Ciao Fabio,

Please introduce yourself and your background.

I am from the southern part of Italy, Catania, Sicily, but I am really a little bit from everywhere. After the mandatory Italian military service, I left for France. I was 18 and that happened in 1996. I lived 3.5 years in France and then I moved to the United States in September 1999. Throughout my three years in France I learned about French techniques and French coiffeur and I started to take academic courses in England. I moved away from Italy because I needed to learn techniques and visions from other countries. In my field the Italians are considered to be super artistic and crafty with their hands “we are artisans”. It makes a huge impact to be able to visualize and finish something in a proper way. The English have much more structure and precision and they use technical abilities. The French are a combination of both (like the Italians and the English). The French also have a middle eastern influence as well. They know how to deal with different types of hair from a technical point of view but they are also artisans.

After these 3.5 years of experiences, I moved to New York and to Los Angeles and I have been here for 22 years and I currently live in New York.

This dream started in my childhood so I have been doing hair since I was 12 years old.

What do you call yourself?

I can be called a “hairstylist” but I am actually an “Artisan-Artist”, with the vision of an artist and with the technique of an artisan. I am also a hair doctor, consultant, a “Hairapist”.

Anybody can be a hairdresser but I am like a hair specialist. There is always someone that can do better. But do you have many people that can do better than you in every single aspect holistically speaking? The answer is no. I challenge everyone. I can specialize in every single area because of my time and my mindset. The way we approach things here is a little bit different than others. We can cover almost everything from the trichology to morphology and we try to see the psychology and the behavior of the customers in front of us as well as their facial features. Then we analyze everything and cover every single base.

When did you open your first salon and how many salons do you have now?

I have two salons. We have about 15 stations. I would have a maximum of 25 stations.

What made you decide to become a hairstylist? What inspires and motivates you? 

Italians by default have big passions: cars, motorcycles, food, and women. My neighbor was a hairdresser and he was always coming home with beautiful women on dates; he had a nice life and a great car. This guy had it all! He was always well dressed. My mom’s best friend was a hairdresser too and she was coming to the house along with other women and this also encouraged me to become a hairdresser as well. I could be around women, make money. I am very ambitious, I don’t do mediocre things. I always do the best and so I liked the whole package. So this is how everything started.

I was a visionary. Italy unfortunately is not very good about dreams and visionaries. Yes it was good to learn the craft and the creativity but not for dreams.

I learned a lot in Italy. I convinced myself to follow my dreams. I went to do an internship after middle school and I did “the gavetta” without being paid. I was doing a lot of side jobs to support myself.

How did covid have an impact on your business and how did you adjust and create a safe environment for your customers?

We are not anti vaccine, not political oriented, we just want what is the best. We had to adapt to the times, I went beyond the guidelines and I did everything and beyond what they were asking. We wanted to make sure that clients had a protocol when they came in. We stayed updated with the guidelines, we measured the temperature, and everyone had to wear a mask, and kept 6 feet distance between the stations. We stopped offering drinks, (we had a full bar, no more coffee as well), so people could learn how to manage the social distance and feel safe and comfortable when inside our salons. We washed our hands and sanitized everything and each station. Each customer stayed at a station and if they moved we sanitized the entire station and re-cleaned everything. We asked people not to stay in the salon if they didn’t have an appointment. We asked people to remove the mask they came in and put on a new mask; that was a little bit hard, but not negotiable. Nothing was negotiable in the guidelines. It was an extra precaution. The goal was to make sure that our staff members and family and customers were all safe.

We tried to cut down the hours or extend them according to the needs to make sure to be safe. We also eliminated magazines.

If people did not want to follow our guidelines, we had to ask them to leave. It only probably happened twice.

Through PPP we were able to keep the business afloat and I kept paying my staff.

We also started to ask our customers how Covid-19 has been impacting their lives and lifestyles, how often do you wash your hair now? How are you doing your hair now? Now they don’t go to the office but maybe they work on Zoom, so there are differences between seeing people in person or on a flat screen. I therefore asked people to bring a screenshot of how they look on Zoom so that we can work on their hair.

We currently maintain these standards and requirements.

What are your dreams and plans for the future?

My dream, my plan for the future is as follows: one part of my dream is to grow the Fabio Scalia brand in the most important cities in the world where we can be and become pioneers and inspiration for young hairdressers who want to pursue this career and make it a treasure. I also want to be able to give a wonderful opportunity to those who for one reason or another perhaps do not believe in themselves or do not believe that they can have a nice and lucrative professional future by doing hair.

Fabio Scalia’s Website

Instagram 

The post An Interview with Fabio Scalia appeared first on Artiholics.

Her vibrant and multi-dimensional work ranges from sculpture to animation, which she uses to craft her own ‘surreal, myth-like alternative habitats’ which both celebrate and transcend language.

You root your work in language and translation. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, and how this theme came to influence your art?

I grew up in a rather conservative middle-class family in Bavaria, Germany, in a house full of 19th-century art. My own desire to study art, however, was not an acceptable career choice so I ended up studying English and French. As a result, I had a colorful working life; I did some translation work, worked in administration and taught German and French to children who weren’t too keen.  Though language has always fascinated me, etymology, semantics, social and geographical contexts of words and phrases, the desire to create art was always inside me. When I finally made the leap it seemed to be logical to examine and to look at language in a visual way as well.

Can you describe your work for us?

With the realm of language being so multifaceted and inspiration coming from many different angles, it is difficult to describe my work in a short paragraph. I draw a lot on day to day conversations, literal translations, (anti) feminist language and I like to poke fun at political rhetoric and propaganda. I see language as multi-dimensional, therefore a lot of my work is sculptural and multi-disciplinary. Still, I don’t like to be restricted in my practice or pigeonholed in any way, and although language and translation are probably the main strands in my practice I like to stray occasionally to wherever inspiration lies…

How did the pandemic influence your art?

Working from my garden studio and studying remotely for a Master’s degree, the pandemic initially had little impact on me, despite having had several exhibitions cancelled at the last minute. As weeks turned to months, the pandemic started to hit me more emotionally as my isolation was suddenly no longer self-imposed, but something forced onto me.

With this sense of losing control, I began to work on a new body of work ‘I’m still alive’ (which then transmuted into ‘Albeit Hanging by a Thread’), in which I explored these sudden, unfamiliar emotions that resulted in such very conflicting sentiments of despair, hope, endurance and optimism in collages that became more and more surreal. There were days when I thought I was developing bi-polar tendencies; my mood was up and down like a yoyo. ‘Through the Pink Gate to Far Horizons’ is one of these works. Dreaming of a brighter future, it also incorporates some of my photography (the pink gate), symbolizing positive expectations.

Several lockdowns also resulted in new creative ways of looking for and finding materials. I began to work more with recycled materials, particularly packaging paper and items found around the house and on my dog walks.

What materials do you enjoy working with the most?

I used to call myself a painter and started my career with watercolors but my focus shifted a lot during my studies and I began to incorporate multiple disciplines and materials. A favorite material is newspaper but paper packaging, random objects, children toys, clay and paint, all have their uses. It’s very much determined by what I’m working on, the concept dictates its own materials.

I collect a lot of old magazines for the collages for example, that have become an art material in their own right. Cuttings from magazines, once taken out of context, develop an agency that in return affects the other images in quite a powerful way. It is quite fascinating watching the narrative develop, which often takes weeks; and although I tend to start with a rough idea or concept it frequently takes a different path, as the images take control and turn me into a mere facilitator!

What are you working on now?

At the moment I am focusing on my upcoming solo exhibition ‘Nomansland’ in Chester [UK] in September, which is based on a feminist language inspired utopia. Parallel to this, I’m currently working with hybrid photography, as a way of incorporating more photography in my work that seems to be gaining a lot of significance for me as I’m wrestling with some recent personal trauma.

