Abetare Petrit Halilaj (born Kosovo, 1986) is known for immersive installations that express a desire to alter the course of personal and collective histories, creating complex artistic worlds that claim space for freedom, intimacy, and identity. Halilaj was inspired by children’s doodles, drawings, and scribblings found on desks at the school he attended in Runik, Kosovo.
For The Met commission, he expanded his research to other schools in Albania and countries from the former Yugoslavia, which are now undergoing significant cultural and sociopolitical change. Furtive drawings from kids’ desks have been enlarged into three-dimensional metal sculptures, each retaining the trace of the original. Together, they bring to public view the collective memory and imaginative power of generations of students whose lives were marked by traumatic conflicts and territorial divisions.
Kosovo experienced the last of a series of wars in the Balkan region in the 1990s, during which many children were denied access to education on ideological grounds. Abetare borrows its title from the book the artist and his peers used to learn the alphabet at school, each letter linked to a lesson in pictures and text. In Abetare, culturally specific references to different political ideologies, religions, and local heroes coexist with more universal symbols and playful nods to pop culture, art history, and sports.
Spread around The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, the “drawings in space” merge with the surrounding architecture and landscape to create a multi vocal scenography with an open-ended narrative. A celebration of the shared impulse for personal expression and mark making, Abetare is an opportunity for discovery and an invitation to expand our capacity to imagine transformative futures. For the Silo, Alexandra Kozlakowski.
#CantorRoof #MetPetritHalilaj Exhibition Dates: running now until–October 27,2024 Exhibition Location: The Met Fifth Avenue The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, Gallery 926
“Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal.” Egon Schiele
New York City, New York, April 2024. Our friends atHelicline Fine Art proudly announces the opening of its new online exhibition, Modernism Adored: 20th Century Art, a celebration of the revolutionary artistic movements that defined the 20th century. The exhibition runs through June 30 and features a curated selection of paintings, drawings and sculptures from important to rediscovered artists, Modernism Adored explores essential movements that shaped the artistic landscape during the 20th century from ashcan, cubism, art deco, Vorticism, WPA, abstraction, abstract expressionism, caricature and outsider art. It brings together a diverse range of artwork that reflects the spirit of innovation and creativity that defined these pivotal periods in art history. As we are a NYC based gallery, the history of New York inspires us to include art that glorifies our great city.
“We are thrilled to present Modernism Adored: 20th Century Art. This isstuff in our hearts and we are honored to share it with collectors and curators throughout America and worldwide,” said Helicline proprietors Keith Sherman and Roy Goldberg. They continued, “This exhibition is our “eye,” it exemplifies the enduring impact of modernism in art and provides a unique opportunity to witness the evolution of artistic expression over the course of the 20th century.”
Highlights of Modernism Adored: 20th Century Art include three early Stuart Davis drawings, Vorticist linocuts by Sybil Andrews and Lill Tschudi, Maurice Guiraud-Riviere’s breathtaking “La Comete” silvered bronze, several works by Al Hirschfeld, abstracts by Florence Henri and O. Louis Guglielmi, a Charles Demuth drawing of bathers, an early Daniel Celentano oil, a precisionist industrial scene by Simon Wachtel, and much more.
Artists in the exhibition include: Sybil Andrews, Maurice Becker, A. Aubrey Bodine, Jo Cain, Staats Cotsworth, Daniel Celentano, Robert Cronbach, James Daugherty, Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Donald Deskey, George Pearse Ennis, William Gropper, O. Louis Guglielmi, Harold Haydon, Florence Henri, Al Hirschfeld, Mervyn Jules, Max Kalish, William Kienbusch, Georgina Klitgaard, Henry Koerner, Leon Kroll, Vladimir Lebedev, Carlos Lopez, James McCracken, Alfred Mira, Irene Rice Periera, Antonio Petruccelli, Arthur Rosenman Ross, Hilla Rebay, Maurice Guiraud-Riviere, Joseph Solman, Lill Tschudi, Gerrit Van Sinclair, Samuel Wachtel, Katherine Wiggins, John Winters and Purvis Young.
Florence Henri (1893 – 1982)Composition18 ½ x 12 ½ inchesGouache on paper Monogrammed F.H. and dated 1926 lower right
George Pearse Ennis (1884 – 1936)Forging a Gun Tube #146 x 37 inches, 1918 Signed lower right
There is great debate about what modern art is. Numerous descriptions abound. It is a series of genres from the mid-19th century to the present that challenged the Western standards of fine art and embraced new forms of expression. It is often seen as beginning with realism, which rejected the traditional subjects of art and focused on common people.
Others say modernism was a movement in the arts in the first half of the 20th Century that rejected traditional values and techniques and emphasized the importance of individual experience. A broader perspective, which we at Helicline embrace, modernism was a break with the past and the concurrent search for new forms of expression. It is in fact, constant reinvention, and it’s significant because it fundamentally asks us to change our perspectives as time passes.
“The strangeness will wear off and I think we will discover the deeper meaning in modern art.” Jackson Pollock
Daniel Ralph Celantano (1902-1980)Long Beach8 x 10 inchesOil on artist boardSigned lower leftTitled in pencil, verso
Harold Haydon (1909 – 1994)History of the US Postal Service21 x 25 inchesoil on canvas, c. 1938
Why Modern Art Continues To Influence Contemporary Artists
The 20th century distinguished itself from the previous century with a new form of industrial revolution- one tied much more intimately to an advancing technology that propelled society into a state of speed and frenzy. Not just the streamlining of railway trains and automobiles or the advancements in transcontinental travel brought on by first lighter than airships, then seaplanes and jet airliners- the motion of advancement and relocation had a seminal effect on culture and thought. The skyscraper and new vertical constructions created its own influence and metamorphosis: hundreds of families could now be housed in a singular structure adding a homogeneity and imposing bold linear designs and influences. Two world wars and a multitude of others pushed existentialism into the minds of many academics and thus filtered into other areas of discipline such as literature, music and design. The development of the transistor created miniaturization and gadgetry that became an essential component to living spaces and personal effects. Television became a manifestation of any imaginable visual image and transfixed society into another state of readiness- a state ready for instant and dense media served quickly and directly. All of these things (and more) gave rise to new forms of art- most often recognized by the general public in modern abstract paintings. The ‘sense’ of all the above was captured by artists using new ways of communicating through their work: immediacy (action painting) and abstraction were more aligned with the zeitgeist then earlier classical forms of artwork.
Untitled abstract 11 Jarrod Barker 2024
The 21st century has seen many parallel and analogous developments. Though we are ‘only 24 years’ into this latest age, the concept of quick advancement and speed is in full effect. From the maturation of the digital age (the internet) and digital communication (email) to rapidly advancing personal communication (smartphones) and powerful and inexpensive computers to today’s exhilarating advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics. These ‘re-mapped’ and repeated driving forces from the last century continue and their effects most readily recognized are still key components of contemporary ‘neo-modern’ artwork.
MORE ABOUT HELICLINE FINE ART: Helicline Fine Art,founded in 2008 by Roy Goldberg and Keith Sherman, specializes in American and European modernism. The gallery’s core offerings are works from the WPA period. Additionally, Helicline offers American scene, social realism, mural studies, industrial landscapes, regionalism, abstracts, and other artwork. Located in a private space in midtown Manhattan, Helicline is open by appointment. The artworks on the site represent a sampling of available works. Helicline’s offerings are also available on artsy.net and 1stDibs.com.
Caption for image at the top of this article: Simon Wachtel (1900 – 1965)Factory Yards N. 336 x 24 inchesOil on canvas, c.1930s Signed lower right
For each of them Calder establishes a general fated course of movement, then abandons them to it: time, sun, heat and wind will determine each individual dance… Each of its twists and turns is an inspiration of the moment… It is a little hot-jazz tune, unique and ephemeral, like the sky, like the morning.
-Jean-Paul Sartre, 1947
[NEW YORK -April, 2024] — GRAY is pleased to announce Calder, an exhibition of sculptures by Alexander Calder from the 1950s and 60s. The decades at mid-twentieth century were especially significant for the artist, whose objective to create space and movement at ever more immersive scales is expressed by the range of work in the exhibition. From the intimate interplay of color seen at a small scale in Contrepoids jaune, c. 1953 to the monumental statement in black and white of Clouds over Mountains, 1962, one experiences the breadth of Calder’s invention in color, volume, form, gesture, and motion.
Calder is the twelfth exhibition at GRAY to include works by the artist, whose 1966 solo show at Richard Gray Gallery was installed at the gallery’s very first location in Chicago. The exhibition opens at GRAY New York (1018 Madison Avenue) on April 18 and will be on view through June 21, 2024.
Clouds over Mountains.
At the center of the exhibition is the large-scale sculpture Clouds over Mountains, which combines a series of angular black silhouettes with four curved white forms that hover above. Celebrated in the year it was made by leading critics such as John Canaday and Donald Judd, Clouds over Mountains is a seminal work, representing a milestone in Calder’s development of expansive standing mobiles.
The exhibition also features two important mobiles: Horizontal Red Moon Gong, 1957 and The Two Yellows, 1962. Both hanging mobiles, the works are key examples of Calder’s ability to find harmonic balance in an orchestra of counterweighted elements created in painted sheet metal, and brass in the case of the former work.
The exhibition takes place in GRAY’s New York gallery on the Upper East Side, the entrance of which is framed by a terrazzo sidewalk designed by Calder in 1970. The sidewalk, a cunning pattern of arcs and rectangles, was commissioned by three galleries then located on the block–including Calder’s long-time gallery Perls Galleries–and stretches from 1014-1018 Madison Avenue.
Calder at GRAY reactivates the physical location of the gallery. From the dynamic sculptures installed within the gallery to the geometric forms fixed in terrazzo outside, Calder’s eye for kinetic potential endures.
ABOUT ALEXANDER CALDER
Alexander Calder (b. 1898, Lawnton, Pennsylvania–d. 1976, New York City), whose illustrious career spanned much of the twentieth century, is the most acclaimed and influential sculptor of our time. Born in a family of celebrated, though more classically trained artists, Calder utilized his innovative genius to profoundly change the course of modern art. He began in the 1920s by developing a new method of sculpting: by bending and twisting wire, he essentially “drew” three-dimensional figures in space. He is renowned for the invention of the mobile, whose suspended, abstract elements move and balance in changing harmony. From the 1950s onward, Calder increasingly devoted himself to making outdoor sculpture on a grand scale from bolted steel plate. Today, these stately titans grace public plazas in cities throughout the world.
Calder’s 1966 inaugural solo presentation at GRAY was the first of a number of exhibitions to feature the artist across the decades, including Sculpture Works on Paper, 1974; Contemporary Masters, 1987; Forty Years, 2003; Fun House, 2013; GRAY at 60, 2023; and most recently Calder, 2024.
Dusty book stall archeologist and writer Jonathan Guyer oversees the far reaching effects of visual culture in our modern ‘all about appearances’ world.
Jonathan Guyer on CBC -Canada Broadcasting Corporation
Through frequent excursions to the bookshops of downtown Cairo in Egypt, Guyer has unearthed a wealth of forgotten political narratives and overlooked illustrative histories. Book-ending his fascination with the alternative story lines of locally appropriated Western comics, Guyer’s faith in the ethical and ideological potential of cartoons and satirical imagery extends to the underground artistic movements of contemporary self-published zine-makers. In his eloquent interview, the prolific and level-headed writer remarks on welcome shifts in the Middle Eastern visual landscape, the necessary and terrifying obligations of artists, and the autonomy of art in an authoritative society.
Bascha Mon Prince Street Rag oil on canvas
Adaptive and indomitable painter Bascha Mon has traced each frame of light between the new and full moons. Bound to spontaneity and guided by intuition, Mon’s practice feels out a logic from the sanctuary and purgatory of a blank canvas. Impelled by the psychic pains of a laboring human family, Mon retrieves the fragments of her commiserating heart from the cold grasp of reality, like pulling her distorted reflection from the surface of the water. Expressed in her stirring and poignant interview, Mon’s necessary attachment to art conceals a deep solidarity with the misplaced souls of the Earth, who struggle to make sense of an existence where whimsy and intense meaning coexist. The sage observer and painter is never dissatisfied by an individual work, as no piece is anything less than perfect if it belongs to a whole.
Shipping Container is a book on Literary Theory by Craig Martin
Reading something interesting?
Tom Allen, is ensnared by the vehement poems of mid 19th century writer Jules Laforgue, the progenitor of free verse in the French tradition and treasure to the great modernist poets. Laforgue fashioned his fervent style of observation from the fiery idealism of the symbolists and the microcosmic subjectivity of impressionism. Another one of our users, Niels Van Tomme, is pleasantly amused by the playful and engaging Shipping Container, Craig Martin’s contribution to the Object Lessons series. Martin’s colorful prose enlivens the itinerant existence of this ubiquitous transport vessel, the unsung hero of our convenient and mobile world.
Urging the flow of time and water is the promise of change made by a fork in the stream.
Marshmello the artic pup, also known on instagram as @cryptopup, made history last week, as the first pet digital collectible art project selected for the lunar museum (“Lunaprise”) on the moon. The project was conceived by Dallas Santana, a well-known film director, web 3.0 innovator and Founder of Space Blue, the company that oversees curation of the Lunaprise Museum. Santana first introduced Marshmello the artic pup, to the world as an digital collectable art project in 2018.
Marshmello To The Moon. NFT by Space Blue
The super rare digital collectible art of Marshmello To the Moon, selling for $950K usd / $1.3M cad each, took off from from Cape Canaveral on a ride on SpaceX Falcon 9 and landed on the moon February 22nd , becoming the first pet dog character to land on the moon since the legendary Snoopy, who traveled with Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon back in 1969. The artwork will be auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds donated towards impactful projects for humanity and animals.
Artwork of the popular adorable pet also made history as the first bitcoin art project to land on the moon and is inscribed as a very popular digital art form called bitcoin ordinals.
