Archive for March 28, 2013

Artist of the moment…..Constantin Xenakis….

{ March 28, 2013 @ 8:22 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Constantin Xenakis was born in Cairo, Egypt in the year 1931. Xenakis now spends much of his time in Paris, France where he moved in 1955. The artist is renown for his use of text, math, and symbols in his art. The artist also produces kinetic sculptures. Kinetic energy has to do with the energy an object has due to its motion.

Made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.

In this clip we view a collection of works that shows the many symbols used by the artist. It could be text such as letters from the Hebrew or Greek alphabet. Symbols seen on your daily walks through town could be used or letters from a math or chemistry equation. The show was titled Codes, Secrets, and Lost Symbols.

In this clip Xenakis wishes us well in 2013. I love his use of repeating shapes and patterns in these intricate works.

Has work in the National Museum of Greece.

Price range information:  The artist has worked in many mediums including acrylics which $10,000 to $25,000. Oils range from $1,500 and up. Watercolors $2,000 to $8,000.

If you enjoy looking at text and letters make sure and read my post about Dennis Brown and visit his website. He hails from Ireland and studied calligraphy in college though starting at a young age. Sometimes he builds his letters using glass. A link for Denis Brown’s website :  http://quillskill.com/

Artist of the moment…..Street artist master Monsieur A….Andre Saraiva

{ March 28, 2013 @ 4:03 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Andre Saraiva is a well known street artist that also goes by the more common acronym “Monsieur A.” He started doing graffiti works in 1985 and became well known for his character that is a stick man with an X replacing an eye and most times the figure is wearing a top hat. He started spraying this character all over the streets of Paris in 1995. The figure has a name and that is ,”Mr. A.”  Saraiva was born in the year 1971.

 

Price range information: When working in a small series of 50 t0 100 prints cost $2,000 to $4,000.

A link for the artist’s own website: http://www.monsieura.com/

Mr. A has evolved now into the night life scene and is a well respected entrepreneur when it comes to night club activity. He has worked in Paris, Tokyo, and New York.

Mr. A also has appeared two times on film. One was with street legend Banksy. Another occasion was for the premium vodka Belvedere.

In this clip we see a trailer for the movie made by Banksy that includes Mr. A!

In this clip a short bio and interview with the artist.

The artist used to run a fashion boutique store that also featured his character art on clothes and various other accessories. His wife was the well known French artist working with light and now doing music named Uffie. Her debut album came in 2010. Her given name is Anna Catherine Hartley.  The couple were married briefly in 2008 to 2009.

Other Parisian street artists I have featured that you should check out would be Invader and Zevs.

Artist of the moment…..Arthur Pinajian….

{ March 28, 2013 @ 2:16 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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This artist worked his entire life in obscurity when it came to producing fine art. Pinajian was born in the year 1914. Pinajian is awesome for the fact that he is what this website is about. Exploring the different creative processes behind each medium of artistic expression. In this case we have someone who never painted for a show or to sell to someone else, in essence he was able to maintain that childlike exuberance to create without any need for gratification, he just enjoyed the process. Pinajian’s parents were lucky to survive the Armenian genocide of 1915 and left their homeland for America.

Pinajian earned a living as a commercial artist with some successful comic book series works. He was very active in the 1930s thru 1950s. His most famous comic book is Madame Fatale.

Though a self taught artist historians link Pinajian’s color palette to that of fellow Armenian artist Arhile Gorky. Gorky was an Ab-Ex painter born in 1904. Below is an example of his style.

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The artist lived with his sister in Bellport, New York for most of his adult life.  An investor bought the house as an investment with the idea of flipping it. Finding the art was a shock because his request was to take all the art to the dump. He just enjoyed creating. We see glimpses of realism, cubism, and abstraction through out the artist’s lifetime. The artist shared a one story cottage with his sister, did thousands of paintings, and would store them in the garage and other locations that heat and water damaged many beyond repair. Thankfully what is left are true treasures!

In this clip a brief bio of the artist with works appearing at the end. He was much more than abstraction artist, he seemed to participate in many artistic movements over his lifetime.

