His famous image Girls in the Windows won several international photography awards. Its by far the most recognized image taken by the artist. The story behind the image is that the building was located behind the artist’s studio and was going to be demolished. Gigli then had a vision of what he wanted from the photograph. The next day he shot the image and the day after that the building was demolished. The piece involved directing 43 women how to pose!
Most of his works are taken around New York City.
Gigli is perhaps best known for one image, ” Girls in Windows.” In this clip we revisit this image. Ormond himself appears at 48 seconds into the clip.
During the 1970s and 1980s Gigli focused on using his photography for commercial advertising. He found great success in this endeavor.
Olek was born in Ruda Slaska, Poland and is renown for what can be called “crochet graffiti.” Using bold color choices that in the end make her work a bit on the Pop Art side, Olek is renown for covering objects with her camouflage style crochet. Olek hand crochets all her fabric so she works on a smaller scale than Christo and Jeanne- Claude.
For her collegiate education Olek atteneded Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland.
Installed her work over the famous wall street bull in 2010.
Has done performance art at the Whitney Museum of Art.
Has sold work to the National Endowment for the Arts.
Olek first started to use crochet in her artwork beginning in 2003.
If I were to compare her work to another artist it would be the wonderful husband and wife team,Christo and Jean Claude. The couple was renown for wrapping items as large as giant buildings. Below an example of the couple’s “wrapping” style which for the most part used fabric to cover subjects. Christo started his career by covering furniture and oil drums, after he met his future wife the couple decided to tackle bigger subjects.
And here a quick clip to review some other artworks by the couple. The couple and Olek have a remarkably similar style.
In this awesome clip we visit an interior of a room that has been covered with the art of Olek.
And in this clip we visit a taxi covered by Olek.
And here we have a collaboration with a rickshaw caddy.
Johnny Kataluk is another master Inuit carver born in the Arctic Quebec region of Canada in the 1937. Kataluk is a very prolific and some favorite subjects include birds, shamans, and bears.
price range information: Works range from $500 to $4,000.
The artist moved to the Cape Harbour, Nunavet Territory, Canada as a young child. Its a collection of Inuit peoples from all over the region. In the original camp at this location in 1902, most of the inhabitants died brought on by disease by whalers that came from Europe. It has since been rebuilt and has artists like you find in Baffin Island or Cape Dorset, but the area is less commercialized and many great artists are still relatively unknown, so time to get them some more attention!
Kataluk has been working as an artist for more than four decades.
Johnny Kataluk enjoys working with soapstone, limestone, and whalebone.
Daido Moriyama is contemporary photographer born in Ikeda, Osaka, Japan in the year 1938. His work focuses on the cultural changes that have taken place over his lifetime in Japanese culture. His work features a high contrast of light and dark and usually a fun shape like the curve of a leg with knitting or the silhouette of a mannequin.
For his artistic education Moriyama attended the Takeji Iwamiya studio in Osaka, Japan where he studied photography.
Below a great montage of photographs by Moriyama. I enjoy the grainy result of his black and white photographs.
The location of many of the images shot by Moriyama is in Tokyo, Japan.
In this clip the artist talks about some of his more erotic works shot in the streets of Tokyo, Japan. And a short bio, another great film clip from the Tate.
price range information: Works range from $1,000 to $51,000.
In this clip we revisit a 1974 idea for a show. The idea that photography or a silkscreen is to be created on the spot, what a unique idea for a photography exhibition. This idea was recreated for one day in 2012 at the Tate Modern. Moriyama tells us the goals of this show and its recreation.
Daido Moriyama currently lives and works out of Tokyo, Japan.
Henry Moore was a British artist born in Castleford, Yorkshire, England in the year 1896. Moore was renown for working with the figure and in particular the mother and child genre. His father was an engineer in a mine but loved literature and the arts and exposed the artist and his seven other siblings to explore the arts. Moore was responsible for bringing modern sculpture to England much the same way Rodin brought modern sculpture to France.
Moore is best known for his work with the female figure. Rather than depict the entire form, Moore always leaves some space void or empty.
In this clip we see many of Henry Moore very large public sized outdoor works. Things to notice are the mother and child theme and the remarkable skill of the artist to depict drapery. When Moore was offered these very large sized commissions, Moore was able to make a substantial amount of money but lived frugally and saved most of his money to start an art foundation called the Henry Moore Foundation.
His favorite medium used were bronze and marble.
Moore joined the Army, but was injured in a gas attack. As he later told people the war passed in a romantic haze of him wanting to be the hero. After leaving the army Moore went to Leeds College of Art. Moore also studied at the Royal College of Art.
price range information: The artist has prints starting around $1,000. In June a bronze sold at auction for $5.8 million dollars.
Moore was also part of the teaching faculty at the Royal College of Art and later the Chelsea School of Art.
In this clip we view a show in Ontario with an interview with a curator.
