue to venue, being part of panel talks, exhibiting my paintings during “Art Dubai” week along with interviewing artists and chatting with galleries, I find myself at the last leg of the “Art Dubai” events. This is by far the grandest and most coveted event to date, the one that truly caters for the serious art collector and lover.

Held at the Madinat Jumeirah, the venue that epitomizes the ‘oasis in the desert’, a luxurious beachside resort, where a wealthy and elite clientele flock to dine and ‘be seen’. This venue plays host to one of the highly renowned global and innovative art fairs in the region, an essential gathering of museum directors, curators, art collectors, artistes and art professionals.

Art Dubai, in its 8^th year, has continued to develop, this year offering visitors access to three gallery programs:  Contemporary, Marker and new in 2014, Modern. This new section to Art Dubai included 11 galleries, led by well-known curators and historians Savita Apte, Catherine David, Kristine Khouri and Nada Shabout.

The event, showcasing the work of over 500 artistes spanning from more than 80 plus galleries from over 35 countries, partnered with the Abraaj Group and sponsored by Cartier, was open to public from 19^th to 22^nd March 2014.

The extensive program included commissioned projects and performances, artists’ and curators’ residencies, educational workshops and the unveiling of the works of the winners of the annual Abraaj Group Art Prize by the critically acclaimed Global Art Forum.

The Abraaj Group Art Prize section was curated by Nada Raza, bringing five winning artist’s projects together in a poetic and meaningful way. Each artist was paired with one of the region’s poets or novelists who responded to their work with a piece of creative writing.

One of the firm favorites was Abbas Akhavan’s “Study for a Hanging Garden” which is a floor-based sculptural work that was cast in bronze flowers and leaves on a white sheet looks towards the vegetation native to Iraq. A powerful piece that draws the visitor to the juxtaposition between the inherent natural beauty of an area which has been scarred by war in the modern age.

My invitation to the ‘Art Dubai’ VIP event arrived a couple of weeks before. The pre-selected international clientele list is a strictly invitation only affair and aims to bring together the crème de la crème of renowned curators, artistes and art collectors of the highest caliber.

Visitors are invited to enjoy the unlimited champagne and cocktails establishing this final soiree as the ultimate social event on the art calendar.

Delectable intercontinental nibbles grace the huge array on offer from sushi, pasta, to middle-eastern was enjoyed by the guests whilst mingling with the ‘artsy’ crowd to discuss and share thoughts on the commissions on display.

People from all countries were in attendance and amidst the fashion parade was an interesting diversity: from flowing chiffon evening dresses, fancy hats to short skirts.

Locals (Emiratis) were also present, sashaying elegantly in their traditional long black abayas while the men, pristine in their white thobes, looked sharp to represent their cultural identity.

Many of the galleries hosted a common theme that echoed the region: “key moments in history”. One explored the artistic cross-fertilization between Iran and Dubai and looked closely at links of centuries of trade and migration, currently separated by politics. Another looked at what Kuwait might have been, judging by political and cultural developments from 1942 to 1982. This insight allowed the visitor to experience the development of culture within historic Asia and ironically the positive and negative social effects of migration.

As the sun descended over the clear Arabian Gulf, the elegant crowd drifted to an after-party on the other side of the ‘man made lakes’ to the “Absolute ART Bar”. The complimentary liquor bar entertained with great music ranging from house, techno to pop and entertained the chic crowd who danced and lounged around on plush sofas discussing the future of Art in Dubai.

The night morphed into a networking scene where passionate discussions of topics of “Alternative Futures of Art History between Iran and Dubai” could be heard over the throbbing beats.

While my narrative may paint a picture of the Dubian art lover as a whimsical consort with too much money and not enough depth, this illusion could not be farther from the truth.

Dubai is a melting pot of diversity, it homes the hardworking construction workers to western Bedouin, the curious voyeur and the well traveled.

These individuals spin a dense network of invisible threads linking countries and cultures as almost no one comes from just one place. This blend brings ‘new blood’ to the art table which gives rise to intellectually stimulating prose as the combination of art and thinkers is different from any that you find in the West.

In many cases the intellectual climate in their own countries may prove too stifling or acutely political. In any case, the concept of the clash of civilizations is absurd here, rather the stimulus to expand and explore is endless.

Antonia Carver, Art Dubai’s director, noted that “Successful fairs should take on the characteristics of their host cities, which for Dubai means embracing its cosmopolitanism and bringing in art from parts of the world that aren’t necessarily well-represented on the global circuit.

Dubai’s trading spirit is increasingly entering the cultural sphere”, she said, “making the city a point of exchange for ideas, not just goods. Art Dubai’s development over the past eight years reflects the extraordinary growth of the UAE arts scene and the fair has acted as a catalyst, expediting Dubai’s role as a bona fide cultural hub for the region and beyond”

The events over the past week, together with this glamorous affair, have proved the Art platform in Dubai to be striking, and progressive.

The events have attracted a plethora of nationalities and professionals from the art world to share and cross-pollinate ideas, to brainstorm and create new initiatives.

The potent images and pieces tell the difficult and somewhat controversial message in a non-threatening manner within an environment that is conducive to healthy dialogue. It is in these gatherings where the mentor is introduced to the student, the novice to the art scene and the serious art collector to like-minded lovers.

The art scene in Dubai may be in its incunabulum, but it is this ‘renaissance’ that seems to see tastes and styles growing at an exponential rate. Watch this space, events such as this will develop the city into a respected and developing hub in the Middle East. This is the city from which the artisan of tomorrow will transpire.

Written by Qinza Najm
Photos by Photographer Sarath Raj  Video by Euro News.  Additional photos by Art Dubai Media

The post Art Dubai: Art with Luxury and Style appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Saturday, March 8, 2014

This year the first of the Armory Arts Week press previews was for  Spring / Break Art Show in an old school house (called The Old School) in Little Italy. It’s a cool step away from the traditional art fair because it not only focuses on the curator as key, but also has a hard-on for “new media” art, which means you will be seeing either video or projection art in almost every room, and if no video there is usually some auditory component.

Sometimes it is fun to be surprised by art, going into a show without knowing any of the players is like going to a movie not just without any spoilers, but also having no knowledge of the plot or cast. That was my experience last year when I first attended Spring / Break 2013. I was a blank slate. Having never been to the fair previously I was green to the rundown elementary school layout. It seemed disjointed and reminded me of a cross between PS1 and the random dilapidated school buildings turned solo artist exhibitions you see at the Governors Island Art Fair.

This time I settled right in. I knew some of the artists and curators personally ahead of time and was able to more easily identify the work.  It was fun to see how each curator played with this year’s theme for the fair PUBLICPRIVATE.

Entering the building and checking in I wandered into the first room which had an eaten away pillar which reminded me of the box from Frieze except made out of garbage.

Passing through that room I encountered a hallway full of blood illuminations by Jordan Eagles I have been to several Jordan Eagles blood shows when he worked in solid form, but these 13 projectors really filled out the space with a hemo-glow. Curated by Tracy Causey-Jeffery.

