Art Basel Miami Beach takes place December 3 - 6, 2009

Show guide

Art Basel Miami Beach is the most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas. As the sister event of Switzerland's Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 40 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels. An exclusive selection of more than 250 leading art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa will exhibit 20th and 21st century artworks by over 2,000 artists. The exhibiting galleries are among the world's most respected art dealers, offering exceptional pieces by both renowned artists and cutting-edge newcomers. Special exhibition sections feature young galleries, performance art, public art projects and video art. The show will be a vital source for art lovers, allowing them to both discover new developments in contemporary art and experience rare museum-calibre artworks.

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Homage to Jeanne-Claude

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/

Artist Jeanne-Claude (née Denat de Guillebo) died in New York Wednesday evening of complications from a brain aneurysm. Along with her husband and artistic partner Christo, whom she met in 1958, she undertook an international series of large-scale outdoor installations, modifying landscapes with industrial strength cloth ballooned, wrapped, and tied. In a tale that legends are made of, the pair were born on the same date, the 13th of June in 1935, and allegedly in the same hour. Of note is the fact that all of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s projects are self-financed — meaning a pretty significant initial outlay for, say, 1.076 million square feet of aluminum-coated fabric to cover the entire façade of the Reichstag in Berlin. In honor of Jeanne-Claude’s legacy in the realm of environmental art, we’ve compiled a visual primer of the duo’s oeuvre after the jump.

As reported in the LA Times arts blog Culture Monster, Jeanne-Claude’s professed to keep no favorites among her many influential works: “We always say that each one of our projects is a child of ours, and a father and mother who have many children will never tell you which one is their favorite. If people insist that we have to have a favorite one, then we say, ‘Okay, you are right, we do have a favorite one and it’s always the next one.’”

Optical Illusions in Advertising

(c) MACLAREN MCCANN CANADA INC. - Optical Illusions in Advertising

KINETIC ART : FROM PAINTING TO ARCHITECTONIC

Victor Vasarely is often perceived as the father of Op’art.

The notion of cinetic art appeared for the first time in 1964. It aspires to explore simple geometric elements and the physics of shape in order to create dynamic optical phenomenon that entice a spectator’s active observations.

The result of artistic research carried out simultaneously by Albers and Vasarely, Op’art was born in 1955. Their initial work on this new artistic movement was furthered by subsequent generations of artists including: Agam, Soto, Cruz Diez, Morellet, Yvaral, Le Parc, Sobrino…

A similar style had already appeared in works by Bauhaus masters: Moholy-Nagy, Klee, Kandinsky and Itten, as well as in creations by Malevitch, Sophie Tauber-Arp and Mondrian.

“Bauhaus” is an experimental didactic and artistic centre which was founded in Weimer in 1919 and that operated until 1933, when the Nazis took power. The adaptation of Art and Architecture to the new-born elements of the Industrial age began at the start of the 20th century. Following (aesthetic) experiments of the "Deutsche Werkbund", initiated by Muthesius in 1907, Walter Gropius establishes a new vision of teaching that is to unify artists and artisans in collective style and research projects. The main focus is the discovery of forms that facilitate the production of series’ of artwork.

Bauhaus, or “the house in which we build” designates not only a particular technique in the history of art itself, but an attempt to blur the borders drawn between various aspects of culture and society.

Its manifesto never seemed as pertinent as it does today :

"This is not about teachers and students, but about masters and apprentices; this is not about artists specialised in general or applied arts, but about creators who complete each other in order to serve a common goal" Read more...

5 Ways to Grow as an Artist

Getting Back to the Spirit of Artists in Paris
Forget about exhibitions and juries, try these five ways to grow as an artist
From Jerry Fresia, for About.com

"I... must stick to my principles, our principles, which were, no jury, no medals, no awards.... Liberty is the first good in this world and to escape the tyranny of a jury is worth fighting for, surely no profession is so enslaved as ours." Mary Cassatt

"Think less of the success of the by-product and you will have more success with it. Keep living." Robert Henri

So how would a Cassatt or a Henri or Picasso approach painting differently than we do today? How might this heartfelt fear of others controlling our painting process impact our self-understanding as artists? Here are five possible answers:

1. Making a successful picture is not the goal.

2. The painting process is always a beginning.

3. Ignore non-artist authorities.

4. Get into a prolonged creative process.

5. Furnish the world with your beauty, let the world see, touch and feel who you are.

African and Oceanic Art From the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting

ART REVIEW | 'AFRICAN AND OCEANIC ART FROM THE BARBIER-MUELLER MUSEUM, GENEVA'

Putting ‘Primitive’ to Rest

By HOLLAND COTTER

Published: June 5, 2009

This show, an unabashed masterpiece display, is a gold mine of historical data and a connoisseur’s delight.