Visit Brigitte’s website.

And if you’re wondering why ‘Make Slugs Beautiful’ – this refers to the litter of slugs on Brigitte’s countryside running route, and the nagging thought that if they were beautiful like sea slugs, they wouldn’t be so bad.

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Against a dark, monochromatic background, a figure appears. Wearing a distinctly red robe and not much else, their gaze is penetrative, their hand on their chest evokes an equally surprising look back at the viewer in return. The red halo around the person, as if a reflection from the clothes, adds mystery to the work, yet it gives nothing away. But while all these representational elements certainly inform the painting and add to the public’s possible interpretation of it, what struck me is the exquisite brushwork. The character’s face, the single stroke that comes to define their lip and thus the whole facial expression, the poignant white around the pupils. The way all these movements come together in perfect harmony to create poetry that is this painting.

Fly In League With The Night

It’s hard to believe none of the people in some 80 paintings in this exhibition are real. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (born 1977 in London) combines drawings, found images and imagination to give life to ambiguous characters based on these visual notes. Stemming from the artist’s scrapbook, they appear in everyday scenes, in intimate and timeless moments, becoming somebody and nobody at the same time. It is precisely because these people could be any people that we can relate to them so deeply. This is also why this artist is finally in the spotlight she deserves, amid the rise of figurative painting on the international art scene.

Indeed, that very first portrait I saw in this show is a great example of Yiadom-Boakye’s practice as a whole, which we can describe it as a threefold one.

There is the figure depicted, based on a color, a movement, or a gesture. These characters are usually depicted resting, observing, or dancing, in an intimate conversation. Sometimes there is nothing or very little accompanying them on canvas (or linen). The backdrop is usually dark, almost the same hue as the characters’ skin. Sometimes there is an animal, or an endless landscape – all designed to ignite our imagination and have us write out their stories ourselves.

I mention “writing” here on purpose, because aside from being visual narratives, Yiadom-Boakye’s artworks are also poetry, prose. According to the artist, fiction and narration are both profoundly present. “I write about the things I can’t paint and paint the things I can’t write about,” she says. The exhibition title itself, “Fly In League With The Night,” is taken from a poem by the artist, written especially for this presentation. The titles of the paintings can be seen as extensions of the prose, she says, as additional brushstrokes on the picture plane. And so, we have painting titles such as “Repurposed for Songs,” or “No Such Luxury,” or “A Passion Like No Other,” again providing very little actual context to the work and asking us to do it instead.

Finally, there is the act of painting itself. Yiadom-Boakye explores the potential of color, composition, light and tone, improvising in a conversation between paint, brush, and canvas. The paintings are generally dark in color palette, with palpable, thick strokes that examine the way the human eye perceives color. Because of that, and the way the artworks were lit inside Moderna Museet, I explored different points of view of each work, each angle giving me something I hadn’t seen before. Additionally, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye never uses a ready-made black, but instead mixes blues and browns to capture all the nuances and hues – something which can be seen in many of the paintings on display, if you pay enough attention.

Almost always, as well, there is a single or couple of elements that stand out in the paintings. Sometimes it’s a brightly painted piece of clothing, other times it’s the whiteness of a cigarette, or the subject’s teeth, or the redness of a parrot.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at Moderna Museet Stockholm

A contemporary artist, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye obtained her MA degree at the Royal Academy Schools in 2003. In 2010, the late curator Okwui Enwezor gave her an exhibition at Studio Museum in Harlem. In 2013, she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. The exhibition “Fly In League With The Night,” which was previously shown at Tate Modern in London (December 2020-May 2021), is the most extensive survey of the artist’s career to date.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Wikipedia page states that “her work has contributed to the renaissance in painting the Black figure.” While “painting the Black figure” certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, I would argue that it is one pushed by the mechanisms behind today’s contemporary art market. The white Western contemporary art canon has been showing an interest in Black figurative painters that center Black people in their work. It is a phenomenon that perhaps did start before the Black Lives Matter movement’s 2020 protests, but was definitely pushed by it into the mainstream.

As usual, the two sides of the mainstream coin will show again here: the Black painters will finally benefit from it by getting the spot within it that they deserve, but are also in risk of being forever referred to as “painters of Black figuration” instead of just “painters of figuration.”

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye is not new to this business. In my opinion, her work is in no need of contributing to anything. Perhaps the artist’s own quote is best explains this view:

“Blackness has never been other to me. Therefore, I’ve never felt the need to explain its presence in the work anymore than I’ve felt the need to explain my presence in the world, however often I’m asked. I’ve never liked being told who I am, how I should speak, what to think and how to think it. I’ve never needed telling.”

“Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Fly In League With The Night” is on view at Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden until September 19, 2021.

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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.

Please introduce yourself and your artistic background.

My name is Scott Abrams. I don’t really have an artistic background.

What kind of art do you create?

I make art with oil paint, words, and other items that I glue onto canvas. The previous year, I used stencils to make a lot of work with animals in dialogue, mostly humorous. I also made a few minimalist pieces, with words on their own, and a large amount of work with items glued onto canvas.

What is the message behind your art?

Message would be too strong a word for anything that I do. My hope is to illuminate conflict in a way that can be a little bit funny and a little bit strange. 

How do you combine the language, the humor, and art?

Combining language, humor and art, that’s the magic. Where exactly one finds the kernel of an idea that eventually gets translated onto the canvas—it’s a mystery to me. I usually get ideas at night and in the early morning and put them onto Post-it notes, though lately my practice has drifted more towards drawing. In this aspect, I’ve been teaching my hand to follow my head. That’s probably where the humor comes from. 

What inspires you and your creations?

What inspires me? I try to create work that I find funny and that I love deeply, or once did.

You are also a writer and in college you studied literature and philosophy. Please tell us more about your literature background and how being a writer has impacted and is impacting your works.

Philosophy helps me get to the root of a problem. Literature helps me understand that the root is probably conflict. I love literature for its wild use of imagination, and it helps me understand things that I can’t see or experience personally. 

Being a writer was the starting point for me as an artist. Much of my early work was just writing in black marker. I did study literature in college and continued to read a lot after that. It gave me templates for what an artist is or can be as well as the framework of finding humor in conflict.
Not only are you an artist and a writer, but also a businessman. You established several companies in real estate and healthcare. Can you tell us more about that?

Business is challenging, but refreshing, too. I originally got a law degree, but I wasn’t cut out for it, so I fell into business because I had to make a living. I actually like the contrast between business and art. Some days you prefer thinking about money, some days about art. It’s like having antennas in many different worlds.

Are you currently working on a specific piece of art?

I am not working on any specific piece of art at the moment. I do work almost every day for about 4 to 6 hours. Mostly, I am trying to improve my ability to make images.

https://www.scott-abrams.com/

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I’ve been known to call myself a most outgoing hermit. Maybe a thought shared by other artists, I don’t know? I do love people and being around others, but I also cherish my quiet time to reflect and simply observe the world around me. I do stay informed with news and current culture and events, but am the kind of person who likes to talk first-hand in working to know what is real – the under the skin feelings, and in the heart stuff, that drives us as individuals. So yea, I like to listen as much as I like to talk and create.

Perhaps it’s an outcome of an adolescence where I never really fit into any one group. I bounced from clique to clique in wanting to find myself (I guess, a normal thing for many teens). Or maybe it was the carry forward from a 20s when I was in demand and labeled a wiz-kid artist, my eye for fashion and special effects feeding my ego in my quest for approval. Or could it be the subconscious of a somewhat emotionally suppressed upbringing? Not that there wasn’t affection or that I faced any abuse in my childhood. I had parents who took good care of me, even to the point of spoiling and supporting me in just about everything (yep, even the police raided high school parties and all). But with all dignity recognized to my parents and sisters, deep emotional or spiritual conversations where a rarity in the home of my childhood. And not putting you in the shoes of a therapist, and for the integrity of sharing what makes this creative mind tick, something inside me has pushed me to share this in defining my origins of why I am so fascinated to better understand the dynamics of human connection, and I’m guessing the reason why I got into arts in the first place.