Jordan walking through the corridor.

Jordan’s silhouette in blood.

Ducking out I spun around when I heard my name called. It was art writer / curator Benjamin Sutton. I had seen some of his install pics on Facebook and instantly recognized the room he curated by the unmistakable ceiling cats by artist Caroline Wells Chandler.

Benjamin getting interviewed by Samantha Katz from Whitewall Magazine.

Samantha Katz.

The piece that was his starting point for building the show was this grotesque sculpture “Selfie as a Chocolate Chip Cookie,” also by Caroline.

I climbed up on the radiator to get this shot.

“Rule 34; Charm” by Sigrid Sarda. Made with real maggots dipped in gold, wax, real human bones & hair.

This room was curated by Jessica Hodin, The director of the Bleeker Street Arts Club.

Jessica jumped behind this transparent piece.

Jessica Hodin.

Assistant Director of Bleeker Street Arts Club, Anita King.

They have a new show titled FEELING HUMAN, with an opening reception this Sunday, Mar 9, 2014 from 1-4pm featuring some artists from this exhibit. 305 Bleecker St., NY NY 10014

Artist Lucas Zallmann poses with his fridges.

You open them up to find metal dildos and books.

Curated by Wills Baker and Sarah Sulistio.  Sarah is seen here talking with Spring/Break Co-Founder Andrew Gori.

A few photos by Carl Gunhouse.

A piece by Jacob Rhodes from Field Projects.

Curated by Chris Bors seen here with an original piece of his own.

Lia Chavez performing Luminous Objects

Which is curated by Tali Wertheimer, seen here, who is opening a new gallery called TWO RAMS on March 16th.

Artist and curator Max Razdow standing in front of one of his drawings.  I met Max last year when he had his own booth at Volta NY.

Curator Kari Adelaide.

Artist Jesse Bransford and his drawing experiment based on rolling a RPG die titled “Dice Drawings Set Five.”

Singing Bruce Springsteen with a mask on, mask off, show is over.  Crystal Curtis

Group Show curated by David Alexander Flinn

Room with projectors by Rin Johnson audio by Michael Valinsky.

Iphone cases by Collin Munn

I asked three staircase docents if they knew who made these streamers and none of them had a clue.  One said the girl with the yellow purse who was just here.  One said the girl with the green purse who was just here.

It wasn’t until I found a map.  Coralina Meyer.

Founders of the Spring/Break Art Fair, Ambre
 Kelly and 
Andrew 
Gori.

Andrew Gori.

Art by Alex McQulkin which was a collaborative piece she did with her mom.  She commissioned her mom knit a pussy riot mask for her.  She then wore the mask, took pictures of it, and then drew the mask.  This drawing is the end result.

Art by Alex McQulkin & Michael St. John.

This is a piece made by hand cutting out individual diamonds from Sotheby’s catalogs and pasting them together.

Curator Marina T. Schindler

Pin-up style art by Walter Robinson, curated by Ambre Kelly & Andrew Gori

Wall of small pieces depicting Jerry Saltz doing things, by Ambre Kelly, curated by Andrew Gori.

The next room I photographed parts of Liminal Reclamations curated by Tracy Causey-Jeffery and Amy Kisch.
We Are Made To Endure, Portraits of the Donner Party by Robert Saywitz

A room playing all of Woody Allen’s Oscar Nominated films while a toy train goes in a circle referencing recent allegations.

As well as A Universe in My Throat, 2012 by Kevin Bourgeois

Golden Coin by Patrick Meagher

Nightfall by Devin Powers.

Photo and video pieces by Rachel Garrard

Private Drive-In.

By artists Fall On Your Sword and Sarah Bereza (pictured above).

Inside the bug.

I blew out the shot with a flash so you could see the paint work on the car by Sarah.

Sit in the bug and enjoy a superfast loop of scenes from movies that take place in the front seat of cars, including this scene from Grease, as well as that famous 1955 Back To The Future scene with Marty McFly and his teenage mom.

Spring / Break Art Show is located at Old School, 233 Mott Street, NYC and costs $5
All work from the show can be purchased online at SpringBreakArtFair.com

Thursday, March 6 –  Sunday, March 9
Noon – 8pm Daily

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post SPRING/BREAK Art Show Is Your Elementary School On Psilocybin appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Friday, March 7, 2014

After checking out the opening reception for the first ever Clio Art Fair Jamie Martinez from Artefuse and I grabbed a train up to 55th street for the opening night party for The (UN)FAIR. Being press and a media sponsor of the event we buzzed the massive line and shot upstairs.

The first thing you couldn’t help but notice was that the place was packed.

I walked into the masse following a siren’s song and found a woman singing while standing right next to a beautiful Norman Rockwell painting, not the first (or ten thousandth ) thing I expected to see at THE (UN)FAIR but a pleasant surprise. Into the next room where for a few bucks they print your face on a t-shirt onto a baby’s body.

I quickly passed to the next room which had an intricate floor to ceiling vision obscuring sculptural installation.

On the wall beyond hung a few of those meta art world comic strips that Hyperallergic publishes. Into the large room where on the right is an interactive musical installation where you can play a series of instruments by pressing old school arcade buttons.

& Jerry.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream served to you by THE ACTUAL Ben & Jerry. After meeting Jerry, and initially guessing wrong about which ice cream hippy I was talking to I got some cookie dough ice cream (and you just had a taste memory of that flavor). It hit the spot and I ended up coming back a few more times over the course of the night. (Just FYI, THE (UN)FAIR has free unlimited Ben & Jerry’s for the run of the fair).

I ran into fellow Artiholics Jen Wallace, the curationista of THE (UN)FAIR and got a picture with her.

Her partner James Wallace who was acting as greeter to the elevator crowds.

While talking to him one of the poet performers walked into the hallway and started reciting poems for us from memory, and they were great (anyone know who this guy is?)

Last year, the first year of THE (UN)FAIR, the show only occupied half of the entire floor space on the third floor. This year the space was twice as big with two additional new large rooms making way for some large paintings.

As well as an area for performance.

Vivian & Artist Gigi Chen.

And a massive projection piece, nearby which there are a few large patches of comfy AstroTurf where you can lounge out eating popcorn and ice cream while drinking wine in a small stackable mason jar like the most bizarre Willy Wonka factory picnic.

Max Noy, and Jamie both from Artefuse.

Artist Mark Parsons and one of his CartoGraphiPOP sculptures.

Jen and Mark Parsons.

Artiholics writer Betty T. Kao is doing a performance piece called “Belly Full of Artifacts” at The (Un)fair. Photos by Lauretta Prevost.

She will be performing again there on Saturday from 8 – 10 pm.

Artiholics is a media sponsor The (UN)Fair.