The Lunaprise Museum on the moon will house digital inscribed twin etched nickel and nanofiche system of the earth based digital collectibles, along with 222 other curated art projects which will last over 1 billion years on the moon. Marshmello the artic pup character has also already confirmed her official NASA boarding pass to be included in the NASA Mars missions, and other space programs coming up.
The twin images of Marshmello’s artwork will be engraved on metallic lunar plates and digital archives which will last over 1 billion years on the moon. Marshmello’s story and her mission set many space and art history records, including the first pet art project selected for this NASA-administered project, and became the first pet dog character to land on the moon since the legendary Snoopy, who traveled with Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon back in 1969. Conceived by a well-known film director and NFT Innovator (Dallas Santana), Marshmello was first introduced to the world as an NFT art project in 2018, long before the term NFT gained widespread recognition.
The Real-life Dog
Marshmello, the real-life dog, is known for many collaborations with top celebrities, movie stars, models from “America’s Top Models”, and “Deal or No Deal” models, all who babysat the adorable pet. Marshmello found fame without even trying, went viral “peeing” on an Oscar Event Red Carpet ( getting millions of views), got over 50 million views while dating Logan Paul’s Pomeranian “Kong”, and appeared in the NFT movie The 9th Raider and many music videos.
As this pioneering canine character prepares for its historic lunar landing, fans can soon explore the captivating Marshmello furry universe through an engaging book series, with an animation series also in development- also all sent to the moon for archiving as digital twin artwork preserved on the moon. This lovable pet dog character is on the brink of capturing hearts and minds across the globe as it embarks on its groundbreaking journey to the final frontier in art history. As mentioned above, Marshmello the character has also confirmed her official NASA boarding pass to be included in the NASA Mars missions, and other space programs coming up. For the Silo, Tiffannie Ramos.
Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body features works from Kelly Akashi, Lisa Alvarado, Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Andrea Chung, Sky Hopinka, and Anna Mayer On view through August 17, 2024.
Kelly Akashi, Life Forms, 2022. Collection of Barbara and Michael Gamson. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Paul Salveson.
March, 2024 [Houston, TX]— The Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University announces the exhibition Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body opening May 31 and on view through August 17, 2024. Bringing together new and recent work by six contemporary artists based in the United States, the exhibition explores vital connections between the human body and the land. This focused presentation emphasizes how art and artists can build awareness toward integrated ecosystems in the face of intergenerational trauma, continued exploitation of the Earth’s resources, and climate change.
Featured artists include Kelly Akashi, Lisa Alvarado, Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Andrea Chung, Sky Hopinka, and Anna Mayer. Spanning a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, ceramics, collage, photography, video, and sound, the presentation also features two site-specific interventions commissioned by the Moody. Lisa Alvarado will create a monumental wall mural and Anna Mayer will mount an installation with locally sourced clay consisting of more than fifty new objects. The diverse practices presented in Resonant Earth demonstrate a critical engagement with histories of the land, primarily in the Western and Southern United States. Collectively, the exhibition addresses the local environment while considering the forced migration and displacement of people and plants across geographies.
Executive Director Alison Weaver notes, “This project foregrounds artworks that speak to our lived experience in the United States, highlighting how personal and social histories shape our natural surroundings and our individual bodies. This summer we look forward to welcoming visitors who bring their own experiences to the galleries.”
Sky Hopinka, Mnemonics of Shape and Reason,2022. Still. Courtesy of the artist.
About the Exhibition Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body seeks to illuminate the intertwined social and material histories of specific ecologies, ranging from farms along the US-Mexico border, to former Japanese American internment camps in Arizona, to the extraction of land in and around Houston. With geographical references that privilege biological memory and somatically inherited knowledge over a dominant linear history, these artists highlight the intergenerational pain of displacement and the healing power of reconnection to our place on the planet. The artworks on view echo our fraught engagement with the environment, while implying webs of interdependence in which the natural and the cultural are inseparable. The six selected artists draw on Indigenous and diasporic forms of knowledge, culture, and materials to envision modes of transformation and regeneration in relation to ongoing struggles for environmental and social justice. A selection of new and recent work by Kelly Akashi underscores the artist’s interest in temporality and memory as contained in the land and the body. Her sculptural work incorporates a range of material processes and is installed spatially as a constellation of objects that reference her personal and family history as well as the passage of time, the ephemerality of the human body, and the impermanence of the natural world. For example, in Conjoined Tumbleweeds, Akashi cast entangled plants growing at the site of a Japanese American incarceration camp in Poston, AZ. The bronze sculpture refers to her father’s imprisonment there during World War II. A cast of the artist’s own body, fragmented, appears as a blue crystal hand in Inheritance. Adorned with Akashi’s grandmother’s ring, the fingers wrap around a stone from Poston, invoking the biological memory of the body as well as geological time. Through double-sided hanging paintings, and a major site-specific wall mural accompanied by a sound installation, artist and musician
Lisa Alvarado explores social histories of the land, including the Chicana/o Movement and her own family’s experience along the US-Mexico border. Her free-hanging abstract paintings allude to generations of migrant farmers in the region, while referencing textile traditions and muralism of the Americas.
Compositionally anchored at the corner of the gallery space and expanding outward along horizontal and vertical planes, Alvarado’s site-specific mural suggests “being in-between,” both spatially and conceptually. In the monumental painting that encompasses the viewer, Alvarado also considers meridians—both celestial, in relation to one’s position on Earth and the sky, and those used in traditional non-Western medicine to trace the pathways within one’s own body. Cast from the trunks of non-native trees in Los Angeles, large-scale sculptural works from Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio’sCaucho (Rubber) series reference intertwined histories of plants and people. The artist, whose family is from El Salvador, considers experiences of migration, solidarity, and civil war that resonate with some Central American communities in Los Angeles. Deeply invested in the social histories of materials, Aparicio’s artistic media suggests layers of meaning and the inseparability of the natural and the cultural. For instance, his use of rubber, which is made from the bloodlike sap of trees, recalls its importance as an Indigenous Mesoamerican technology and subsequent exploitation by colonialist extraction and trade. An immersive planetarium installation together with collages by Andrea Chung reflect the interconnected histories of materials, processes, and places of the island nations in the Caribbean Sea and Indian Ocean. In her research-based practice, Chung often subverts tools of European colonialism while considering the multiplicity of the relationships that enslaved people had with the Earth. Inspired by star charts, and seeking to invert colonial maps, The Westerlies: Prevailing the Winds is a dome structure shrouded in cyanotype canvas that invites the viewer to be surrounded by the night sky and ocean as both expanse and enclosure. In collages featuring late-nineteenth-century ethnographic photographs of African women, Chung adorns the images with intricate beadwork, gold ink, and reproductions of delicate flora atop traditional birthing cloth, exploring the relationship between the people depicted and the land. Videos by filmmaker, photographer, and poet Sky Hopinka portray landscapes traversed by the artist, interweaving personal and collective memory. A member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Hopinka explores Indigenous homeland and language through rhythmic and poetic accounts. In the selected videos, the artist layers visual and audio recordings, music, and text, to consider intergenerational connections to a place as well as the ongoing effects of colonialism while prompting the viewer to consider one’s own relationship to landscape and memory. Twenty-five pairs of newly created wall-mounted ceramic vessels and sculptures will be part of a site-specific installation by Houston-based artist Anna Mayer, who engages with the land locally. Known for her social and sculptural practice, Mayer’s process involves analog firing techniques while critically engaging pre- and post-petroculture. In her hand-built ceramics, the artist incorporates what she calls “gleaned clay” (available as a by-product of other processes such as flooding, drought, or construction), sourced from the Houston area. Described as “implements” by the artist, the shapes of the wall-mounted objects reference drill bits and hammers as well as body parts and geological sediment. The series will be installed over photographic wallpaper depicting damp cement, suggesting water seeping up from the ground into the gallery. Additionally, Mayer is making new large-scale ceramic vessels that will be positioned among existing furniture at the Moody, underscoring their corporeal presence and connection. This new body of work examines how tools function as an extension of the body, commonly used to excavate earth, while reflecting a polyvalent approach to the land. Resonant Earth is curated by Molly Everett, Assistant Curator, Moody Center for the Arts. The exhibition is made possible by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, the Brad and Leslie Bucher Artist Endowment, the Tamara de Kuffner Fund, the Kilgore Endowment Fund, and the Sewall Endowment.
Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Ruta de las flores, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles
About the Artists Kelly Akashi’s (b. 1983, Los Angeles, CA) major solo exhibition, Kelly Akashi: Formations, originated at the San José Museum of Art (2022–23), and traveled to the Frye Art Museum in Seattle (2023), and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2023–24). Her work is currently the subject of a solo presentation at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2023–24) and has been included in several group exhibitions internationally. Akashi is based in Los Angeles, CA.
Lisa Alvarado (b. 1982, San Antonio, TX)has exhibited and performed widely, with recent solo exhibitions at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (2023) and at REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA (2023). Originally from San Antonio, TX, Alvarado now lives and works in Chicago, IL.
Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio’s (b. 1990, Los Angeles, CA) work is the subject of a solo exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, on view until June 16, 2024. His work is featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial in New York, NY, and Prospect.6 in New Orleans, LA. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles.
Andrea Chung (b. 1978, Newark, NJ) has received solo presentations at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI (2023), the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2022), and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA (2017). Her work has been exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA (2021), the Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL (2019), and in Prospect.4, New Orleans, LA (2017). Chung grew up in Sugar Land, TX, and is now based in San Diego, CA.
Sky Hopinka’s (b. 1984, Ferndale, WA) work has been the subject of several solo exhibitions, including at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil (2023), LUMA Arles, France (2022), Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (2022), and the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (2020). He is a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. Hopinka recently joined the faculty at Harvard University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, and is currently based in Cambridge, MA.
Anna Mayer’s (b. 1974, Macomb, IL) practice spans Los Angeles and Houston. Her recent solo presentation at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (2021) was preceded by exhibitions at Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX (2016–17), and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2012). She lives in Houston, TX, and is an Associate Professor of sculpture at the University of Houston.
Lisa Alvarado, Spinning Echo, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Bridget Donahue, New York.
Special EventsFriday, May 31, 6–8 p.m. Opening Reception for Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body Celebrate the start of the exhibition with the artists.Saturday, June 1, 4–6 p.m. Dimensions Variable: National Information Society Together with her band National Information Society, featured artist Lisa Alvarado will activate the gallery space with a special musical performance.Fridays, June 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 12 p.m.
The Moody Wellness Series Join us on Fridays in June for meditation and yoga in the galleries, offered through a collaboration with the Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center. Saturdays, June 8, 15, 22, 29, 2–4 p.m.
Moody ArtLab Guests of all ages are invited to create a hands-on craft inspired by artwork featured in the summer exhibition at our self-guided activity station on Saturdays in June. Materials and instructions provided. Saturday, July 20, 12–5 p.m.
Summer Jam Community Day Celebrate summer at this all-day, family-friendly event featuring an indoor farmer’s market, art activities, and local food vendors.
Featured image: Mnemonics. Sky Hopinka
About the Moody Center for the Arts Inaugurated in February 2017, the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University is a state-of-the-art, non-collecting institution dedicated to transdisciplinary collaboration among the arts, sciences, and humanities. The 50,000-square-foot facility, designed by acclaimed Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan, serves as an experimental platform for creating and presenting works in all disciplines, a flexible teaching space to encourage new modes of making, and a forum for creative partnerships with visiting national and international artists. The Moody is free and open to the public year-round.
Social Media:@theMoodyArtsPhone: +1 713.348.ARTSAddress: Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University6100 Main Street, MS-480, Houston, TX 77005(University Entrance 8, at University Boulevard and Stockton Street)
Hours & Admission Exhibition spaces are open to the public and free of charge Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Sundays, Mondays, and holidays. Events and programs are open to the public. For schedule, tickets, and prices as applicable, visit moody.rice.edu.
Directions & Parking The Moody Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Rice University and is best reached by using Campus Entrance 8 at the intersection of University Boulevard and Stockton Street. As you enter campus, the building is on the right, just past the Media Center. There is a dedicated parking lot adjacent to the building. Payment for the Moody Lot is by credit card only. For campus maps, visit www.rice.edu/maps.
About Rice University Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as the best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
Inuk artist becomes the second person from the West Baffin Cooperative to receive prestigious award.
Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut – Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona has been named a recipient of the Governor General’s Awards in the Arts for her dedication to the expression and practice of Inuit art and her contribution to Canada’s larger contemporary art community.
ᓱᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓱᓇ SHUVINAI ASHOONA
For more than two decades, Ashoona has been changing the face of Inuit art. Working from her home base in Kinngait, Nunavut, Ashoona’s ever-evolving drawing practice has resulted in a still growing body of work that stands as a unique contribution to the artistic expression of her time. Ashoona’s innovative drawings, many of which are ambitiously scaled, freely mix elements drawn from historic Inuit culture with contemporary references to more recent history and popular culture.
Untitled. 2010.
Her subjects include fantastical and otherworldly beings as well as self-reflexive images that comment directly on the process and practice of representation. Never content to follow rules and expectations, Ashoona’s unconventional artistic vision has successfully challenged and revolutionized how the public perceives Inuit art and contemporary Indigenous art more generally, helping to create a new space for expression and artistic freedom.
A longtime artist member of West Baffin Cooperative, Ashoona works frequently at the organization’s Kinngait Studios and has become a mentor to many next generation Inuit creators. “I don’t even think about getting awards for making my art,” said Shuvinai Ashoona. ‘I’m just happy when people can see my drawings in galleries and museums and books. I think this award means that many, many people are getting to see my artworks.”
Throughout her career, Ashoona has maintained a busy practice supported by an expansive program of exhibitions.
Her work has been featured in several important exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada, including Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art, that institution’s landmark 2013 showcase of contemporary Indigenous expression from around the world. “Shuvinai Ashoona is one of Canada’s most influential visual artists and has fast become an internationally important creator,” said West Baffin Cooperative President Pauloosie Kowmageak. “Ashoona has achieved remarkable success and recognition for her art practice and for the community of Kinngait; I can’t imagine a more deserving recipient of this prestigious award.”
Handstand. 2010. Stonecut and stencil.