Winner of International Sculpture Prize at the 1948 Venice Biennale.
Henry Moore passed away in 1986 at the age of 88 years of age.
Martha Tickie also known as Martha Tickiq is a contemporary Inuit artist born in Baker Lake, Nunavet Territory, Canada in the year 1939. Tickie is renown for her work with the genre of the mother and child.
Price range information: Sorry no information available.
What I enjoy most about Tickie is that she talks about not being afraid to experiment, or make a mistake.
Tickie learned to carve from her grandfather.
Its important to note that the artist carves year round except for July. She heads to cabin she built on a river. Sounds like paradise to me!
In addition to her work with the mother and child genre, Tickie also enjoys working with the musk ox.
Madge Gill was a British artist born in East Ham, Essex to a young mother out of wedlock. Gill is known for her folk/ naive art drawing style. She went to live in an orphanage at nine years of age. Afterward she was moved to a farm in Canada.
Quite a character Madge Gill married a cousin. The couple had four children but a daughter was a stillborn and child died due to the Spanish influenza epidemic.
The death of her daughter was bad news but then Gill nearly died from an illness that left her blind in one eye.
Supposedly the artist did her best work when she was in a trance like state of being.
She sometimes signed work with the tag ” Myrninterest.” The was the name she gave to the spirit who inhabited her body when she produced her artwork.
Gill chose not to sell most of her artwork for money, she was afraid it might anger the spirits that helped her produce her wonderful art.
Price range information: Sorry none available. Most of her work is in private collections or owned by the London borough of Newham.
After her daughter was dead the artist came to experience a deepening in spirit. She tried to bring this forth in her artwork.
Here we visit our dear friend James Kalm for a trip showcasing works by the artist. I encourage you to watch the entire clip, but Madge Gill works starts showing at the 7:54 mark into the clip.
Aya Takano is a modern Chinese artist that came to international fame after joining the art collective of Takashi Murakami. Aya Takano was born in Saitama, Japan in 1976. Takano is associated with the modern Surrealist movement. Her father loved nature and as a child the artist used to enjoy perusing her fathers library.
Her background has lead her to feature in her artwork both animals and landscapes. For her landscapes she chooses to portray the more industrial and urbanized aspect of the large city.
Dreams are also an important part of her work.
For her artistic education Aya Takano attended Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan. Soon after college she started work for Murakami.
The movement most associated with Murakami is the Superflat movement. He was looking for other talented artists to work in this same type of style. Murakami came across the work of Takano and decided to include her as part of his staff.
The KaiKai Kiki Company founded by Murakami has 5 out of its 7 members as women.
Price range information: The artist works in many mediums from pen and ink, watercolor, acrylics, and oils. Prints range $500 and up. Originals range from $10,000 to $350,000.
In this clip an image of the Aya Takano followed by a montage of the artist’s work.
In this clip a great interview with the artist. It is translated via an interpreter to English but still great to hear Aya Takano talk about getting an electric shock as a young person and wanting to be an artist from a very young age.
Tarsis Pilakapsi is fantastic Inuit artist born in Igloolik, Nunavet Territory, Canada in 1972. Pilakapsi is a highly skilled sculptor working with whalebone and antlers to carve some amazing works. Even his works that deal with myths, such as the Inuit goddess Sedna, the artist goes into tremendous detail in his portrayal of the goddess.
Pilakapsi is also renown for his work with various totem poles. In this clip we visit a totem pole ready for auction.
The artist is also renown for working with the hunter as theme. In some works he tries to show the hunter as he waits for his subject to come to the breathing hole to grasp some oxygen.
price range information : Originals range from $800 to $4000.
As the artist is just recently into his forties, look out for more great works of art from this modern master!
No more information on this artist, but more Inuit art coming soon!
Lu Peng is a Chinese artist born in Beijing, China in the year 1967. For his artistic education Lu Peng attended the Beijing Teachers Training College for his bachelor degree. He went on to earn a master’s degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China. As far as a style of painting Lu Peng is both a Surrealist and a Pop Artist. His large scale canvas work combines the figure with popular flowers of China.
One well received series dealt with the night life of Beijing, China. Again, many other Chinese artists have worked with this genre but Lu Peng enjoyed it because during this time people really become them selves when the sun goes down.
For his mediums Lu Peng works often with watercolor or ink on paper.
As with many Contemporary Chinese painters Lu Peng enjoys tackling the many changes taking place in the Chinese society. Similar to other artists who have worked with the theme of commercialism rather than Communism.
price range information: Works range from $30,000 to $70,000.
Here we see the artist working live!
In this clip we see the artist’s famed character Qoobee. He is the creator of the idea and the founder of the company.
What a wide range of output by the artist. Exciting and dynamic line work of the modern comic strip style, or the wonderful blended color and lovely fauna painted by Peng in his more realistic works.
Diattaart Blog 