My mother, Joycelyn Erho Calande, was an artist so art has always been part of my life. Going to museums, galleries and art shows was nothing foreign to me. I have always enjoyed “creating” so by the time high school was wrapping up it was pretty clear to me I wanted to pursue art professionally in some capacity. I ended up attending the oldest art school in the U.S., The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. At the time, at age 17 and fresh out of high school,  I was the youngest to ever be admitted. It was an intense 4 year art program focusing on drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. By the time I was finishing college, I was doing commission work, showing in some Philadelphia area galleries and entering shows. 

 

 

I’ve never been big on having my art “say something”, that’s what books are for. That’s not to say there’s never a hidden (or not so hidden) message in some works. But mostly I feel as artists we are creating something unique, a different way to see and express something visually, we are sharing pieces of ourselves. Sometimes a pretty picture is just a pretty picture. And I think that’s where artists excel. We make the world a more beautiful and more interesting place. At least most of the time. 

What is your experience with the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity?

I’ve been a longtime collector of animation art. Specifically the original production art used to create the original Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodie cartoons. I’ve always loved the art form. Many of those animators were also fine artists themselves. I was lucky enough to meet Chuck Jones (and the Jones family) on many occasions as well as some of the other animation artists like Maurice Noble, Pete Alvarado, Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle and others. What I loved about meeting Chuck Jones is that he always made sure you left with more knowledge than which you came. After visiting Chuck’s gallery many times over many years, I began to participate in their annual Red Dot Art Auction. Artists from all over the world donate 12 x 12 inch works of art for a silent fund raising auction. The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity uses the money to offer art and creativity programs to people of all ages, but especially to the young and old. I believe September of 2021 will be the 11th Red Dot Auction and I’ve participated in almost every one, missing only a year or two. This year I’ll be donating 2 works of art….or maybe 3, we’ll see. But the auction brings two of my loves together, Looney Tunes and art. It makes me happy that my work not only raises money for a good cause but it’s nice to know the auction winners are living with my artwork, giving it a home, and enjoying it. Hopefully for some, those little 12 x 12 works will become treasured family heirlooms and bring decades of joy. At the very least my little paintings will hopefully bring some color and life to yet another bare and sterile wall in this world. 

 

 

How is the Covid-19 influencing your Art? How did you use the quarantine time?

The post Meet the Artist Eric Calande appeared first on Artiholics.

To hear the phrase “the first woman to” do or become something is unfortunately quite common nowadays, and while the road to equality is still long, we salute those who help pave it.

We are also nevertheless very happy for Laurence des Cars, the first woman to lead The Louvre in Paris in its 228-year-long history. She was appointed on May 26, 2021 by the French President Emmanuel Macron, and will assume her position at the realm of world’s most visited museum on September 1.

While the name of Laurence des Cars only just became familiar to many, this experienced art historian has been around for a while. Born in 1966 to journalist and writer Jean des Cars, she studied art history at the Sorbonne and École du Louvre. Her first position as curator was at the Musée d’Orsay, of which she has also been President since 2014, along with the much smaller Musée de l’Orangerie since 2017. From 2007 to 2014, she was in charge of Agence France-Muséums, the French government body behind the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Des Cars is a specialist in 19th- and early-20th-century painting. As a teacher at École du Louvre, she organized many exhibitions for various museums, including the traveling show on Edward Burne-Jones (1998-99), Gustave Courbet (2007-08), and Jean-Léon Gérôme (2010-11).

During her time as head of Musée d’Orsay, Laurence des Cars oversaw the acclaimed 2019 exhibition “Black models: from Géricault to Matisse,” which looked at the representation of Black figures in visual arts, from the abolition of slavery in France (1794) to the modern day. The museum is also the first French venue of its kind to voluntarily return a Nazi-looted painting to its rightful owners.

“My heart beat much faster,” des Cars said to France Inter, after learning about her new role from the culture minister, Roselyne Bachelot, on May 23. She will be replacing the museum’s leader of the past eight years, Jean-Luc Martinez, who will now serve as a special ambassador for international co-operation on cultural heritage. According to a statement from the French culture ministry, Des Cars pledged to extend The Louvre’s opening hours in order to attract younger visitors, and to foster “a dialogue between ancient art and the contemporary world,” which will be particularly interesting to see, given that The Louvre has been a “classical” art museum under Martinez’s leadership.

In an interview with The New York Times, des Cars expressed her excitement to be the first female president-director of The Louvre. “Things are really changing for women in the museum world. Of the 70 curators in the Louvre, more than half of them are women. More women are heading museums, especially in Europe. And younger women are much more confident these days,” she said.

Although he grew the museum’s attendance to over 10 million a year, the previous Director Jean-Luc Martinez was criticized for a few decisions, including the Louvre’s partnership with the Uniqlo brand for a merchandize line, or the one with Airbnb, which allowed a couple to spend a night in the museum.

The Louvre Museum is a state-owned venue with the annual budget of about $291 million and more than 2,000 employees. Despite the fact that the attendance plunged by 72 percent to 2.7 million in 2020 during the pandemic, it is still the most visited – and the largest – art museum in the world.

As reported by The Guardian and the French Culture Ministry, about 67 percent of the country’s national museums are headed by women. Laurence des Cars will be joining the company of Catherine Chevillot, Director of the Musée Rodin, Tatyana Franck at the Élysée museum, and Sophie Makariou, President of the Musée Guimet.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/laurence-des-cars-named-louvre-director
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/arts/design/louvre-laurence-des-cars.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/louvre-appoints-laurence-des-cars-as-first-female-president

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Please tell us a little about where you are from? And what is your background as an artist? 

I was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, USA. It’s a suburb on the Southern side of Pittsburgh. My family rented three rooms on the upper floor of a house there. When I was eleven years old, we moved across the river to Dravosburg, which is yet another suburb on the Southern side of Pittsburgh. We lived in the projects there, and that’s where I lived until I left school.

During the time I was a boy, the steel industry was in full blossom. Everywhere around you, one was surrounded by fire, earthen ores, molten metal, lots of smoke, big machines and industrial noises.  It was really sexy. Today I still love to visit old factories and railroad yards with heavy equipment and huge machines.   

In Pittsburgh, there was some sort of philanthropic program that identified young, artistically inclined students in public school. Through that program, I attended fine art classes at Carnegie Institute for several years, and then later at Carnegie-Mellon University. I studied at CMU at night and on weekends throughout my high school years.  Later, I enrolled at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston.   

Carnegie-Mellon was a very classical fine art program. Hours and years spent drawing bottles and human anatomy. The Museum School on the other hand, was the exact opposite. No rules and run with scissors as fast as you can. In fact, pick up some knives and razor blades while you’re at it. It was a change of direction that electrified me.

So you can say that I had a fairly rich academic start to my practice. I’m really grateful to the instructors that I had. I’ve been working in my studio and exhibiting as much as I can ever since. Besides all of that art school stuff, I have two degrees in Electrical Engineering. Who would have known? I actually chose my engineering major based on a sculptural project I was thinking about using electro-magnetism. I could have used a good life coach when I was young.

The academics had value, but the art seed germinates only once you come to terms with the “why” of your practice.

What made you want to become an artist?

Well, since so much of my youth was spent in art school in one way or another, I was very comfortable in an artist’s skin right from the start. There wasn’t a someone or a something that triggered it all for me. I had my artistic heroes and sheroes, but I think it’s more that art gives me a vehicle to think deeply about things.  I become very mentally invested in certain ideas and concepts. Painting is my way of sorting it all out. Actually, my studio practice is a sort of neurosis of mine. You might call it an addiction or even a compulsion.  It’s something I feel that I have to do, something I’m driven to do. If I spend too much prolonged time away from working, I just feel a bit undone. It’s always been that way for me. 

Is there name/category for the kind of art you create?

Because of the materials that I use, my work has been referred to as Haute Pâte, or Matter Painting. There was a time, say maybe ten years ago, when the way I was using the material aptly fit that description. Nowadays, I can’t say that I agree or disagree with those labels.  I am using the Earth as a painting medium but the way that I’m using it is dry rather than some material mixed with paint. Does that qualify as Haute Pâte? It’s thick, gravely stuff affixed to the surface. There are probably people who feel very specific about those terms. As far as I know, I’m unique in what I’m doing.

If we talk about my subject matter, I’m interested in consciousness, and I approach that through metaphysics, physics, and spirituality. The images are mostly abstract, I think.  Sometimes even primitive. Abstract is more real than real, when you’re trying to ask hard questions, in my opinion.

Often there is a message behind art. What is the message behind your art?

When looking at one of my paintings, you’re sharing a snapshot of a moment of time of my stream of consciousness. Maybe that’s more like a babbling brook. You will literally see what I was thinking about at the time I painted the piece. It will have notes, formulae, lyrics, glyphs and so on that are relevant to the topic that I was analyzing and unpacking at the time. The paintings do not read literally though. The composition itself dictates what stays and what is erased. When I watch people looking at my work in the gallery, I’ll catch them trying to read the painting or identify the math. That makes me laugh to myself. There is no secret message to unlock.

Do you have a targeted audience for your art?