Ashoona has been active within the commercial gallery sphere as well. Her work has been featured in several solo and group commercial exhibitions, many of which have been presented by Vancouver’s Marion Scott Gallery, which nominated her for this award, and Toronto’s Feheley Fine Arts. Ashoona’s drawings have also been collected by many of Canada’s major art institutions, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Musée des beaux arts de Montréal and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Ashoona has also collaborated with artists from beyond her Baffin Island community, including Shary Boyle (2015) and John Noesthedan (2008).
“Shuvinai Ashoona’s startling expression makes connections and bridges cultures,” said Robert Kardosh, third generation owner of Vancouver’s Marion Scott Gallery. “Her images tell us something important about ourselves and the world we all share. This award acknowledges and celebrates that deep resonance. It’s also a testament to her tenacious dedication to her vision and community.”
In 2022, she produced her first immersive installation, entitled Help Us. Commissioned by the Marion Scott Gallery, Ashoona’s floating constellation of drawn geometric forms was featured that same year at Art Toronto, where it earned critical and popular acclaim.
The last five years have been especially important ones for the artist, not just for her continuing creative growth but also in terms of her growing national and, increasingly, international profile. In 2019, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto presented Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds, an exhibition that brought together a decade’s worth of Ashoona’s most ambitious works. Curated by Nancy Campbell, the high-profile exhibition toured to several venues across Canada, exposing the general public to Ashoona’s singular vision while confirming her status as one of Canada’s most exciting and talked about contemporary artists.
The exhibition’s catalogue is itself a monument to Ashoona’s practice and place in contemporary Canadian art. At the beginning of 2019, just as the Power Plant’s exhibition was being launched, it was announced that Ashoona had won the 2018 Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the AGO, making her the first Inuk in history to win this prestigious award. In 2021, as part of the terms of the prize, the artist’s work was profiled at the Art Gallery of Ontario in a major exhibition that was entitled Shuvinai Ashoona: Beyond the Visible, making her work even more visible to a wider audience.
Alongside these major breakthroughs within Canada’s borders has been a recent series of announcements, exhibitions and awards that reflect Ashoona’s steadily growing reputation abroad. In 2021, Ashoona’s work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, entitled Shuvinai Ashoona: Drawings. The exhibition in Miami wasn’t only Ashoona’s first show in a US museum, but it also marked the first time that a US contemporary art institution has presented a solo exhibition by a Canadian Inuk artist.
In 2022, Ashoona’s work was included in The Milk of Dreams, the 59th International Art Exhibition, also known as the Venice Biennale.
Ashoona’s inclusion in this major international showcase brought her distinctive expression to the attention of a global audience for the first time. The official jury’s decision to award Ashoona one of two special mentions brought even more attention to her installation, further attesting to her work’s unique power and appeal. Those same drawings are currently being featured at London’s The Perimeter, in a presentation entitled Shuvinai Ashoona: When I Draw, the artist’s second solo exhibition in the UK. For more biographical information about Shuvinai Ashoona click here. For the Silo, Paul Clarke.
Featured image: SHUVINAI+ASHOONA-2009 untitled graphite coloured pencil and pentel pen.
CENTER FOR ITALIAN ART ANNOUNCES NEW EXHIBITION: NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES ON VIEW NOW UNTIL- JUNE 22, 2024
Nanni Balestrini, Cavallo, 1963. Collage on paper. Private collection, courtesy Frittelli arte contemporanea, Florence
(New York, February/March, 2024) – The Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA) has launched its new exhibition, NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION. ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES, curated by Marco Scotini. This is the first retrospective exhibition in the United States of Nanni Balestrini (1935-2019), an Italian experimental visual artist, poet, and novelist known for his revolutionary artistic practice and passionate involvement in the social-political movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Milan in 1935, Balestrini was a key protagonist of post-WW2 Italian literary and social avant-garde movements: he approached experimental poetry with a visual sensibility stemming from the artistic use of collage, and with a compositional practice that gave importance to the editing and recombining of existing texts (especially newspapers, magazines, and political slogans) in search for the expression of a collective enunciation.
Nanni Balestrini born July 1935 died May 2019
Nanni Balestrini, 65000 Ètudiants, 1972. Mixed media on panel. Collezione Emilio Mazzoli, Modena
Nanni Balestrini, Cronogramma, 1960s. Collage on paper. Private collection.
He worked side by side with contemporary composers interested in the creative potential of stochastic music and the relationship between computer technology and art. Much of his radical artistic and literary research also developed in dialogue with his participation in the student and workerist movements of the late 1960s and 1970s, and their explosive political charge. Much emphasis has been placed on the exclusively typographical character of writing in Balestrini’s artistic works. This exhibition will instead draw attention to the double acoustic and visual level of Balestrini’s word or, better yet, to what Paolo Fabbri described as its “phonic-optic indiscernibility.”
NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION. ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES, curated by Marco Scotini, focuses on two crucial decades in the career of Balestrini, the 1960s and the 1970s. It includes over 70 works by the artist, along with a range of documentary material. The works from the 1960s illustrate a creative phase when Balestrini shared research interests with Luigi Nono, one of the most important 20th-century experimental composers, and when the neo-avant garde literary movement Gruppo 63 was also founded. The creative relationship between Balestrini and Nono lasted an entire decade, and the exhibition sheds light on the search for the disalienation of the word pursued by both, as well as on their use of technology as a way to seize and subvert the means of industrial production and explore their artistic potential.
The final works in the exhibition date back to the late 1970s; some of them were conceived in connection with a poem dedicated to the New York City electricity blackout of 1977. Planned as an “action for voice” to be performed by Greek-Italian lyricist and vocal experimenter Demetrio Stratos in May 1979, the work was never performed due to the premature death of Stratos and Balestrini’s indictment surrounding the political movement Autonomia Operaia.
The exhibition also includes a reconstruction of Balestrini’s Tape Mark I (1961), one of the earliest examples of computer-generated art. A combinatory poem produced by an algorithm written in the Unix programming language on a massive IBM mainframe computer, Tape Mark I anticipates many of the contemporary questions surrounding Artificial Intelligence, and was featured in the 1962 edition of the Bompiani Literary Almanac, which was dedicated to “the application of computers to ethics and literature”, a theme of utmost relevance today.
To provide context to Balestrini’s work, the show features a selection of early words-in-freedom works by Futurist artist Carlo Carrà, a form of avantgarde visual poetry that liberated words and letters from the conventions of grammar and syntax, making them part of visual and performative compositions. This technique was co-opted by the Italian Neoavanguardia in the 1960s, due to the revolutionary potential of the early Futurist movement. NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION. ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES is on view at CIMA (421 Broome Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10013) from February 22nd – June 22nd, 2024. See visiting hours below.
Python reconstruction of 1961 electronic poem “TAPE MARK 1”
Nanni Balestrini, Giornale di bordo (La partita a carte), 1964. Collage on paper. Private collection, Mirano (Venezia)
CIMA OPEN HOURS: • Friday and Saturday: 11am to 6pm with guided tours at 11am and 2pm (last entry at 5pm)• Members-only hours: Monday-Thursday by appointment• General admission: $15usd for guided tours; $10usd for open hours• Members & students: free ABOUT CIMA:Founded in 2013, CIMA is a public non-profit dedicated to presenting modern and contemporary Italian art to international audiences. Through critically acclaimed exhibitions—many of them bringing work to U.S. audiences for the first time—along with a wide variety of public programs and substantial support for new scholarship awarded through its international fellowship program, CIMA situates Italian modern art in an expansive historic and cultural context, illuminating its continuing relevance to contemporary culture and serving as an incubator of curatorial ideas for larger cultural institutions. CIMA works to add new voices to scholarship on modern Italian art with annual fellowships that open fresh perspectives and new avenues of research. A visit begins with a complimentary espresso, followed by an informal exhibition tour with one of the resident fellows. Visitors are welcome to linger for additional viewing and conversation.
ABOUT CURATOR MARCO SCOTINI: Marco Scotini is an art critic and curator. He currently is artistic director of FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea in Milan, a center specializing in the preservation and enhancement of private collections, artists’ archives and the promotion of contemporary art. Since 2004, he has been director of the Department of Visual Arts at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti of Milan and Rome. He is scientific director of the Gianni Colombo Archive, the Bert Theis Archive, the Clemen Parrocchetti Archive and the Nanni Balestrini Archive. Since 2014, he has been responsible for the exhibition program of PAV- Parco Arte Vivente in Turin. He was artistic director of the 2nd Yinchuan Biennale in 2018 and was a member of the Italian Council from 2019 to 2021. He has curated exhibitions for leading national and international art institutions, including the Albanian pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2015), three editions of the Prague Biennale (2003, 2005, 2007), Anren Biennale (2017), 2nd Yinchuan Biennale (2018) and was advisor for Bangkok Biennale (2020 and 2022). He took part in the 17th Istanbul Biennale (2022) and the BETA Timișoara Biennale (2022). He has been part of the project TV Politics at documenta 14 (2017). Scotini’s project Disobedience Archive is part of the 60th Mostra Internazionale d’Arte della Biennale di Venezia (2024), curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
New York City – February, 2024 – In a historic moment that marks a significant milestone in the intersection of art, music, and space exploration, the Lunaprise Museum proudly announced the successful lunar landing of artworks as part of SpaceBlue’s’ curated and managed archive on the recent Lunar Lander as part of the historic space mission. Though not the first art project to involve the Moon (reported here by us July 2019), it is the first art project to remain on the Moon.
Among the historic pioneers is a pioneering trio: designer/artist Kelly Max, artist Samy Halim, and music producer/artist Brayden Pierce. This momentous event sees these creative visionaries become among the first artists in history to archive their works in the form of digital twins on the moon for over a billion years in a nano fiche disk, establishing a lasting legacy that transcends the boundaries of Earth.
A New Horizon for Art and Music
With the successful landing of the Lunar Lander on February 22, 2024 at 6:23PM EST the Lunar Landing has achieved a groundbreaking feat by hosting the first museum on the moon called Lunaprise. Among its prized collections are the collaborative efforts of Kelly Max and Samy Halim on the Modernist Art project, and Brayden Pierce’s musical compositions that have resonated with themes of space exploration and innovation.
The Modernist Art collection, highlighted by the “MoonRider” piece carrying 180 names pivotal to the artists’ journey, alongside a comprehensive collection of 420 Modernist Originals and 9,724 generative Modernist Genesis Artworks, represents a significant contribution to this lunar museum. Selected by Curator SpaceBlue and launched on February 15, 2024, these artworks not only celebrate the creative spirit but also symbolize human achievement and aspiration.
This nickel disc containing compressed files of the artwork is now curated on the Moon.
Kelly Max’s contributions to the Lunaprise Museum mission extend far beyond his collaboration with Samy Halim on the Modernist Art project. Together, Kelly and Samy designed the Lunaprise Mission Patch, a symbol of human creativity and resilience in the face of the vast unknown. Kelly’s visionary approach didn’t stop there; his role expanded as he became the lead designer for all key brand communications for the mission, showcasing his leadership and creative expertise in shaping the mission’s identity.
Brayden Pierce: Echoing Through Space
Introduced to the Lunaprise Museum mission by Kelly, Brayden Pierce’s artistic contributions have carved a unique niche in the halls of space history. As the first-ever EDM artist to have his music on the moon, Brayden Pierce’s “Capture The Moon” is immortalized on the moon in two versions: The Modernist Edition and the MOOON.PARTY Mix. This collaboration with Kelly underscores a synergy between the two creatives which exploded into the founding of MOOON.PARTY: a visionary venture that aims to blend art, music, space, and space content recording into a pioneering festival brand. This initiative, co-founded by Kelly and Brayden, is set to redefine immersive entertainment experiences, leveraging the backdrop of space to inspire and captivate audiences worldwide.
“Bringing art and music to the lunar surface goes beyond exploration; it signifies embedding humanity’s creative essence into the fabric of the cosmos. This endeavor isn’t merely a step forward for us as individual artists but represents a monumental leap for global art and culture. Collaborating with Samy, Brayden, and the Lunaprise Museum on this mission has unfolded as a profound journey of discovery, unity, and limitless creativity. Together, we’ve ignited a beacon of human expression on the moon, casting light across the cosmos to inspire future generations to dream beyond the confines of our known world. This project mirrors the moon’s impartial gaze upon Earth, reminding us that in its light, we are all seen equally. Our ultimate aim is to embody this universal perspective, fostering a tangible sense of unity on Earth, now enriched by the presence of art and music in the lunar realm.” adds Kelly Max.
Legacy Beyond the Stars
The Lunaprise Museum landing not only signifies the establishment of the first museum beyond Earth but also serves as a beacon of human creativity and ingenuity. Lunaprise is leading a historic disruption in space tech, leveraging patented technologies to archive and authenticate digital assets using blockchain, heralding the convergence of space exploration and digital technology. Collectors of music and art will delight in rare, verified assets that are one-of-a-kind, linked to identical twin digital files stored in the Lunaprise museum on the moon. The artworks of Kelly Max, Samy Halim and Brayden Pierce, now permanently archived on the lunar surface, stand as a testament to the boundless potential of artistic expression. Their achievements herald a new era where art and music extend their reach into the cosmos, inspiring future generations to dream big and reach beyond the known limits.
NBAF is manifesting more this year: more impact, more engaging programming, more opportunities for artists, more exposure, and more funding. We are coming for it all in the new year! In celebration of what will be an amazing year, it is my honor to give you a peek into what we have in store as we prepare to do things even bigger and better in 2024.
Our programming theme for this year is “Artistry Unbound,” an exploration of the resounding power of African American art to propel us toward the realization of our collective freedom. This theme celebrates the profound contributions of African American artists in their relentless pursuit of social justice, equality, and financial equity. It celebrates the trailblazers who have paved the way for a new generation of artists, continuing the legacy of social commentary and artistic innovation. This theme calls us to be “black on purpose” and create programs that directly speak to the injustices that we still face as a people and find artistic and creative ways to address these issues.