THE (UN)FAIR is located only a few blocks away from The Armory Show.  500 W 52nd St. New York, NY 10019

March 5th – 9th, 2014
11am – 8pm free

Opening Party: 3/5, 8-10pm free
Benefit Party: 3/6, 8-10pm $20 click here
Closing Party: 3/9, 8-10pm free

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”
(*editor’s note: I will finish crediting these photos and hyperlinking to artists websites next week when I am done seeing all these fairs and have time)

The post THE (UN)FAIR is Back, Bigger, & More Popular Than Ever – Opening (Photos) appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Friday, March 7, 2014

I am really loving SCOPE’s venue at Moynihan Station, they must have knocked down some walls and gutted the place a bit more than last year because the size of the floor plan seemed massive.  Makeshift unvarnished wood steps leading to higher ground, and long benches here and there for sitting (a luxury not easily found at most art fairs).

Exposed ancient metal ceiling girders with peeling paint were everywhere you looked, if you looked up that is.   What a  great contrast with the polished and illuminated gallery booths, and let’s face it,  it sure beats a tent.

I arrived and cut the line to the press check in.  I always bring my SCOPE press lanyard which has the logo printed all over it.  They bothered to do that one year and have ever since opted for just the plain black, having the official one makes me feel like not just press, but SUPER PRESS.

Art Now NY scored the first Banksy I’ve seen in a NY art fair.  Fell off the back of a truck maybe?

Spotted street artist Buff Monster enjoying the show.

Pashmin Art Gallery, Hamburg, this artist Davood Roostaei was dressed as a cross between Michael Jackson and his actual paintings.

Art by Cazes Uriel.

I noticed at Villa del Arte Galleries, Barcelona they were carrying a piece by Castle Fitzjohns, New York artist David Datuna.

Fabien Castanier Gallery, Los Angeles was back again at SCOPE. Fabien posed for me in front of a few 44.75″ x 32.5″ pieces by Speedy Graphito.

Some really amazing larger than life hyperrealistic sculptures of Andy Warhol at different points in his life titled “ANDY” by Kazuhira Tsuji Copro Gallery, Santa Monica.  He should have been the one to do the Memorial in Union Square.

Really detailed drawings by Artem Mirolevich at Barbarian Art Gallery, Zurich.

Saw a piece by Matt Neuman at Asterisk Projects, Brooklyn, which reminded me a lot of his piece I saw the night before at Clio Art Fair but with 12 more targets.

Beautiful paintings by Malcolm T. Liepke at Arcadia Contemporary.

Really moody street scenes from New York City, by Kim Cogan, also at Arcadia Contemporary.

A bunch of pieces by David Kramer at Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis.

Whimsically disturbing line art paintings by Brian McDonald at Reaves Gallery, New York.

I ran into sculptor Cheedah Shikaage Itchi Suuwah (Thunder Wolf), and we had a long talk about the 3d Printing sculpture he’s getting into.  He showed me his new digital work on his phone, amazing stuff.

Some pop work at Krause Gallery.  Including these really cool dimensional pieces that look like they might be made from thousands of straws cut to precise lengths.

Galerie Mark Hachem, Paris | New York has some work with multiple layers of glass creating a full image by Ardan Ozmenoglu.

Large drawings by Maya Mukumizu, at Gallery G-77, Kyoto.

A bunch of pieces by Karim Hamid at AUREUS Contemporary, Providence, RI.

More work at AUREUS Contemporary.

Samurai – 1982, by Paula Rego, at Cordeiros Galeria, Porto / Portugal.

Ran into Jeremiah Johnson who’s piece “House of Worship” house made out of pill bottles is debuting at Fountain Art Fair today.

The cafe / bar / lounge area.

Work by Tiptoe at Vertical Gallery, Chicago.

Artwork by Stormie Mills, also at Vertical Gallery.

Safaeddin Emami, “The Battle of Pashan Begins” Silkscreen on canvas at Shirin Gallery, Tehran | New York.

A giant assemblage of Mixed Media on paper by Amanda Marie.  They are sold individually as 16″ x 20″ pieces, and 20″ x 24″ pieces, at Andenken Gallery, Amsterdam.

Drawings by Clayton Chandler, at C. Emerson Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL.

Drawings by Justin Nelson, also at C. Emerson Fine Arts.

A picture of me at Fuchs Projects booth by Rafael Fuchs.

Artwork by Petros Chrisostomou, Miguel Libarnes, Rafael Fuchs, Skewville, Aakash Nihalani, & Trey Speegle at Bushwick’s own Fuchs Projects.

Artist Naomi Campbell.  Her pieces combine X-rays, aluminum, copper, plexiglass and drawings.  They are abstractions about gaming, and the blurred lines between reality and video games.

Artist Victor-John Villanueva  poses in front of a piece in Fuchs Project’s booth, he didn’t make the work, he just has a similar color scheme.

Art by Valerio Adami at Barbara Paci Gallery, Pietrasanta.

Disturbingly haunting art by Michele Mikesell at La Lanta Fine Art, Wattana.

A requisite Swoon piece.

Some really interesting works by Peter Grich at VIMM Gallery, Prague.

This one reminded me of works by H.R. Geiger.

An entire booth of works by Shen Jingdon, at Coral Contemporary, Nanjing.

The Jayson Atienza shoe at the bucketfeet shoe exhibit.

Lots of glitter at the Natalie Kates Projects, New York

One half of the Gentleman’s Game art team Jason Douglas Griffin.

Gentleman’s Game artists Jason Douglas Griffin and Brandon Friend.

They have collaborative works in the Magpi Projects booth, and they have their own booth at Fountain – where they had just come after having just finished setting it up.

Artist Sebastian Wahl, also represented by Magpi Projects.

Artist Joseph Grazi, who has two pieces in the Art Now NY booth, including this shark.

Muffinhead, a living sculpture at Galleria Ghetta, Ortisei, England.

Some really angelic drawings by artist Amy Sol at Thinkspace, Culver City.

Hubert Kretzschmar, Techno Pop (front cover) at Licht Feld Gallery

Also by Hubert Kretzschmra.  I first met Hubert at the Art of The Rolling Stones Show.

Photographer Mia Tyler in front of a portrait of her father, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.

Photographer and curator at Fuchs Projects, Rafael Fuchs, in front of a few of the pieces from his most recent series about his horrible landlords.

Artist Bradley Theodore, aka Brad Digital.

Brad introduced me to artist Jaclyn Santos.

It was a great show as per usual, and AS I HAD PREDICTED earlier in the week. After taking it all in, I headed out into the night to shoot down to SoHo for Mark DeMaio’s opening at Sacred Gallery.  This week really is the Superbowl of art going.

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”
(*editors note – I will set up all the galleries and artists names as hyperlinks next week when I have time)

The post SCOPE Art Fair NY 2014 VIP Opening Reception Was Packed (Photos) appeared first on Artiholics.

Once again the week has arrived where the titans of the art world (global art world) flock to NYC for Armory Week to take in the art work and show off the art wares.  Parties, social climbing, art writers, buyers, dealers, artists, and gallery inbetweens swap stories and mingle in converted warehouses, armory’s, post offices, and climate controlled piers along the Hudson river.