Cuba Obscura - Pinhole Photographs

These are a collection of Pinhole Photographs taken in Cuba during December 2006 and January 2007 by Brian Barry. They were printed as Photo Intaglio etchings between September 2007 and January 2008 in Cork Printmakers.
Pinhole photography (or Camera Obscura) is photography stripped back to its rudimentary beginnings. Pinhole Camera consists solely of a light-tight box with a tiny pinhole at the front which acts as a lens, thus dispensing with roughly 150 years of innovation and technological advancement. Read more...

New Acropolis Museum, Athens

Opening Ceremony Video Projections directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari
"Reflections" -- Large-scale site-specific video projections accompanying the opening of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, on June 19-23, 2009.

Conceived and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari. Animations by: antidot design studio, HAOS Film, Nomint motion design, and Oval Image. Music by Stavros Gasparatos.

Merce Cunningham, Dance Visionary, Dies

Merce Cunningham, the revolutionary American choreographer, died Sunday night at his home in Manhattan. He was 90.His death was announced by the Cunningham Dance Foundation.

Over a career of nearly seven decades, Mr. Cunningham went on posing “But” and “What if?” questions, making people rethink the essence of dance and choreography. He went on doing so almost to the last.

Until 1989, when he reached 70, he appeared in every single performance given by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In 1999, at 80, though frail and holding onto a barre, he danced a duet with Mikhail Baryshnikov at the New York State Theater in Lincoln Center. In April he observed his 90th birthday with the 90-minute “Nearly Ninety” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

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http://www.merce.org/

The Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi Gallery aims to provide an innovative forum for contemporary art, presenting work by largely unseen young artists or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK.

The audience for exhibitions of contemporary art has increased widely during the last ten years as general awareness and interest in contemporary art has developed both in Britain and abroad.

When The Saatchi Gallery first opened over twenty years ago it was only those who had a dedicated interest in contemporary art who sought out the gallery to see work by new artists. The audience, however, built steadily over the years and by the time the gallery left its second home at County Hall, visitor numbers reached 600,000 per annum, with over 1,000 schools organising student visits.

The Saatchi Gallery has worked with media sponsors on a number of shows including The Observer, The Sunday Times, Evening Standard, The Independent on Sunday and Time Out.

Many artists showing at The Saatchi Gallery are unknown when first exhibited, not only to the general public but also to the commercial art world. Many of these artists are subsequently offered shows by galleries and museums internationally. In this effect, the gallery also operates as a springboard for young artists to launch their careers.

Exclusive: Redefining Urban Art at the Auction House

Since the early ’90s we’ve seen the emergence of what some have been calling “outsider” and “urban” art — artists who used the street as their canvas and non-traditional mediums as their tools, but weren’t practicing what we’d normally title graffiti. On April 25th the work of many of these artists (including Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, KAWS, Mike Giant, FAILE, Banksy, Neck Face, and many more) will be featured at Phillips De Pury auction house in their Saturday@Phillips series. We caught up with Ken Miller (auction art consultant, ex-editor in chief of Tokion Magazine, and publisher of Revisionaries: A Decade of Art in Tokion) and Alex Smith (auction curator and Contemporary and Urban Art Specialist at Phillips de Pury & Co.) so we can get an insider’s point of view on the rise and relevance of this movement.

Flavorwire: The word “urban” or “street” is often used in describing much of the art available on the 25th. Where is the line drawn between “urban” art and graffiti?

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Graphic Design & Digital Week in Lorient

K3 _ Manifestation 1 / 16 - 21 March 2009, Lorient, France
Research, workshops, discussions, art interventions & installations in public space.

The opening of a Graphic Art & Design department at the Fine Art School of Lorient (Brittany) has been the motor for developing a working space related to design graphic & visual arts, and to question what it is to teach graphic design today.
It seemed natural to invite graphic designers, artists, art & design historians, to mix various mediums and practice in order to activate a space for exchanges and experimentations.

Mutation is the word that could summarise the current state of design graphic in France: a discipline that is at the border - or in constant circulation between - art, design, and communication.
If print was originally the main frame of work, the web and new medias (video, mobile phone, videogame..) now broaden and redefine this frame. Read more...