We are excited to bring this theme to life through carefully curated programming that will kick off with the NBAF Black History Month event, “Blacklisted! Banned Book Fair”, which speaks directly to the injustices highlighted through recent campaigns designed to censor and diminish Black voices.
Blacklisted! Banned Book Fair takes place on February 24th and 25th, and aligns with NBAF’s mission to:
Expose audiences to important and diverse works by African American authors,
Educate the public on how the banning of African American literature has been part of a larger pattern of censoring voices that advocate for social justice, civil rights, and the dismantling of racial prejudices,
Engage young and old readers alike with the wealth of African American books available to them, and
Entertain audiences with informative panel discussions, staged readings, an indie book market, and more! For more info, please visit our Black History Month page on nbaf.org
There are so many exciting things on the horizon for NBAF this year and we look forward to bringing you quality multi-disciplinary programming focused on uplifting and highlighting Black art and artists in new ways throughout 2024. As we continue our transition back to larger immersive events and chart a path back to the renowned NBAF Festival, our team is committed to innovatively presenting the best in Black art and we look forward to continuing to make an impact in the community with your partnership. We look forward to seeing you soon online or at an upcoming event! For the Silo, Stephanie R. Owens.
Reflecting on the remarkable journey of 2023, we’re excited to share the significant impact your support has made on our mission and community. We encourage you to delve into the highlights and accomplishments of the past year in our 2023 Impact Report, available here.
Click on the image above to view a visual journey of the transformative moments and positive change that helped us achieve in 2023.
NBAF PROGRAMS & EVENTS
Check out these upcoming events from NBAF!
Blacklisted! Banned Books Fair Saturday & Sunday, February 24th & 25th Atlanta, GA Calling all authors, literature lovers, and vendors to join us in celebrating the written word! NBAF’s 2024 Black History Month program, Blacklisted! Banned Book Fair celebrates the African American authors creating work that challenges the status quo and speaks truth to power.
The programming features:
• Moderated panel discussions with Black Authors, Activists & Intellectuals • Indie Black Book Market featuring African American booksellers and authors • Youth Book Fair with interactive children’s activities • Community Book Drive to benefit youth-centered non-profits • Interactive exhibitions about banned African-American literature and authors • Social Photo booths, food vendors & more!
Mark your calendars and get ready for a weekend filled with storytelling, creativity, and activism. This interactive experience is in partnership with the Morehouse College Movement Memory and Justice Project, South Fulton Arts, 44th & 3rd Bookseller and the Black Writers Weekend.
If you’re an author, bookseller, or have literature/education or activism related products, apply to be a vendor on the NBAF website. Spaces are limited, so secure your space today!
Taking place at the Atlanta History Center and in partnership with Neiman Marcus, FA+F attendees enjoy food + drinks, an impeccably curated fashion show, fashion icons and artists award presentations, and are introduced to the winning student designer of the annual Fashion Forward Student Design Competition.
Fine Art + Fashion raises funds to support NBAF’s operations and programs for artists of all ages and disciplines, particularly our youth arts education programs for underserved students of African descent.
2024 NBAF Fashion Forward A Competition for Student Fashion Designers NBAF Fashion Forward honorees are selected by a distinguished panel of judges and receive a cash prize of $1,500. The 2024 NBAF Fashion Forward honorees will be presented at NBAF’s Fine Art + Fashion Benefit on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 in Atlanta, GA. To get started, check out nbaf.org/fashion-forward to download the Fashion Forward Fact Sheet to learn more about the application requirements. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Fashion Forward Coordinator, Page Yang, at pyang@nbaf.org. Please mention thesilo.ca when contacting. The deadline to apply is Friday, January 26, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST. APPLY HERE!
2024 Artist Project Fund Applications Eligible Metro Atlanta Artists Apply Today The 2024 Artist Project Fund (APF) is a $2,000 usd grant and 6-month artistic development program for Metro Atlanta artists seeking funds to complete an ongoing project. APF supports 20 professional artists in the completion of an ongoing artistic project, fosters a sense of community and creative collaboration, and provides immersive artistic and career development experiences to help them grow as artists and creative entrepreneurs. The deadline to apply is Friday, February 2, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.
New Merch! Your purchase supports NBAF’s year round programming.
Select from special limited edition art prints, t-shirts, tote bags, note books, and more!Black Art Matters TeeNBAF Commemorative PinsRadcliffe Bailey NBAF 10th Anniversary PostersBlack Art Matters stainless steel tumblerNBAF tote bagNBAF Logo Unisex Hoodie With Shop Payyou can get it now and pay later! Pay in 4 interest-free installments for orders over $50.00.
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The League of Wrestling Mask Portraits is a growing body of work, undertaken in 2023, by realist painter, Richard Delaney. The work is a satirical, Pop Art-style, examination of the famous and controversial people of our time, such as Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Elon Musk, and Greta Thunberg. Delaney paints their approximately, life-size portraits, in an unconventional manner. Politicians and celebrities are depicted wearing personalized wrestling masks (as in professional wrestling, aka Lucha Libra, often referred to as Mexican wrestling masks). They wear their masks as if ready to battle/wrestle in the social and political ring.
Each mask is customized for the individual wearer with clues to their identity imbedded in the design.
The symbolic clues help the viewer identify the person when the facial features alone are not enough. For example, the design of Greta Thunberg’s mask reflects her climate activism. Yellow flame-patterned, patches, around her eyes, nose, and mouth, rise up to symbolically melt what appears to be an ice cap on the top of her head, causing melt-water to flow into the blue, ocean-like area of the mask, covering her face. The dominant colours, light blue and yellow, reference Thunberg’s country, Sweden, and its flag.
Delaney’s paintings in oil and acrylic are garish, bombastic, and humorous. They are fresh and contemporary while being reminiscent of 1960’s Pop Art. The visual aesthetic is like a combination of cartoon, realistic painting, and or photo collage. The mask component has a hint of vintage, comic book art, and pulp art illustration. In contrast, the facial features of the subjects are rendered in a somewhat, photorealistic style.
Conceptually, the League of Wrestling Mask Portraits, is very much Pop Art, and may have roots in the work of Warhol.
Both artists use mass media as a reservoir of ideas. They each present the concept of fame and celebrity in a uniquely identifiable style. There is no doubt that the ‘mask’ in Delaney’s work is simultaneously a visual brand, and a concept to be pondered.
Delaney has coined the terms “maskified” and “maskification,” to describe his portraits. The maskified portraits cannot be viewed without some consideration for the basic idea and purpose of a mask, that is, to conceal true identity, and or to project a persona. The maskification of Donald Trump, for example, in a red mask with gold trim and crown, draws a comparison to classic comic book superheroes or villains, depending on one’s political stance. The connection with Mascaras de Lucha Libra is of course, intentional, and it is this simple juxtaposition that makes the work visually and intellectually, compelling.
Delaney plans to produce a large collection of portraits by the end of 2024.
Ultimately, he imagines them displayed and for sale in a contemporary art gallery. For the time being, they are available to view on social media in the form of humorous reels and videos. There are many potential subjects that Delaney would like to paint, including, for example, Dylan Mulvaney, Joe Rogan, Kamala Harris, King Charles, Pierre Poilievre, and Jordan Peterson. Who do you think should be maskified? You can make suggestions by following Delaney on social media where he will be frequently unveiling new paintings for his League of Wrestling Mask Portraits.
(New York, December, 2023)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the acquisition of a monumental Tiffany three-part window, Garden Landscape. The window—over ten feet wide and nearly seven feet tall—was designed by Agnes Northrop in the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the attribution of which is based on a signed design drawing for the center panel that resides in The Met collection.
As part of the Museum’s American Wing 100th anniversary, the window will be installed in the Charles Engelhard Court in November 2024. The window will be dramatically framed by the columns from Laurelton Hall, Tiffany’s Long Island country estate.
The acquisition is made possible by Alan Gerry Gift; 2023 Benefit Fund; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; funds and gifts from various donors, by exchange; Ronald S. Kane Bequest, in memory of Berry B. Tracy; Lila Acheson Wallace, several members of The Chairman’s Council, The Erving and Joyce Wolf Foundation, Martha J. Fleischman, Elizabeth J. and Paul De Rosa, Women and the Critical Eye, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lockwood Chilton Jr., Cheryl and Blair Effron, The Felicia Fund, Julie and James Alexandre, Elizabeth and Richard Miller, Anonymous, John and Margaret Ruttenberg, and The Gerald H. Ruttenberg Foundation Gifts.
Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, said: “This stunning work of art is an extraordinary example of the transformational creativity of Agnes Northrop and Tiffany Studios. Magnificent in concept and execution and more than grand in size, it deepens the American Wing’s Tiffany holdings and will enhance the already stunning Engelhard Court with a powerful, immersive viewing experience.”
Sylvia Yount, Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge of the American Wing at The Met, said: “Northrop’s remarkable environmental work further strengthens our representation of women artists in the American Wing and allows us to share broader stories of early-20th-century culture with our visitors.”
The window was originally commissioned by Sarah Cochran, Pittsburgh businesswoman and philanthropist, for Linden Hall, the grand Tudor-Revival estate she had built in 1912 in Dawson, Pennsylvania. She personally requested the subject of the window, which represents a lush landscape and garden suggestive of her own at the estate. Placed on the stair landing of the house, the window enticed the viewer up marble steps and offered a long vista through tall, majestic pines flanking a central fountain amidst profuse flowers—pink and blue hydrangeas, poppies, and nasturtiums. The two side panels depict, on the left, foxglove and peonies, and on the right, hollyhocks, exquisitely rendered in glass. These were subjects favored by Northrop and American Impressionist painters.
Northrop was one of the most important designers in Tiffany’s employ and his preeminent woman designer. In a field dominated by men, Northrop established herself as one of the leading designers of windows, and was recognized for her work by winning a prestigious award at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. She helps shed light on the critical and often unrecognized role played by women in the art of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Northrop and Tiffany pioneered new landscape and garden subject matter for stained glass, and the window reveals Northrop’s careful observations of nature and her gift for translating it into glass.
Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Curator of American Decorative Arts, said: “This extraordinary evocation of a garden landscape is Northrop’s masterpiece. Made during the height of Louis Tiffany’s career, it was conceived, commissioned, and crafted by women. Featuring flowers in bloom from spring through summer, seen in the enigmatic light of approaching twilight, the window presents a luxuriant garden perennially in bloom.”
Tiffany’s opalescent glass shares a zeitgeist with American Impressionism, merging imagery with chromatic light. Northrop exploited the varied textures, lush colors, and light effects that were only possible with Tiffany’s special Favrile glass made at his furnaces in Corona, Queens, utilizing especially innovative and unusual techniques, some unique in a stained-glass window. The ingenious selection of the glass as well as the cutting of the glass into often thousands of pieces of almost impossible shapes was done by Tiffany’s skilled artisans, who were also largely women. Tiffany deemed the Linden Hall window of such note that he put it on public view in his New York showroom before shipping it to Cochran’s Pennsylvania home. Featured image: Image: Three-part Garden Landscape window for Linden Hall, Designed by Agnes F. Northrop (1857–1953), Tiffany Studios (1902–32), New York, 1912. Leaded Favrile glass. 124 × 82 inches; 88 3/4 × 81 5/8 inches; 88 3/4 × 81 5/8 inches; center panel: 124 × 82 in. (315 × 208.3 cm); side panels: 88 3/4 × 81 5/8 in. (225.4 × 207.3 cm)
Shoe tossing and shoe posting are seen in most Canadian cities and rural motorways.
Its history and its symbolism are remarkably complex.
Shoe tossing is when shoelaces are tied and tossed over telephone or power lines so that the shoes hang loosely above the ground. Yet shoe tossing does not accurately describe shoes that are affixed to telephone poles or other inanimate objects using nails and staples. It seems that “shoe posting” would be a more appropriate terms for such occurrences. Nevertheless, each tossed or posted shoe represents either personal or cultural meaning.
There is a cultural meaning to each and every ‘tossed’ shoe- but what is it?
It may come as some surprise that shoe tossing holds a distressing history.
For example, many have noted that tossed shoes indicate the specific location where drugs like crack and heroin are used or sold. Moreover, others have mentioned that tossed shoes signify the physical boundaries of gang territory. For this reason the mayor of Los Angeles, California launched a campaign to remove tossed shoes from the city altogether. Further still, shoe tossing may be the product of bullying, theft and other forms of civil disobedience.
Is it safe to say that shoe tossing is primarily a form of civil disobedience or is there more to it?
On the other hand, there are some positive aspects of this mysterious phenomenon.
Shoe tossing, for instance, has been known to represent a rite of passage associated with graduation from an educational institution or a discharge from military service. While tossed and posted shoes mark our social environment in negative and positive ways they also call to mind images from the not so distant past.
Could there be a deep rooted collective unconscious meaning to shoe posting/nailing? H Joie Crockett Photos – Near the entrance to Rangeley Lake State Park you will find this oddity of a telephone pole with shoes nailed to it. The question is “Why?”
The pilfering of clothing and other possessions in extermination camps by Nazi forces during World War II included the shoes of men, women and children. These shoes were generally thrown on top of each other one by one. The result is a dense heap of shoes that were once filled with Jewish feet. Now, these shoes piles exist in Holocaust museums around the world as evidential markers of Nazi atrocity.
Holocaust shoes
Can tossed or posted shoes be thought of without considering the indelible Nazi shoe piles?
This is an idea that has not been explored and deserves further attention in visual culture discourse. It is difficult to deny that the formal appearance of tossed and posted shoes in contemporary society reference past images of Nazi piles of Jewish shoes during the Holocaust. This may arguably be a far stretch for some; but for others, the sight of tossed and posted shoes may trigger the painful memories and agonizing reminders. Shoe tossing is at once close to life but never far from death. The meaning one subscribes to these curious objects is, like most things, one’s own. However that does not suggest that particular objects seen in everyday life, like tossed or posted shoes, cannot allude to the images of history. For the Silo, Dr.Matthew Ryan Smith.
PURPLE are now working on a multi-city arts project in China and Hong Kong with The House Collective, a collection of uniquely intimate luxury hotels that includes Upper House in Hong Kong that was just listed as part of World’s 50 Best.