The week takes it’s name from the Armory Show, which is the grandaddy of all of the week’s fairs, but any seasoned art traveler will now that the Armory is just the tip of the art fair iceberg.  Satellite fairs pop-up and take orbit, each with it’s own respective gravity and collector base, trying to pull the titans toward them, and each year the satellites either get larger, or fizzle out.

We all know that in NYC, time is money.  Rather than spend a lot of both shuttling yourself around town without any direction as to which fairs  (and social affairs ) might appeal to you, we at Artiholics.com have created this handy guide to NYC Armory Week.

Listed in descending order from Most to Least expensive:

THE ARMORY SHOW:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $40  |   Students – $20  |  Armory / VoltaNY Dual Pass: $50

Wednesday – March 5, 5pm – Midnight @ MoMA | The Armory Party $175 – $10,000 Tickets
Thursday – March 6, 12pm – 7pm
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 7pm

Featuring: 200+ Of The largest art galleries in the world showcasing their artist’s most sellable work, the worlds top collectors, art writers, etc.  Art wise you will see: Lots of Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Neon, Random Artists In Costume, Collage, Interactive Art, New Media, Photography, Performance art, etc..

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Peter Max

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Kenny Scharf & Damien Hirst.
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Damien Hirst, Barry McGee, Kenny Scharf, Tracey Emin, John Wesley, Jenny Holtzer, Olaf Breuning, Yayoi Kusama, Julian Opie. Nancy Chunn, Marina Abrovonich, Kehinde Wiley, Retna, Ryan McGuinness, Nick Cave, Chuck Close, Gagosian, Chitra Ganesh, David Kramer , Kim Jones, Pierogi, Warhol, Basquait, etc.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: The variety of Blue Chip and Museum Artists’ work in one place.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at The Armory Show? Yes, I’ve seen a Marina Abrovonich performance, although it was with an actor not Marina.  Live drawing by Ai Kowada Gallery’s Fukuhara.  Also weird performance artists doing their thing in the crowd.

The Scoop on The Armory Show From An Artiholic:
This is the one show all the satellite shows revolve around.  It has anywhere from 200 – 300 international galleries represented in a given year, and is a lot to take in, and a lot of walking.  Make sure to wear your comfy shoes and prepare to see a lot of neon, glitter, and museum quality presentations.  The sculptures are as polished and pristine as it is possible to make them, the wall paint is flawless.  If you go to as many of the art fairs as I do will start to feel like you walking through a brand new IKEA after a while (the scale of the two piers are enormous) .  If while you are seeing world class art in this familiar Big Box Store format your eyes  become blurred and the work starts to become indistinguishable from Norwegian furniture, take a seat in their cushy bar areas and get a drink.  You don’t need to push your eyes that far, the brain can only accept so much eye candy before it goes into shock.

For the price of admission you get access to both the Modern show, and the contemporary (each with it’s own pier), so you can see work from older masters, as well as the masters that are still alive and working today (based on which pier you are checking out).

Positives: Buying the Armory / Volta NY combo ticket for $50 is the best deal in town.  There is a shuttle bus between the two venues, and you get to experience the opposite worlds of the big box store IKEA experience of the Armory, along with the intimacy of Volta NY. You will be seeing the best most sought after artists in the world hanging in a show that is only up for an extended weekend, buying frenzy is a thing to behold.

Negatives: The size and scope of this show can be daunting and overwhelming to a beginner, just start at one side and work your way through it to the other side, move to the next row and do it again.  Think of it like a giant supermarket, but instead of cereal and canned goods, you are looking at artwork worth 10’s to 100’s of thousands of dollars by artists you have seen at The Whitney and The Met.  You will not see these galleries taking to many risks. At SCOPE, The Unfair, and Fountain artists aren’t paying the insane per-square-foot rates as at The Armory so they can go edgier.  This show is squeaky clean – most booths on a factory produced precision.  If you prefer to see a little of the artist’s hand (blood, sweat, and tears) mixed into the paint, you might want to check out some of those other fairs.

Location: Piers 92 & 94:  711 12th Ave New York, NY (@55th Street & the West Side Highway)

Website: https://www.thearmoryshow.com/
View Our Armory Show Photos From Previous Years

SCOPE ART FAIR:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $25  – Student $15

Thursday – March 6, 3pm – 6pm (Platinum VIP Preview Gala)  –  6pm – 9pm (First View Benefit & Press)  $100
Friday – March 7, 11am – 8pm
Saturday – March 8, 11am – 8pm
Sunday – March 9, 11am – 7pm

Featuring: Drawing, Collage, Sculpture, Painting, Performance Art, New Media, Neon, Photography.

THIS YEAR’S SCOPE (SPOILERS): SCOPE Art Fair NY 2014 VIP Opening Reception Was Packed (Photos) – Artiholics

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Ron English

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Ron English.
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Augusto Esquivel, Jordan Eagles, Karim Hamid, Ron English, Banksy, Luke Chueh,  Russell West, gilf! Hiroko Tsuchida, Gabriel Barcia-Colombo, Andrea Stanislav, HuskMitNavn, Kikyz 1313, Camille Rose Garcia.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: Performance art piece where a female artist walked around the fair nude from the waste down.
Possibility of Live Nudity: It’s Possible.

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at SCOPE? Occasional Live Painting, Occasional Live Performing Installation, Occasional Live Music.

The Scoop on SCOPE From An Artiholic:I’ve personally attended the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013 incarnations of the fair.  It’s one of the satellite fairs that didn’t have a permanent home until 2013 and was constantly competing with Pulse as they have very similar vibes, that is until Pulse decided to slide into May and be a part of Frieze Week, thus freeing Scope up to take control of the more serious emerging contemporary art galleries.  I watched this fair bounce from Lincoln Center, to a tent on the West Side Highway, and finally to it’s current NY location in the giant post office building Skylight at Moynihan Station next to Madison Square Garden.

Scope is a good dowsing rod for what trends are most likely to be prevalent thought-out all of the art fairs during Armory Arts Week.  Mostly pretty good art, there are some major international galleries represented, as well as a lot of NYC talent.  Scope is what galleries at Fountain aspire to graduate up to.

Positives: A ton of good work, lots of roaming artists, friendly gallerists.  The show has really come into its own since Pulse left.  A good mix of low and high brow to appeal to a wide audience.  Gets a lot of solid press, and a lot of sales.

Negatives: Some galleries are obviously not yet ready for prime time and stick out like a sore thumb.  When you start to notice trends, you will see them repeated and repeated in multiple booths. Location is far from Armory. 