Shorter version of the same story and without as many samples of Pinajian’s artwork.

Pinajian passed away in 1999 at the age of 85 years old.

A link for the artist’s website:  http://www.pinajianart.com/

The story is fascinating for the amount of return on investment. It even surpasses the Goodwill stories I have featured!

Keep walking along the artistic path!

D

Artist family of the moment…..Johnny Inukpuk….and son Johnny Inukpuk junior

{ March 28, 2013 @ 5:33 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Johnny Inukpuk was another of the great Inuit tribe of Canadian artists. Inukpuk was born in the year 1911 in Kujjuarapik.  He learned to carve whilst still living basically as a nomad, living off the land. The artist used the normal found materials such as steatite, antlers, and whalebones.

Saumik was the name the Inuit people gave to Jams Houston. Houston was a big promoter of the work of the Inuits and himself was a great artist working with the figure. He encouraged the Inuit people to learn art and promote their unique nomadic culture.

Inukpuk produced sculptures and produced one print that had to do with his life. That is the great thing that fascinates me with the work of the Inuits, its their everyday life that is portrayed so artistically. His print had to do with a hunting trip in which the Inukpuk was trapped inside an igloo with his rifle outside and three polar bears waiting outside.  Much of his work as with most of the Inuits has to do with nomadic living and hunting, gathering, and riding in canoes. I love these works!

To any artist these works are fascinating alone for their mediums sometimes, the whalebone and antler pieces. Some other twists he used were portraying women with hare lips, his own wife had a hare lip. He even varied the eyes of his figures over time using soapstone, ivory, and melted vinyl records.

In this clip we see a wonderful sculpture by Johnny Inukpuk featured at Waddingtons auction house of Canada.

A work at actual auction. Get your paddle ready !

In 1973 was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Price range information: The sculptures very in size as the artist worked very small in the beginning of his career. The range is $1,000 to $40,000.

Included in the Toronto Dominion Bank Financial Group collection.

Had one son that become known as a great artist working in the same Inuit method named Johnny Inukpuk Junior who lived 1930 to 1984.  A great example of his son’s artwork is below.

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Here is a short clip featuring the works of the son Johnny Inukpuk junior.

Johnny Inukpuk passed away in 2007.

Gotta love these families that can pass on art as a career to multiple generations!

D

Artist of the moment….Mimmo Rotella

{ March 28, 2013 @ 4:01 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Mimmo Rotella was a wonderful Pop artist that specialized in decollage. Mimmo Rotella was born in Catanza, Calabria part of Italy in the year 1918. His working process was to take a poster, tear it apart, and then rearrange it. In addition Rotella was also a poet.

After leaving the armed forces he attended the Naples Art Academy. Rotella even invented art and poetry by sometimes making up words.

Fulbright Scholar at the University of Missouri.

Started producing his signature decollage works in 1953.

Price range information: The artist worked for the most part in series containing 100 to 250 print editions that range from $1,000 to $2,000 for the most part. Original works range $10,000 to $30,000. No pricing available for sculpture works like the bookshelves or seats. I think the seats would be a great commission work for an artist to decorate the public bus stop seats or even community park benches.

In this clip we visit a hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland and a show given in 2012 featuring Mimmo Rotella.

The artist was part  of the Nouveau Realisme movement. The founding member of this group was Pierre Restany. Restany was a well respected art critic at a time when they mattered dearly to any artist! Also coming from France, the idea of the organization was to rethink and redine what art was. Another  famous artist coming from the group was Yves Klein. Yves Klein was a great pop artist that only produced work for less than one decade. He is renown for a type of designer blue that he invented appropriately called Klein Blue.

Yves Klein despite his short life had a great impact on culture and design. For an example of rethinking what art is and can be check out this clip! A nude seen in 2000 type setting, naked and covered with paint. Keep in mind Klein come up with the idea in 1962.

And here we have a resin cast sculpture by Klein. Klein passed away in 1962 after suffering a few heart attacks at the age of 34.

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Rotella passed away in 2006 in Milan, Italy.

Rotella is a great example of a decollage artist that is very much in sync with the moment, a great example of Pop art.

D