‘Encounters Across Cultures’ will be an immersive journey that travels across four dynamic cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Beijing with The House Collective taking a stance on the importance of creativity within Chinese tourism.
The projects will feature singer-songwriter Vicky Fung, music producer TJoe, erhuist Chu Wan Pin, and the visionary new media artist, Keith Lam. Together, their work will harness the power of biometric data to craft mesmerizing musical compositions and awe-inspiring data sculptures that capture the very soul of each city. Below is a quick snapshot of the key elements of ‘Encounters Across Cultures’:
· Vicky Fung and Keith Lam have created a series of multi-sensory data sculptures that follow four traveling artists – TJoe, Chu Wan Pin, and themselves – as they tour each city.
Data sculpture rendering
· Creating a tangible journey for audiences, ‘Encounters Across Cultures’ will weave together these stories to create four musical pieces and data sculptures, designed with soundscape recordings of the musicians’ movements and biometric data, such as pulse and skin resistance.
Graphic Notation Keith’s Biometric data
· The process includes Lam’s representation of this biometric data into emotive graphics, which Fung reshapes into musical tracks; the biometric data is then transformed into data sculptures that embody each traveller’s visceral sense of the city.
· The House Collective’s four Houses will host the installations, capturing these private journeys into one shared experience for visitors.
This journey begins in October and continues until January, with specific dates for each location as follows:
• The Upper House in Hong Kong: October 9th to October 23rd
• The Middle House in Shanghai: October 30th to November 13th
• The Temple House in Chengdu: November 20th to December 6th
• The Opposite House in Beijing: December 14th to January 15th, 2024
THE HOUSE COLLECTIVE UNVEILS ‘BIOMETRIC’ SENSORY ART EXPERIENCES INSPIRED BY FOUR CITIES FOR THIS YEAR’S ‘ENCOUNTERS ACROSS CULTURES’
Artists and travelers collaborate to capture the heartbeat of four cities, inviting viewers to experience their emotive journeys across each city soundscapes through art, music, and technological forms.
The multi-sensory installations combine numerous art mediums to question whether technology is always a force disconnecting us from one another, or if it can reveal our innermost emotions.
October , 2023 – The House Collective, a collection of intimate luxury hotels, announces the third iteration of its biennial program ‘Encounters Across Cultures’ , which celebrates the immeasurable creativity fostered through multicultural and multidisciplinary collaboration. This year’s program explores the intersection of technology and the creative arts through four multi-sensory data sculptures and music tracks, inspired by biometric data captured during journeys across four cities — ‘Encounters Across Cultures’ will open at The Upper House in Hong Kong, travelling to The Middle House in Shanghai, The Temple House in Chengdu, and The Opposite House in Beijing.
“Art and culture are part of The House Collective’s core DNA and values. Since the launch of Encounters Across Cultures in 2019, we’ve worked with global artists to stimulate creativity and showcase the power of collaboration across borders. This program is not only an extension of The House Collective’s values, but we also hope to invite our guests to explore the beauty of cross-cultural connections, and to be immersed in this unique and sensory art experience together.” – Teresa Muk, Head of Brand and Strategic Marketing at Swire Hotels.
In their first ever collaboration, Hong Kong-based artist and music producer Vicky Fung and media artist Keith Lam have created a series of multi-sensory data sculptures that follow four travelers – guitarist TJoe, erhuist Chu Wan Pin, and themselves – as they tour the four cities. Creating a tangible journey for audiences, ‘Encounters Across Cultures’ weaves together all of these stories to create four musical pieces and data sculptures, designed with soundscape recordings of the musicians’ movements and biometric data, such as pulse and skin resistance. The process includes Lam’s representation of this biometric data into emotive graphics, which Fung reshapes into musical tracks; the biometric data is then transformed into data sculptures that embody each traveler’s visceral sense of the city. The four Houses will host the installations, capturing these private journeys into one shared experience for visitors.
“I do not see the biometric data that we have collected as cold and lifeless data points – instead, each biometric moment is a representation of the traveler’s thoughts and feelings through their movements, and their changing reactions as they enter new environments. We wanted to share our heartbeats, our senses of touch and sight, with everyone through this immersive installation so that they could really feel exactly as we did in each city.” – Keith Lam, Program Artist.
“While we may come from very different backgrounds and live in different places, when I studied the biometric data, I instead found that we were all experiencing many of the same feelings and emotional journeys. The installation brought us closer together, as I felt totally connected to the person on the other side.” – Vicky Fung, Program Artist.
“Earlier this year, we celebrated the brand’s expansion in Tokyo through a cross-disciplinary dance performance that tells the story of honored tradition, modernity, harmony and new possibilities. For this year’s Encounters Across Cultures, The House Collective continues to tell cross-disciplinary stories, pushing the boundaries of innovation and delving into the dynamic realm of Art Meets Tech. Through these programs, we aim to share unforgettable experiences with our guests and expose them to locally curated artistic flavors, where we offer the comfort of being Houses not Hotels.” – Dean Winter, Managing Director of Swire Hotels
Viewers are invited to take a seat on the multi-sensory data sculptures, where they can be immersed in the music created from the biometric data. The result allows viewers to interact with their sense of touch, sight, and sound as they explore the installation.
The House Collective by Swire Hotels is a group of refined, highly individual properties that defy comparison. Each uniquely imagined, The Opposite House in Beijing, The Upper House in Hong Kong, The Temple House in Chengdu and The Middle House in Shanghai were designed for seasoned travelers who seek a different, intimate and personalised experience in luxury travel. Each House is a sophisticated, singular piece of design, created by talented architects and designers, that reflect the unique qualities of their surroundings.
Program Creators
Keith Lam – Media Artist
Media Artist and Co-founder and Artistic Director of Art & Technology studio Dimension Plus. His works have won awards at international art festivals, including Prix Ars Electronica and Japan Media Arts Festival. His works have been shown around the world at top museums and art festivals including Hong Kong Museum of Arts, The National Art Centre at Tokyo, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Ars Electronica Festival, The New Technological Art Award Biennial at Belgium, FILE, ISEA, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, National Taichung Performing Arts Center and Hong Kong Art Festival.
Vicky Fung – Artist and Music Producer
Artist, music producer, singer-songwriter and curator, Vicky has always presented uniqueness and novelty in her works with a strong sense of emotional synchronicity. A Clore Fellow of 2023, she has worked with many prominent music artists in Hong Kong with an impressive list of music awards from media and professional associations and seeks to develop her interest in socially engaged art projects. In recent years, she has ventured into multi-media creation, including “Utopia…Momentarily” (2016) in the New Vision Media Festival, interactive virtual reality experience “Silili and The Tree” (2021) and immersive art and music performance “Soul Walk” (2022).
Joel Kwong – Media Art Curator
Joel Kwong is a media art curator, writer, producer and educator based in Hong Kong. She is currently the Program Director for Microwave International New Media Arts Festival, and the founder of SIBYLS – a creative Arts x Tech consultation and production agency. Most recent produced and curated projects include Reimagines Heritage (online portal) (2023), Out of Thin Air – HK Film Arts & Costumes Exhibition at Hong Kong Heritage Museum (2023). Juried around Asia include VH Award (South Korea) (2022), and Siggraph Asia 2020 (South Korea) etc. She has given lectures in many Hong Kong tertiary institutions and universities and has also given talks at international art festivals including Ars Electronica in Linz, Transmediale in Berlin, and ACT Festival in Gwangju, South Korea.
Tjoe Man Cheung – Guitarist
Tjoe Man Cheung, London-based musician and producer working across with artists across UK and Europe, including Brown Penny and PYJÆN, and in different festivals across the world. Alongside, Tjoe also initiated his own solo music projects and has founded NTBM (a jazz collective formed by emerging musicians from around the world) and his solo music projects. A graduate from the Musicians Institute, Tjoe was inspired and nurtured under the tutorship of Scott Henderson, Allen Hinds, Brad Rabuchin and Daniel Gilbert, with influences of jazz, funk, blues and pop.
Wan Pin Chu – Erhuist
Wan Pin CHU is an international award-winning Erhuist and film composer based in Hong Kong. Wan is recognized as a versatile performer with rich emotions and limitless virtuosity in his music. In the UK, he is the first Chinese instrumentalist to perform in The Duke’s Hall in Royal Academy of Music and have performed in over hundreds of concerts all over the world including UK, US, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and won an impressive list of national and international music competitions. Chu is is also a dedicated composer and have participated in the scoring of many films, televisions, games and commercials.
A few years back, I posted the “I Found a… Pipe” blogpost – an attempt to initiate a series of found object accounts; exploring the dynamics of curiosity, the chance encounters, the chains of association, the pratfalls and prat-uplifts that may accompany such discoveries.
One of the persistent themes is the idea that electronic-equivalents of sound-making processes can be found for free in the physical world – an ideal driven by poverty and its resultant anti-capitalism, and accompanying skepticism towards commercial electronic hardware flavours-of-the-months. Whereas the “pipe of 2018” had limited sound-making value, this new blogpost examines the musical scales obtainable from multi-holed hollow flints, found during pandemic walkabouts.
I’ve been traipsing around fields.
The flint-rich geology of the locale boasts rocks with hollow cavities – channels left by decayed ancient sea sponges. These hollow flints are difficult to spot, as their holes are usually clogged with mud. After some cleaning with water and bell-wire, the cavities can be cleared, creating almost ocarina-like ‘instruments’. So far, a number of different flints have been found with interlinked channels, each offering unique microtonal musical scales.
These stones, each with their own in-built set of pitches formed 500 million years ago, are good grist for the arbitrary tuning mill.
Why is arbitrary tuning important? I consider it a topic all-too-frequently dismissed. For those who enjoy the divergent aspects of differently-tuned music, or wish to escape the ubiquity of the equal tempered musical scale, it may be surprising that microtonal/xenharmonic music offers very little refuge – it is here that just intonation and “pure” harmonic mathematical dogmatism supplants one tyranny with another. I exaggerate here a bit, but it’s fair to say that random/arbitrary musical scales are generally viewed as unsophisticated in microtonal music circles.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1273936272562753536
A few years ago I tried to establish a historical basis for ‘intuitively selected tuning systems’ in my Radionics Radio project (on Sub Rosa records), but drawing upon a fringe science – no matter how artistically groundbreaking those acoustic-radionic activities were in the late 1940s – didn’t convince many (radionics involves ‘psychically’ selecting frequencies that correspond to thoughts).
Random tunings offer complete freedom, and reveal the idiosyncrasies of the instruments used, as well as the identities of soundmakers. I would go as far to politicise it: arbitrary tuning is perhaps the ultimate musical ‘decolonisation’ whilst also being a practical and philosophical ideal for microtonal music’s LGBTQ+ lineage that embraces such varied personalities as Kathleen Schlesinger, Elsie Hamilton, to Harry Partch and Wendy Carlos – a lineage rarely-discussed, but deeply rooted, I believe, in the opposition to the norms of western equal temperament (and the contra-norms of just intonation and equal divisions of the octave).
The hollow flint… containing a scale.
Hollow flints found in fields speak of the primacy of arbitrary tunings: random, fully individuated tunings literally set in stone.
My favourite is a handheld flint with five channels. Unlike the specially-lipped ocarina, hollow flints cannot produce pure tones when blown into, unless a sharp ‘labium tip’ is expertly chiselled into it somehow (a feature of all fipple flutes). This isn’t necessarily a problem – for instance, sound artist Akio Suzuki has been playing upon unrefined natural stones for decades, eliciting exploratory pitched noise: half-tonal, half-percussive, and sensitively done. Covering the holes on the flint while blowing does produce vague pitches, but too broad to measure precisely.
Kathleen Schlesinger, in her 1939 deep-study of ancient greek auloi (reeded wind instruments dug up from historical sites) and their possible scales remarked that “it is impossible to determine the pitch, scale, or modality of any pipe that lacks a mouthpiece which will play it”.
These rocks are not instruments, and it is indeed tricky treating them as such: even if a fipple mouthpiece (from a wind recorder, for instance) is introduced to the rock (which I did), the pitch of the notes varies due to its player’s breath pressure: the more open holes there are, the more breath pressure is required to produce a tone – and the natural reflex action is to supply more breath pressure, an action so unconscious that it almost feels as if the rock becomes an extension of the body. Try it yourself.
It is possible to connect a small lapel microphone to a loudspeaker amplifier, and place the microphone inside the flint to hear feedback. The feedback pitch is relative to the cavity, and alters according to the fingering of the cavities. I did a brief experiment with this on camera, and posted it to Facebook to advertise the episode of Wavelength on Resonance FM where I describe these experiments.
On the internet, there’s always either a miserable don’t-know-who, or a know-it-all nonsenseclown poised to blurt.
If they’re remotely connected to creative doings, it tends to spur on the mission to legitimise arbitrary scales. On this occasion, one such character (I can’t discern which) emerged from the woodwork to advertise their obliviousness to these experiments’ contexts: “eh, this is like sticking a piezo transducer in anything. Ok; weird, somewhat regulated noise. ‘Man farting in field’ has been Lucier’d to death.”
Maybe this person is rightfully irate to some extent: the volume required to obtain the pitches of the flint cavity is horrendous on the ear. To record it, one rainy afternoon I walked to the field where the flint originated, specifically to avoid remonstrations. Alvin Lucier used compressors to limit the volume of his object-based feedback. This feedback technique actually pre-dates Lucier’s work by eight decades – the feedback flute was proposed by Alfred Graham, patented in 1894 – a failed history I’ve excavated and written about in ‘Magnetic Music…‘ and ‘Failed Histories of Electronic Music‘, and recreated as a working model. Graham recognised the many variables affecting the flute’s pitch, such as battery power, the shape and construct of the loudspeaker and microphone, and their relative positions.
Nevertheless, the feedback flint, if held stable enough, is a fairly accurate approximation of the pitch intervals obtainable. By comparing the feedback-generated intervals with the intervals obtained with an attached fipple, and also with the vague windy tones created when blowing, mean averages can be obtained.