That’s a really interesting question. I’ve never thought about a target audience. Now that you bring it up, it’s possible that I’m painting just for myself. The target audience is me!  Isn’t that funny? I should send myself a survey to see how I feel about it. I haven’t noticed that my work is collected by any single sort of demographic. The most frequent feedback that I hear is that “it just makes me feel good.”  I can’t think of a higher compliment, actually.

You state in your artist statement that your body of work is also an attempt to tap into the core of human experience. Can you tell us more what you mean by that? What do you see as the core of human experience? 

It’s a somewhat contrarian view these days, but I think that no matter where you’re from, when you’re from, no matter your race, sex, or culture, people are pretty much the same once we strip off the learned beliefs that end up creating otherwise arbitrary differences.  Sometimes we choose to pick up and carry a flag for those differences, but at the core we’re basically the same. We are Humans, all of us together, motivated ultimately only by love or fear.

If you allow the assertion that we all share a common inherent “humanness,” then at a primal level we all experience the universe in the same way. Because I’m an artist, I’ll give you an example by way of what happens when we see something.

We tend to experience symbols and glyphs in the same primal way no matter who we are.  You can in fact observe this when you look at the ways that ancient cultures, separated by distance and time, used common graphical symbols. A cross, a figure eight, a spiral, curves vs. angles and so on work the same in one place in space and time as they do in another.  We see with our human mind, not with our eyes.  

Looking at this a bit more deeply, it would seem that our minds are connected at a core, root level. Think of islands in the sea. The islands are separated on the surface of the water, but underneath the sea they’re connected through the same Earth. You and me are islands, but we’re connected. A collective, consensus humanness. Interestingly, developments in quantum physics seem to be touching upon the mathematics that identifies how this happens at a quantum level. Physics is affirming metaphysics. So, to answer your question more directly, it’s possible that we are all that there is. At least as far as we’ll ever be concerned. That deserves looking at.

Are you currently working on new artworks?

Always! Constantly! Feet don’t fail me now.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m sort of driven in my studio practice. I’m running a race that never finishes. I started working on this series that I call “Multiverse” around the beginning of the year. This is looking at the ideas around parallel universes. I think there’s still some distance to travel with that, unless a new shiny penny comes my way.

Looking to the future, what are any upcoming projects and art exhibitions that you have? 

I’ve got a few of the early Mulitiverse pieces at the gallery in Atlanta. I’d like to exhibit a larger body of that work sometime this year, but at the moment there’s nothing scheduled for that. My next solo show on the books is in 2022.

On the horizon, I’m thinking about the role of consciousness in the creation of physical reality. I’ve been reading about string theory for some time, and especially the areas of math that involve the presence or absence of an observer. I’m having fun with that and I think there’s enough brain food in that topic that will lead to something soon for me. Then there’s a life/afterlife thing that I’m noodling on too. We’ll see what happens.

COVID-19 has impacted so many parts of our lives. How did Covid-19 impact your work?

You know what, I don’t think it impacted my work at all. I feel a bit odd saying that out loud, but that’s the honest answer.  

I spend eighty percent of every day alone, working in the same room. The social isolation is what my daily routine was anyway. I do miss going out and spending time with friends like I used to, but my work hasn’t changed because of Covid.  Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

I’m an open book. Drop me a line.

Bob Landström’s Website

Instagram: @boblandstrom

The post Meet the Artist Bob Landström appeared first on Artiholics.

To see these masterpieces, you can to the MoMA or the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam – or you can see them projected in 90 million pixels across 500,000 cubic feet of a visual experience. Immersive Van Gogh, a digital art exhibition devoted to the Dutch master, is touring around the world with numerous venues in the United States.

Following the sold-out show in Toronto, and record-breaking run in Paris (glimpses of which you can see in Netflix’s show “Emily in Paris”), “Immersive Van Gogh” opened this May at a secret location in Los Angeles.

One of the most important artists in the history of visual arts, Vincent van Gogh developed a remarkable, memorable painterly style, drawing from his long history with mental illness combined with his unique sense of the world around him. His incredible swirls of colors and attention to detail continue to dazzle audiences around the world, now culminating in the “Immersive Van Gogh” experience. The visitors are able to “step inside” Van Gogh’s masterpieces, carefully selected from his 2000+ lifetime catalog of artworks, and accompanied by light, music, movement, and imagination.

Conceived as a one-hour walkthrough exhibition, “Immersive Van Gogh” was designed by Creative Director and Italian film producer Massimiliano Siccardi, and Art Directed by Vittorio Guidotti. It contains original, mood-setting score by another Italian, multimedia composer Luca Longobardi, that accompanies the Van Gogh artwork as it comes to life before the visitors’ eyes.

Chances are you’ve probably already seen dozens of images of “Immersive Van Gogh” across your socials. The exhibition provides an environment that flawlessly caters to our obsession with social media and the ever-evolving selfie culture (remember Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room selfies? They were EVERYWHERE). Add to that the ongoing pandemic and our human need to socialize and be part of events, and you got yourself a blockbuster!

The “Immersive Van Gogh” experience has nineteen cities on its North American schedule, with shows already open in Chicago (until November 28, 2021) and San Francisco (until September 6, 2021). The Los Angeles iteration opens on May 27 at a yet undisclosed location “at the heart” of the city. The exhibitions will then open in New York City (June 10), Dallas (June 17), Charlotte, NC (June 18), Las Vegas (July 1), Phoenix, Minneapolis, Houston…

And speaking of the coronavirus, “Immersive Van Gogh” promises a safe space: through timed ticket admission, temperature checks upon arrival, hand sanitizer stations and social distancing markers across the exhibition hall, and of course masks, to be worn at all times.

Tickets for “Immersive Van Gogh” range in prices from $40 for off-peak time slots to $50 for peak ones. You might want to hurry: the first available time slot at the moment is in October!

Immersive Van Gogh LA Website

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With the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, virtually every in-person event on Earth was cancelled, art fairs among them. Directors had to get creative, inspired to find a way to keep art, hope, and inspiration alive by bringing the show to the public somehow.

A little background: Cube Art Fair is actually a Brussels-based enterprise, happening in the Belgian capital every year for four years now. It mainly focuses on American artists through a high standard of curation, presentation, and organization of a major gallery fair. Through Cube Art Fair, European collectors have a unique change to get familiar with the contemporary art scene in the United States, be it emerging or established.

So how does a Brussels fair end up in New York? The reason would be Gregoire Vogelsang, the man behind Cube, who moved to the Big Apple after managing an art gallery in Belgium for two years.

Now onto the NYC event! To visit Cube Art Fair 2021, you better get your legs ready: the artwork can be viewed on over 100 of the city’s many billboards and kiosks, from the heart of Times Square to the Lower East Side, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, the Upper East Side and beyond. The whole of Manhattan is Cube Art Fair’s exhibition space! The billboard initiative seems to be part of Cube’s #staycreative campaign, which had already taken place in Brussels and Miami.

What not to miss? The Cube Art Fair definitely recommends seeing “Soft Stories,” one of the artworks appearing on a 12,000-square-feet billboard in Times Square. Created by Canadian photographer Laura Jane Petelko, the open series takes the symbolic inhabitation of animals as the point of departure and goes on to tackle the topics of intimacy, isolation, our relationship with nature.

On the other hand, the sculptural work of the American artist Sam Tufnell tries to reorient our understanding of beauty. His pieces present in the Cube Art Fair exhibition call out the macabre: there is a sculpture of a skull made of noodle soup, for instance.

Among other participating artists are Denmark’s portrait photographer Kenneth Willardt, the French-Mexican photographer Patricia de Solages, and Belgian wildlife photographer Griet Van Malderen.

Make sure you scan the QR code of each artwork, to find our more about it, or even to purchase it, in physical or NFT format.

Cube Art Fair is on view in New York City through May 9, 2021.

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My journey as an artist has been anything but linear. Although I loved the idea of a creative life, I had little going for me in that department aside from encouragement from my art teachers when I was younger. I didn’t go to art school and photography didn’t even become part of the journey until after the birth of my daughter. Feeling compelled to document her life, I bought a used camera and taught myself to use it to document this new life I’d hoped to make better than my own. I made a darkroom in my garage and spent almost every night experimenting as she slept. Finding that space to play with my artistic voice became like a drug and emboldened me to try all kinds of unlikely projects, none of which felt particularly inspiring until I was offered the chance to shoot stills for an independent film in Los Angeles. I arrived on day one with my beat up old camera and was told to find the cinematographer, who just happened to be the late and legendary John Alonzo (Chinatown). On day two he called me over to the grip truck, lent me his gear and told me to “stick close.” Thankfully, I did, and basically came away with a first-class education and a direction to head toward. I had no idea how to make a living with photography but knew then and there it was something I wanted to pursue further. 

I began to worry that I wasn’t doing my daughter any favors by dreaming, so I moved to LA to find work in photography. I managed to land a temp position answering phones at an entertainment firm in Beverly Hills. Within a few short weeks, I started filling in as photo editor, eventually taking over the position. I left four years later as director of the photo department, producing for various big name film, tv, and gaming clients, working closely with celebrity photographers and shooting many of the campaigns myself.