SUPPORTING NATURE THROUGH ART

The Artists for Conservation Foundation (Formerly the Worldwide Nature Artists Group's) is a non-profit juried association of artists dedicated to celebrating and protecting our natural heritage. Founded in 1997 as the “Worldwide Nature Artists Group” by Jeffrey Whiting – a prominent Canadian artist, author, biologist and professional software engineer – the Group’s strength lies in its membership and represents a who’s-who of nature artists worldwide. To maintain the highest level of talent, membership is limited to 500 artists worldwide. New members are admitted by invitation only, through a juried process, and only as placements become available.

Art on Twitter: yes, but is it twart?

Ruth Jamieson guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 February 2009 12.00 GMT

When Jonathan Ross is helping with the kids' homework, when Jamie Oliver bakes, when any of my 75 closest pals have coffee, I know about it - instantly. Why? Because, like at least 100,000 Brits, I Twitter. I Twitter from bed before I get up; when I arrive at work; when something happens; when nothing happens. Once I chain-smoked, now I chain-Twitter.

It was easy to sneer at techies for Twittering, but thanks to the popularity of celebrity Twitterers, we're all at it; exchanging tweet nothings with the likes of Björk and Britney Spears, Morrissey and Tina Fey, Lily Allen and the king of Brit-Twitterers himself, Stephen Fry. Read more...

The twartists

Yoko Ono
Perfectly well suited to the medium, each 140 character Yoko tweet is its own mini-performance, starring a warm, fuzzy message of love and optimism. Blissed-out art-hippy vibes.

NaomiPinUp
An ICA commission called Dogs' Ears gave birth to "twoofing" – tweeting as a dog, that is. Digital, audio and visual artist Julie Freeman is the brains behind the bark, with a few chums on board to help out, including diva pup NaomiPinUp (otherwise known as poet Naomi Woodis). Find out more here.

The Tate
Where American museums, galleries and libraries, (The Smithsonian, The Met, MOMA) have led, our art goliaths are following. The Tate tweets extensively about events and new web content. In contrast, the Saatchi Gallery's channel (with over 100 followers), is shamefully empty at the moment.

Welcome to Art Basel Miami Beach

Art Basel Miami Beach takes place December 4 - 7, 2008.

Art Basel Miami Beach is the most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas. As the sister event of Switzerland's Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 39 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels.

Student Ideas - Allen Sutton

My name is Allen Sutton, I enjoy doodling in my free time. I'm attending fullsail as a means to somehow make a living out of doodling. I draw quite a bit of inspiration from old cartoons, Looney Tunes etc. Underground comic art has also been a source of inspiration as well as the greats throughout history such as Van Gogh, Miro, Dali, Kandinsky among many others.

installation 'T.Light'

20 years after they first rehabilitated the Morgan's Hotel in New York, Andrée Putman agency has been commissioned once again. In addition to refurbishing the hotel, an art application is now envisaged in the lobby. The agency has chosen Trafik to conceive this art application.
The proposal : A dazzling ceiling composed of 4,000 lights allowing the guests to set designs and change the mood of the lobby.

La Biennale di Venezia

Venice International Film Festival
65th Venice Film Festival - 27th August to 6th September, 2008
11 days of glitz and glamour, a high-profile media event among the most important in Italy and around the world, set on the Lido di Venezia. The international focus consists of, and gives equal emphasis to, the press, experts in the field, international “opinionmakers” and commentators, and the general public.

International Art Exhibition
53rd International Art Exhibition. The event will run June 7th to November 22nd, 2009.
In 2007, the event attracted almost 320,000 visitors in the Giardini and Arsenale venues, and 34,000 professionals in four vernissage days. A world-wide cultural event that attracts a varied international public throughout a 150-day exhibition period.

International Architecture Exhibition
11th International Architecture Exhibition. The exhibition is from September 14th to November 23rd, 2008
The only specialized exposition of its kind in the world, developed in the same spaces (Giardini and Arsenale) as the International Art Exhibition; in 10 editions it has become a point of reference for designers, architects, professionals and trend setters from the world of art, fashion and communication.

International Festivals of Dance, Music and Theatre
6th International Festival of Contemporary Dance - Beauty. From June 14th to 29th, 2008
Commonly bound by an elevated level of research and experimentation, the three festivals have taken their place on the international scene, looking to a young and curious audience, in tune with the most innovative and experimental cultural changes. The Dance and Music Festivals are co-produced by the Teatro La Fenice.