Alfred Graham’s feedback flute, 1894.
With the lowest note registering as 669Hz, the ratios are calculable as 1/1, 737/669, 775/669, 263/223, 269/223 and 828/669 (giving an ascending 167.590, 254.628, 285.622, 324.674, 369.149 in cents).
What can be done with these notes?
Well, the scale of this handheld flint encompasses less than four semitones (3.69, to be exact), which is a restrictive set of notes, but frequent exposure to the notes acclimatises the ear to soundmaking/melodic possibilities. This is something noted by the composer Susan Alexjander who derived scales from DNA bases. DNA bases’ tunings might as well be arbitrary, such is the inharmonic chaos – they seemed “so strange and alien that one at first despairs of ever creating a beautiful work of art, or making any coherent ‘sense’ out of them”, according to Alexjander. By constant exposure to the new scales “played over and over on the synthesiser, some arrestingly beautiful combinations began to appear”… so when dealing with such disorientating scales, perseverance is key! For the Silo, Dan Wilsen.
More can be heard on Wavelength, broadcast on Resonance 104.4FM on 19th June 2020. “A programme of multiple agendas presented by William English. This week: a tape sync with Oscillatorial Binnage member Daniel Wilson who, prevented from bin-diving during the Covid-19 epidemic, instead turns to “ground-diving” to dig out unusual stones from the earth. The potential for producing ‘rock music’ is showcased after a lengthy preliminary chat with William on the current state of the second-hand book trade.”
“This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, June 27, 1936
A Rendezvous with Destiny: 1930s American Art, the new online exhibition from Helicline Fine Art, has started and runs through November 5, 2023. The exhibition features a variety of artistic styles and subject matters from urban, industrial and rural to abstract, people working and scenes of everyday life. For New York City based artists, the City itself was glorified on canvas, paper and bronze. Several of the artists who thrived during that period are still well known today, but most are obscure.
The exhibition, of predominantly 1930s artworks, features that range. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition, “Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s” celebrates the American spirit during the depression era and serves as the inspiration for Helicline Fine Art’s new exhibition.
After the stock market crash of 1929, Americans experienced a time of great transition at every level of society. After a terrible slump, the men and women of the country came together to rebuild the economy, their lives and their spirits. For the first time, our government paid artists to create. To this day, many Federal buildings – post offices, court houses, schools, hospitals, administrative buildings – still have the murals of WPA artists emblazoned on the walls and statues standing in courtyards. The work of these artists reflected that renewal.
The artists of that generation are being rediscovered in 2023 and for generations into the future, thanks to the Met’s new exhibition, and galleries that keep the modernist art flame burning. Helicline’s proprietors, Keith Sherman and Roy Goldberg, recall discovering the WPA period. “We had just moved into our first apartment, constructed in 1929, on the Upper West Side. In attempting to furnish our home we realized we had no sense of style or taste. We spent time in the Strand Book Store to see what homes looked like in the 20s and 30s,” said Goldberg. “We discovered Art Deco, the Machine Age, the WPA and more.
We spent time in museums, art fairs and something that has disappeared from the cultural landscape, antique shows, where we developed our eye. Today we are collectors turned dealers still collecting. The WPA period is in our hearts,” added Sherman.
Highlights of A Rendezvous with Destiny: 1930s American Art include a bold Stuart Davis gouache on paper; a “Mercury” bronze by Joseph Freedlander that sat on top of 5th Avenue traffic lights from the 1930s-60s; two works by Daniel Celentano (Thomas Hart Benton’s first and youngest student), many works depicting New York City, including a Cecil Bell of street life under the EL train and a Reginald Marsh depicting the Brooklyn Bridge, mural studies, and a Mervin Jules oil of a tailor with astonishing perspective.
MORE ABOUT HELICLINE FINE ART:MORE ABOUT HELICLINE FINE ART:Helicline Fine Art,founded in 2008 by Roy Goldberg and Keith Sherman, specializes in American and European modernism. The gallery’s core offerings are works from the WPA period. Additionally, Helicline offers American scene, social realism, mural studies, industrial landscapes, regionalism, abstracts, and other artwork. Located in a private space in midtown Manhattan, Helicline is open by appointment. The artworks on the site represent a sampling of available works. Helicline’s offerings are also available on artsy.net and 1stDibs.com.
[CHICAGO – August, 2023] – Alex Katz: Autumn is the artist’s tenth solo exhibition at GRAY and the first exhibition of large-scale landscapes since 2018. The exhibition follows his lauded career retrospective, Gathering, which opened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in the fall of 2022. As Guggenheim curator Katherine Brinson described: “[One] might be surprised by the unbound rapture of the landscape paintings that have consumed much of the artist’s still-considerable energy in recent years. But [these works] are in fact the culmination of a lifelong artistic project that aspires to compress everything into ‘a single burst of energy… to paint it wide open.'”
Alex Katz has painted figures and landscapes in equal measure throughout his career. Expressed at great scale and in vivid color, the paintings exhibited in Autumn present enveloping compositions measuring as wide as fourteen feet. “I started to think about the environmental landscapes [as] being really an environment that wraps around you,” as Katz notes, “There is no narrative. You’re dealing with perception.”
Wedding Dress by Katz shows how much of a departure his new landscape paintings are.
Across eleven monumental canvases, Katz depicts the vibrant foliage, sweeping fields, and windblown trees of the changing season. Created between 2022 and 2023, Katz’s Autumn series relies on a bright fall palette, while other paintings in the exhibition, from the related series Field’s End and Tree Top, present quieter responses to the landscape in muted greens, yellows, and grays. The paintings are exhibited alongside a series of sixteen new portraits on paper. Each drawing possesses an economy of line and is titled after its sitter – Vivien, Niki, Levi, Isaac, Vincent, and others– in reference to the friends, family members, poets, dancers, and artists most central to the artist’s life.
Alex Katz: Autumn opens at GRAY Chicago (2044 West Carroll Avenue) with a public reception on Friday, September 8, from 5-7 PM CT, and will be on view through October 28, 2023. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue featuring a new poem by Vincent Katz.
A behind the scene look of the conceptual artist’s solo show SHADOWLAND
It is the first Saturday of Upstate Art Weekend and I am standing in a chemistry classroom of a former public school looking at inverted works, listening to Gregorian chants meets Jimmy Hendrix inspired music, and feeling that I am falling into a trance. In reality, I am meeting the artist Margaret Innerhofer for the first time at her solo show SHADOWLAND, at Ethan Cohen Gallery at The Kube Art Center in Beacon, NY. The renowned gallery describes her exhibition as: “Photo-based prints and framed canvases that explore the transitional spaces between spiritual and psychological borderlands. Each of the large-scale meditative compositions printed in color has a jarring and surreal black and white reflection that invites the viewer into an alternate psychological and temporal dimension.” So, what is behind these works laden with heavy and deep symbolism of awake versus sleep? I sat down with the elegant and stylish Margaret to understand how a dreamy child from the Tyrolean mountains became a philosophical artist in Beacon, NY. It turns out that we are all in a trance.
SHADOWLAND at Ethan Cohen Gallery at The Kube Art Center in Beacon
Let’s begin with your upbringing. Where were you born and raised?
I was born, and raised in the Tyrolean Alps, Italy, immersed in the idyllic beauty of its nature and harmonious sounds. My childhood was filled with long mountain climbs, horseback riding, yodeling, playing the guitar and drums, and singing Gregorian chants in a strict convent boarding school. I found fascination in Western movies and the Apache Indian lifestyle, particularly their deep connection with nature and the imagery of wild horses roaming freely in vast deserts, accompanied by their rhythmic chants and drum circles. These early experiences forged a profound bond with the natural world, which continues to be a driving force behind my visual and sonic artistic expression.
SHADOWLAND at Ethan Cohen Gallery at The Kube Art Center in Beacon
What was your first introduction to art, and how did you start evolving as an artist?
During my Architectural and Fine Art studies, I relocated to Milan, a city that would leave a lasting impact on my artistic path. Dating an artist during that time exposed me to a bohemian lifestyle and immersed me in Milan’s dynamic art, architecture, and design scene. The conceptual and minimalist concepts of the Arte Povera Movement captivated me, drawing me deeper into the contemporary art world. Socially engaging with fellow artists and actively attending art shows in galleries and museums across Italy and Europe, I was inspired by the diverse expressions of creativity. My early fascination with photography, particularly the works of conceptual artists from the Dada and Surrealist Movements, like Man Ray and Andre Breton, further fueled my artistic interests. This multifaceted exposure played a pivotal role in shaping me as an artist. It broadened my horizons, offered fresh perspectives, and allowed me to find my own artistic voice.
DECONSTR-ACTIVIST II, 2023
You now have a solo show called SHADOWLAND at Ethan Cohen Gallery at The Kube Art Center in Beacon, NY. What is the main inspiration for the three different series: Sandmen, Heavy Metal, and Deconstr-Activist?
In my latest exhibition, I delve into the intricate realms of the subconscious, guided by profound philosophical and scientific readings. Carl Jung’s exploration of collective consciousness has deeply fascinated me, leading me to explore how our subconscious influences our waking decisions and movements. Through my artwork, I seek to unravel the enigma of our subconscious control, drawing inspiration from scientific research, which reveals that a significant 80% of human behavior is governed by our subconscious, heavily influenced by experiences from our formative years, particularly ages 0 to 10. This revelation sheds light on why logical arguments may often be overshadowed by emotional reactions rooted in the gut. Another crucial thread in my exhibition revolves around the environment. I have been an environmental activist well before it became a trend, and I’ve actively co-produced environmental films and fought against practices like fracking. In SHADOWLAND, the subjects in my works interact with nature, and, in many instances, nature appears to reclaim them. This theme highlights the fragile bond between humanity and the natural world, provoking contemplation on our relationship with the environment.
Is it this exploration into the subconscious why the artworks are designed to be inverted? That they can be hung in either vertical orientation?
As I present my art to viewers, I give them the unique opportunity to evoke different visual and emotional responses by allowing them to choose how to hang each piece. They can opt for the color side up, revealing a figurative and realistic view of the artwork. Alternatively, they can explore the more conceptual, surreal, abstract, and volumetric perspective of the black-and-white ‘Shadow image’ when it faces upward. What’s intriguing is that showing the ‘Shadow image’ facing up, actually, represents a more realistic worldview, one that most people might be unaware of. It’s a perspective that delves into the subconscious, which I believe rules humanity and ‘runs the show.’ It’s a fascinating paradox: while the color side portrays the conscious perception of the world—what’s readily visible—the ‘Shadow image’ uncovers the hidden depths and complexities that shape our lives. By offering this choice of orientation, I invite viewers to question their own understanding of reality and delve into the intricacies of their subconscious minds. This art goes beyond mere aesthetics; it prompts introspection and contemplation, creating a multi-layered experience that challenges us to consider the complexities of human perception.
DECONSTR – ACTIVIST III, 2023Signature on the back. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Cotton Canvas,109.2 x 109.2 cm, 43 x 43 in, Edition of 3
Looking specifically at the three different subjects, can you first tell us more about Deconstr-Activist?
My Deconstr-Activist series draws inspiration from the ‘Deconstructivism’ architectural movement, challenging the rationality of modernism and embracing and revealing chaos and complexity. I delve into the intriguing world of shadows, volumes, negative versus positive space, and the interplay between light and darkness. This exploration stems from my background in architecture, which ignited my fascination with these artistic elements. Throughout the series, I endeavor to capture neglected structures that are gradually being reclaimed by nature. By doing so, I aim to shed light on the physical structures we create to accommodate our fragmented psyches. The juxtaposition of abandoned structures being overtaken by nature serves as a compelling visual metaphor for the inherent fragility and impermanence of human constructs.
HEAVY METAL – VOLKS WAGEN, 2023Signature on the back. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Cotton Canvas,109.2 x 109.2 cm, 43 x 43 in, Edition of 3
What about Heavy Metal?
In my “Heavy Metal” series, the transition from the pristine mountain range to the Hudson Valley exposed me to a striking contrast—defunct cars replacing the beauty of flowers in many backyards. This encounter sparked an obsession, leading me to spend years capturing these scenes with vintage analog Leica cameras, which I acquired from flea markets, embracing the slight imperfections in their lenses as a welcomed artistic element. In this body of work, I explore my fascination with American vintage cars left abandoned and outdated, captured within the passage of time and the encroachment of nature. Each photograph alludes to the poignant collision between the past and the future, symbolizing our own embodiment within these vehicles that are increasingly outdated, yet perpetually trapped in the present. In “Heavy Metal,” I seek to evoke a sense of nostalgia while urging reflection on the transient nature of our material possessions and the fleeting nature of human creations. The juxtaposition of these forgotten vehicles with the ever-encroaching embrace of nature serves as a poignant reminder of the impermanence of all things, urging us to ponder our place in the grand tapestry of time and the inescapable passage into the unknown future.
SANDMEN III, 2023Signature on the back. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Cotton Canvas,152.4 x 152.4 cm, 60 x 60 in, Edition of 3
And finally, what can you tell us about Sandmen?
Within each frame, beachgoers blissfully inhabit the horizon, seemingly unaware of their inverted doppelgängers lurking just below the surface. This juxtaposition of colors and reflections becomes a visual metaphor for the duality of human existence—the conscious experience of the moment above the surface and the hidden depths of the subconscious below. Drawing inspiration from Carl Jung’s concept of the Shadow persona and Quantum Physics, I explore how these profound elements influence human actions and behaviors. The dreamy beachscapes serve as a canvas for contemplating the interplay between our conscious and unconscious selves, the tangible and the intangible aspects of our existence. In this series, I invite viewers to immerse themselves in the enigmatic world of “Sandmen,” where time seems to stand still, and the boundaries between reality and imagination blur. The photographs become a gateway to introspection, inviting you to reflect on the transient nature of human experiences and the profound complexities that shape our perceptions and actions.
What is your favorite piece in the show and why?