The culture of celebrity can be lucrative but holds little interest for me, however. I was always moonlighting on various personal projects and side hustles, shooting various nightscapes, avoiding anything with people. It was during these nightly escapades that I began to observe and appreciate the ever-changing and ephemeral nature of art of the streets. Hollywood was especially peppered with murals and graffiti, and although I was always working to omit their artwork in my photographs, my thoughts always drifted toward the person behind the work, their enduring spirit, flying in the face of traditional ideas around art, where it’s seen, and who gets to see it. I set out to photograph as many of these elusive figures as possible. 

Seven years later, Heroes & Villains (Zero+ Publishing) was published, just as my daughter was about to turn 16. I was thinking about my next project and she’d recently announced her plans to pursue a professional career in ballet. I asked if she’d be interested in sitting for a more formal portrait. Our time in the studio that day was pivotal in many ways. Having always loved dance — I had been photographing local dance artists initially for the Oregon Cultural Trust, and then for some of the dance companies directly. For me, capturing these artists out of context, not dancing, but simply being was something I wanted to explore. My daughter, with all the hopes and dreams she represented, was the perfect choice to begin that endeavor.

You resist being labeled as a photographer. How do you define yourself? 

Is it cheeky for me to say I’ve no interest in defining myself? While photography is my current medium, the idea that it defines me wouldn’t be true. I am many things. A dancer, a mother, a friend. “Photographer” seems so limiting. I guess I’d prefer to be thought of as someone who cultivates relationships with like minded collaborators? I’m interested in portraying someone as their best self. I like to strip away affectation and expected scenarios. In many ways I feel like an anthropologist who speculates on the future. I especially enjoy working with artists on the cusp.

What kind of works do you create? What do you like to photograph?

I make portraits. My approach, while on the surface may look simple and formalist, is a bit more nuanced and collaborative. I enjoy spending time within a specific genre of artists and having time to get to know someone before we work together. I like to immerse myself in a scene or a movement. I follow my interests, basically. Not in a social media way, but in a one-on-one kind of way. 

What makes one photograph stand out from another? 

That would depend on the viewer, I think. If you’re asking about my editing process, then that’s pretty simple. When I’m working with someone, there is almost always a moment where they’ve let their guard down. Those images tend to stand out for me.

What inspires you?

This is a question I find difficult to answer, mainly because it really depends on the day I’m asked. Other artists inspire me is the short answer. The long answer could lead me down a rabbit hole, but I generally like to read nonfiction. Mostly memoirs and history books. Right now I’m reading Mediocre by Ijeoma Ouelo. 

You are from the East Coast, how did you land up in Los Angeles? What do you like about LA and its art scene?

I grew up in a small town in Maryland and quickly became disenchanted with what I felt were limited prospects for my future. I did what any normal teenager does and sought out adventure, usually hopping on the train to DC or Baltimore to see bands, art exhibitions, or hang out on M Street in Georgetown. I’m close to my Aunt, who was an artist in New York, and when she moved to LA, I ventured out to spend what I expected to be a few weeks helping out. In a relatively short time, I felt surrounded by prospects, the energy and ease really meshed with my personality. LA has a reputation as a place for reinvention and possibility. For me, it continues to deliver, especially within art and culture. While sometimes seeming to dwell in the shadow of Hollywood, I believe the opposite is true. Instead, I think the scene here flies in the face of it.

What is the focus of your current practice?

Mainly two projects with the dance community: one focused on a single artist over several years, and the other, a more comprehensive overview of dance artists who come through or live in the LA area. 

How did Covid-19 impact your art?

Given that my work largely relies on human interaction in the studio and dance artists touring, the shooting component of these projects ground to a halt. Compelled by the state of things and using this as a backdrop, I dove into the archive, noticing and experimenting with themes and patterns that reflect what I feel is our collective state of mind. I also created an outdoor studio at home and collaborated with friends and family on some editorial projects. 

What are your future projects?

As a result of the experimentation with some of my existing imagery, I’ve been learning new software to integrate these stills into what I’m hoping will be something visually interesting.

Otherwise, I have some ideas but given the uncertainty around everything, I really don’t know.

Tatiana Wills’ Website

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Hi Emanuele,

You are the Prince of Venice. Please tell us about your fascinating story and your background.

It’s a very long story. I am the son and heir of Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia and only male-line grandson of Umberto II, the last King of Italy. My family unified Italy.

My great-great-great grandfather King Victor Emmanuel II became the first king of Italy and then we reigned in Italy until 1946 when the Republic came after the referendum. Since then, we were in exile in Switzerland. We couldn’t go back to Italy and I was not born in my country. In 2002 I was able to go back to Italy finally to visit my country, but my family exists since the year 1000. We are one of the oldest royal families in Europe if not in the world so from France to Switzerland to returning we were a bit all over Europe. 

What made you decide to start a food truck and now a restaurant?

Casualty. One day years ago I was at a big event in Los Angeles, and I discovered the food truck scene.

In Europe, it was not very well known so I arrived and I see all those beautiful food trucks with plenty of colors, but I wanted to eat Italian food. So I was with a friend and I was looking for an Italian food truck and I didn’t see one so I came back home and I said, okay, I’ll do one. So I wanted to do something a bit special. I decided to do fresh handmade pasta and celebrate pizza, Sicilian arancini, desserts, salads and let’s say good Italian food that I think you find here at very expensive restaurants or you don’t find them. I wanted to introduce this food to the Americans and with a very good quality and in a rather good price.

Are you planning on starting a chain of restaurants?

The idea is to go into franchises and I hope, even it’s a difficult time, to open a chain of restaurants. But if we manage to do a good business, not to lose money in this time, I think it shows that the concept is a winner concept. So I’m even more excited to open in these difficult moments and to see that people are responding very well. The restaurant from day one had success but it’s increasing and people are coming back and this is for me something wonderful. So yes the idea is to open then a chain of restaurants all over America.

What are the specialties at your restaurant?

We have very good food. Our arancini are made by a Sicilian cook. We have many food selections. What I like about my restaurant, without taking anything away from anybody else, is that when you enter my restaurant you see that the chef is from Naples, my pizza chef is from Sicily, my manager is from Venice; they all are Italian. I think you need Italian people to have an Italian restaurant. We still have the food truck, but we are holding off now because of the pandemic.

Do you think that the Italian cuisine is a form of art?

I think the Italian cuisine is our culture first of all. There are incredible cooks and chefs that are artists but my goal is to have incredible cooks more than artsy chefs that go on TV. I want people to discover the Italian taste and thus taste our culture. I want people to try the grandmother food. All grandmothers are incredible cooks.

You are a prince, the grandson of the last king of Italy, but you like to be in the front line at the restaurant and you are definitely down to Earth. What is your approach to life?

It’s difficult to describe myself, but I was always very down-to-earth and I’m like, yes, I come from a big family, have a big name, but I’m a guy that works and wants to please people and wants to be friendly with them. I never put distance between me and others or between me and people I could meet. I could meet the President of the United States or my dishwasher and I really treat them in the same way. So this is how I am made.

Prince of Venice Website

Instagram

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Please introduce yourself. Who are you and where are you from?

I am Jonathan Latona (30) Film Director/Writer/Cinematographer and I grew up in South Florida, born and raised around Ft. Lauderdale/Miami Beach, specifically, in a small area called Coral Springs in Broward County. It’s a very large town with small ambition. Not many people who come from there have aspired to do much except have a family and live their life. My early life was my mom and myself, along with my dreams and ambitions. She worked as a social worker for a variety of different positions, most notably for Alzheimer’s patients. Life was difficult. There were many discussions on what comes next, a thought that never occurred to me in high school. All I was doing was seemingly wasting time, participating in Drama Club and acting in the high school theater plays, which inspired me to go to acting classes where they were working off Eric Morris’s technique of Method Acting (Meisner and Stanislavski based). I thrived in my extracurricular activities, which destroyed my school work when I was already a poor test taker. Eventually, after I couldn’t get over a certain score in the SAT & ACT’s, my mother and I moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where I enrolled at Cape Fear Community College.

We needed a fresh start. My college life at Cape Fear was my beginning. Even moving from Florida—a feat I wasn’t sure was possible— to a quaint state like North Carolina was a dream come true! I was finally out of a state that had nothing but what I thought was bad energy all around, and ended up in a place where art could potentially thrive. Upon arriving in Wilmington, it was still a hotspot for film & television. I was able to learn from the people who were veterans in the film industry who worked on productions since the 80’s (which at that time was thriving in Television with CW shows like Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill). My first semester in college was a joke. However, after that I started classes I wanted to take, like Film Introduction.

My first Film class with David Kreutzer was everybody’s dream in a pseudo film school. There wasn’t a degree course. There were only certificate options at the North Campus, which was away from the downtown campus; I was eager to go every day. The downtown campus was the campus. People who went to North Campus didn’t do much in the school and would only see it as a chore. I actually wanted to be there, so I sat through the mandatory classes and got to the classes I was eager to take. By that summer, I started to take my schoolwork seriously and arranged to enroll in classes so that in the fall, I could take all film courses. At that point, I took film school seriously. I was the only kid in my entire class who took the Intro Film class so seriously that by my second semester I was recommended for an Internship to work as a Production Assistant on One Tree Hill. I got that position. My Internship was on Tuesday.