You are an established photographer in the fashion industry and entertainment world in LA, where and when did you start your journey?

I’m the youngest child with two older sisters, one 8 years, and the other 11 years older. There was always a distance between us because of the age gap. Plus, they both left home by the time I was 13, so, in a way, I spent a big part of development years kind of like an only child in a British household (sarcasm, humor, table manners and all). My father was a dreamer and survivor, who as did my mother, lived through the blitz and mid-century anti-Semitism. Their example to me was a blend of move forward care taking, stiff upper lip thinking, and keep-it-quite intimacy. So I learned early to dream quietly, to push through whatever was in front of me, and to be independent. I know… a strange way to answer a question of how I got into fashion and entertainment, but relevant for defining what I do, how I live, what I see, and why I create.

So per that fashion thing? I don’t really consider myself a fashion photographer… probably more of a portraitist, beauty, and observational photographer (and I’m not describing myself as a fine artist for a reason. I’ll get to that in a minute). To start, I’ve always been driven by emotion, spiritual connection, and, for better or for worse, the feelings I absorb from others. Scary at its worst; a rush beyond all rushes at its best. So to talk about my journey is to expose both the blessings and phantoms that drive me in all that I do. If you had to define me in a simple phrase, you could describe me as an openhearted wall dropper– more interested in who a person is and how we relate, rather than what they do or how deep their resume is. It’s weird; I even look at inanimate objects with the same perspective.

Regarding that “I’m not a fine artist” statement, well, it just feels too constrained and limiting. A lesson I’ve learned throughout my life and career, that being, every time I try to categorize myself, I lose myself. And the result, my work becomes forced, and my imagination becomes replaced by looking at category rather than into my heart, or better yet, toward the heart of others. Most likely, (that besides my subsiding hairline); is the stuff that keeps me young and breathing. Never wanting to stop my quest for the unexpected discoveries of life and intimacy in trusting my relationship with others. An outlook that prompts me to reach into my fears and comforts to face, and own, what I intake, see and feel in every chapter of my evolution. The stuff that comes at me becoming the literal source material I harness for all that I do, and in how I communicate with those I work with.

So here’s the strange artistic dilemma, the conflict that never fails me to see and feel the world around me, and better yet, trust and own emotions within myself. As I see it, the greatest key to vulnerability with others, as well as the hangman’s noose I’m always muscling through. It’s not an easy thing to be in the moment in expressing what’s in my heart. I’ve had some pretty amazing moments with people, as well as some painfully embarrassing slip-ups. But I accept this life view with open arms, for I believe that living on the edge of open-heartedness, is where branches to honestly create can grow to their fullest. Best I can explain it. All in all, it just happens, but as I sit here thinking about it, I guess it’s all about emotional integrity (not genius, concept, bravado, or over-production), and with this acceptance, my feeling is, the purest place for art and expression to happen has to come from trusting ourselves. Like I said, not so easy a thing to do, but a discipline I am now just starting to fully realize and own. And per that journey thing, I’m not sure if it ever started for me, or will even end anywhere in the near future. It’s more like a soulful thing that is simply part of me from the inception of who I am. And in that, even when life sucks, I still feel purpose in what I see, do and create. So, I’ll simply say this, The journey is truly the present. I know, sometimes I sound like such a guru!

How do you like to work with models and other creative minds?

Most importantly, I do my best to divorce myself of all preconceptions and predictions. To realize that everyone I work with, just like I do, brings to the table more than what is first viewed on the outside; regardless of what may seem apparent. I like to be organic, spontaneous, and live by the mantra of Less-is-More. Especially when it comes to photographing a person. I think we all have hidden children dwelling within our hearts, and each of us are carrying so many joys and pains that we are dealing with; and, to be able to tap into the intimacy of a quiet moment with another person, is something that I am at a loss to fully explain. I’ve had a lot of people open up to me in the most humbling ways. So in honor of them, I feel it my responsibility to do the same.

Photography is a very powerful drug. I think that’s why it gets abused in so many ways– the “can you drop your top a little bit” stuff that really infuriates me. My role, as I see it, is to build trust and protect all those in front of my lens, in my life, or under my pen. And if I broke that rule, I know I would not sleep at night, and the integrity of my work would cease. For me, it’s all about sincerity, empathy, and honor in viewing others. Models, Creative minds, the guy at the supermarket who screamed at me, whoever; and in that, is the place I find the deepest creativity, peace to openly interact, and ability to be in the moment.

Would you please describe for us the different seasons/phases you have been involved in with your photography? Where do you see the evolution of photography progressing towards?

Boy, you do ask the probing questions. I’m going to take a second to look at this from an external perspective. Promise I’ll get back to the direct answer, just feels a little less self-serving, and maybe a better way to get to the truest answer. I get the opportunity to talk to a lot of artists, students, and creators, in that, 35 plus years of countless conversations and dealing with a vast set of perspectives, lifestyles, and personalities. The full range of what can be expected within the artistic community. From the kind and fulfilled to the lost, depressed, angry, and disenchanted. So when I share my perspectives, know that they are a mix of my own personal observations of other artists grounded by my quest to find my place as a human and creator. I’ve been rich and in demand, I’ve also been homeless and forgotten. Weathered through a lifetime of swinging doors in navigating my own set of personal, economic, social, political, cultural, and professional challenges. Each phase affecting me in all areas of who I am, how I feel about myself, and my dreams of where I am going. Being a creator is a fragile thing, we live in an A plus B never equals C, or anywhere near the same outcome vocation. Add that to the pressures put on us by our own fulfilled and unfulfilled dreams, the opinions and prejudices put on us by the critiques and attitudes of others, and it becomes easy to find ourselves wandering in the weeds. Yep, I’m one of those philosophical guys. The talker and presenter, but still, the social hermit I trust to keep me centered. But here is the silver lining of it all. A consideration brought to my attention by a stranger I once photographed and interviewed on a Los Angeles street. A clinical psychologist, she asked, “how much of what you do you consider therapy?” I’ll leave it at that. If you are truly a creator, you know exactly what I’m saying. So there it is, Again, back to my earlier thoughts regarding the journey. For me, the season is never-ending, and in looking back, all the feelings and knowledge of what I’ve personally been through are all equal subtexts to all that I create now. Per the future, well, that’s an organic thing that only time will prove what will come to be.

You are currently expanding your art to the new horizons of fine art. Would you please tell us more about this expansion?

First, thank you for calling my work art. Some don’t view the photographic process quite that way. And please know how thankful I am for all the commercial projects I have been, and continue to be, commissioned to produce. Also, gratitude to the creative minds, and friendships, who have trusted me with their vision, reputation, and livelihood. But the rawness and vulnerability to create wholly personal works is a truly remarkable therapy that is beyond assignment, storyboard, or layout. And now pushing into my 50s I have so much emotional history to pull from. A gift and responsibility to care for after having spent a lifetime honing the creative skillset I’ve evolved. So in this opportunity of fine art, I have walked into a rebirth of sorts. A release to put my rubber to the road in listening away from all expectations; the ones of my own making, and those programmed into my head based on the compliments and rejections that come my way. And being a glutton for self-growth and a good old emotional shake-up, expanding into the world of fine art is a natural progression for me. I’ve dabbled with it over time, but never with an honest effort. But something about now feels so not forced. And to be the creator I’m claiming to be, to ignore the promptings of my deeper self would be a sin against my evolution. It’s an exposed and financially risky place to be. Yet in the challenge, I have to admit this is probably the purest and most honest heart-set I’ve felt in a long time, and in looking back, I can now clearly see, why I had to wait until this point in my life to start this journey toward what I hope will be a valuable and meaningful chapter.