As an artist, it’s challenging for me to pick a favorite, each image represents a moment of inspiration, creativity, and a reflection of my inner world. Each image carries a distinct essence, resonating with different viewers in various ways. Together with the sound piece ‘Shadowland’ that I have composed, performed, and recorded specifically for this show, the fusion and synergy between my visual art and sound adds a multi-dimensional layer to the overall experience. The fusion of visual and auditory expressions allows each piece to resonate on a deeper level, connecting with viewers in unique and profound ways.
SANDMEN II, 2023On the back. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Cotton Canvas,152.4 x 152.4 cm, 60 x 60 in, Edition of 3
What is next on the horizon?
A beach vacation in Italy, is on the immediate horizon!
This post is a response to the comic book article found at popuniverse which begins like this:
“The comic book industry is the launchpad for one of the most unique and innovative storytelling mediums ever created. Powered by imaginative creators highly skilled in the written and visual arts. Forged by businesspersons who recognize the power of ideas to make an iconic impression on a global scale. Propelled by readers and fans who support the industry and the people who make the stories. The comic book industry is the source of multimedia interpretations of mythic and personal stories that inspire people, entertain the world, and ignite lifelong careers.
It is the adventure of a lifetime.
The comic book industry is a ruthless Darwinian landscape of cronyism, narcissism, and power moves. Its main fodder is the creators who are the engines of its continued existence. Full of flair and pomp, colors and characters both fictional and real-life. A road to hell paved with landmines, bear traps, and the opportunity to work on high-profile, profitable media while living on the precipice of poverty. The industry is fueled by organizations with finite funds and infinite hubris.“
“The comics industry is the illusory world of grenades disguised as dreams.“
The issue I see (and our comic illustrator household has personally experienced) in the comics and illustration / publishing industry is that the original contract terms were never set up fairly to compensate the artists and illustrators. While photographers and videographers retain the rights to their original images, and someone must pay them usage rights fees based on the size of the audience per usage, the artists are never granted that same fair compensation.
While actors get residuals when their TV shows play on in perpetuity, and musicians earn their royalty checks with every needle drop, the comics publishers can repurpose an illustrator’s iconic cover art in perpetuity and make millions from the image—on puzzles, lunch boxes, hoodies, sweatpants, and pajamas in my husband’s particular case—while the artist never sees a dime beyond the initial ANEMIC work-for-hire fee in these insanely unfair, one-sided deals. And if the artist DARES to complain? The smear merchants are only too happy to start their whisper campaigns, blackballing the artist as “too difficult to work with” and completely destroying their already financially challenged lives with nuisance law suits.
When I think back on how Ghost Rider co-creator Gary Friedrich was made the industry scarecrow in the last years of his life as greedy lawyers descended upon him like buzzards picking the last flecks of flesh from his bones, it sickens me.
This impoverished, unwell, elderly man was just trying to eke out the last days of his hard-scrabble life by selling sketches of his OWN co-creation at comic-cons. There’s nothing I despise more than anyone preying on the vulnerable. It’s appalling how Gary was treated.
And then we have AI “art” apps exploiting my husband’s already way underpaid art to create new, derivative works, but only GETTY Images can afford to lawyer up and go after these apps…because the photography world always negotiated image usage the CORRECT and fair way from the start.
The sobering truth is that if illustrators (and line artists, colorists, and letterers) were paid as well as photographers, every comic would sell for $100 per floppy and that would be the final nail in the #comics industry’s coffin.
…DAVE DORMAN… told me at dinner tonight that someone was selling AI art at SDCC last week and was summarily kicked out of Artists Alley. It gave me a brief glimmer of hope…I imagined a deafening crescendo of cheering as the non-talent skulked away, tail between his/her legs. That takes some gall to occupy the highly competitive table space of an ACTUAL hard-working artist (who’s paying off about $100k in art school student loans) with some Mid-Journey derivative crap. Wowzers. For the Silo, Denise Dorman.
Mainstream Social is DEAD! State censorship, sponsored spam, cancel culture and inciter-banning means everyone who’s anyone is on the dark web. And no one knows it better than Tucker Scott.
Rampant cyberbullying. Fake news trolling. Spying, voyeurism and privacy invasion. This is Contraband, the ruthless entrepreneurs’ digital underground – where profit-hungry mobs prowl city streets filming violent events to satisfy society’s demand for sensational content.
Contraband is a unique cross-Atlantic graphic novel collaboration published by Markosia. Here are a few good reasons why you should definitely pick up this superbly relevant graphic novel.
1. Contraband focuses on one of the more timely, relevant topics in this year of our Lord, 2021, zeroing in on the early violent, criminal abuse of underground community sharing – and by doing so, adds a whole new meaning to disruptive video mobile and social media technology convergence.
But when activists hack Contraband giving control to any influencer with the most followers, it’s complete chaos as everybody chases the money and fame of being number one!
2. Some interesting comics and mainstream news media folks like what we’re doing: “Behe’s dialogue brings a hip, hyper-real energy to his plot while Elliot’s deceptively plain artwork evokes a shabby world of compromised morals.” The Financial Times
“As visionary as the technology Behe writes about. “ Broken Frontier
“Behe’s critique of the public’s willingness to watch all manner of depravity is a righteous, if not an original, one.” Entertainment Weekly
“Beneath Contraband’s ultra stylish cover lies a tale of high action and drama in a very near future where technology and communications have become inescapable.” Forbidden Planet
3. They’re an odd but solid partnership for making tech fiction graphic novels: There’s TJ Behe -a Canadian CEO of a self-sovereign ID privacy firm, an experienced social / telecoms consultant and an Ivey MBA graduate – along with Phil Elliott- a British illustration pro who’s been busy creating amazing comics for over 25 years with the likes of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Eddie Campbell.
This year’s SWISSARTEXPO 2023 will be held in the beautiful Zurich main station. The art festival expects to draw 80,000 passers-by every day at the most visited hotspot in Zurich!
What is the ARTBOX.PROJECTS? The ARTBOX.PROJECTS have been taking place at regular intervals since 2015 at the most sought-after art hot spots worldwide. The aim of the ARTBOX.PROJECTS is to provide a platform for specially emerging artists so that they can be seen by a large audience. So far, for example, very successful exhibitions have been held in the following locations: Miami during Art Basel, New York during Armory Art Week, Basel during Art Basel, Barcelona, Venice during the Biennale d’Arte and many more! How does the ARTBOX.PROJECT Zurich 5.0 work? Our most popular art project, the ARTBOX.PROJECT Zurich, takes place every year during the SWISSARTEXPO. SWISSARTEXPO is a Swiss art festival that takes place in late summer in Zurich’s venerable Main Station Hall and presents over 100 artists from all over the world. The ARTBOX.PROJECT has a very prominent place in the front part of the exhibition, where the two 86″ HD screens are located, on which the artworks of the ARTBOX.PROJECT Zurich participants are presented digitally throughout all exhibition days.
The Raketa Watch Factory launches a new tool watch dedicated to the Lun-class Ekranoplan: a Soviet era hybrid machine — half ship, half plane — unlike anything else in the world.
Legendary soviet achievement
Part ship & part plane, the Lun-class Ekranoplan was built in the early 80s by the Soviet Union as an experimental coastal defence vehicle. It can claim to be one of the most extraordinary machines ever built by mankind. It combined the best characteristics of a ship and that of a plane: it could carry as much cargo as a ship and fly as fast as an airplane at speeds of up to 500 km/h. It flew over distances of up to 2,000 km using lift generated by the “ground effect” acting on its large wings when about 4 metres above the surface of the water. This enabled the Ekranoplan to fly undetected by radars.
The name “Lun” was chosen because it comes from the Russian word for “harrier”, a bird which characteristically hunts by flying silently low over open ground.
A remnant of the past
The only Lun-class Ekranoplan ever built lies today on a beach of the Caspian sea near the city of Derbent (Russia) as a lonely reminder of past achievements. With its gigantic size, unique hybrid characteristics and quirky design, the Ekranoplan is a testimony to the incredible originality of Soviet-era engineering. Even now, after almost half a century, it looks incredibly futuristic.
A watch as testimony to the Ekranoplan Lun
The Raketa Watch Factory has always been inspired by incredible human technical achievements. It has therefore designed and manufactured a tool watch as testimony to the Ekranoplan. Raketa also hopes this will attract more attention to the Ekranoplan, and thus contribute to saving it.
Especially for this model, Raketa developed a new stainless steel case and metal band: its sturdy design corresponds to the looks and spirit of the Soviet-era Ekranoplan. The Raketa “Ekranoplan” watch is directly linked to the Lun-class Ekranoplan:
– The insert of the rotating bezel is made from a piece of metal from the Lun-class Ekranoplan, officially given by the city of Derbent which is in charge of safeguarding the Ekranoplan;
– The design of the compass markings on the bezel is directly inspired by the design of the compass on the control panel in the cockpit of the Ekranoplan;
– An embossed image of the Ekranoplan is printed on the dial.
The back of the watch reveals the beautifully decorated 24-hour automatic movement which is entirely produced by the Raketa Watch Factory in Saint-Petersburg.
The Raketa “Ekranoplan” watch model is limited to 500 pieces.
Each watch model is complemented with a leather strap. The model is also available as part of a Gift set which includes the Raketa “Ekranoplan” watch model with stainless steel bracelet, an additional leather strap and a 1:400 scale model of the Lun-class Ekranoplan.
The price
The cost of the watch is 1.667 EUR (without VAT) $2,410.08 CAD at time of writing. The cost of the Gift set is 2083 EUR (without VAT) $3,011.52 CAD at time of writing. For the comfort of customers, Raketa watches are delivered worldwide free of charge by DHL directly up to their front door.
The insert of the rotating bezel is made from a piece of metal from the Lun-class Ekranoplan.
Specifications
Factory:
Raketa Watch Factory (Saint-Petersburg)
Movement:
Calibre:
2624
Functions:
Automatic
Number of jewels:
24
Testing positions:
4
Average rate (s/d):
-10+20
Average running time (h):
40
Frequency/hour:
18.000 / 2.5Hz
Bi-directional automatic winding
Yes
Decoration:
Nanocoating Neva waves Print
Case:
Material:
Stainless steel
Material of the bezel insert:
Metal from the Lun-class Ekranoplan
Size:
41,6 mm
Front glass:
Sapphire
Back glass:
Mineral
Water resistance:
20 АТМ
Hands:
Superluminova
Dial:
Superluminova
Strap/bracelet:
Material:
Stainless steel Genuine leather
Width:
22 mm
Sex:
Male
For the Silo, Lera Komolova. Photos: Lera Komolova
RAKETA “EKRANOPLAN” Entre ciel et mer !
La Manufacture horlogère Raketa lance une nouvelle montre spécialisée qui est dédiée à l’Ekranoplan Lun : un appareil hybride de l’ère soviétique – mi-avion, mi-bateau – absolument unique en son genre.
Un exploit légendaire de l’époque soviétique
Construit par l’Union soviétique au début des années 1980 en tant qu’engin expérimental de défense côtière – mi-avion, mi-bateau – l’Ekranoplan peut être considéré comme l’une des machines les plus extraordinaires jamais créées par l’homme. L’Ekranoplan réunissait les meilleures qualités d’un navire et d’un avion : il pouvait déplacer autant de cargaison qu’un bateau et pouvait voler aussi vite qu’un avion en atteignant une vitesse de 500 km/h. Il volait à des distances allant jusqu’à 2 000 km grâce à “l’effet d’écran” qui se formait sous ses immenses ailes à environ 4 mètres au-dessus de la surface de la mer. Ceci lui permettait de se déplacer sans être repéré par les radars.
Son nom « Lun » se traduit du russe comme « le busard », et non sans raison, car cet oiseau de proie est connu pour sa chasse en vol silencieux à basse altitude.
Un témoin du passé
Le seul Ekranoplan Lun jamais construit se trouve aujourd’hui sur une plage de la mer Caspienne près de la ville de Derbent (Russie), comme un rappel solitaire des exploits passés. Sa taille gigantesque, ses caractéristiques uniques et son étrange design témoignent de la force et de l’originalité de l’ingénierie soviétique. Encore aujourd’hui, presque cinquante ans après sa conception, il a l’air extrêmement futuriste.
Une montre en hommage à l’Ekranoplan Lun
La Manufacture horlogère Raketa a toujours été inspirée par les plus grands exploits techniques humains. Elle a donc produit une montre spécialisée en hommage à l’Ekranoplan Lun. Raketa souhaite aussi attirer l’attention sur l’Ekranoplan Lun et contribuer ainsi à sa préservation.
Un nouveau boîtier et bracelet en acier ont spécialement été conçus pour ce modèle : leur design rugueux et viril correspond à l’esprit de l’Ekranoplan soviétique. Le modèle Raketa “Ekranoplan” a plusieurs liens avec l’Ekranoplan Lun :
– l’insert de la lunette tournante est fabriqué à partir d’un morceau de métal de l’Ekranoplan Lun, officiellement transmis à la Manufacture Raketa par la ville de Derbent (qui est en charge de la préservation de l’Ekranoplan) ;
– le design des signes de boussole sur la lunette est inspiré de la boussole du tableau de commande situé dans le cockpit de l’Ekranoplan ;
– une image embossée de l’Ekranoplan est imprimée sur le cadran.
Le fond du boîtier permet de contempler un mouvement automatique à 24 heures Raketa, magnifiquement décoré et entièrement créé par la manufacture horlogère Raketa de Saint-Pétersbourg.
Raketa “Ekranoplan” est une édition limitée à 500 pièces.
Chaque montre est livrée avec un bracelet en cuir supplémentaire. Le modèle est également disponible dans un coffret cadeau comprenant la montre Raketa “Ekranoplan” et son bracelet en acier, un bracelet cuir supplémentaire et la maquette de l’Ekranoplan Lun à une échelle de 1:400.
Prix
Le prix est de 1 667 EUR HT pour la montre seule et de 2 083 EUR HT pour le coffret cadeau. Pour le confort de nos clients, les montres Raketa sont livrées gratuitement dans le monde entier par DHL jusqu’à leur porte d’entrée.