Location: Skylight at Moynihan Station 360 West 33rd Street, W 33rd St, New York, NY 10001

Website: https://scope-art.com/
View Our SCOPE Photos From Previous Years

THE ART SHOW:  March 5th – 9th 

General Admission: $25

Wednesday – March 5, 12pm – 8pm
Thursday – March 6, 12pm – 8pm
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 8pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 5pm

Featuring: Solo Shows, Museum Quality Gallery Shows, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Collage, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: John Leguizamo

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Andy Warhol & James Rosenquist
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Rosenquist, Henri Matisse, Mark Rydan, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, George Condo, Ray Johnson, Phil Guston, Wim Delvope, Sperone Westwater, Charles McGill.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: The Egon Schiele / Gustav Klimt exhibit.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at The Art Show? No, this is a serious art fair.

The Scoop on The Art Show From An Artiholic:

This fair is decades older than The Armory Show and has a sterling reputation as presenting some of the best in the business.  Blue chip art, museum art.  Most of what you will find here by artists who’s names you will recognize from your Christie’s and Sotherby’s catalogs.

Positives: You will see museum quality work, amazing drawings and paintings from many dead modern artists, and some current living blue chip artists, as well as original portraits of famous artists.  If you are a fan of really good drawing, and seeing drawings by some of your favorite dead artists, this is a good place to get a glimpse of artwork that exists outside of museums and is sold to private collectors.

Negatives: This is a lot like the Modern section of The Armory Show.  It is old masters, mixed with some more elite contemporary artists.  The crowd is extremely highbrow and it’s easy to feel under-dressed when attending.

Location: Park Avenue Armory – Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York City

Website: https://www.artdealers.org/artshow.html
View Our THE ART SHOW Photos From Previous Years

INDEPENDENT:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $20

Thursday – March 6, 6pm – 8pm (Private Vernissage)
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 6pm

Featuring: Sculpture, Kinetic Sculpture, Collage, Car, Interactive Art, Neon, Animation, New Media, Painting, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: John McEnroe

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Dan Flavin
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Ella Kruglyanskaya, Steve Claydon, Thomas Julier, Oliver Mosset, David Shrigley.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: A random DeLorian with no flux capicitor.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at Independent? No

The Scoop on the Independent From An Artiholic:

To me this fair always felt the least like a fair, and even refused to call itself a fair.  The floors have big open spaces in the middle rather than the sectioned off walls that the other art fairs are known to have, all the galleries share the same light.

Since it started The Independent has always been free admission to the public, and the focus has been more about the art than the selling.  It is many people’s favorite fair because of the amount of sculpture, and minimalism and distinct lack of drawing and painting.  I am in the minority, and the lack of drawing and painting drives me up the wall.

I don’t know exactly what changed with Independent’s business model,  but this year it costs $20 instead of costing nothing to get in ($20 is a distinct price increase from free).

Positives: A ton of big sculptures on four floors.  The possibility of a random car in the middle of one of the floors.  The permanent Dan Flavin instillation on the staircase in between floors is always inviting – not technically part of the show, but a welcome break from the different levels.  Top Floor Cafe, with Roof Access

Negatives: Extreme lack of drawing and painting. Super snobby curators who really don’t want to talk to you, which is another thing that makes this unlike the other art fairs where the exhibitors actually want to interact.  I have hundreds of photos I’ve taken of artists and curators at the various art fairs, and Independent is the only art fair I have taken zero shots of any curators or artists.  I am acting the same as I do at the art fairs but never get approached.  Located in Chelsea it is close to other art openings, but far from The Armory Show piers.

Location: 548 West 22nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues in the heart of the Chelsea gallery district.

Website: https://independentnewyork.com/
View Our INDEPENDENT Photos From Previous Years

VOLTA NY ART FAIR:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $15  |   Students – $10  |  Armory / VoltaNY Dual Pass: $50

Thursday – March 6, 11am – 2pm (Guest of Honor) 2pm – 5pm  (VIP / Press Preview)  6pm – 9pm (Public Vernissage)
Friday – March 7, 10am – 8pm
Saturday – March 8, 10am – 8pm
Sunday – March 9, 10am – 5pm

Featuring: Solo Shows, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Collage, Interactive Art, New Media, Neon, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Delroy Lindo

Unofficial Art Matriarch: Amanda Coulson
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  This changes every year, as all booths are solo shows.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: Very focused solo shows that aren’t like the typical art fair.  The ability to see a depth to an artist’s work, unlike the other top tier fairs that would only showcase one or two pieces by each artist.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at VoltaNY? Yes, I’ve seen Break Dancing & Pastry Eating Contests

The Scoop on Volta NY From An Artiholic:
Volta NY rules.  It is the offshoot of The Armory Show so it has the top tier credibility of The Armory, but also has the intimacy that comes with solo shows.  It feels like you are attending 90 gallery openings where the artist is in attendance, and you are the only guest.  You get a real one-on-one experience with each booth and are able to engage with the artists.

It is an invitational show, and all the artists have to be represented by a gallery, so there is no room for amateurs, and no buying your way in.  I have had nothing but positive experiences with Volta NY, and since they moved down to SoHo from their previous residency at  7 West 34th Street they really have the space you need to fit everyone and not feel like you are walking around a fair in a converted office.

Positives: Buying the Armory / Volta NY combo ticket for $50 is the best deal in town.  There is a shuttle bus between the two venues, and you get to experience the opposite worlds of the big box store IKEA experience of the Armory, along with the intimacy of Volta.  This is a show I would love to one day solo in, and you can’t get much higher praise from me than that.

Negatives: If you don’t like meeting artists, or seeing solo exhibits, and prefer to see more salon style gallery showings presenting a diverse group of artists from a gallery’s stable, then you won’t like this show.  If you aren’t planning on attending The Armory, this show is kind of out of the way in relation to the other shows.

Location: 82 Mercer Street., New York, NY  (Between Spring and Broome Streets)
Website: https://ny.voltashow.com/index.php
View Our VOLTA NY Photos From Previous Years

FOUNTAIN ART FAIR:  March 7th – 9th 

General Admission: $10 – VIP Pass: $50 – Weekend Pass $15

Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm (VIP Press Preview / Open to the public)  7pm – Midnight (Opening Night Reception) Music Lineup: DJ Nick Zinner
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm (Open to the public) 7pm – Midnight (Saturday Night Event) Music Lineup: THE DEEP!
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 5pm

Featuring: Solo Shows, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Collage, Interactive Art, New Media, Neon, Photography

Featuring: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Live Painting, Live Performance, Performance Art,  Music, Collage, Car, Interactive Art, Neon, New Media, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Mia Tyler
Unofficial Art Matriarch: Swoon
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Alison Berkoy, The Murder Lounge, Brian Leo, Dave Tree, Casey Porn, Jonny Fenix, Veng, Victor W. Cox, Ryan Cronin, Chris Smith, Alex Emmart, Rob Servo, Leah Yerpe, JMR, Brandon Friend, Christina Ray, Mighty Tanaka, Leo Kesting, Front Room, Munch, Dacia.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: Nude Body Finger Painting.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Very Good.

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at Fountain? Yes, tons.