It was at the Internship that I was able to obtain a crash course in what the process was really like. After some trials and tribulations, like almost failing a semester and getting my first real camera, I was well on my way to making films. Somehow, some way, I was going to master this process so that I could make my own films someday soon.

Thanks to the help of my professors, I started filming local bands in the Wilmington area. This led to music videos, which led to short films in my early twenties.

What inspired you to become a director and writer? Was it always your dream?

Becoming an Actor was always the “dream” but I didn’t really have an idea of what that meant until I started Drama Club in high school. Eventually, I realized that I was more in love with the filmmaking process and started researching filmmakers. When I moved from Florida, I realized that I could work on my own films. I would sit in the library at Cape Fear on cold nights when the sun went down, dark clouds overhead, reading about the illustrious careers of filmmakers I admired, like Martin Scorsese and David Lynch, among others. I would always gravitate towards those two extremes because I realized that you could tell epic stories, but still have artistic sensibilities. David Lynch has always done it for me, that mystery and awe encompassed in his films still hold up, even if they are surreal. In many ways, that’s the point. You want the visualization to be memorable; otherwise what was the point of going to see the film in the first place? Movies growing up were all about the spectacle in beauty and art; they actually motivated you to think differently about the world. Movies are supposed to give you hope, something to look forward to. I didn’t realize that movies were something that people could do, or that they were trying to do. I didn’t realize that there was a way to look into how movies were made and see that they’re very different from normal careers. When I shifted all my attention to making films in my early twenties, everything in my life changed.

How do you develop your scripts? What is the inspiration for your scripts?

There have always been various ways I think about the scripts I’m trying to write, but today I think the best ones are the ideas that I constantly think about in my head, no matter how long they’ve been circulating. I think about 4 of my scripts on a daily basis, just so I don’t forget. I am currently working on my second feature and have one more completely ready, and then there’s the one that’s partially written out, and another one in the notes phase (still). That’s not to say I’m not busy working on those, but I’m keeping busy everyday. The inspiration comes from a million different sources, depending on the idea.

Your latest featured movie Doug just came out. Tell us about the birthing process of this film.

I met Doug Burch back in 2015. I had just moved to LA and a friend of mine told me I needed to meet this one guy who was “working all the time”. I was told that he could help me find something related to a film job in LA. I worked as a camera operator on a commercial Doug was making about blow up hospital beds to be used in the field. Afterwards, we all got together and bonded over lunch. Eventually, Doug told me he was working on a feature film he was writing and was about to film it. I told him I wanted to work on it. Doug agreed to have me on board, and the two of us started filming his feature film THE LOST ONE in Long Beach at some hair salon. This was the beginning of our incredible journey together! One night, after watching the show LOUIE, starring Louis C.K., I got inspired to make my own film in that Cinema-Verite style. If Louie could do it, why couldn’t I? One afternoon, I pitched Doug my idea of a fictionalized version of himself, navigating Hollywood as a once popular TV Actor turned into a Hollywood footnote sideshow of a character. Doug loved it. Over the next three years, I would write DOUG and go through countless drafts of the same story, repeating the process over and over again. Writing the same beginning, keeping the middle then trimming the fat, then rewriting everything, then salvaging and trying to find moments—little nuggets of gold that could follow. Little by little, the chips fell into place. After about 4 and a half years, I was able to present Doug with a draft of a film that would eventually be the version of the film we made. All in all, the script wasn’t finished until the movie was shot, and even then, the editing process helped dictate the importance of every scene. I believe I kept most of the final draft intact, and added a few extra moments here and there that are “unscripted” yet have a place in the written world as outlines for improvisation. In many ways, filming this project made me think differently about all my other films before. I only now realize that a large bundle of that time was spent overthinking, overanalyzing elements that would never come to fruition. The pain I experienced writing DOUG was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. I was hurt. I was angry, going through a nasty breakup, trying to regain the strength to do things again. I knew that this was a new life, however, and one to take seriously. In many ways, DOUG was my thesis project. I never did get that degree.

Now that DOUG is on Amazon, I can finally have something to tell people about and feel confident they’ll give my film a chance. Every filmmaker stumbles through the trials and tribulations of getting their work seen by the public. It’s impossible when you don’t have a name actor, even more impossible when you aren’t from money, or when you’re doing everything yourself. DOUG is a very special project because it’s one where I have to continue to unravel the steps of the process constantly, just to figure out how to make a better film. In the beginning, I would tell myself “I wish I did this, I wish I did that or I didn’t forget this” but with DOUG, every decision was precise in the moment and exactly what I wanted. I never experienced that before.

Now with the film complete, I just hope that people can easily navigate through the streaming services directly to my film. I’m very proud of the film, I’m extremely proud of the fact that a Grand Jury for a Film Festival thought it strong enough that Doug himself can win Best Actor. That was a Win in my book as well. The film does exactly what I wanted it to do. I made the film I intended to make. In addition to that, getting my film onto Amazon was a lot like how one can get their film onto Youtube. There’s nothing to it, no real strings attached. Just good old fashioned follow the rules and get your film onto a streaming platform. Amazon helps the filmmaker think differently about how they can present their film to their target audience, but how it spreads is purely on the filmmaker. Unless you have a distributor handling everything, or a sales company backing you up at AFM (American Film Market), then you’re on your own. I know what I signed up for, my only hope is that people tune in and check it out. It’s a long game. Until something better comes along, it’ll always be the long game. I own my film. I can do whatever I want with it, and at the moment, handling it as an exclusive film you can watch for free with Amazon Prime, or buy from my website has taught me a lot about how I can market myself and my work as a filmmaker. Every step from here helps.

Since you have such a creative mind, what types of future projects are you percolating in your brain?

The projects I’m working on are always projects that relate to humanity, at some level. At the moment, I am not at liberty to say what exactly, just that you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Has the pandemic impacted your career and, and if so why/how?

The Pandemic has not affected me in the slightest. I’ve been busier than I’ve ever been before. Not sure why. Maybe it’s the timing, who knows. At the moment, I am trying to get as many opportunities I can as a freelancer and then continue, project to project and see what happens. I am currently open to collaborate on photo shoots, music videos, feature films someone else has written and act as a Cinematographer (in addition to my own work). The list goes on! The way I see it, I’m finally in this spot and was slowly gaining momentum just for the world to stop spinning? No way! I’m moving forward and can’t let a Pandemic be a factor to slowing down. This is the perfect time to edit, get some writing done and work on creative projects. Somehow, some way. Art always thrives off the negativity. Imagine what an entire generation will come up with once this is over! You can see it now: Amazon and streaming services are flooding with content from all over the world. Independent voices are finally being heard now that the major studios have halted production. Time does not slow down. Neither will the Independent artist. This is the perfect time to get things done.

What is your time table for future projects?

I am currently working on my second feature called DESTINATION HOLLYWOOD. It will (hopefully) be done in 2021 but we shall see.

How has your work evolved over the years?

My work has definitely gotten more sophisticated over the years. I used to write stories that seemed pompous and arrogant. The ideas weren’t anything special, filled with clichés and looking back, impossible to make yourself. It wasn’t until I started making films on an every day basis that I realized you didn’t have to be so complicated. Less is always more, and I was just starting to realize that in my mid-twenties. I floated my own ego after making several shorts that I didn’t know what making a feature would be like. I wanted to make a film I had written in my screenwriting class; however the idea wasn’t one hundred percent. In fact, it wasn’t even well thought out. I acted in it (against my better judgment) and by the time I would be on camera, I would crash. You could see that on camera. It wasn’t a smart idea for the performance aspect. Nobody ever saw any of the frames I was working on, but I managed to shoot the entire film. Later, I held a candlelight vigil and threw it all away. If only I knew then what I know now, right? That was a learning experience, and one that I’m still trying to perfect. It’s an idea I will revisit, with a whole different outlook on the story and design. This particular one needs time to heal, and I have other ideas I can be working on. In many ways, I realize now is the time to get things done and act on your dreams. Better now than later in older age, when you can’t do as much as you once thought.

What do you see on the horizon evolving as director?

If I look hard enough, I might be able to see my future career. Right now, it’s trying to produce one film at a time. At this rate, I should be okay.

How has the position of director changed over the years?

Over the years, my role as a Director/Cinematographer has become less hazy and more direct. I have learned how to have stronger communication, not only with actors but also myself. On set, everything becomes clear and the more direct I am with what I’m trying to achieve, the better for the actor’s performance. I’m still learning. I feel this occurs project to project. That’s the beauty of this craft: we can mold it to be however we desire. Filmmaking is all I have ever aspired to do in life, so I’m making the most of it. I’m discovering that there are no rules when it comes to filmmaking, film language and getting your idea out there. I used to think all my ideas were too surreal, now I’m realizing that they were too difficult to follow because there would be no real way to make that film. I would have to figure out what I can make, how I can achieve it and start filming. I didn’t discover this until my third or fourth year in Wilmington, NC and by that time, life got in the way. Navigating through life until you are mature enough to make those hard-boiled, down the line decisions that the studios pay for is the key to making the dream a reality. I’m still learning, but I have a long way to go until I become that A-list director. I hope I get there. Until then, all I can do is continue making films the way I have been and hopefully, with enough word of mouth networking, I can finally make the one script festering in my head after all this time.

