Archive for August 9, 2013

Artist of the moment…..Francisco Toledo

{ August 9, 2013 @ 8:06 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Francisco Toledo is an artist born in Oaxaco, Mexico in the year 1940. He studied art whilst growing up and as a teenager moved to Paris, France to continue his studies. His talent in art was seen from an early age. During this time in France, Toledo was also exposed to other artists who inspired him to create such as Jean DuBuffett. With five years under his belt Toledo returned to Mexico and developed his own style mixing what he learned overseas with his childhood and regional culture of the south of Mexico.

His willingness and desire to preserve his culture let the artist try many new mediums including kites and ceramics.

price range information: Works range from $1,000 to $600,000.

Below a great biography about Francisco Toledo.

The movement most associated with Francisco Toledo was called la Raptura. This movement was to shift artists away from painting the standard “Mexican” painting with bright colors and hues to something more modern in its approach.

Toledo was also renown for painting imaginary or what are termed “fantasy animals.

In this clip a great montage of works by Francisco Toledo.

Artist of the moment…..Street artist Will St. Leger

{ August 9, 2013 @ 7:35 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Will St. Leger is a well known stencil artist from Ireland. He also has done some very unique installations including a show that was titled “Landmark Trail.” It was to show what the world would look like if everyone’s normal path was covered with landmines.

Here we catch up with the artist at an activist event.

This has got to be one of the funnest artist I have covered. In this clip watch as he gives a short presentation on his work. One example is this statement, ” Never meet your heroes, you will only disappoint them. ”

Will St. Leger is sometimes called the “Irish Banksy.”

Here is a link to the artist’s facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/WillStLegerartist

And last we check out a work done in 2011 to raise awareness of homelessness.

Price range information: Sorry no information available.

Like world renown street artist Swoon, Will St. Leger is a great example for everyone to follow of how to use art to make changes in the world.

D

Mona Lisa’s DNA search….

{ August 9, 2013 @ 2:14 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Italian scientists have been trying to locate the DNA of the original sitter for Leonardo Da Vinci’s famed worked titled Mona Lisa. In fact the portrait shows us Leonardo’s portrayal of a wealthy silk merchant’s wife. The quest is to prove that Lisa Gherardini was indeed the sitter. The lady was a neighbor of Leonardo as the family lived just across the street from the artist. After her husband died she became a nun.

In this brief clip we listen to some background on the story.

Saw this story just months ago and here is a current update on the story. I found it very interesting that scientists are trying to find a reason for her unique smile, some say what doctors call Bell’s palsy or just plain old bad teeth or was the smile that really just a self portrait of Leonardo. Did people brush their teeth back then?

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/mona-lisa-skeleton-her-kins-remains-are-due-dna-testing-6C10874613

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Artist of the moment…Charlie Ugyuk

{ August 9, 2013 @ 1:21 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Charlie Ugyuk was a brilliant Inuit sculptor from the Taloyoak, Nunavut Territory, Canada in the year 1931. Charlie Ugyuk was also the father of an artist family that will be the next post. Charlie Ugyuk was known for his exquisite detail and capability to capture mood of a character and caricature it in the face. His figures are very expressive in their appearance.

price range information: Works range from $1,000 to $30,000.

The brother of two other successful artists  Judas Ullulaq.

The artist passed away in 1998 at the age of 67 years old.

In the clip below a work titled “Perched Falcon,” From our friends at Waddington’s Auction House of Canada.

And this time a wonderful character from the artist’s own imagination, A Demon!

No more on this artist but more Inuit art coming soon!

D

Artist of the moment…….Photographer Iwase Yoshiyuki

{ August 9, 2013 @ 10:31 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Iwase Yoshiyuki was an photographer born in Onjuku, Japan in the year 1904.  The city was a fishing village. The artist was very intelligent and earned a law degree from the Meiji University Law School.  Yoshiyuki enjoyed both mixing the nude and the landscape and made many spectacular images of both.

The family owned a sake distillery.

The artist received a Kodak camera as a gift and his passion for taking pictures of the local women he saw began.

His most renown series is called the Ama Divers. An Ama diver  was highly skilled and they usually went out three times per day to hunt for pearls. As this way of life disappeared, the artists photographs of these remarkable women are all we have to go by. But what amazing pictures!

I enjoy his use of the silhouette of the figure against a natural background.

Yoshiyuki passed away in 2001 at the age of 96 years old.

price range information: Works range between $2,000 to $50,000.

D

Artist of the moment…..Sebastiao Salgado

{ August 9, 2013 @ 1:18 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Sebastiao Salgado is a documentary journalist born in Brazil in the year 1944. The artist went to school for finance and studied economics. Later whilst working on Ph D and working in Africa he decided to give photo journalism a try. He will work on a certain subject for more than a year and in most cases produce a book documenting his experiences with the project.

Below a fantastic selection of works by Salgado set to music.

price range information: Works range from $2,500 to $60,000.

Has produced these books to help promote causes he believes in such as doctors without borders and UNICEF.

A great montage of works by the artist and a brief discussion with Ken Light, a director of the Center for Photography at the University California at Berkeley,  who has studied the works of Sebastiao Salgado. Salgado is renown for both wonderful landscape images and also portraits that signify the struggles of humanity. Some subjects include refugees, famine victims, and every day laborers from around the globe. A very interesting short interview with Salgado is included and he is asked a question about shooting photographs in the refugee camps.

Salgado attended college to be an economist. His wife gave him a camera in 1970 and an obsession was born!

The artist works with black and white images.

Salgado lives and works out of Paris, France.

D