The Scoop on The Fountain Art Fair From An Artiholic:
I love fountain, it is such a fun fair to attend and you get a lot of bang for your buck.  Lots of good artists, also a lot of not so good, but the needles in the haystacks are in the numbers at this fair.  This is truly the independent fair as usually it’s one artist, or a group of artists splitting a booth on their own.  No galleries need be involved, although a lot of booths are represented by galleries.  It’s one of the cheapest art fairs for artists to get work in (per square foot) so the bar is set a little lower than a Scope or Pulse, and leaves the door wide open to untrained artists, street artists, and Brooklyn artists on the rise.

You will see a lot of drawing at this fair, a lot of painting, and a lot of pop.  I have heard it referred to many times in art circles as “amateur hour” but there are generally some stand outs in the masses, and as years go by you will start to see artists who got their start at Fountain’s careers shoot them up to larger galleries, and land them larger exposure at the top tier fairs like Scope and Volta.

You will be likely to meet a lot of artists if you wander around this fair, as most booths are artist run.  It is a great way to talk to artists and have them talk to you about their work.  Almost everyone is friendly and open here, and there is very little pretension.  You will find a few street artist wanna-be-banksies aka Mini-Banksys, who don’t want to have their photo taken, which is annoying as fuck, and almost comical.

When I  first attended this fair in 2009 it was on the frying pan pier.  In a tent that leaked when it rained.  There was a basement floor called the Murder Lounge where a small collective of Greenpoint artists would always show together. Fountain in gaining credibility and exposure has moved several avenues over to the Lexington Ave Armory and now has a solid foundation and doesn’t have to worry about dark clouds.They still have a section of the new location called The Murder Lounge, but it’s more of just a tribute.
Fountain is a 1917 work widely attributed to Marcel Duchamp. The scandalous work was a porcelain urinal, which was signed “R.Mutt” and titled Fountain. Submitted for the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in 1917, Fountain was rejected by the committee, even though the rules stated that all works would be accepted from artists who paid the fee.  The exhibition took place in the building where The Fountain Art Fair now resides almost a hundred years later.

Positives: A lot of fun, a lot of really great artists and a lot of good drawing.  Live painting, performances, music.  It is almost like getting a first glimpse into the unsigned talent of the art world.  You see what bubbles up from Brooklyn, Queens, and the outer boroughs before it gets snagged up by the machine.  The Friday opening night reception is the most fun you will have at any of the art fairs with open bar and live music – it becomes a party – and I will see you there.  If you are a fan of drawing, street art, illustration, comics, lowbrow, or graffiti, you will really enjoy yourself.  If you are a collector you can find a great deals on artwork by emerging artists here, and fill your apartment for a fraction of the price you would have to pay at the other fairs.

Negatives: Depending on your perspective, you will either come away loving, or hating Fountain.  If you like drawing and painting, you will have a good time.  If you really enjoy The Independent, you will probably not like Fountain so much.  If you are looking for Museum Quality work, you will not like Fountain.  It is very unpolished, but that’s what gives it it’s underground handmade charm.  Although I have a great time at Fountain it is one of the lower tier fairs and doesn’t get much love from the mainstream art press, but art blogs and Scene and Alt magazines like Paper are all over it. 

Location: Centrally Located at the 69th Regiment Armory (Lexington Avenue & 26th Street)
Website: https://www.fountainartfair.com/
View Our Fountain Photos From Previous Years

SPRING / BREAK – $5

THIS YEAR’S SPRING/ BREAK (SPOILERS): SPRING/BREAK Art Show Is Your Elementary School On Psilocybin- Artiholics

CLIO ART FAIR – $FREE

THIS YEAR’S CLIO ART FAIR (SPOILERS): The Clio Art Fair 2014 Inaugural Show Opening Reception- Artiholics

THE (UN)FAIR – $FREE

THIS YEAR’S (UN)FAIR (SPOILERS): THE (UN)FAIR is Back, Bigger, & More Popular Than Ever – Opening (Photos) – Artiholics

MOVING IMAGE- $FREE

NEW CITY ART FAIR- $FREE

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New York – Tuesday, February 4, 2014

In the entire 140-year history of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, they have never exhibited a Pop-up Museum, until now. A “Pop-up Museum” is a concept developed in the 1990s, which is generally defined as a short term institution existing in a temporary space. These temporary museums exhibitions are finding increasing favor among more progressive museum professionals as a means of direct community involvement with objects and exhibitions.

To be seen as a progressive step for the Met, I considered it to be a strange choice- they chose vintage football trading cards. Of course the logic behind the exhibit is that it opened in coincidence with the Super Bowl happening just over the river.

If you are a printmaking or photography buff, you may find it is also interesting to witness some early American printing, photography, and lithography techniques and methods.  The feature image at the head of the article used colors that pop – the complimentary relationship between orange and blue, which shows that there was an artistic touch behind the execution of the cards. As an art lover, you may find the content of football to be society’s opiate, but you will see the exquisite origins of America’s commercial publishing industry.

The show engages a different crowd than the usual art lover. It’s a show that satisfied the fans that were building up that Super Bowl fever, in which they could excite themselves even more as they marvel at some of the oldest vintage football trading cards currently on public display. Chance are you will NEVER have an opportunity to see this kind of history again, unless you have the rare position of inheriting these valuable cards. Now that the Super Bowl is over, fans get to indulge just a little bit more with their football fix.

The installer, when mentioning the show said, “For the first pop-up museum in history at the Met, it is an interesting choice to put playing cards from the 1920s on display, so that when tourists come to the display they can see what their parents and their grandparents saw.”

One of the rarest cards, a Harvard player named Dunlop, is worth somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.

The Show is called Gridiron Greats, opened January 24 and runs till February 10, 2014, Sunday–Thursday: 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

Written by Andrew Kaminski

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   Large drawings, some over one kilometer in length take shape under Sam’s rake.They can take the form of geometrical patterns, figurative work, or sentences.

“I try to integrate my work in the nature as well as the nature in my work. It’s all natural and disappears in a few hours.”

“I take photos of my drawings before the tide erases them.”

“Then I try to tell another story.”

He has brought his rake and his camera with him to beaches in France, Spain, Morocco, England, the Bailiwick of Jersey, and Bermuda. The best photos are printed in a limited series on brushed aluminum for the grain and light.

But this is just the beginning for him, there are more beaches in distant lands to rake.

Basically every sandy coastline on Earth has the potential for being one of Sam’s canvases, it’s brilliant really.  It’s like an impermanent series of Nazca lines…Now that I’m writing about this I am already dreading the thought of hipsters getting inspired by these pictures, and wanting  to co-opt this concept and invade Rockaway Beach with rakes this Summer.  Please, please, please, if you are reading this and had that thought yourself.  NO…We are on to you.  Be a fucking original.

Learn More on Sam’s Website www.sam-dougados.com and like him on Facebook

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post French Artist Creates Mile Wide Beach Graffiti in The Sand appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Saturday, January 18, 2014

Very shocking and unfortunate news from the NY art world tonight.  9/11 first responder and fellow Castle Fitzjohns artist Jef Campion, also known in the street art community as Army Of One, has passed away.