You are creating a new series of work, called HEAL. Can you share with us what inspired this new series of work and what you hope to accomplish with your message to the world?

I’ve always been inspired by music, something I can see when I relax my mind and close my eyes. I know, sounds so cliché. But it’s a real thing for me, and in opening up in this interview, a part of my psyche I feel compelled to expose. It’s a bizarre thing that happens in my head, it’s not like feeling the rhythm, beat, or cadence of a musical piece, it’s a visual experience. At its fullest leaving me dream like control to create, view, and move dimensional pictures in my head. And per the music itself, I’ve even awoken at night with fully composed symphonic orchestrations building in my head, but without the musical skills, they are trapped there. So with this reveal, can I put the question so many ask on the table? If you could do it again, what would you do? For me, knowing what I know now, I might have studied musical composition. Perhaps I’d be a composer or conductor now. But, no regrets here, love where I am and what I do. OK, onward to “HEAL.”

It started very vicariously as being a father to an emerging and very disciplined ballet dancer; I’ve been graced to meet some amazing artists. And in this experience, I’ve fallen in love with the movement, emotional depth, physicality and musicality of traditional and contemporary ballet. A trust that is allowing me to connect my emotional self and musicality in a profoundly sensory, emotional, and spiritual way, and the deeper I push into letting go to the project, the more organic and personal the project is becoming.

HEAL is a double meaning title, one part reference to the physicality of dance and reference to foot position, but more passionately, the emotional implications of the title. For it is, that in all of us are hidden, unexpressed or dreamed for feelings, and yes, even reason for healing. And who better to emote the fullest depth of human emotion and relationship than a dancer, who in a most touching way, can own and emote a feeling from head to toe. My hope is, that as more-and-more take the time to look into the frozen frames of the Heal photos, that they may too reflect on what they see in that photo. Perhaps better yet, to relate to what they feel from that photo, and from there, to reflect on how they treat themselves as well as those around them. As the title suggests: to HEAL whatever is in need of forgiveness, to accept the reality we are all dealing with a unique set of inner joys and pains, and to be released to our own calmness by knowing that not one of us is alone in dealing with our feelings and relationships.

And as per what the most amazing choreographer, dancer, and my good friend, Shamika Jones suggested as she helped me conceive the project, “There is grace in that.”

What do you like about photography?

A still frame, if not overly manipulated, is about as honest as artwork can become, especially in regard to capturing a human portrait. There is no cover-up for misplaced technique. No secondary chance to replay a moment. And in the telling of emotion and form, there is nothing like the pureness of an honestly captured photograph, and the larger that photograph is reproduced, the deeper it can be examined. The harder it is to make it lie. But that’s just the final destination. What’s most captivating is the process of making that photo. Now, I’ve directed film, produced, and photographed large commercial productions. Told a ton of stories through both still and moving picture. Processes and adrenaline rushes for sure, but again, to create a meaningful still frame is an experience like no other. For me, as you might presume from what I’ve shared so far, the emotional and spiritual part of photography is the drive for why I create. The self-growth and listening to others all a big part of why I make pictures, and admittedly, a selfish therapy. An important corner stone to the person I am, the human I want to be, and my link to a medium that has, and continues to, guide me to openly and deeply look at the world and people around me.

Who is your audience for your photography?

OK, here you go, and perhaps a welcome surprise. A short answer, I don’t know. Like I’ve framed, I’m a work in progress.

Black and white photography vs color photography. Do you have a preference? And if so, which one and why? And what does the choice depend upon?

Without a doubt, for portraiture, Black and White all the way. It does not lie and if done right, captures the purest of emotion and expression. I do like color for drama, and for some of the still life work I’m doing. A little saturated color does a lot to deepen the depth and texture and history of an object (Yes, inanimate things have a connection to someone too. Hey, I can say that. After all, I’m a weirdo artist).

You must be thinking of some future projects. Could you describe them to us? Will these projects involve more fine art photography?

I’m one of those people who has a mind that never stops moving. The guy who writes into the early morning hours, or wakes up at 2 am to take a photo of a plastic gas can. Yes, the dude who can drive his family nuts with what if’s, and did you see that’s. Give me a Styrofoam cup, and I’ll turn it at different angles, look at it in different light, and then make a claim that the cup has a unique history and story to tell. I know, super nutty, huh? But that’s just me. Take it or leave it, and luckily enough for me, I have friends and a family that let me live in this world that I see. Per those future projects, whatever they look like, my guess is, most likely they will be centered around opening conversations which get us all to consider what might be in the hearts and minds of one another, or ideas that push us to examine ourselves, or at it’s least, to make some sort of statement per the impact we as humans have upon each other as well as the world we share. Stuff like my “Dreams” project, where I film people telling about the dreams they have in their sleep, or the photographs of “Rubbish” and “In•an•i•mate åbjekts” that tell of our human footprint and our impact on the planet. Even the documentaries I’m directing and producing focus on what is, “Under The Hood” in each of us.

You host a podcast called Sidewalk Ghosts. What is it about?

Got to say, I love you tons for asking about Sidewalk Ghosts. It’s more than a podcast, it is an effort of purpose that has reshaped my life for the better. And my most sincere hope is that it will do the same for all who the project touches. Bottom line, in 2011 I challenged myself, regardless of where I was, or how I felt, to interview and photograph a stranger every day for 365 consecutive days. Not one day missed as I blogged an essay and the photographs for the world to read and see. Three months in it caught fire as WordPress featured it as one of the top ten daily blogs to follow, and as comments and subscribers from around the globe flowed in, I fell in love with the world. Now, almost a decade later, 100s more interviews behind me, a book written, a non-profit formed, a speaking outreach and podcast growing, Sidewalk Ghosts has become a mission I hope will touch the hearts and minds of many. A community-forming advocacy based on three fundamental principles:

1, “There is an extraordinary story living within each of us.”

2, “If we seek to truly see each other and grow our connections from a place of sincerity, empathy, and acknowledgment of others; what we create, and the impact we leave, will have long-lasting reach and effect.”

3, “Every moment of every day… your individual impact truly does matter to someone else in the world.”

Now as I approach the 10th anniversary of this journey, I find myself grounded as an ambassador to what I feel a very timely and much needed message. One that, as an artist and human, has helped me to be more committed to recognizing what I have to contribute through and beyond my medium. The payoff (if I have to look for one), my life and work are becoming even more balanced and purpose-based. An awakening I have to consider when I think about just how far the works I am leaving behind will reach (ie, fine art, film works, books, articles, posts, speaking, podcasts, and outreach).

Leaving behind? I know, sounds morbid and maybe a bit self-aggrandizing. But in trusting you, here is my motivation. I’m not on a quest for fame or on a downward spiral toward my deathbed. I’ve got a lot of good years to go and am in my creative prime. So to the world, I pledge, “my friends, you’ll see no razor to my ear.” But here is the thing I wish to share with my artistic allies. A notion I wished I grabbed onto in my 20’s (but even then, I was doing all I knew with what I knew). And not standing on the guru’s soapbox, I’m humbling myself to be as vulnerable as I can in this written interview. So, I stand exposed (OK, I hear a snicker from the back of the room in that statement). On a course to do all I can to be true to the artistic, healed, and damaged voice within myself. My integrity on the line as I set an example to my family, and the sobering mirror to do my best to stand with credibility in all that I do and say; and knowing there are only two unavoidable obstacles, those being, taxes, and death, that when I meet my maker, I wish to be as close as I can to debt-free. And in that, to know, that I did my best to honor the gifts of art that I was given; and if lucky enough, to know I have forwarded the same to you. Pass it on at www.sidewalkghosts.com

www.richardradstone.com

The post Into the Mind and Heart of Photographer and Artist Richard Radstone – A Most Outgoing and Gregarious Hermit appeared first on Artiholics.

