Art Fortune: 2010

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I recently stumbled onto an artist's blog. Her name is Elizabeth Love, as if her last name did not make her interesting enough her blog and art are fabulous as well. She lives in New Zealand and has an exhibition going on until January 20, 2011 at a local gallery. I have always been a fan of mixed media and her art is full of color and has an edgy quality to it. I recommend you all check out her blog.

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Carlos Cisneros

Carlos Cisneros is an amazing Mexican artist I just happened across the other day. I think that we should definitely keep our eyes on him!

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

denis peterson: hyper realism

Denis Peterson was one of the first photorealistic painters that appeared in New York City, and is considered among many to be a pioneer developing his work into Hyper-realism. after taking a long hiatus, he emerged again in the early 2000's using his skills as a vehicle for social change, focusing primarily on the mistreatment of citizens by their government, especially the homeless.

i find these pieces to be very compelling, and i wonder in what way they will impact society, if at all. a common criticism of photo/hyper realism is that it is strictly mimesis, and a camera can achieve the same thing only even more accurately.

Author Graham Thompson wrote "Richard Estes, Denis Peterson, Audrey Flack,and Chuck Close often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs. The hyperrealist genre is clearly more than an attempt to replicate the mechanical action of taking a photograph." I felt this merely insists that there is more to it than replication, without presenting what that might be. I think that it has something more to do with the experience the painter has.

if any of you have painted, or drawn from a still life before, you probably have noticed that the object you were working from looks different after that. it becomes more familiar and the intricacies of it's physical existence are more apparent, unless you worked in an impressionist manner. but the further one gets from impressionism and the closer they get to photorealism, the more parts of the subject they understand. the impressionist captures more the essence of the subject, while the realist captures the body. i think that is what the photorealists and the hyper-realists are after; a better understanding of their subject as it interacts with the physical space it occupies in reality.

I wanted to include this piece because I felt denis was poking fun at his own genre here. The challenge was painting the figures on the mural so that they looked like they were painted on the side of the shack. It gives him a chance to paint in a graphic and cartoony manner, while still staying true to his craft.

Whacky Shack

Dont Shed No Tears

Foot Action II

USA Today

Vortex of Despair

Friday, November 19, 2010

having trouble finding inspiration today? here is some free word association to get you going:

dimple

butter

stem

refrigerator

elongate

dignity

rush

woozy

cup

race car

guilt

khaki

hope that helps :)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Dominic Wilcox: Speed Creating

for 30 days, Dominic did an exercise in creativity where he made a new object each day. this was more about the act of creating than the final project and he says he welcomes failures. he hoped that this would instill a free flowing stream of creativity based on instinct.

i love the way he had fun with this. it seemed like a marvelous way to explore the innards of one's imagination, and tap into the free flowing source of creativity that lies within us all.

these are just a few of his creations. to see the rest visit http://variationsonnormal.com/speed-creating/

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Esra Roise

I recently came across the work of Esra Roise, a Norwegian freelance illustrator based in Oslo. Esra uses various techniques including drawing, watercolor, and occasionally superimposition of photos. I love the fresh look of her style. You can check out the full body of work here http://www.esraroise.com/

Monday, November 15, 2010

Alexa Meade

Alexa Meade is a pretty fantastic artist. She paints with acrylic on flesh...

http://www.alexameade.com/portfolio.html

Argie Bandoy

Argie Bandoy is a Filipino artist currently showing at Tate Modern. The collection is called "Serial Killers: From Tate Modern to Taksu Singapore" It features multiple contemporary Filipino artists. But to me, Argie stands out. He shows us many mixed media collages (which happen to be my favorite medium). I came across a previous artist statement from him, genius.

1. Painting is overrated nowadays.
2. Painting is Brash and brute and dirty.
3. A Bad painting is a good painting.
4. Painting by manhandling the paint.
5. A good painting only exists in the imagination.
6. Painting always asks for more.
7. Painting is superficial.
8. Painting demands the painter’s flesh and blood.
9. A painter is a delusional being.
10. A Painting always contradicts the painter.
11. Aiming for Beauty produces unpleasant results.
12. Repulsive is better than playing nice.
13. Bad humor is always the best.
14. Painting is a cerebral activity.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Christo visits Denver today. Colorado Plans for his "Over the River"?

Michael Paglia breaks down the fate of Christo's proposed, "Over the River." http://www.westword.com/2010-11-04/culture/if-christo-s-controversial-over-the-river-sinks-it-will-be-a-tragedy/

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Christopher Jenkins
trainsshipsplanes

Love Trains, Ships and Planes? Well we think you'll love original oil paintings of transportation machines by Christopher Jenkins. He is an American Artist who specializes in painting trains, airplanes and ships from the 1910-1960 period. He paints in oil, using conventional painting techniques. Over the past few years, his work has been selected for inclusion in several national and international juried competitions.

http://www.artfortune.com/trainsshipsplanes/

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

Women on the Verge
JoAnne Artman Gallery
Laguna Beach, CA

Starting today, October 1st, 2010, you can view works by Jane Richlovsky, known for her mythical, mid-century figures found on vintage textiles, Laura Ross-Paul, known for her figurative, luminescent paintings and Brooke Shaden, known for dramatic photography during the Women on the Verge Show at the JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA. As the gallery says... "These artists will inspire, provoke, engage and mesmerize. With visual perceptions always changing, peek behind the stories told and you're sure to find the right artistic expression!" Show ends November 30th.

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

Andy Warhol Fashion Drawings of the 1950s

Did you know that Andy Warhol did fashion sketches in the 1950s before creating the pop art he is known for? You can view his fashion drawings in a nice little coffee table book called Andy Warhol Fashion. This book is full of his shoe illustrations, head shots and everything fashion. It also contains a nice introduction by Simon Doonan, and great quotations...
"Everything in your closet should have an expiration date on it the way milk and break and magazine and newspapers do."