“Very, very sorry to receive news this evening that my friend Jef, who many of you knew as Army Of One, died today… Always an encouraging and friendly word, a firefighter and this man did so much charity work particularly for his kids at Ronald McDonald House… Very sad news… RIP, my friend…” — Oh Captain My Captain

Video via  Everyday People Project

In Jef’s own words:

“I was born an Artist, I became a firefighter”,

But it took the tragic events of 9/11/01in NYC to unleash the Artist buried deep within me, and send me back into the Studio , after a global street Art Campaign to raise awareness to the plights of Children put in Harms way through War , Poverty and Disease , and,

Trough the ashes of Ground Zero ,this Artists soul and vision was unleashed,

Prior to 9/11/01,I had packed up my studio and art supplies and was content within the Firefighters ranks,

No Art, No Creative outlet, until the World Trade Center attack.

Through Days into Months spent on the pile at Ground Zero, coupled with the social, political and religious I was now experiencing , I retreated in to a world of PSTD and self destruction , finally realizing that humanity had lost its innocence .

Years of therapy and soul searching , followed by re opening my studio and my first portfolio” Atrophy”

Was born,

“Nearly 10 years After I Quit the Creative field , ” Atrophy” combined with Haunting and emotion stories and visceral Artwork, peeled back layer after decomposing layer of a life less ordinary, a hidden life of Drug ,sex and Alcohol Abuse, a highly dysfunctional upbringing and self destruction hidden deep inside my sub conscious , this Artwork and Writing is meant to awake Primal Emotion in the viewer, welcome to my world ,

The images and writing that make up the portfolio “Atrophy ” are not about 9/11/01 or Firefighting ,my artwork breaches the Tenacity of the human Spirit with survival Under the harshest realms of madness……

Art saved My Life……”

Jef

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”
[Jef Campion portrait and photos by Cojo Art Juggernaut Jef Campion quote via. Castle Fitzjohns Gallery]

The post Breaking Art World News: Army Of One aka Jef Campion is Dead appeared first on Artiholics.

1. Roberto Matta

Roberto Matta is a twentieth century surrealist and abstract expressionist. His work seems to contain recognizable forms such as fireworks and onion heads, and possibly even staircases and architectural forms. At closer examination, the viewer realizes his work is composed of unrecognizable features such as lines, complimentary colors, a trail of mossy greens, and the occasional inclusion of yellow.

2. Robert Venosa

Robert Venosa is an artist that I was first introduced to by seeing a Facebook post of Alex Grey, mentioning his death in 2011. His work caught my eye with its liquidity, and vibrant blues. It’s almost as if he is channeling  extraterrestrial beings that contain benevolence, housed in a shiny membrane with light piercing through its translucence. Venosa’s work gives a new aesthetic to angels, and his work encourages viewers to be transported to another world.

3. Max Ernst

Max Ernst is a surrealist artist that made friends with major players in the art world such as Peggy Guggenheim and Andre Breton in the early twentieth century. Ernst has the ability to create magnificent landscapes that remind us of something from dreams, but not quite nightmares. He conveys organic matter covering seemingly vast surfaces. Ernst uses vibrant colors such as algae green, and a sandy yellow, creating the illusion of real vegetation on some alternate alien planet. There’s visibility of bodies and shadows of anatomical sculptural protrusions in his cavernous painted structures. He influenced the surrealist movement greatly, and made an appearance in the Museum of Modern Art in 1936.

4. Aurel Schmidt

Aurel Schmidt is a Brooklyn based artist that I discovered at the Museum of Modern Art a few years ago. Her work consists of extremely detailed conglomerations of cigarette butts, mice, snakes, and other things one could find in the streets and apartments of the city life. Her work is the kind that you can look at, and keep on finding new things. Included in this blog is an especially successful piece, in which tiny, creepy, crawling, insects, maggots, rodents, and birds- all of which which eats away at our deceased body, ironically compose a human form that stands tall and alive.

5. H.R. Giger

H. R. Giger can be recognized from his set design work of the movie Alien and the Matrix, with his signature “bio-mechanical” style. To any aspiring surrealist, Giger will point you in the direction that helps you bridge the organic with the artificial. He merges the machine with the human anatomy, combining imagery of needles, ridges, chains, phalluses, and flesh to create something visceral and complex. His work feels cold and post-apocolyptic, bringing us into a world that we are both afraid of and intrigued by.

6. Dorthea Tanning

Dorothea Tanning was 101 when she died in 2012, leaving a life and legacy of surrealism behind her. This painting is from the 1960s, and it is that decade, and the late 1950s that her work had an especially ambiguous, ambient, and yet anatomical aesthetic to it. She made extraordinary friends in her lifetime including Robert Motherwell, husband Max Ernst, and Man Ray. Her work is whimsical, and this painting is reminiscent of cumulonimbus clouds one would stare up at during a Summer day dreaming of figures lost in our memory.

7. Andre Breton

Andre Breton is known as the founder of surrealism because he wrote the surrealism manifesto in 1924. This painting describes the revolution of the mind, as one climbs into their unconscious, there is so much wonder and complexity he or she can discover.

8. Isaac Abrams

Isaac Abrams founded the first psychedelic art gallery in the world in NYC in the 1960s. I spoke to Isaac on the phone not too long ago, and he told me “God helps those who help themselves. He has shown in the Tate museum twice, and the Whitney Museum twice as well. His work involves intricacies of vibrant patterns, and he has a keen ability to push and pull colors using oil color paint. He is not limited to only paint, as he draws frequently. He is extremely prolific, and he has a major amount of paintings in his studio in upstate NY. He is alive, and still working very hard; if you are interested in one of his painting, you should contact him through his website.

9. Zdzislaw Beksinski

Zdzislaw Beksinski painted haunting oil color paintings that he surprisingly found quite humorous. He was a European painter, and his oeuvre is filled with nightmarish scenes of figures without faces, dream-like landscapes, and creatures from the depths of his mind. Unfortunately, at the end of his life, he was stabbed to death, which marked a series of tragic events towards his final years. Beksinski had the ability to pull us into a surreal plane of existence without never having been academically trained.

10. James Roper

James Roper is an artist that works mostly with acrylic on canvas, although he can work in multiple mediums, including sculpture. His work is explosive, and works brilliantly with tone, as he has gray palettes colliding next vibrant primary colors. His work seems to be the result of Greek Gods throwing thunderbolts at one another in a hurricane of action and propulsion. He has mastered creating folds in fabric by using a limited color palette, not too hasty on gradations. His work employs compositions with centrifugal force.

Written by Andrew Kaminski

The post Ten Surrealists Art Historians Love And Every Art Lover Must Know appeared first on Artiholics.

New York City – Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Enter Brooklyn’s Animation Block Party. The 11th annual Animation Block Party film fest is now open for submissions. It features prizes, such as software from Toon Boom, Digicel, Dragonframe, and more. The real prize though are the eyeballs. Many of said eyeballs are in the heads of content and ad scouts that are looking for creatives. Many more eyeballs are owned and operated by animation pros in the area and beyond that you really should know.  Let’s not forget to mention that it gets great press in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Gotham Magazine, etc.