DESTINATION HOLLYWOOD COMING SOON

DOUG NOW ON AMAZON

IG: @Johnnyboyfilms

www.jonathanlatona.com

The post The Art of Directing: Interview with Director Jonathan Latona appeared first on Artiholics.

My name is Gianfranco Meggiato, I was born in Venice in 1963 and am a sculptor of abstract works in bronze, aluminum, stainless steel and marble.

Please describe your journey to starting your life as an artist. How did you start your career and what brought you to start showing your works?

Since I was a child I felt a particular inclination for art, drawing, modeling, I studied for five years at the Istituto Statale of Venice, where I came into contact with different materials: wood, stone, clay, plaster, bronze.
Already at sixteen I participated in a collective exhibition in Piazza San Marco, at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, organized by the municipality of Venice, where I presented my first work created at school: a perforated stone panel on both walls; it already contained the initial seed of my future plastic research.

What is the process behind the creation of your works?

Unlike many other sculptors, I never start from a drawing or from a project, but instinctively, directly, by modeling the wax directly by heating it in special stoves and then modeling it with the help of a heat gun and lavacrete.
It is a very long and complex job and a work is sometimes done over and over again until the satisfactory result is achieved.

What inspires your artworks?

Telling you what inspires my works is not easy, in the sense that my sculptures arrive a little on their own. It is not that when I start working in the morning I already know what I will do, but as I proceed, the idea born takes shape and develops.
As Joan Mirò said: “Images take shape while I work. In other words, instead of deciding to paint something, I start working and while I paint the image imposes itself or offers itself to my brush.”
Here in this definition of Mirò on making art I find myself very much there and in my opinion the artist is nothing more than an energy receptor which then manages to transform matter whatever their medium, plastic in my case.

Your sculptures are elegant and very powerful. Is there a specific meaning or message behind your Art?

On the general meaning of my artistic research I can say that I model my sculptures often inspired by the biomorphic fabric and the labyrinth that symbolize the tortuous and tormented path of man aimed at finding himself and his own precious inner sphere. In this context, space enters into all my works and emptiness becomes as important as fullness. 

Lately I have been increasingly attracted to the foundational concepts of quantum physics
One of the best known experiments in the field of quantum physics is that of the double slit (a variant of Young’s experiment) where the results change as the conditions of observation and execution change.
In essence, subatomic particles are fired through two slits and their behavior changes, changing their nature from beam to wave, depending on whether or not there is the presence of an observer assisting with the experiment.
A question then arises: what is the true nature of man if he is able to modify, with the mere presence of an observer, the behavior and nature of subatomic particles?
Here I think that contemporary art must be in line with its time, also having the courage to touch uncomfortable scientific themes.
Some of my latest works: Uomo Quantico, Respiro Quantico etc. refer precisely to a way of making art linked to these scientific theories where space and time would not exist but everything would happen at the same time and in the same space.
In creating the sculpture, I then proceed to perform separately, without an overall view, each single element that will constitute together with the others the final sculpture that will appear when all the elements are composed in the same space and at the same time.

In general mine is a plastic research that tries to touch current issues and inner research.

You exhibited all over the world, tell us about your experiences. Any favorite places? 

I must say that in my opinion, before being in museums, art must be among people and that is why in recent years I have given much space to monumental installations placed in squares or in particularly symbolic public places.
One of the installations that touched me most was: “La Spirale della Vita” made in Piazza Bologni in Palermo on the occasion of Manifesta 12, between June and September 2018.

The installation dedicated to the 878 innocent mafia victims, made in the shape of a spiral of twelve meters in diameter, made up of jute bags, culminated in the center with a vertical sculpture 4 meters high entitled: “Il Mio Pensiero Libero” because in the end only a free thought can free us from the spiral of death.

This installation was particularly felt and experienced by the Palermitans who came to see if the name of their relative or friend was among those imprinted in the jute bags; the Spiral of Life had then become a mausoleum to their dead.

When art interprets the common feeling of a people, remembering the fallen and at the same time giving a message of hope, I think it can be said that it has achieved one of its highest goals.

Tell us about your icomos-UNESCO award. What is it awarded for? When did you receive it? How did you feel? Was there any impact upon your career after receiving this award?

The Icomos-Unesco prize was awarded to me in Florence in October 2017 “for having masterfully combined the ancient and the contemporary in sculptural installations of great evocative power and aesthetic value.”
In June of that year at the International Sculpture Park of the Marca museum in Catanzaro I had created a circular installation of 20 meters in diameter consisting of 4 thousand jute bags with 8 monumental sculptures inside entitled: Il Giardino delle Muse Silenti.

These military jute bags were symbolically placed in defense of our values, of our culture, also given the repeated terrorist attacks that had occurred in that period: “Not soldiers behind the fortifications but sculptures: the Silent Muses, after having inspired the poetry the Muse defends it, the last bulwark against barbarism and death.” (Luca Beatrice)
This which had been my first large installation had immediately made me aware that this was my way.
I was thrilled by an art made of “social” installations to face the drama of the contemporary era and the Icomos-Unesco award received had made me understand that I was in the right direction.
At the end of the installation, the Marca museum has acquired and placed on permanent display in the international sculpture park, a work of mine 4 meters high: Il Mio Pensiero Libero.

How is the Covid-19 influencing your Art? What is the impact of the virus on you? How are you using the quarantine time?

In 2019 on the occasion of Matera European Capital of Culture I had created the largest contemporary art installation of the event.
An installation of 25 x 20 meters was made with more than 5 thousand bags colored with the 7 colors of peace, in the shape of the hand of Fatima, a symbol common to Jews, Muslims and Orthodox Christians.

The founding theme of the installation was: Everything is One, imprinted on the bags in the 30 most spoken languages in the world.

Well the year of Covid-19 made us understand how prophetic that phrase was.
We are all cells of the same organism and a body must remain united if it wants to defeat the virus.
In June of this year, the art magazine ArteIn dedicated the cover to my installation.

“Today“– writes Luciano Caprile for ArteIn –“we can open the drawers of the soul and take advantage of this difficult period as an opportunity for growth and enrichment. In this respect, the great hand of Gianfranco Meggiato, open to all humanity, makes us understand how truly everything is one (…) and how each person’s physical and spiritual salvation depends on safeguarding this conviction.”
Personally, I used the time of quarantine to model new works in view of the next exhibitions.

What are your plans for the future?

For the summer of 2021 I am planning a large exhibition with about twenty monumental works in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, one of the most visited archaeological sites in the world where great international sculptors, from Igor Mitoraj to Jan Fabre and many others, can be viewed.

The theme will be “Know Yourself” the famous inscription on the pediment of the temple of Apollo in Delphi.

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Before we get into the informational questions, could you tell us something about you that would be surprising and unique? Tell us about yourself and a curious fact in your life.

I am the only boy of a family of eight children. My little 5′ tall Irish fairy mother gave birth to a girl every year for 5 years straight. My father was working as a salesman for a pharmaceutical company. He was injecting my mother with Vitamin B and Folic acid to “build” her blood back up after all those babies. They did not know my mother was pregnant with me when she was receiving large doses of Vitamin B and folic acid. The result was that I had an energy level unmatched by anybody else.

What an interesting start to your life. What was your pathway like to become a photographer? When did you decide to become a photographer?

I studied radio, television, and film at Pennsylvania State University. I worked in local community television production for a few years. I left the industry and returned to pursue neon body-painting photographic art. The pathway to my art I cut for myself. I do not like to follow and copy other people’s creativity. I prefer to invent my own. Perfecting the technique was accomplished with much trial and error.

Please tell us what the inspiration is for your photography.

I like to make beautiful things, which I do through stimulating other people’s creativity and inspiration. Everyone has a creative side. I attempt to access and amplify it through my art.

Describe for us what is “Glow-Art”? And how do you create it?

GLOW-ART is a portal to experience the ethereal through the use of everyday earthly items. It is a God-source inspired photographic art. I do not create it. I push the buttons; the creativity comes from above, I am simply the conduit. I created GLOW-ART.COM to expand the conscious and the unconscious feelings and thoughts of my audience.

How do you create your designs? Can you tell us about your creative process?

To create the design I blend contrasting colors. The contrast between the colors is what brings out the thought evoking process.

You are a photographer and now you are also a fashion designer. How did you connect these two artistic worlds? What inspired you?

Transforming from body painting photographic artist to fashion designer was a financial decision. I do not want to make an income from photography the way other photographers do. I chose to cut my own path. Fashion design I believe is a natural avenue to promote art. The fashion and art worlds are both beauty driven, so merging the two is a perfect decision.

You recently have been part of NY Fashion Week. How was that experience for you and your career?

I loved New York Fashion Week. I love all fashion shows. New York happens to be driving distance from my home in York, Pennsylvania. I pursue any and all fashion shows I can afford and can travel easily. Fashion shows have an amazing energy you don’t find anywhere else. The models, the designers, the photographers, the audience are always very positive and vibrant.

COVID-19 is having an impact on every facet of life. How is the Covid-19 situation impacting you?

I maximized the quarantine time to create, design, and market my product from home. I shot photography quite a bit less and less and built much more apparel.