(New York, June, 2023)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today its upcoming summer and fall exhibitions along with new live arts performances and summer initiatives, including the return of the bike valet program, ongoing date night offerings, and more.
“The stories we tell at The Metropolitan Museum of Art are ever expanding,” said Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of The Met. “Through groundbreaking exhibitions, compelling displays, and powerful performances and programs, this upcoming season is sure to delight, inspire, and engage audiences from near and far.”
Highlights of The Met’s summer exhibitions include: Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery(opening July 14), a presentation of Pueblo Indian pottery and the first community-curated Native American exhibition in the history of The Met;Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE (opening July 21), featuring never before publicly exhibited masterpieces that trace the aesthetic impact of the religion on Indian art; Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s(opening September 7), surveying how artists searched for cultural identity during a decade of political and social upheaval in the United States; The Facade Commission: Nairy Baghramian, Scratching the Back(opening September 7), the fourth in a series of contemporary commissions for The Met’s facade and the artist’s first public installation in New York City; and Picasso: A Cubist Commission in Brooklyn (opening September 14), a focused exhibition dedicated to a captivating, but lesser-known chapter of the artist’s Cubist period. It will bring together for the first time six paintings linked to Picasso’s unrealized decorative commission for the Brooklyn residence of artist, collector, and critic Hamilton Easter Field (1873–1922).
Fall season highlights include: Manet/Degas (opening September 24), the first major exhibition examining one of the most significant artistic dialogues in the genesis of modern art; The Great Hall Commission: Jacolby Satterwhite, A Metta Prayer(opening October 2) an immersive multi-channel video installation and a series of performances that will transform the Museum’s iconic Great Hall; Vertigo of Color: Matisse, Derain, and the Origins of Fauvism (opening October 13), exploring how the artists manipulated and experimented with color to create a new artistic vocabulary; Proof: Maxime Du Camp’s Photographs of the Eastern Mediterranean (opening October 23), the first exhibition to focus on The Met’s rare collection of photographs made by Du Camp in advance of his landmark 1852 book, Egypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie; and Lineages: Korean Art at The Met(opening November 7), which will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Museum’s Arts of Korea gallery with a collection of works tracing the history of Korean art.
Additionally, Africa & Byzantium (opening November 19), a major exhibition of nearly 200 works that explores the tradition of Byzantine art and culture in Africa from the 4th through the 15th century and beyond, will be presented at The Met Fifth Avenue through March 3, 2024, and feature many international loans being exhibited in the United States for the first time.
On November 20, 45 galleries dedicated to European Paintings, 1300–1800 will reopen, following the completion of an extensive skylights renovation project that began in 2018. The major reinstallation will highlight fresh narratives and dialogues among more than 700 works of art from the Museum’s world-famous holdings.
The 2023–24 season of MetLiveArts will include music, dance, and theatricalized culinary experiences that will invite deeper connections and make powerful observations about relevant cultural narratives as well as the Museum itself.
Upcoming public programs include Short Films for Short Nights, screenings of early video art accompanied by live music (July 7-9); the grand opening of the 81st Street Studio, a new children’s library and multipurpose active learning center (opening September 9); and the return of MetFest, the Museum’s community-wide block party (October 21).
The Museum also announced a continuing tradition of the summer season: the return of its popular bike valet program, which will be offered on Saturdays, Sundays, and select holidays through Labor Day (September 4). Guests visiting the Museum, regardless of transportation method, have the opportunity to experience The Met’s current blockbuster exhibition program, including Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty(through July 16), with extended viewing hours until 9 p.m. on Sundays, and Van Gogh’s Cypresses (through August 27).
In today’s rapidly-evolved internet landscape, finding an effective domain name can be crucial to online success. Yet have you considered its immense power when choosing words? Linguistics – which studies language structure – is an indispensable asset when selecting domain names; in this article, we’ll look into how understanding its fundamentals can assist with building memorable and effective names for domain registrations. Let’s start this discussion with an example to highlight its significance!
Real-Life Story:
Sarah is passionate about sustainable living and has launched an eco-friendly store online. Sarah spends hours brainstorming possible domain names that reflect her ideals and those of her target market audience. Finally, after extensive research and studying linguistic principles, Sarah opted for “Greenovation.com.” This domain name captures both her brand’s essence and commitment to eco-consciousness instantly – her intuitive understanding of linguistics proved instrumental as this domain name resonated strongly with customers resulting in increased brand recognition and, ultimately, business success.
History & Foundation of Linguistics in Domain Names:
Its historical context must be investigated to understand linguistics impact on domain name selection. Early internet domain names were selected based on keyword availability or company names. However, as more domains crowded the online landscape, linguistic principles significantly distinguished one domain from its competition.
Linguistics encompasses numerous components that can substantially affect domain name selection, such as phonetics, semantics, and syntax. By understanding their function, you can craft memorable domain names that elicit positive emotions among your target audience and are easily pronounceable.
Domain names need to take into account language factors when creating domain names:
Phonology: Selecting domain names with appealing sounds and easy pronunciation will make them more memorable and accessible, like CrispClean.com, which features repeated “c” sounds that create a catchy rhythm while emphasizing cleanliness.
Semantics: Words have meanings, so selecting domain names that resonate with your brand’s values and offerings can increase its overall impact. For instance, specifying EcoGuru.com as the domain name conveys both environmentalism and expertise – creating instant trustworthiness associated with eco-friendly practices.
Syntax: The arrangement and order of words within a domain name can have an enormous effect on its readability and memorability, such as ShopQuickly.com, which utilizes simple syntax making it easily understandable and memorable.
Take advantage of the large choice at Squadhelp when looking for a domain name akin to exploring a linguistic treasure trove. From playful alliterations to clever word combinations, the linguistic aspect of domain names allows businesses to craft a distinctive online identity that resonates with their target audience.
Utilizing Linguistics in Domain Name Selection:
Building an impactful domain name takes careful thought and strategy. Here are a few helpful pointers:
Research Your Target Audience: Take steps to learn about and comprehend their language preferences, cultural nuances, and values to ensure your domain name resonates with them.
Focus on clarity and simplicity: Choose words that are easy for people to remember. Avoid complex or obscure terms which might mislead or confuse the audience.
Consider Emotional Appeal: Words can evoke strong emotional responses in people. Choose words that produce this desired emotional reaction in your target audience while aligning with your brand tone and messaging strategy.
Be distinctive and memorable: Separate yourself from the competition by choosing an eye-catching domain name that conveys the spirit and value proposition of your brand or value proposition.
Other considerations also play a part in domain name selection besides language considerations, including availability and compliance with your brand’s legal requirements. Furthermore, domain extensions like (.com.net.ca or org) could provide more relevant options that meet industry or target audience demands. For the Silo, Grant Polachek.
Conclusion:
In today’s digitally competitive landscape, harnessing linguistics as part of your domain name selection strategy can give your online presence a significant edge. Harnessing their power can give them a significant competitive advantage by understanding basic linguistic principles and considering historical context when selecting domain names for online ventures, harnessing their power can give them a significant competitive advantage. Words hold power that can impact perceptions and emotions and ultimately leave a lasting, impactful memory, so make wise selections when selecting names for online endeavors to maximize their full potential and achieve maximum returns from online ventures!
Upon it’s release in 1982 Bladerunner polarized film critics and quickly divided the viewing audience. Critics had no cinematic basis on which to make a comparison and watchers were unsure what to make of it. There were a few forward thinkers who sensed its bold departure from the ordinary and they mainly focused on the mindblowing design of its imagined world. We can say the same about the Pontiac Aztek upon it’s release in 2001.
More than an exercise in design.
Bladerunner crammed a lot into a relatively short running time: a detective story (which really should used the phrase “bounty hunter adventure”), a love story (how could Deckard NOT fall for the gorgeous Rachel?) , a revenge story (Batty’s answer to the inevitable end of his four year life span was to murder his creator)and a number of subplots that are beyond the scope of this short article. As the years passed, re-cuts and re-releases proved the critics to be wrong. Bladerunner is Shakespearean.
Before becoming a leading Futurist and designer for Hollywood, Syd Mead was an automobile concept artist. Top: A taxi cab design by Mead for Bladerunner. Bottom: The 2001 Aztek GT in Aztek Yellow.
Aztek
When it was released, The 2001 Aztek GT didn’t win over automobile reviewers or the car-shopping public but in the last half decade perspectives have changed, online fan pages have sprung up and buying demand is on the rise.
Vancouver, B.C. – Art Vancouver, Western Canada’s largest international art fair is once again uniting the world through art, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West on May 4–7, 2023.
Art Vancouver’s vision is a noble one that seeks to use the universal language of art to connect people from different parts of the world and to promote a sense of global community.
By bringing together artists and galleries from across Canada and around the world, Art Vancouver aims to showcase a diverse range of contemporary artwork that reflects the unique perspectives, experiences, and cultures of each participating artist.
Art Vancouver marks its 7th edition, welcoming 100+ exhibitors, making Vancouver a destination city for artists, collectors and art lovers alike. Unique to this year, is a panel discussion about the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and art, providing valuable insights and perspectives from experts in the field.
Artist talks, demonstrations and art classes are always a great way for attendees to learn new skills and techniques, and having more of them available means that more people can benefit from the educational opportunities.
Art Vancouver has put together a diverse and engaging program that offers something for everyone. Whether attendees are artists themselves, or simply enthusiasts of art and creativity, there should be plenty of opportunities to learn, engage, and be inspired.
Established in 2017, the non-profit organization was started to make art accessible to everyone, with the goal of promoting and developing Vancouver’s visual art community into a thriving international art scene. VVAF hosts their main annual event, Art Vancouver, a four-day international art fair showcasing artists from across Canada and around the world. For the Silo, Christina Ioannou.
Berlin’s vibrant art scene just got a little more exciting with the opening of Selina Berlin Mitte, the latest property from skyrocketing hospitality company, Selina. Dubbed an ‘art-forward’ hotel, Selina Berlin Mitte boasts a guest concept that revolves around art and music, offering visitors a memorable cultural experience to feel like a local.
Located in the heart of Berlin’s Mitte district, Selina Berlin Mitte offers guests an eclectic mix of accommodations, including standard, suite, shared, and hybrid options.
I was offered one of the suites, and I literally felt like I had relocated to my very own apartment in Berlin, stocked with a kitchen, fridge, modern shower and bathroom, couch, vintage record player and expansive views of the city. Perfectly situated for exploring the city, the hotel is steps away from some of Berlin’s best design stores and boutiques, galleries, restaurants, shops, and bars.
If you are looking to socialize, Selina Berlin Mitte features a rooftop co-working and bar area, plus a restaurant with contemporary Israeli and Mediterranean cuisine called HOWM, a grab-and-go dining option available 24 hours, and even a communal kitchen.
If you grab a drink at the hotel rooftop, you will be surrounded by lounge seating, fun board games, and a 360-view of the city, including Berlin’s iconic TV Tower. Selina goers can meet up for a “welcome drink,” rooftop yoga classes and meditation sessions. If you are searching for activities on the property, you can choose from workshops, live music, DJ sets, art exhibits, and lectures.
Sprawled along the hotel walls are carefully curated artworks by Berliners and international artists, with installations highlighting mixed media– reclaimed wood, mirrors, and vintage art objects. Using earthy and hip furniture, Selina has an industrial feel that opens your eyes to innovation and connection. Common areas are filled with murals, while in-room art combines classical Berlin prints and artworks. Large-scale artistic works are woven throughout the reception area, rooftop, corridors, and suite rooms.
On a mission to keep digital nomads connected, enabling them to travel and work without borders, Selina has plans to open 10-15 hotels in 2023, catering to millennials and Gen Z travelers.
On April 14-16, Selina Berlin Mitte celebrated its opening with the “Welcome to the Hau(E)” event, a 3-day experience showcasing curated local programming, food pop-ups, wellness activities, live music DJs, and a local artisan market.
Selina Berlin Mitte is the “IT” hotel, where art and music lovers unite into a cultural melting pot. Book a stay and indulge in the avant-garde, art-centric German capital, and all it has to offer. For the Silo, Kat Fleischmann.
For more information or to book a stay at Selina Berlin Mitte, visit www.selina.com.
Julie Loeckx‘s colorful abstract artworks bring joy into any space, representing a kaleidoscopic universe brimming with zest for life and optimism. Using lines as influence, the endless experiment of color forms portraits with penetrating gazes and diverse emotions.
As a landscape architect with a Master’s in urban planning, she redesigned squares, streets and neighborhoods before entering project development. After discovering a box of watercolor paints in the attic, Julie experimented like an alchemist and abandoned her business life for a paintbrush.
Julie creates art with subtle nuances hidden in a poetic landscape, striking artifacts in an eclectic interior, drawing inspiration from colorful patterns on textile or jewelry. She finds external sources of inspiration: shopping windows, fashion, interiors, magazines, yet creates one recognizable signature in her artwork.
She uses painting as an outlet without boundaries and with a broad view of the world and in her paintings of women she channels feminism just in time for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
She says, “Every woman is unique and scarred by life, resilient and determined, hesitant and searching, but always counting on a positive outcome. My paintings are sometimes bold and exuberant, or introspective and self-questioning, but always intense and passionate. They are a reflection of the woman behind the artist.”
Growing up as a daughter of two hippies and as a granddaughter of business people, she discovered painting at the age of 42 (mom of 3) and sold 100+ works, had national and international collaborations, including Levi’s Paint, and opened her own gallery in Antwerp in May 2022.
Florence Henri (1893 – 1982)Composition18 ½ x 12 ½ inchesGouache on paper Monogrammed F.H. and dated 1926 lower right
George Pearse Ennis (1884 – 1936)Forging a Gun Tube #146 x 37 inches, 1918 Signed lower right
Daniel Ralph Celantano (1902-1980)Long Beach8 x 10 inchesOil on artist boardSigned lower leftTitled in pencil, verso
Harold Haydon (1909 – 1994)History of the US Postal Service21 x 25 inchesoil on canvas, c. 1938
Nanni Balestrini, Cronogramma, 1960s. Collage on paper. Private collection.
