Monday, October 31, 2011

The Spooks of Art




Happy Halloween all!
I wish every one of you a great and safe Halloween and hope that you all have fantastic costumes to put on tonight. In the spirit of this day I have been taking a look at horror art, something that I admittedly am not very familiar with. I love pieces with a lighter side to their inspiration, but for today let's take a look at the gruesome, ghoulish, and gory.

The first artist is Eric Swartz whose art just teems with discomfort and the fright of the slasher film. While viewing his drawings, paintings, and images for print I felt like I was viewing the old 50s horror film posters. Swartz's style is a fun homage to the entire genre.

Another artist I stumbled upon was Mia Makila. Her ingenuity and lighter palette seem to instill more fear in me. The ingenuity of the images as well as the juxtaposition of the light colors and dark nature work very well.

Finally I ended with the Halloween artwork of Chad Savage. I enjoyed his overt use of the jack-o-lantern as well as the black and orange color motif. Though not something I would hang on my wall, Savage creates the world somewhat cliche but always enjoyable world of scary pumpkins.

Love horror art and would like to educate me and others? Check out our forum for horror art!


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 and Happy Halloween!
Bookmark and Share

Sunday, October 30, 2011

The Artists are Loose This Halloween

Happy Halloween weekend all!
If you are looking for something spooky for tonight or tomorrow I suggest a small indie film called Murder Party. This 2007 film follows Christopher Hawley about his Halloween evening as he receives an invitation to a murder party. Unknowingly, he falls into the trap of an overzealous lot of artists who wish to create the ultimate in art: murder. As one of the artist states, "His cause of death will read, ART!"
This fun thriller poses the question, what is art? There is some quirky banter between the artists revealing their secret fears, insecurities, and lies that they tell each other. There is also a good portrayal of what many sometimes perceive as the art type: crazy, frenetic, substance fueled, and overly sensitive. I enjoyed the movie's ingenuity and while I don't feel it gives a great picture of what an artist is, it's fun to see a horror film with that slant. Follow our forums to read about horror art or write if you have seen or end up watching this movie!


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.
Bookmark and Share

Friday, October 21, 2011

A Game of Connect the Dots

Adele Bloch-Bauer's Portrait

1907
Oil and golden and silver foil on canvas

Hope everyone is having a terrific day, I know mine has been pretty peachy. Let’s dive into some art, shall we?

As a child I used to doodle every day, cover my walls with huge crayon scrawlings to cover the overwhelming white space, see pictures and images in wood grain. This active search for similarities in our visual world and the need to interpret them through more images has grown into my love of painting and my need to connect all the information I learn in a day. In class I enjoy nothing more than building my knowledge of an object or idea from various sources. This happened once as I was learning about the physical formation of oxbows in Geology and then seeing View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, 1836; the beautiful oil painting of Thomas Cole.













It’s a simple idea, but I enjoy this game of mental connect the dots.

This late summer I went on a brief road trip to Flagstaff, passing through Jerome and Sedona. All three locations are a haven for artists and if you need a little rest I highly recommend taking a trip through some of Northern Arizona. While exploring some of Downtown in Flagstaff I spotted a great mural.


It is on the wall outside of a small bar called Speakeasy which is just a small space fashioned after Roaring Twenties speakeasy. The character that caught my eye though, was the lovely woman in the golden gown. I was just tickled that someone had recreated Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

Klimt had a way with images that simply burst on the canvas. Apart from the glittering gold that catches the eye, the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer is wonderful for the mix of reality and design. Her soft face and hands have a pale, but life-like color and appearance. She is placed within a very stylized gown that is only created with strong golds with a few small color additions. Klimt’s use of a limited palette and repetitive shapes creates a flow through the gown that contrasts the person of Adele as well as the spiral designs and textured background. The use of white to draw attention to the figure and face of Adele Bloch-Bauer is beautiful as well.

Klimt’s paintings are heavily stylized and utilize repetition create something very different than other artists. His abstracted images surrounding more realistic figurative painting has always struck me as almost collage like or even with a mosaic feel like golden tessera seen in San Vitale. These are the reasons I will always love Klimt; beyond his haunting imagery he created pieces that appeared something beyond a two-dimensional painting.

If you want to learn more about Thomas Cole, Gustav Klimt, or art in general check out our website. For a barrage of cool images follow us on Twitter and be sure to get chatting on our forums! I will be to sure add a thread about the above mural so we can see who’s been to the mural and maybe decipher all of the characters of the wall. See you all there!

Bookmark and Share

Fluxus at ASU

Here is another short blurb about an art show! Sorry for those not in the Tempe area, I promise more about art in general is coming soon; I’m working on some exciting topics to come. Anyway, on to the details!

This upcoming show is actually a BFA senior show at ASU’s Gallery 100 at the School of Art. The show Fluxus, will feature works from 6 graduating students and will be running from October 24th through November 4th, 2011. An opening reception will be held this coming Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 from 6pm – 8pm that evening and I believe some if not all the artists will be there. It’s always a great experience getting to ask an artist about his or her intentions as well as just shooting the breeze with creative minds.


I am excited about going to the reception to see some work of my peers and hope to see some of you there too! If you want more information about art or more images to indulge upon visit our main site, Twitter account, or join the buzz on our forums.

Bookmark and Share

Some Assembly Required and a Quick Hello

Hello All!

My name is Marielle and I am currently an intern with Art Fortune and have the wonderful pleasure of getting the chance to work on this blog. I know it’s been a while since the last post and I hope to refresh things here with some new topics and consistent posts. There should be some good exploration of all things artistic including paintings, ceramic work, crafts, movies, books, and I’m sure other things that will manifest with time.

As a heads up for any one in Arizona around the Tempe area ASU does have a call for art for a show called Some Assembly Required. DEADLINE IS TODAY and I do apologize for the late notice. Some Assembly Required is now accepting 2D or 3D work from ASU students and community members. Send submissions to ASU.Assembly.Required@gmail.com.
Submissions are due October 21st so take some pictures and get to emailing. Specifics are on the Facebook event so take a quick gander. If you are just looking for a show to attend make sure to check it out November 7 through November 18 at the ASU Art Building West Annex and enjoy the local art.

I hope you all enjoy my time here and will take a look at our forums, Twitter account, and website for all things art!

Bookmark and Share