What is on the horizon for you concerning your creative outlets of photography and fashion apparel?

I will continue to bring awareness of  GLOW-ART to people through fashion shows, and photoshoots with other photographers and their models. I hope to bring awareness of my apparel through involving other more traditional photographers and BY working with models from their area. I will happily bring a garment bag full of GLOW-ART apparel to a photo shoot to enhance the work of other photographers and models.

Looking farther down the road into the future, are there any future projects percolating, either in your current fields or with an eye to branching out even further?

I am building a studio with a dark GLOW-ART studio and other spaces for more traditional photography. In my studio I am building model’s quarters to host traveling models. This enhances the ability of the model and regional photographers to create by having the model and studio in one place with all the tools to make great photographic art.

Ron Vestal: GLOW-ART.COM

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Ella Dobson is a designer and animator. She strives to reach people beyond the spoken word, and to tell stories in an engaging way through design and animation. It is an art to be able to use this medium effectively.

Ms. Dobson’s work is deceptively simple. Her inspirations include Matisse, from her bold use of color and design perspective, and Saul Bass in how she unifies design, typography and animation. Her shapes are flexible so that their transitions are fluid, with intriguing flows and inventive shifts. They complement the narrative in a way that engages but is not gimmicky, making it easy to follow along with the music and narration. Ms. Dobson understands that staying true to the story is key. By not allowing the imagery to dominate or become its own showcase, the context is maintained and the message communicated.

Ms. Dobson’s award-winning work for The New York Times’ animated film “When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real”, explores what it’s like to be a parent today. It is an episode in The New York Times’ series Conception, produced by Margaret Cheatham Williams. 

In the episode Dobson animated, a mother, Melissa, talks about her son’s reaction to the 2018 Parkland shooting, as well as her own experience with the Virginia Tech shooting. 

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

Melissa starts with her own childhood and quiet life growing up in Virginia. The simple lines of a family walking in a town with a patch of bright green grass conveys the mood of tranquility. She then speaks of her son who describes their current hometown as a place where nothing ever happens. However, this all changes with the Parkland shootings in 2018.

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

The animation morphs into running figures and the overlay of red, illustrating the trauma of the horrific event. As Melissa’s voice modulates, the animation’s shimmying forms convey her emotion as she tells her story.

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

She relates her own experience of the Virginia Tech massacre years earlier (2007). As Melissa and her child sit together, the red veil of danger, fear, and death persists.

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

For the final sequence, the bare black and white treatment conveys the sense of alienation with elegant terror.

In contrast to such grim realities, Ms. Dobson has done work for MarketWatch in their story, ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints,’ and Spotify, where she helped the animation team at Hornet give Spotify’s end of year campaign some motion, ‘Your 2018 Wrapped.’ 

In the Mailchimp piece, she worked with Barron’s Group to tell the story of Mailchimp CEO and Co-founder, Ben Chestnut. The tone is decidedly upbeat, reflecting the informal charm of the CEO’s narration.

MarketWatch: ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints’ (screenshot).

When Mr. Chestnut speaks about his feelings regarding Asian stereotypes, her imagery effectively interprets that experience.

MarketWatch: ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints’ (screenshot).

Then, with wry humor, as Mr. Chestnut talks about “everyone thinking I knew Kung Fu”, Ella’s clean lines and bright palette make the animation pop, bringing focus and clarity to the story.

MarketWatch: ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints’ (screenshot).

The colorful imagery and playful drawings take a story that deals with business development, stereotypes, and potential discrimination and make it accessible, as it seamlessly blends with Mr. Chestnut’s open, non-confrontational account.

Ms. Dobson graduated from Auckland University of Technology in 2016 with a Bachelor of Design and has already garnered nominations and awards such as: Best Awards, Moving Image Finalist (2019); New Creators Showcase, Cannes Lions – Winner (2019); D&AD Next Animator – Winner (2019); and AI-AP’s Int’l Motion Art Awards 7 – Winner (2019). She is currently working on an animated piece with 20th Century Fox for an upcoming Netflix series. Ella Dobson’s resume is impressive. It is easy to see why. 

Though just 24, Ella Dobson has already accrued a following. With an insight into how animation can enrich experience and noting that people crave more authenticity and less fancy effects, she has carved out a niche for her work where the growth potential is limitless. You can learn more about Ella Dobson and see more of her work on her web locations: website, www.elladobson.com; and LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/ella-dobson-38b577124. Her interview on NY-ARTNews provides insight regarding her technique, influences, and approach.

Written by Jennifer Vignone

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New York City is known for its impressive skylines, rich culture and vibrant communities. Considered a melting pot of different cultures and traditions. A diversity represented in its population and also in its art. Many artistic expressions are constantly created to showcase those unique backgrounds and languages that make it a city like no other.

This multiculturalism feeds artist with inspiration, opportunities, and a platform to amplify their message through their work. If you make it here, you can make it anywhere says the famous Frank Sinatra lyric in reference to New York. A phrase that has become a popular invitation for those who come from the outside. It doesn’t matter what language you speak or where you are from, New York City has a cultural history built with the contribution of all those that have come from different places and it will keep growing from the ones that keep arriving.

As a way to celebrate the city’s immigration diversity as well as a celebration of the artist, Kasmine Gallery’s rooftop is presenting a new exhibit consisting of three remarkable sculptures by Robert Indiana (1928-2018).  Indiana was an American artist creator of one of the most renowned works of art of the 20th century on the theme of love. On view from the High Line with access on 28th  street, for the first time, the three sculptures are exhibited in one place. Each sculpture is a reproduction of Indiana’s famous LOVE series. Expressed in three of New York’s most significant dialects: English LOVE, Spanish AMOR, and Hebrew AHAVA.

Indiana’s LOVE composition consists of the word LOVE in bold serif lettering of VE stacked underneath the L and off-kilter O. The original image, green and blue with a lively red script, was used for the Museum of Modern Art Christmas card in 1965. Followed by exhibits of iconic paintings, drawings and small sculptures in the 1960s. Later created as a public sculpture for the first time in 1971. Subsequently, with a series of love theme creations displayed in many museums and parks all over the world.

The three versions of the installation in this exhibition have a similar arrangement of the word in each language. AHAVA created in cor-ten steel, LOVE in color blue, red and white, and AMOR has a vibrant red and yellow.

Indiana was considered a leader in the pop art movement. A movement that originated in the United Kingdom and the United State during the 1950s. Popular imagery and mass culture art were included as a contrast to traditional fine art. Focusing on realism with the use and incorporation of advertising, comic books and day to day objects like Campbell’s soup cans, pop art challenged the ideas of abstract expressionism.

For Indiana the work done with the LOVE series was a return to his beginnings as a sculptor, painter and poet, as stated in his website, for Indiana, “ The Love Sculpture is the culmination of years of work base on the original premise  that the word is  an appropriated and usable element of art.”

The exhibition is accessible to view from the High Line on the 27th street until September 2019.

Written by Monica Herrera

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Summer is in full swing in New York City, a time of the year when outdoor activities take center stage, especially in a city known for its vibrant life. Walks around the neighborhood, movies at the park and picnics are a fun way to enjoy the sun, the long days and the heat of the season.

A favorite interest among locals and visitors is to take advantage of art shows, presented in many forms and places all around the city. More recently sightseers have a new interactive public artwork to see, The Nautilus. Located in the famous waterfront at the Seaport District the exhibit lights up the nights of an already popular district.

The Nautilus is a collaboration between Lincoln, Atlantic Re:think, and SOFTlab. A partnership that brought to life an impressive art installation that invites those who visit it to appreciate the design and its magnitude but also to be active participants. An invitation to touch the art reads in most of the elements that shape the piece. Michael Szivos, founder of New York City-based design studio SOFTlab explained, “Museums are great, but our work that’s in the public realm is not in a white box, so it’s not framed, in a way.”

Consisting of 95 interactive poles, The Nautilus recognizes the visitor’s presence and touch. Each pole displays light and plays a melody when grasp, creating an experience of an oversize musical device. Linked by computer and sensors, with a touch, poles will play a full audio display. Guests can walk between the installation, immersed inside, and have a unique experience.

Approachable art and the need to stimulate society were partly the inspiration of its creators. Easy technology to understand and use was the main focus when creating the piece. “With this public art installation, we were able to use Lincoln’s rich design heritage and technology, and bring a really fun and immersive experience to the seaport,” said Jeremy Elias, executive creative director of Atlantic Re:think in a press release.

The Nautilus named after Lincoln new crossover the 2019 Lincoln Nautilus, is free to the public and showcase at Pier 17 until September 10, 2019. Later, it will move to its final destination at the Lincoln Headquarters in Detroit.

Written by Monica Herrera

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Alta is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work addresses our relationship to the environment which she “records” using various mediums to capture the data, history and memories present in the ever shifting and evolving landscape.  Her pieces have been exhibited in New York and Chicago and have been shown at the Smart Museum of Art (Chicago) and the Museum of contemporary art (Chicago IL). Alta’s pieces become vessels of sorts, mediating the human experience of nature while holding the biological and geological forms from their origins, drawing on her studies of evolutionary biology and New Age mysticism.