Monday, September 27, 2010

Walk The Walk, Bryant Park, NYC this past summer

Hi, I'm Chris from Art Fortune and I wanted to share one of my art experiences from this summer. As I sat in Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan one sunny morning this past May, I got to enjoy a living sculpture called "Walk the Walk", a performance-installation created by Kate Gilmore and funded by the Public Art Fund. It was a cubic structure, open on all sides, with a flat roof that functioned as a podium. Working in shifts, groups of women took to the roof where they performed an improvisational choreography of everyday movement, such as walking, shuffling, and stomping. These women were not professional dancers nor actors.These women were to represent a random sample of female office workers. They varied in age, race and body type. They were free to perform their artist-assigned tasks as they choose, but they did have to conform to a strict uniform: yellow dress and beige shoes.

The public were welcomed to view the art from the outlying Fountain Terrace, but could also enter the structure on the main level which allowed me to hear the reverberating sounds of the movement above. The yellow of the women's dresses also appeared on both the inside and outside of the structure walls. Gilmore likes to consider this experience an "eccentric concerto of irregular footfalls".

Kate Gilmore is known for her physically demanding performance videos.Through "Walk the Walk", Gilmore has us wondering how gender, age and appearance affect our perception both socially and personally. I have to say I enjoyed a good hour mesmerized by the women creating their own path of different speeds, hardly ever even hitting to one another in such a small space. Equally enjoying was the public reaction to the piece, from the unnoticed, to the gawking glares, to the pure enjoyment of witnessing a re-enactment of office women today as art.

Antonio, A Fashion Illustrator Icon

Antonio was born Antonio Lopez in Puerto Rico in 1943. When he was 7 his family moved to New York City. He attended the High School of Art & Design and then he attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. While at FIT, he started an intership at WWD (Women's Wear Daily) which led him to leaving school and working at WWD. Then shortly after he took a position at The New York Times. In 1969 he moved to Paris and was an associate of Karl Lagerfield. Antonio help discover Jessica Lange, Jerry Hall, Grace Jones and Tina Chow. His famous Fashion Illustrations appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Interview and The New York Times. Many books showcasing his illustrations have been published, one of these included "Antonio's Tales From The Thousand And One Nights" from 1985, which was a inspiration for Marc Jacobs 2007 "Arabian Nights" Fashion Event. Antonio sadly died in 1987 at the age of 44. His drawings live on and inspire so many Illustrators to this day.

Oktoberfest Posters of Munich

As folks all over the world celebrate Oktoberfest, we thought it was timely to showcase a few samples of Munich Oktoberfest Posters as they are nearly as popular as the festival itself. Every year, since 1952, Munich, Germany holds a contest and chooses the official Oktoberfest motif. This motif then appears on the posters, tee-shirts, cups, beer mugs and other assorted souvenirs.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

We're getting ready to start producing VIDEOS all about ART...and FORTUNE....Stay Tuned!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Tresspass

I am an avid follower of Wooster Collective Gallery. Today they posted a review on an amazing (soon to be released) art history book titled: TRESPASS: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art. It was a great preview read, but what prompted me to write about this book are the artists whose essays authored this book.

For all guerrilla artists, urban painters, and appreciators of this is a really cool book. Yes, it is a good looking coffee table book, but don't stop there. The book includes wonderful essays by the artists and t

he introduction is penned by the very talented urban guerrilla artist, Banksy. The rich history of these artists, and the evolution of their works is inspiring. The artwork in the book can be criticized but as you read the book you see the progress made through urban art.

The book is uniquely comprised by a series of themes, by 150 artists. Every photograph in the book is work that is unauthorized and uncommissioned. The best news is that the retail sale of the book will cost around $39.99. I posted one image of a spectacular piece just to tempt you. You can do a special visual leaf-through of the book here.

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here.

Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Touch of Nostalgia

Winslow Homer Classic Portrait oil on canvas "Boys in a Pasture" (1874).

This stamp will be dedicated on August 13, 2010 in Richmond, VA, during American Philatelic Society Stamp Show 2010. This portrait will also be featured as the new 44cent postage stamp.

It is Homer's third time being honored on a U.S. postage stamp. In 1962 it was Homer's "Breezing Up", issuing a 4cent stamp, and in 1998 "The Fog Warning" he was featured in a stamp series.

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Although the exhibit at Heard Museum on Allan Houser is coming to a close, I thought I would just add some thoughts about his artwork. I just went to the exhibition and watched the museum's video in tribute to Allan Houser, and now I am a devoted follower. I have never known a lot about contemporary Native American artists, but by looking at Allan Houser's oeuvre, and the progression in his development of ideas over time, words can not describe what an accomplishment he has made.

His earlier works are mostly flat, in the well-established two-dimensional tradition of Native American painting.

But as his artwork progresses, a sense of volume and depth appear. As Allan Houser takes on new mediums and explores three-dimensionality, his work evolves with it. Houser's more mature works incorporate minimalism and abstract features with traditional forms. He used a lot of bronze, stone, wood and marble. He produced more that 1,000 sculptures in these mediums which are in over 80 museums internationally.

What I found fascinating about Allan Houser was his idea of independence. After listening to him talk about his work, it is clear that he did not break away from traditional forms just to gain notoriety, but he felt that by doing this, his work would keep his culture alive. These sculptures emulated his people, their values, and the way in which they felt and expressed themselves in every-day life. Not only did Allan Houser embrace modern ideas, but he opened a way for emerging Native American artists to form their own paths while still staying true to their heritage.