Luxury Escapism or “The Oddly Satisfying Spa” is an immersive art technology wellness experience reminiscent of a Spa with elements of theatre & Virtual Reality. Luxury Escapism – a VR Spa has been created by Tyler Pridgen. Initially I went in to do a shoot for their online advertisement campaign last year in December and that itself was a lot of fun. The space was very cool so when Tyler asked me to come on as a member I was intrigued by what that would entail for me as an actor.

What was your role?

My role in Luxury Escapism involved taking on the character of a “Spa Attendant”; working alongside an ensemble of artists to set the stage and keep the front of a Spa. We are given a script that we memorize and deliver for all the different stages like the welcoming of guests into the space, the rules they have to follow, the instructions they should look out for, etc. Doing that was more traditional in the sense of learning lines and delivering them but then the rest of it used improv so we got to play around with a bunch of different techniques.

From an actor point of view, what has been the peculiar aspect of this kind of technology that makes it different from a standard filming project?

In a set up that’s so different from what I’m used to working on, it can sometimes be quite the challenge to not break character. I had never worked on a project like this before and it allowed me to work with a whole new realm of experimental theatricality since it is on us to maintain the believability of the experience and the people coming into the space have no idea about us acting or what they are in for really. The project has been so well received and people genuinely enjoy it because it’s truly one of a kind. I highly recommend everyone to try it!

What is the most important artistic project that you have been a part of?

I think I have been lucky in my journey so far to have worked on a few projects that I consider important to me. One of these was a project I worked on last year that was part of the 48 Hour Film Festival NYC.The film was screened at The Anthology Film Archives, NY.

About your previous works, you took part in a project that was part of the 48 Hour Film Festival NYC.The film was screened at The Anthology Film Archives, NY.  What is the concept of that festival?

The concept of the festival was that we had 48 hours to create a short film after a theme, a prompt and the name of a lead character. “Joan” in our case was the character I played in what had been given to us. The film was action heavy and I hadn’t really worked on many films like before so it was cool to work with a stunt choreographer and being an observer to that process.  It was such a fascinating experience working with a team of people that came together just for this project and had not worked with each other before. Of course we had our set departments like acting, cinematography, producing etc, but it was very collaborative from the script to the directing. I think that’s also the reason that this project was influential because it gave me insight into all the things that go into making a film and I learned a bit about all the aspects. It also peaked my interest into production; I think that may be something I’m keen on going into the future!

Covid-19 and creativity. Has the pandemic changed any of your artistic plans?

I had recently been cast in an off-off broadway satirical comedy show that has actually been a long running show at the Producers Club Theatre, New York. The show called “Sketch of New York” is a hilarious representation of life in NYC. We were due to go on at end of March this year and were mid rehearsals when the lockdown began and we had to postpone the show until further notice, but the directors of the show are still in contact with us. We have had talks about zoom rehearsals to keep us in the rhythm of the show so that once we are in the clear we can pick up where we left off.

With the coronavirus it has been a collective struggle for everyone all around the world and my heart goes out to everyone who has suffered and their families. I wish everyone safety and health. These are strange times that we are living through and with the lockdown the last 2 months have been unusual to say the least.

Were you able to be involved in any artistic project during the pandemic?

I have been trying to use this time to be as creative as possible for when I am not creative that has been detrimental to my well being. I think creative engagement helps so much with keeping positivity alive at a time like this. I actually have been involved in 2-3 remote projects during the quarantine that have kept me busy and it’s been interesting to create with other artists, all of us working on our individual end at home! At the moment, I am working on a music video from home as well so I look forward to seeing how that turns out.

What is your opinion between the filming NY and LA scene? Why have you chosen NY instead of LA?

New York has been my home for the last few years now and I have really liked both living & working here. While I don’t have experience working in LA as yet, it would be a new space for me to break into. I have a familiarity with New York and there is a lot of work that is being done here with films, shows and the theatre but, that being said, I did make the move from India all the way to New York and ultimately if the situation called for me to make the move to LA I would certainly consider it.

I think I would definitely like to work projects there and learn what the “scene” is like there plus I haven’t been to LA yet so that would be a good reason to visit. I am excited to see what opportunities are ahead for me and what else is in store!

Are you a theatre cinema lover, or do you prefer series TV from the couch?

Hmm! That is a hard question to answer (laughs). I love both those things equally I think. I love balance in life, so in general I am person who enjoys both being outside and outdoors but, I also love staying in bed all day or just having a chill day at home. The same can be said about my preference with that because I truly love the experience of going to the cinema – popcorn & soda, but I am also a binge watcher who enjoys her shows.

We are living in an explosion of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and the Disney channel. Do you think that the end of Hollywood has already been decided?

I don’t think so, I wouldn’t say we’re at the end for Hollywood, no. It’s true that with Netflix, Amazon and all the other subscription services we have access to, and a platform for films, tv shows, and such which is amazing. But the experience of going to the cinema has its own very significant place so I do think there’s a big place for films in that capacity in our lives still.

Why have you decided to have a career as an actress and singer in the USA rather than India?

The reason that I made my initial move to the USA was to have the best available education in acting, that’s also why I chose New York. There is such a rich history of the arts here so I knew there was a lot for me to gain in my learning. But it was never a decision of choosing one over the other. At the end of the day I just love to act and if I felt that I had more opportunities in India I would go back, but I’ve been lucky enough to have found my footing here for now. I’m happy that work here has kept me busy and I think another added bonus has been that being in New York has given me the exposure of working with so many talented artists from around the world. It truly is a melting pot of culture and the arts in the best way possible.

The post Acting and Covid-19: A Conversation with Swarnima Singh, an Indian Actress in NYC appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Friday, February 28, 2014

One of the people in these 25 different family portraits looks familiar.

In 2008 over the course of one year artist Christine Rogers posed for 25 family portraits in mall portrait studios.  Unlike your family portraits where you posed lovingly with your family, she is posed lovingly with strangers who looked like they could be related to her.  She met these people in various malls across America.  Check out the photos from her series “New Family,” and then read the interview, the shots are hilarious, and the story behind the project and the making of it just makes it that much better:

Artiholics: “How did you find these people to pose with you?”

Christine Rogers: “They are strangers in a mall who resembled me.  These are really documentary photos, probably the most documentary work I’ve ever done.”

Artiholics: “So what was your pitch to get strangers to pose with you?”

Artiholics: “How long did it take you to collect all 25?”

Christine Rogers: “I worked on it for a year.  Mostly at various malls in Boston and New Hampshire, some on Las Vegas.  I liked that I spent about a year.  I say it’s ongoing in theory,  we’ll see if i need to make more one day.”

Artiholics: “So each one you have a different outfit?  I love that it spans an entire year and you wear different clothes, it’s not like a fake casting call on one day.”

Christine Rogers: ” Yeah, that was tough I don’t really have a lot of clothes, I had to dig deep.”

Artiholics: “Why did you pick 25?”

Christine Rogers: “I was 25 when i started, it felt like a good number.”

Artiholics: “If you were born into 25 different families and got to the age of 25, this is how your life would have looked – captured in one frame, that makes sense.”

Christine Rogers: “Ha that’s a really nice way of looking at it.  I love those corporate picture studios too because they pose you based on your relationships.  A “husband and wife” have a certain pose, “friends” have a certain pose.  So we sort of instantly believe the relationships to be true because of this form they follow.”

Artiholics: “That is nuts, but psychologically it makes total sense.”

Christine Rogers: “Sometimes the photographer would have no idea and sort of not be able to figure out our relationship just quite, maybe we’re related maybe we’re married maybe he’s my dad? So she’d ask and i’d say, ‘I was thinking father.’ and the guy posing with me would say, ‘NEW WIFE!’ and she’d just look blankly and proceed totally confused.”