Jackson on the other hand is a New York based painter. His work examines the idea of a future society after the environmental collapse. He received his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2014 and an MFA from New York Academy of Art in 2019. His works have shown in several group exhibitions including: New Directions, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY (2017), Bless This Home, Memorial Hall Gallery, Providence RI (2014) and the RISD Painting Senior Show, Woods Gerry-Gallery, Providence RI.

The two artists Alta and Jackson are currently exhibiting in a show themed “Environment collapse.” Buden offers chunks of cement embedded with oyster shells, brown glass objects and bits of man-made detritus that seem to evoke a future geological strata recording the current Anthropocene period millions of years from now. O’Brasky apocalyptic vistas populated by abstracted totems bring to mind the surreal devastation of Max Ernst’s wartime landscapes of the 1940s.

The exhibition which is titled “A fearful hope: Alta Buden and Jackson O’Brasky” began on June 6^th and will close on July 28^th.

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As a non-collecting institution, MoAD primarily focuses on working with independent curators and presenting artwork found in the collection of other institutions.

MoAD also offers programs that showcase the art history and cultural richness of the African diaspora. The goal of these programs is basically to explore and celebrate the beliefs, traditions, practices and customs connected to these movements. The format of the programs changes depending on the exhibition but can include any of the following: Curator’s Talks, lectures, film screening, performances, symposia, family programs, workshops and artist’s talks.

One of the programs offered by the museum is the MoAD emerging artists program. This program is an open call for Bay Area-Based artists to submit proposals presenting a solo exhibition to be shown at the MoAD. Through this program, MoAD aims to foster artists both emerging and mid-career with the intention of amplifying the professional and artistic development opportunities available to the chosen participants.

The Emerging Artists Program receives dozens of proposals presenting innovative artworks. From the proposals, four final artists and/or collectives are chosen by a team of jurors that includes MoAD staff and arts professionals of varying backgrounds in the Bay Area in order to exhibit.

This year, Rodney Ewing is among the artists exhibiting at the MoAD. The exhibition kicked off on May 10th 2019 and will end on June 22^nd 2019. Rodney’s drawings, installations and mixed media works focus on his need to intersect body and place, memory and fact to re-examine human interactions and cultural conditions to create a narrative that requires us to be present and profound.

At the MoAD, Rodney is currently showing Longitude and Latitude; an installation of mixed media works on paper created during his residency at the Bemis Center for contemporary arts and the Djerassi resident artists program. Longitude and latitude considers mnemonic geography and the intersections of body, place and memory within the African diaspora.

Indira Allegra, Angela Hennessy, Deshawn Dumas and 5/5 collective will be showing alongside Rodney Ewing.

Rodney has also exhibited at the Euphrat Museum of art, Jack Fischer Gallery, Nancy Toomey F. Art and the Alter Space Gallery among many others.

Since the initiation of the program three years ago, MoAD is proud to have provided 10 California artists the opportunities, with institutional support, to generate and exhibit works reflecting the cultural and artistic richness of the African Diaspora.

The mission of MoAD still stands; to ignite challenging conversations and celebrate black cultures.

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The 58^th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennial 2019 opened to the public on Saturday May 11^th and will take place until November 24th. The Pre-opening took place on May 8^th, 9^th and 10^th and the awards ceremony and inauguration were held on May 11^th. This year’s exhibition was curated by Ralph Rugoff and organized by La Bienniale di Venezia which is chaired by Paolo Baratta. It will feature 79 artists, all living.

The title of this year’s exhibition “May You Live In Interesting Times” is taken from a supposedly Chinese saying referring to periods of uncertainty, crisis and turmoil. The words “interesting times” are meant to mean exactly as the times we live in today; that perhaps art can guide on how to live and think in “interesting times.” Ralph is certain that this title will include artworks that reflect upon precarious aspects of existence today, including different threats to key traditions, institutions and relationships of the “post-war order.”

According to Curator Ralph Rugoff, “the 58^th exhibition will not really have a theme, but it will highlight a general approach to making art and a view of art’s social function as embracing both pleasure and critical thinking. Artists who think in this manner offer alternatives to the meaning of so-called facts by suggesting other ways of connecting and contextualizing them.”

Venice Biennale 2019 is divided into two separate shows, one at the Arsenale and one at the Central Pavilion in the Giardini. Both shows include artists exhibiting different kinds of works. There will be a lot of paintings besides film/video, spatial and digital works.

The exhibition includes 89 National participants in the historic Pavilions at the Giardini at the Arsenale and in the historic Centre of Venice. Ghana, Madagascar, Malaysia and Pakistan are the countries that will be participating for the first time. The Dominican Republic exhibits for the first time at the Biennale with its own national pavilion.

There will also be 21 collateral events which are admitted by the curator and promoted by non-profit national and international organizations. The events will take place in several locations and offer a wide range of contributions and participations that enrich the diversity of voices that characterize the Biennale.

The biennale will feature special projects including: the Forte Marghera Special Project, Mestre Ludovica Carbotta, has been invited by Ralph Rugoff to expressly make a work in Forte Marghera inside the building called the Austrian Polveriera,  the Applied arts pavilion special project where Marysia Lewandowska is the artist set to exhibit in the pavilion of applied arts located in the Arsenale, Sale d’Armi. This particular project which has been renewed for the fourth consecutive year is the result of the collaboration between La Biennale and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

For the tenth consecutive year, La Biennale has been directing energy to learning activities, more specifically to institutions that develop research and training in architecture, the arts and related fields and to universities and fines arts academies. The ultimate goal is to offer favorable conditions for students and teachers to organize three-day group visits for fifty people or more, offering the possibility to organize free of charge seminars at the exhibition.

In the past two years, La Biennale’s great 57^th International Art Exhibition and 16^th International Architecture Exhibition had 114, 814 participants in educational activities in total amongst whom 68,794 were young people.

According to Ralph Rugoff, “May You Live In Interesting times will be formulated in the belief that human happiness depends on substantive conversations, because as social animals we are driven to create, find meaning and connect with others. The exhibition will aim to underscore the idea that the meaning of artworks are not embedded principally in objects but in conversations. Biennale Arte 2019 aspires to the idea that what is most important about an exhibition is not what it puts on display, but how audiences can use their experience of the exhibition afterwards, to confront everyday realities from expanded viewpoints and with new energies. An exhibition should open people’s eyes to previously unconsidered ways of being in the world and thus change their view of that world.”

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The works of Andy Warhol were and still are in the limelight as far as the world of art work is concerned. Warhol was an American artist, director and producer. He was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as the Pop Art. He was well known for printmaking, painting and photography works. Pen and ink, ballpoint pen, blotted line, graphite and acrylic paint are terms that were common to Warhol; they were his tools of work. He received numerous awards and has exhibited in different shows and was the most successful and highly paid commercial illustrator in New York even before he began to make art destined for galleries.

Warhol’s works gained him a spot in the art world while he was still alive and even after his death his name is still a big deal. The New York Academy of Art will be showing drawings of the pop artist Andy Warhol. The academy will present “Andy Warhol: By Hand, Drawings from the 1950s-1980s,” an exhibition of more than 150 illustrations, many of which have never been exhibited in the United States. This will provide a platform for Warhol’s work to be shown to the art lovers and also to other artists.

The show will be opening on January 22 and running into March. The show has been co-curated by David Kratz, the president of the New York Academy, and Vincent Fremont, formerly an executive manager of the artist’s studio and a founder of the Andy Warhol Foundation.

Andy said that “business art is the step that comes after art, I started as a commercial artist and I want to finish as a business artist.” He became one of the world’s most successful artists and made different types of art that were highly lucrative. Andy Warhol is a legend, and even after his death he comes back in the New York Academy.

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Painters, sculptors, photographers and many other artists all stand a chance to take to the bank a good cheque after selling their artworks, it all depends on how attractive your work is, its uniqueness, its ability to actually communicate and how much it appeals to the buyer among many other factors. If all these questions have a positive answer then the artwork can be a mine where the artist gets gold. This brings us to the question, “How much money would you spend to buy a piece of art?” “How much money is too much to spend on an artwork?” Well, there are art lovers out there who do not mind spending millions of dollars for just a piece so long as it is actually worth it or better yet you can call it “value for money.”

Different artists have sold their work at unarguably high prices; fans of their work or even museums and other institutions have bought their works for large amounts of money. For example Jean-Michel Basquiat’s skull painting sold for $110 million making him the best-selling American artist even in death. Andy Warhol’s Coca Cola painting also sold for $57.2 million, his painting titled “silver car crash” also sold for $105 among many other artworks of different artists. Basically there is lots of money in art and people don’t mind spending it.

The late Edward Hopper was a prominent American painter popularly known for his oil paintings and watercolor works. He was and still is America’s most celebrated painter of the solitary realities of 20^th century life. His legendary work titled “Chop Suey” which is the last of his best known 1920s work in private hands sold for 91.9 million with fees at Christie’s sale of Ebsworth estate.