History of the Venice Biennale

1895 - 2008

The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Established in 1895, the Biennale has an attendance today of over 300,000 visitors at the Art Exhibition.

The history of the Venice Biennale dates back from 1895, when the first International Art Exhibition was organized. In the 1930s new festivals were born: Music, Cinema, and Theatre (the Venice Film Festival in 1932 was the first film festival ever organized). In 1980 the first Intl. Architecture Exhibition took place, and in 1999 Dance made its debut at the Venice Biennale.
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Art History Timelines - a pet project of Scott Zagar

To generate a timeline with image gallery, select as many categories as you want and click the "Generate Timelines" button below, or simply click on a category name. You can also get to the images by using the search engine and artist browse features to the right. This database contains 1640 images of 1303 works by 266 artists.

About Scott Zagar
Since 1997 I have worked as a software developer, graphic artist, web and sound designer and project manager. I have developed vertical portals, e-commerce solutions, search engine interfaces, database applications and large-scale web publishing systems. Read more...

Illustration - Blu

Blu is an Italian Artist Specializing in Murals and Urban Design.
blublu.org

The artist BLU from Bologna is known for his very large, often surreal and aggressive but always strong pictures in the public space. His very playful and comic-style pieces often carry an ethnic, political or moral statement, yet without being patronising. Next to his works in the public space, he draws a lot and uses the pictures in animation films. In Wuppertal, his central theme was the daily information overkill in the public space. He worked with so-called 'for free' magazines which are forced on us at every street corner. They hardly ever contain any interesting or relevant content, but instead are completely packed with adverts. For the project, BLU produced and distributed 6.000 of those "for free" magazines himself. BLU chose this format and published his pictures anonymously and without any commentary, explanation or further information. At the same time he designed various walls in the city and with that created a reference to the drawings and his extensive pieces in the public space.

What's the idea behind your project?

6.000 books of drawings placed everywhere around central streets, train stations, bus stops, traffic lights and any other place where people usually walk. A gift for all the people who were going to work or school the day after. It is a kind of "street art take-away" exhibition; if you like the piece, you can take it home. The magazines were completely anonymous and I think most of the people will never know that I did it. read more...

Illustration: Marshall Arisman

Marshall Arisman’s paintings and drawings have been widely exhibited both internationally and nationally, and his work may be seen in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, and the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in many private and corporate collections. Chairman of the M.F.A. degree program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Arisman was the first American invited to exhibit in mainland China, and he is the subject of Tony Silver’s full-length documentary Facing the Audience, The Arts of Marshall Arisman.
Arisman has written and illustrated a new children’s book The Cat Who Invented Bebop (Publishing date Spring 2008). His previous children’s book The Wolf Who Loved Music was published in 2004. He is the co-author of three books with Steven Heller including The Education of An Illustrator, Inside the Business of Illustration, and Teaching Illustration (Allworth Press). They are currently working on a fourth book entitled "The Future of Illustration".

NIGHT WATCHMAN HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO TALK SHOP WITH THE LEGEND THAT IS MARSHALL ARISMAN. (sep 2005)

NW: Yeah. It also helps because there is never much information available about illustrators, as far as interviews and things like that, unless you can find something in an illustration or design trade magazine. It’s a shame. There seems to be a real stigma against illustrators, as far as whether or not they are "real" artists. And yet you have been able to straddle the worlds of illustration and fine arts. Do you see a difference between the two?

MA: Not in outcome, meaning that a bad painting on a printed page is equally bad on a gallery wall. I think the illusion for most people who don’t know what illustration is, is that they think it is highly directed by an art director who tells you what to do. And my experience in illustration has not been that at all. Art directors, in essence, call me for what I do. So I see publishing as they are trying to use me, and I am trying to use them. I’m trying to take what I do and get it into print, and it doesn’t seem to me that the printed page itself is a bastardization of the art process. But that dilemma is an old fight, and it’s not over. It’s just a misinformed perception of something; particularly the fine art world, in terms of what that is and how it operates. The art direction I get is primarily emotional. They send me an article, it’s about cancer, and basically say to me, "We don’t know how you illustrate this." (laughs) "Our hope is that there would be some feeling in this." And that’s the kind of art direction I get. No one has ever asked me to put a suit on anybody or put anybody behind a desk or anything. read more...