Artiholics: “Hah, that’s hilarious!”

Christine Rogers: “They’re very special to me. they’re really the only art object I’ve allowed to cross over into my real life and become sort of special to me on a personal level if that makes sense.  The personal backstory to the project is that I never met my dad, so ever since I was little if a guy looked at me for more than 10 seconds I’d start to wonder if it was my dad coming for me”

Artiholics: “Oh, this really takes the project to another level.”

Christine Rogers: “I made these thinking one of these men could be him.  It started with fathers, and then it evolved, because I would like a sister.  My parent’s divorced when I was 8-months-old and he was not allowed to see us.  I know I must have tons of half brothers and sisters out there that I’ve never met, so they could have been there too. ”

Artiholics: “This has just turned into an UPWorthy project, or something you’d see on Oprah.”

Christine Rogers: “There was always an electric charge with strangers for me because of this unknowing.  There was a wonder about them, magic, or what have you.  Part of it too I guess I wanted to send out a ripple into the universe something that would strike him, or hurt him somehow.”

Artiholics: “So maybe he will see this article and can get in touch with you.”

Christine Rogers: “It’s funny now to say…these are very childlike fantasies I think. Since the time I did this project in 2008 I’ve found out that my dad has died, so these are the closest I’m gonna get to reality.”

To view Christine Roger’s other photography work, including the follow-up project to this work in which she confronts the fact that her father is dead, check out her website https://www.cerogers.net

The post Her Family Portraits Are Just Like Yours… And Yours…And Yours appeared first on Artiholics.

Castle Fitzjohns Gallery, Lower East Side, New York, NY – Gabriel Gimenez, an artist born and raised in Miami, has invented his own icon: Fado. Fado is the character he connects with the most personally among all the characters he has generated over his career as an artist. He uses Fado to convey his different themes, and he uses this character as a way of telling a story.

In one of his paintings Gabriel had references to Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Banksys, Basquiat, and Andy Warhol. He creates connections with these major artists by referencing their recognizable appearances. Keith Haring for instance, was standing above the “radiant baby,” his iconic symbol representing his work. Keith Haring created a plethora of line drawings that symbolized a multitude of characters with different implications of nuclear holocaust, sexuality, AIDS, and commercialism. Gabriel seemed to be influenced by Haring’s large overtones with simple line drawings. Gabriel’s work created an extension of line work’s powerful ability to convey big meaning that Haring had generated, except Gimenez supplemented Fado.“Fado,” as Gimenez states, implies a character of “curiosity and confusion,” with one eye bulging large, and one eye small. Gabriel drew upon Haring’s and Warhol’s implications of commercialism by referencing the dollar symbol within many of his works, suggesting  the commercialistic society we currently abide by.

Gimenez, in his pull to engage the audience with pressing contemporary issues references Steve Jobs and  Mac computers, and how they echo Warhol’s concept of the Campbell’s soup can. Mac computers are mass produced, often to break down within an agitating short amount of time. A Mac computer, which consumers wish to love and cherish, becomes another perishable consumer product, just like a Campbell’s soup can. An image that we see repeatedly, that we in turn worship as an object that will bring function and happiness to our lives, is yet another material possession produced by a corporation that essentially wants to take our money, and does not truly care about our satisfaction. 

He is a self taught artist, he didn’t go to school for art, which explains the sense of raw urgency behind his work. His style has not been filtered and watered down by academia. Gabriel produces an extraordinary amount of paintings, all clearly generated by him. Gabriel samples different artists’ work, as he says, as a “hip hop artist.” He aims to create “new ways of how society sees things.”.

The most pivotal point in his work is a “personal expression.” He aims to express spontaneous things. He filled the entire downstairs of Castle Fitzjohns Gallery with paintings all of a consistent visual icon. Fado took over the paintings, and marked Gabriel’s signature character within different themes of cultural iconography, whether it be Fado as Darth Fader, or Fado as the Beatles, or Fado as any of the many artists icons that Gimenez is influenced by. Fado is Gimenez’s way of creating a footing within society, generating a new symbol that society is faced with. Fado is a defiant expression of an artist who competes with domineering figures and symbols that we cannot escape, by supplementing its own face amongst the chaos of a money driven society.

I asked him if his work will evolve over time, and he responded that for the past 2 years, his work has become more conceptual, in that it targets concepts more than aesthetics. It has changed from graphics into work that has become more idea-based. He feels that he is expressing things at their essence.

I asked him if he believed in a higher power, or in a soul. He responded that as far as a spirituality, he is still trying to chase that idea, and he is trying to comprehend spirituality, and his work suggests that search. He is primarily sharing ideas for other people. He feels that any artist sharing his/her work is a spiritual practice.

Gabriel feels that he is always pushing himself.  Marcel Duchamp is the artist that is pushing him the most, and although none of Duchamp’s concepts directly influences Gimenez’s work, understanding how theoretical Duchamp’s work goes, pushes Gabriel to extend his boundaries, and dig deeper with his visions.

written and photographed by Andrew Kaminski

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If you’re traveling into New York City or are lucky enough to abide in the area this holiday season, I highly recommend stopping by Forum Gallery to catch a glimpse of leading figurative artist, Steven Assael.

Channeling the grace, technique and voices of Old Masters, their souls are left whispering in the air as they’re brought to life in the drawings created by the delicate hands of Steven Assael.

Steven Assael is known in America as one of the top representational figurative artists who marvelously captures intimate psychological portraits in fine detail. Every piece has its own story to tell as a human image is captured in moments of stillness and muted scenes.

A realist, Assael works from life and is selective in the way he represents a human figure.

Allowing the pencil to drift into essential lines, this organic detail gives a spaciousness and a haunting tonality to his pieces.

It was astounding to witness the individuality he managed to capture in each of his portraits.  The eyes possess a distinct personality, even in the most complex expression.

Assael has fine-tuned an incredible technique that really warrants one to look up close at the technicality.  Using graphite and crayon, he is able to capture exceptionally intricate detail, tasteful space, unique personalities and a mastery in his craft.

This exhibition will not disappoint.  It will leave you breathing in the elegance of Steven Assael’s new drawings and wanting to see more.

Steven Assael: New Drawings will be on exhibit at Forum Gallery from November 21, 2013 to February 1, 2014. Be sure to stop by!

Written by Laura West

The post Steven Assael: New Drawings appeared first on Artiholics.

New York City – Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Mike Kelley’s body of work is raw, unsettling, and complex. Unfortunately, the retrospective currently on view at MoMA/PS1 is none of those things. Perhaps this exhibition would have been well situated at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center about 10 years ago, when the facilities were a little less polished and the galleries weren’t packed with the brunch & stroller crowd (despite, or maybe because of, the adult content warning that greets visitors at the entrance). This highly anticipated exhibition has received top marks from all of the critics, which is not to say that it is a bad show – just not the one that I wanted to see.

(image via)

The ground floor galleries are largely dedicated to a collection of works dealing with Kandor, the capital city of Superman’s home planet Krypton. A storyline in the comic involves the villain Brainiac capturing the city, shrinking it, and containing it in a bell jar. Kelley’s work attempts to arrive at a definitive depiction through sculptures, animations, and videos. These works are visually dramatic but conceptually obscure. The video Superman Recites Selections from ‘The Bell Jar’ and Other Works by Sylvia Plath offers a bright reprieve. It features a hunk in a dimestore costume against a black backdrop doing just as the title indicates. This weird conflation of American literary cultures is more immediately felt than the obscurity of the sculptures. It takes some time to uncover, but there is a connection to Kelley’s work on The Uncanny through repetition of images, subject matter from the collective unconscious, and anxiety embodied in the disaster and confinement of the shrunken city. The artist’s deep delve into the subject is fascinating, but if you didn’t make it past that first group of galleries, you would have thought Mike Kelley was some kind of pop-architect.