“Chop Suey” is an oil on canvas painting of two women sitting in a sunlit Chinese restaurant. This figure was the best he ever sold at when he was alive and it earned him a great record for best sale for American art. Christie’s global president Jussi Pylkkanen opened at $45 million. Deputy chairman Eric Widing and post-war and contemporary department chairman Loïc Gouzer traded bids on behalf of buyers on the phone, going back and forth in increments of $5 million and then $2 million. Gouzer’s bidder offered $85 million, and Widing, who worked closely with Ebsworth during his lifetime to acquire work for his collection, eventually shook his head, indicating he was out. Gouzer’s client claimed the work at a $85 million hammer, or $91.9 million with fees.

The previous high bid for Hopper had been $40.5 million back in 2013.  “Chop Suey” was the most expensive artworks of the 91works Christie’s offered from the estate of Barney A Ebsworth. Other high priced works include a work by Williem De Kooning that sold for $68.9 million with fees introducing a new auction record for him. Jackson Pollock’s drip painting also sold for $55.4 million.

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Monday, January 5, 2015 – San Francisco, CA

At the end of October, Artiholics surveyed the captivating energy of the Noonan Building, an artist community on the verge of major community developments. Located in Pier 70 on the eastern waterfront in San Francisco, this historic neighborhood of 28 acres once harbored heavy industrial manufacturers like steel, power, shipbuilding (including WWI and WWII vessels) iron, and large steel tubes for the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. Those industries dominated Pier 70 and the surrounding communities from the 1800’s through the mid-fifties, and have since then fallen into decline. Today, Pier 70 resembles a ghost town. The historic buildings stand vacant amongst barbed wire fences, rust, and decay. The only “tenants” of the pier are artists who have turned one building known as the Noonan Building into a community of artist studios. During the November elections, residents of the surrounding community almost unanimously voted to renovate Pier 70 and turn it into an artist-loving, livable, and visitor-attracting neighborhood. In coming years, we expect to see new park space, retail shops, eateries, art studios, and more housing for a city desperately in need of more  housing options.

Below are images gathered from the painters, sculptors, and photographers working in the Noonan Building:

 Phillip Hua’s Studio

Paintings in the Studio of Connie Harris 

Harris in her studio.

The sculptures in the above photo come from Connie Harris’ studio.

Open Studios in San Francisco could not happen without the help of Art Span, a giant network of information on Contemporary artists in the Bay Area.

Daniel Phill in front of paintings in his studio.

More photos of Phill’s work follow in the photo gallery at the end of the post.

 Paintings by the artist, PABS.  The imagery comes from watching civilians in Asia.

Photographs in the studio of Rico Schwartzberg

Studio of Alice Raymond

Detail from a painting by Alice Raymond.

A drawing by Robert Minervini.

More images from Robert Minervini’s studio follow in the photo gallery below.

Drawings and sculptural works in the studio of Pamela Axelson.

Additional photos of Axelson’s studio follow in the photo gallery inserted at the end of this post.

Encaustic paintings by Adele Louise Shaw.

More photos of Shaw’s studio follow in the photo gallery.

The Above Image is from the studio of Preethi Kumaresan.

The Above Prints are from the Studio of Xavier Viramontes.

The above works were made by Marti Mckee.

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San Francisco, Tuesday – November 4, 2014

Two weekends ago, Artiholics visited the Headlands Center for the Arts, an establishment  carrying international renown for contemporary artists dating back nearly 3 decades (Read: Part 1). In 1982, this former military property transferred to the National Park Service and fell under the direction of a board primarily made up of local artists.

Today, the arena operates much like a campus for resident artists coming from several programs:

1. Graduates of the major MFA programs in the region (Graduate Fellows) such as SFAI, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and San Francisco State University among others.
2. Other national and foreign national artists participating in the Artists in Residence Program (AIR). This includes both art professionals and writers.
3. The Affiliate Artists (https://www.headlands.org/program/affiliate/), a program specific to the local Bay Area art professionals.

The Center is comparable to the unique rooms in my favorite NY art museum, PS1. I’ve always felt that exhibition rooms that are not like white cubes, can  add possibilities for new elements or ideas to work in to projects or concepts.  The Center also maintains a constant relationship with the public. Not only does the Headlands Center for the Arts exhibit during the Fall open studios season, the Center participates in year-round talks, screenings, shows, readings, and performances. See their page for upcoming events. Here are a few views of the Center.

Below, I’ve left a trail of pictures and information about a few of the things that were open to the public at the Headlands Center two weekends ago.

Work by Janelle Iglesias

Here, we see a tree branch attached to the wall, but notice how the artist has edited the twigs and leaves stemming from the top half of the main bough. Janelle Iglesias is working with and against nature. She seems to be forming shapes based on those natural structures. Within this image, I see the air view of a city map described. How that arena contrasts with the hanging, clumped stems below. So many ways to wonder about a tree rod, using little more than its natural materials and structures.

A sculpture from Janelle Iglesias’ studio.

Combined with the wall piece (this room felt very large), visitors also glimpsed some of Iglesias’ wood and mixed media sculptures.

Below, are two partial views of Iglesias’ conceptual piece called, The Space Between Earth & Sky. 

 Janelle Iglesias’ The Space Between Earth & Sky. 

When you try to grab as many angles and visual references as possible for a blog article, you might like me, forget to actually look at the work—instead of taking pictures of it. Regretfully, I cannot tell you exactly how it felt to come across The Space Between Earth & Sky, for I fell into that auto-photo snapping zone when I approached it. The tidbits of the piece from my references make me wish I had stayed with it longer.

A piece from Blessing Ngobeni’s studio

While reading his images, I sense complicated emotions being described. Tangled figures embrace or reach out to one another. In other moments, their gestures appear hostile. Everyone in the bunch drips some sort of fluid, which also serves as a visual connection that moves your eye around the composition. In all of his works, Ngobeni shows an innate ability to interweave his disparate shapes, colors, and regions of the paper/canvas. Parts of the figures hold images of smaller figures, similar to a comic strip embedded in a larger one. These different characteristics create many-layered narratives that do not have to be read in any specific order.

Close-up view of Ngobeni’s artwork, depicted above.

Past writers have focused on how Ngobeni’s biographical history in South Africa influences his work.  At the Headkands, Ngobeni’s studies include “observing human behaviour, by examining the non-verbal communication, gestures and cues made by the people.”   See the gallery below for additional images of this artist’s work.

View of Ying Zhu’s exhibition space

Ying Zhu created an exhibition space that urges her audience to look closely. The large room I entered (likely comfortable for over 25+ people to walk through at one time) might be 98% bare, but if you look down, you’ll find her flourishing artwork, threads that are in full bloom.

I thought of a very minimal coral reef. Using man made materials, Zhu mimics nature. Her pieces come from reflecting on the surrounding landscape of Marin County (just north of San Francisco). Zhu is based in Nebraska. Having someone from a different part of the country pondering the Bay Area seems like a worthwhile interaction for those of us who are so used to the area. Sometimes, a viewer from afar can see more in the things that lay so near to us.

View of Ying Zhu’s installation work at the Headlands Center for the Arts

In the picture below, the square hung on a wall in the same space. It clues us into some of Zhu’s thoughts and explorations. I read it as a sketch, constructed from grey threads, similar to the larger installation on the floor. Those frail structures draw me in, especially when they counterintuitively create strong borders like the walls of this square.

Item in Ying Zhu’s Project Space

Even though I love sculpture (that was my concentration during college), paintings in the flesh have become a favorite recently. I experience over 7 hours of work in front of a computer most days. Perhaps that is why painted surfaces have become such a treat. The bumps, layers, smears, and all the indefinite facets that come with paint on canvas are now my eye candy. I feel that way about the surface of actual book pages too. Some of this came to mind while visiting Allison Miller’s painting studio.

The artist treats her paintings as arenas for action. In her work, we see spaces that can be changed many times and the end result does not entirely represent the full ark of Miller’s work. For the body of works on display at the Headlands, it is very important to think about how the artist constantly edits. While viewers see only one static state of Miller’s paintings, the artist gets to experience all the changes—the twists on all the endless possibilities and constraints of paint.

A close view of a painting in Miller’s studio.

This review carries a particularly delicious description of Miller’s painting technique.  Other’s have written of the artist’s work like sculpture, an apt connection. See the gallery at the end of this post for more pictures from Allison Miller at the Headlands.

Terrance Nance’s work offered a respite from hanging out with the very physical paintings, drawings, and sculptures in the floors below his studio. The space did not require much light as the artist screened different works on a large studio wall for passing visitors.   The video below shows Frenel in its entirety, accessible through Vimeo.  The piece feels like a documentary that sweetly includes a distinct dreamscape created by two dancers–you’ll never take your eyes off them.   Their imaginative dance changes with the mood flowing from the reflective dialogue of the main subject, Frenel Morris.  He is a milliner.

Frenel from Terence Nance • Terence Etc. on Vimeo.

Past pieces of writing on Nance’s work include descriptions of elegance, intuition, and the ever-flattering way to compliment visual art—the comparison to poetry. After seeing just a handful of his works at the Headlands, I can imagine why others have felt this. Just thinking about Nance’s use of words, I’m taken by the title of his feature film, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.

Other collaborators include filmmaker Hank Willis Thomas, Chanelle Pearson, and musician Melissa Laveaux Postman.

We did not get to capture every artist, project, or event happening during the Open House. What we saw was enough of a hook.  Artiholics will definitely return to the Headlands for future events.

Written by: Audrey Tran

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