Animation Block Party is networking for people who hate networking, and a film fest for people who hate film fests. It’s loose, but organized. Fun, but professional. In NYC, but in Brooklyn. It’s a plus on all fronts. Click the link to submit your film now! https://animationblock.com/submit

If you’re not into the presenting thing just yet, this Thursday (12/19) at BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music) you can check out “Late Night Work Club & Friends” presented by Animation Block (Admission is $13).

“Late Night Work Club” is what NYC animation does best. It’s a group of Indie animators coming together to create an anthology of short films under a single umbrella concept. There was no crowd-funding campaign, no mysterious benefactor… just animators creating as they do. Their first compilation was titled “Ghost Stories” and will screen at 8pm followed by a Q&A hosted by Animation Block’s Casey Safron, with a panel discussion including animators Jake Armstrong, Caleb Wood, Sean Buckelew, Charles Huettner and Scott Benson.

Finally, if you’re STILL not sold on all these goings on — the after party starts at 10:15pm at Pacific Standard in Brooklyn.  Drink artistically.

Written by Stephen Brooks

(photos via animationblockparty2012 on  flickr)

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When attending  0 to 60, please PLEASE don’t rush through. These works each deserve at least 60 seconds of your precious time, but once you see a piece for 60 seconds, do not move quickly on to the next piece, like the majority of art viewers do all over the world. For this show, we break the impatient habit that most viewers have, and we take our time with this art.

0 to 60 is up until January 25th, 2014 at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, (144 West 14th Street, 2nd Floor). This show allows for a beautiful meditation on time, and this review will help you appreciate some of the works more, so when you go there, you won’t waste your time.

Right when you walk into the gallery, there’s a site-specific installation that catches your eyes with all of its vibrant colors. The gallery has the privilege of hosting the assemblage work of artist, Lisa Hoke, whose collection of commonly discarded cardboard packages and plastic containers are utilized in unique 3-dimensional compositions right on the gallery wall. The accumulation of recycled materials marks another marker of time- the objects so frequently thrown away- without a second thought as to where they are going, or how much of them are passing through our lives. She essentially honors the sophistication of Robert Raushenberg’s assemblages, by integrating a fluid psychedelic spin of her own.Hoke’s work is immersive, and I wouldn’t underestimate it to literally swallow the viewer as I overheard someone talking to Lisa, conversing about its fragile state, and how it’s vulnerable to collapse. She revitalizes the aesthetic value of logos, covering packaging that most consumers spot when they make a purchase, with the sole intention of using the product, and throwing away the extraneous material as garbage right after their consumption.

Hoke has a gift of breathing life into mundane cardboard and plastic wrapping to become something of a contrasting value- something that will make us marvel. I met Lisa at the gallery opening, and we both took a second to admire the logos found within the materials in her installation. Rarely, do I look at the “Coca-Cola” logo, and say, “that’s a gorgeous design;” but Lisa Hoke’s work evokes that reaction. She recontextualizes everyday consumer imagery into a transient and ephemeral form; the piece at this gallery will be deconstructed once the show is over. The carefully and intuitively placed assemblage is unique to this show- it utilizes the gallery space in a way that only her work can and ever will.

The second work I’m going to mention is Last Breath, by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. This piece intrigued me instantly, with its robotic structure, and moving extremities. The work entails plastic tubing that connects to a brown paper bag that curiously inflates and deflates, at the rate much like our lungs breathe. Apparently, the work is “activated 10,000 times a day, the typical respiratory frequency for an adult at rest.” There is even a digital red counter, marking which breath the bag is at. One way we can measure time is through the amount of breaths we take each day. Have you begun counting? Take three breaths, right now. Do it, and count. Does time always have to be measured in seconds, hours, or days? Rafael Lozano-Hemmer does the extraordinary feat of reminding us that we only have a certain amount of breaths left in our life. Simply remembering his work brings a new appreciation to every breath we take. I just counted- my three breaths took 15 seconds.

In another corner of the gallery, you will find a sweet aspect of the show- that of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, within his legendary installation of white candies individually wrapped in cellophane, weighing approximately 175 pounds in total. If you have not seen his work before, or rather, if you have not tasted his work before, this is your opportunity to do so. The piece is apparently frequently replenished, so viewers are welcome to take one candy per show. I know of people who have stuffed their pockets with the candy. The sweets represent the weight of a human being, and each time someone grabs and eats one, the symbolic weight of that human deteriorates by the weight of one more candy. This reminds me that the cells in our body are constantly dying and regenerating, and that although someone may be 50 years old, most cells in their body are only around 7 to 10 years young. When enough viewers see this show, the entire installation of Torres may pass through a collection of bodies, and help regenerate the cells in hundreds of viewers.

Artist David Shapiro exhibited a piece in the show, in which receipts were displayed within a glass case. These were not ordinary receipts, as Shapiro meticulously and painstakingly reproduced a plethora of receipts from his daily life with pen, color pencil, ink, gouache, and paper. We leave a paper trail behind us, as we buy a coffee here, and pay a parking ticking there. The passage of our time can be marked through these paper receipts, and Shapiro, through these works, glorifies this evidence of our existence. The human touch is seen as not all the marks are pristine, and there are the slightest of errors and curved lines.

Caetano de Almeida’s pollution drawings have a quiet presence, as they have slight differentiations in tone on the paper behind their glass frame. Almeida’s work reveals the dust and pollution that collects over time with the use of stencils on paper outside the artist’s balcony in Sao Paolo. The pollution paintings are evidence of  how, as time passes, small particles leave traces, and you can observe that the lightest areas of the piece were out on the balcony the shortest amount of time, as they had the least amount of dust and pollution collected on them. I am horrified by what the pollution is doing on the lungs of people that breathe in this air everyday.

We constantly keep track of time, and our lives, especially in NYC, are ruled by time- we have to be on time, we want to spend time with the right people, make time for memories that matter. This exhibit enlightens us to consider how everything in our lives accumulates or deteriorates, subjected to the grand ruler of time. There are more artists, and I recommend purchasing the book that accompanies the show, so you can get a more insightful look at all the artists.

Written and photographed by Andrew Kaminski

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Bushwick, Brooklyn is becoming known for it’s amazing murals by world famous mural painters, and this one I find specifically awesome.  I had seen pictures of it online, but the other day I was down on Bogart Street on my bike and got to grab a few shots of this myself.

It’s an Orca which is presented in exploded view by artist Nychos.  On the side Tutu’s, it runs the length of the building, it is eye catching as fuck.  Just on the corner of Bogart and Varet Streets.

It’s amazing because it looks so super sharp, but when you get close you see that it’s all spray paint.  That is some crazy can control.  There is an article on Bedford & Bowery.com which has some more details, as well as pictures of the artist painting it in steps.  Cool shit.

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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