Similarly to the focus on Kandor, the main gallery on the third floor is dedicated exclusively to the Extracurricular Activity Projective Reconstruction series. This room features numerous loud and confusing multi-media installations. Found images that might be photographs from yearbooks or community newsletters are re-enacted or are the starting point for videos and sculptures. Meant to exorcise repressed childhood trauma, the resultant works are equal parts humorous and horrifying.

There are so many different moments and fixations in the artist’s career – collaborations with contemporaries like Paul McCarthy and Tony Oursler, performances, the astronaut John Glenn, Detroit, stuffed animals – that it is impossible to summarize everything in one blog post. However it would be remiss of me not to mention one piece that exists in the collective unconscious of a certain generation, which is the group of photographs that became the cover of Sonic Youth’s album Dirty.

 (image via)

The piece is a grid of photographic portraits of stuffed animals and at the center, the artist just as lonely, frayed, and pitifully adorable as the other little discarded weirdos. I usually shirk away from imposing too much on an artist’s interior life, but just as we anthropomorphize the creatures in the photos, the artist’s face is a blank canvas on which to project our own readings.

Disappointingly, there is no fulcrum to the show, no hard earned climax, and not a clear understanding of this artist. With the artist’s suicide in 2012, what might have been a mid-career retrospective suddenly became a definitive exhibition of Kelley’s gesamtkunstwerk. A subway ad touts the show as “the first comprehensive retrospective”, which I’m not sure is a fact that warrants positive marketing. Maybe the curators could have used a little more time to wrap their heads around Kelley’s career. The work itself is muscular and bears the evidence of the artist as an incredible influence on other generations. This exhibition, however, might be a rare instance where the artist serves the institution with credibility, rather than the other way around.

Go see it though. Kelley deserves your attention and there is so much to see and think about in his work. Kelley is the kind of artist whose work marinates and reveals itself over time, and warrants repeat viewings. The ultimate tribute to Kelley would be to restage the retrospective in its entirety in ten years time, the way he did with his 1992 ICA London exhibition The Uncanny at Tate Liverpool in 2004. By 2023 we may have had time enough to begin our comprehension.

On view until February 2, 2014 at MoMA/P.S.1

Written by Rose Edward

The post Mike Kelley at MoMA PS1 appeared first on Artiholics.

Written by Laura West

The post Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary appeared first on Artiholics.

Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey – October 11, 2013–March 9, 2014 – At the Brooklyn Museum

Wangechi Mutu‘s new show, A Fantastic Journey, is currently up, and it is beyond a feast for the eyes. One could search her name, and find a plethora of digital photographs of her collages, but to say you’ve really seen Mutu’s work, you need to see it in person. The saturation and dissipation of paint, with all the intricate combinations of pasted photographs, is hard to completely see on a computer screen.

For those who are not familiar with her collage work, she renders the black female form with application of intensely innovative surface quality techniques, all along challenging those who use the term “exotic” to categorize a black woman. Perhaps the title, “A Fantastic Journey” comes from the visual voyage the viewer takes as they stumble across the hidden creatures, and varied patterns lying within a figure that has so many colors, that it brings a new meaning to the word, “colored woman.”

She demonstrates a mastery of balance between ambience and rich, detailed content. The hidden treasures found within her work range from decontextualized elements of animal heads and limbs cut out from magazines, combined with violent red splatter reminiscent of blood massacres, to pornographic images, and machinery parts, all of which compose most often in her works, a slender female warrior.

Viewing these images from a fine artist perspective, she nails all they needs to make visually pleasing and evocative imagery within her collages. Nothing less than extraordinary intuitive placement, each pattern synergistically flows from one to the next. If an art student is running short of what mark to make next, it is urgent to see this show, because Mutu knows how to experiment with color and juxtaposition.

When and if you see Wangechi Mutu’s show at the Brooklyn Museum, on the fourth floor, I strongly suggest you actually appreciate it, and pause at each collage, considering the painstaking details, the sophisticated color choices, and those suggestions of gender, war, race, colonialism, global consumption, and science-fiction. Don’t breeze past them, because you will regret not being attentive to the wide range of visual language she has developed at and since her education at Cooper Union and Yale. Each of her collages has its own unique hook to allure the viewer into its clusters of warm polka dots, and black mold ornamentations curving to the contours of the figure, or the figure’s bulbous lips and wide nose.

Her collages were her strongest work. Mutu is known for her collages, but this show was also an opportunity for her to demonstrate her strength in video installation, and sculpture. Her video work touches upon how “wild” and “untamed” her black female characters are, as one of her videos displays the artist, herself, eating cake without utensils in a fancy white dress, in some outdoors environment. Her other video, which immerses you within its cinema-like presence, displays a woman with a giant attachment of mechanized, industrial forms, oozing, smoking, eating bats. Her video work recalls the attention to detail and conglomeration of content that her collage work does, but it also moves on-screen.

She also installed trees made of multi-colored carpet throughout the exhibition space, and in another room (photo not included), she hung black plastic bags in tied hemp string from the ceiling. Her sculptures omitted the knowledge of color, tonality, and heavy-subject-matter-infused photographs. Her sculptures are simple, exploring the wrinkles the materials make. Her sculptures didn’t exploit the colors that people often associate with exotic fruits and flowers, but rather stuck with browns, grays, and earthy hues.

Wangechi demonstrates her vast imagination, and attention to detail so vividly in her fiery, colorful collages, I was hoping to literally walk into one of her worlds, being able to touch the different textured forms, smell the body odor of one of her figures, or hell, even eat some exotic fruit off the branches of her installed trees. Her installations are shadowed by her collage work. Mutu seems to work liberally, without restraint in her collages, and she challenged herself with her sculptures. My hopes were not let down by seeing this show, but I wonder if in the future, her installation and immersive sculptural work will truly compete with the seductive nature of her collages and 2 dimensional work. She is certainly in her element on flat surfaces, but it seems apparent that she could further push her installation work.

I have no doubt that this artist will continue to grow, and share her incredible gift with the world, especially through her 2-d work, but I’m still waiting for her sculptural work to grab me like her collages do.

Written and photographed by Andrew Kaminski

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Michael Anderson, the 45-year-old legendary NYC collage artist and White Hot Magazine art world photographer who is noted for designing the graffiti sticker lobby at the Ace Hotel, and the Eco-Friendly Times Square billboard for Target was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan on Saturday after having fallen off a building, breaking his back.

UPDATE: Still hospitalized, he is in the early stages of his recovery process.  He is lucid and has been able to get online and respond to concerned posts.   He is positive about his injuries and has messaged me through facebook that he ” will make a complete recovery.”

Michael Anderson’s friends have just setup an indiegogo account in his name to try to help out with his medical expenses (which most likely will be substantial) Michael Anderson Recovery Project.

Since 1997 Anderson’s collage work has appeared in over 50 group shows, he’s designed large scale theatrical sets for half a dozen plays, and been featured in about a dozen solo exhibits. (Here is another video interview with the artist about his work – for French website arte.tv)

This is the same artist who WAS ONE OF THE TWO WINNERS from last week’s Red Bull Curates Cooler Art Project.  Scoring free trip to Miami, and a show at Scope.  I would have photographed him at the event but he was in Stockholm, Sweden shooting the Absolut Art Awards for White Hot.

His girlfriend attended the Red Bull Curates in his stead wearing his clothes!

Michael Anderson’s work can bee seen on his website ChamuconeGro.com

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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It is with a heavy and heavily shaken heart that I will begin to write this post.  The art and design worlds have lost a great talent this week, with the passing of Alexis Yraola, a beautiful, kind, and loving soul, who has shuffled off this mortal coil far, far too soon.  I just read the news  on her facebook page about an hour ago and am still in shock.

She kept in touch with friends and colleagues through social networking.  I’ve chatted with her just in the last couple weeks.  Her birthday was only two weeks ago, this is all very fresh and still quite unreal.  A note from her family, posting on her facebook account:

“Dear Friends,

It is with great sorrow that the Yraola Family has to write this note today. Alexis unexpectedly passed away on Friday. Our hearts are immeasurably broken; we miss her very much.

She will always be remembered as someone with a kind and generous heart, a humorous wit, and an amazing talent. She was quick with a quip but even faster with a hug. Alexis will be forever young and beautiful in our memories.

Her friends brought her great joy and we very much appreciate all that you have done to enrich her life.

There will be private services held for her in Queens, New York.

Feel free to leave your kind thoughts and fond recollections of Alexis. Please be aware that the family will not be responding to posts.

God Bless,
The Yraola Family”

We were classmates at The School of Visual Arts, and graduated together.  She was my age.

Photo of Alexis Yraola taken in 1999 by Cojo in the SVA Computer Lab.

I took the previously unpublished picture above of her back in school, she modeled for a few reference shots I needed for a drawing project. Ever since the invention of social networking the constant inside joke between her classmates and friends was that somehow out of all of us, she hasn’t aged.  She actually continually looked as though she was getting younger in every subsequent facebook post (funny because it was true).

A facebook comment conversation over one of her photos last month (15 Years Later).

In her art life, she was an amazing designer and art director.  After graduating SVA she worked for years for Elektra Records, J.Records, and RCA Music Group designing some iconic album covers for an eclectic range of artists from Alicia Keys, to Barry Manilow.  (Her Portfolio Website: Lexiyrao.com)

Recently (this past Wednesday) she went totally freelance and launched her own independent Shadowbox Art Company.

The brand was called Lexi and Bubba, and she was designing one of a kind handmade Shadowboxes.

The brand was based on her name, and the name of adorable dog Bubba.  Bubba, as her friends know was her online partner in crime.  Her facebook posts were usually about what her and Bubba were doing.  They addressed the audience as “everybunny,” causally typing as though Bubba were speaking and asking questions.  It seems like she really had a passion for making these Shadowboxes, and just launched the facebook page for it on May 29th, with the .com soon to come.  The Facebook  page was updating like mad, adding new pieces of art EVERY HOUR!Bubba with a ball- Photo by Alexis Yraola

Her last post and comment was a piece of Shadowbox Line Art titled “Dog Of The Year.”

This happened just two days into this new and exciting chapter in her professional art life…  It’s unreal.  I am truly at a loss of words.  Alexis, you will be sorely missed by all who knew you, all whom you inspired, and all who loved you.

Our sincere condolences go out to the Yraola family.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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HBO has a stick up their ass in the shape of a dragon, and they really want you to know about it.  If you’ve seen The History Channel’s Vikings, and thought to yourself “This feels like Game of Thrones, but without magic or dragons”, or if you’ve seen The Hobbit, and thought to yourself “Hey, this was a small book, I should be seeing some dragons by now!”  But the only dragon you’ve seen thus far is Peter Jackson draggin’ his ass to get Smaug some screen time.  Your wait is over, HBO assures you, this season on Game of Thrones they are going to deliver you what you have been missing, some muthafuckin’ dragons.

The first Adverts I saw for the new season of Game of Thrones popped up in the subway stations a month ago.  They reminded me of something I saw in a previous HBO ad buy, maybe for The Sopranos, or one of the other big properties of yesteryear, so I didn’t really give it a second look.  The posters looked like this- and they bought out ENTIRE subway stops of wall space with just these posters.

It wasn’t until I happened to walk past this giant billboard by NYC’s Port Authority that I had to stop in my tracks.

It was at night and I figured that they must have brilliantly rigged a bat-signal style shield over the spotlight to create the shadow of a dragon which I assumed would only be visible at night.  But this might not even be the case, because the dragon shadows were starting to pop-up in daylight hours.

On the side of the HBO building in California.

Across two pages of the New York Times.

It wasn’t until my friends on facebook started posting pictures of themselves sitting in the Throne itself that I truly understood how much HBO was pushing all in.  It seems HBO and Time Warner Cable has a free traveling Game of Thrones Exhibition, which launched last Wednesday with appearances by Jon Snow, Sansa and Arya Stark.  It is currently still in NYC until April 3 (Today!).  It is free and open to the public, if you don’t mind a 3+ hour line.

My friend and fellow artist Antoinette Johnson (who you see in the photo at the top of this article) attended the Exhibit on Easter Sunday, the day of the season premier, and took a bunch of photos.  I caught up with her last night online to get the scoop.  The rest of the photos were taken by Antoinette Johnson.

“We were in line for about 3 hours, but the people in line were really cool.”

“Blackwater experience was like a updated yet medieval version of Duck Hunt…..and I’m a big fan of Duck Hunt :)”

“Dragon eggs!! Happy Easter!”

“#gameofthrones #costumes #jonsnow #thebastard #cloak”

“The costumes with the dragon were worn by the Daenerys Targaryen character.”

“There were a lot of props. It was a bit small but still and awesome show, it was well worth the wait.”

“It might have been the real thing, but I think it was a replica.”

Thanks Antoinette.  HBO seems intent on on stealing away that AMC’s Walking Dead, 9pm Sunday night audience.  The last season of G.O.T. ended with a zombie army, and started with a zombie battle, it’s a no brainer- oh, and did I mention they also have dragons.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

Special thanks to Antoinette Johnson.  You can view her work at Antoinette Johnson, and you can read past articles about her on ArtSucks.com by visiting her page on ArtistinRepose.com

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Oakland, California- March 13, 2013

This is not your Grandmama’s toilet paper cozy, it’s an art world first *(according to Huffpo).  NY’s own Crochet Artist, Olek retooled the skyline of Oakland, California one stitch at a time by completely covering an entire billboard in crochet signage.

Pic from Olek’s Twitter.

Back in NYC, Olek has a tendency to cover strange objects you wouldn’t normally imagine would be covered, for example, The Wall Street Bull.

Which was listed as one of  Cracked Magazine’s 9 Most Badass Acts of Vandalism ever photographed.

A lot of the time she will cover models head to toe in her signature camouflage crochet patterns and have them stand around at various art festivals and openings.  I have  personally photographed a few over the years in my travels on ArtSucks.com.

I took this shot of one of Olek’s models interacting with children at the Dumbo Arts Fest in 2010.

I took this in front of Crest Hardware at the Crest Art Fest in 2011 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Olek currently has a solo exhibition in Manhattan titled The End is Far at Jonathan Levine Gallery on West 23rd Street.  The show is on till March 23, 2013.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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Chelsea, New York City – Friday, March 1, 2013

The Steven Swancoat show at Phantom Audio was a packed bowl of mixed art collectors ( to borrow the title of Phantom curator Frankie Velez’s Facebook page).  This was the first time a Phantom crowd was more populated with PHDs than MFAs. There is a reason. . .when he’s not in the studio painting, Swancoat moonlights as a full time OB/GYN delivering babies and repairing pelvises.

Steven Swancoat in front of his art.

This mixed bowl of mixed professions combined with the low sticker price on the paintings, and the added charity element of $25 from every piece sold going to Ovarian Cancer Research resulted in a slew of red dots in a short period of time, with lots of disappointment over potential buyers hesitating and losing out on pieces they loved.

By the end of the night Swancoat toasted the nearly sold out show just minutes before a smoke alarm was pulled and myself and the last of the attendees we hustled down 10 flights of smoky stairs to the street, only to find a still burning piece of cardboard.

Swancoat is a prolific line art based celebrity pop art portrait painter (as well as a doctor),  do you want to learn about more mash-up art professionals?  Let me know!

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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