Babak Golkar’s Persian carpets

Here's the review on Babak Golkar's exhibition at the Charles H.Scott Gallery. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the show?

http://www.straight.com/article-590951/vancouver/persian-carpets-rise-3d

Frida Kahlo-Alison

Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist, is best recognized as a self portrait painter. Her paintings and her life cannot be separated from each other because her paintings illustrate her biography. In her surrealist paintings, she always shows her emotions and pain. During her lifetime, she went through a lot of obstacles, physical and emotional pain that she had to face, much more than what people usually face. She recorded all her feelings such as heartbreaks, love, life, and pain.
She once said "I paint self-portraits because I am the person I know best." As a self-portrait- lover, I am really inspired by her works every time I see them. Her paintings are always very dramatic and powerful in her expressions of her pain and emotions. Every painting has her face (with the significant seagull eyebrows), but every single one is different and distinguished. Not only that, but also her colour uses and mediums are effectively chosen to enhance her paintings. Just like I was, many other self-portrait artists must have been inspired by her strong works.

The Object as Portrait, workshop Feb 26

Gwenessa Lam's workshop on The Object as Portrait
Pictures from the workshop with Gwenessa Lam and the slide presentation!

 

Abstract painter Mary Heilmann (to Amy)

http://www.pbs.org/art21/watch-now/segment-mary-heilmann-in-fantasy


Many exciting aspects to think about; sculptural painting or paintings with abstract sculpture and many others...

Tara McPherson-Adam

Tara McPherson is an artist based out of New York City. Creating art about people and their odd ways, her characters seem to exude an idealized innocence with a glimpse of hard earned wisdom in their eyes. Recalling many issues from childhood and good old life experience, she creates images that are thought provoking and seductive. People and their relationships are a central theme throughout her work. 

I've been following her work for a while, she's got a lot of buzz in the past 4 years and I have learned a lot already but feel everyone else could benefit from her.

Research

Because I will be painting (probably) a lot of animals in my portrait I decided to do some research on Robert Bateman. I've known him for a long time and he has been one of my favourite artists. Just like me, his work has TONS of details and contrast. Bateman is an Canadian painter. He does really detailed sketches of animals as well as paintings. Robert would spend time working on huge canvases. He was always interested in art, but he never intended on making a living out of it. He was fascinated by nature and as a kid he recorded the sightings of all of the birds around his house in Toronto. His paintings are extremely realistic and I think he shares many interests with me. 

I was looking for different installation artists and I stumbled upon Clemens Behr. He is an installation artists who use paint and simply cardboard to create this abstract look of a space. I really like how he can make any spaces like the subway look so surreal just by adding some features to them.

I do not have a firm idea on what my final project would be but I would like to try creating another space or the feel of the space in a given area. I was also thinking about the theme of juxtaposition. It may be an interesting theme to tackle.
From reading other students works, I see that they are interested in creating works that interacts with the audiences. I think this is a great idea.

Art of Participation

I think a lot of you are interested in interacting with the audience directly. Great! Instead of using the word 'interaction', however, which will remind the public of 'interactive art' that combines technology, I suggest 'participation'. Recently, SF MoMA had a show that shows this interesting history of participatory art. Have a look at diverse forms under this theme.
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/306/

I believe it's more open for everyone too. It doesn't have be in your art so directly, but can be implied subtly depends on your medium, for instance, painting. How does this sound?

Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha, a Czech Art Nouveau artist, is best know for his beautiful lithographs and extensive ornamental bordering.  His major subjects are women and flowers, the recurring motif of nature.  I'm inspired by his simplicity and graceful flow of the composition, as well as the hidden complexity and detail.  Perhaps in my final project I'd like to integrate his themes and palette into my own series of paintings.

The theme of ambiguity could be somewhat overused, although there are many different ways to approach it.  I personally prefer something to do with the interactions of life, whether it be between living or non-living objects.  If we add them together, it could be the ambiguous relations we have in life that may or may not affect us.

Ashley

David Wilson-Beverly Ho

An artist that has inspired me for years & still continues to inspire me local painter David Wilson.  I enjoy looking at his evocative night scenes of Vancouver & how he controls colour differently in each of his works.  His pieces are realistically & simply represented, yet they are very personal & emotional, dealing with his life's big transitions.  David Wilson explores relationships between people and their urban environment by digging up new themes in familiar places. I also like his broad & obvious brush strokes & how he turns mundane streets that we see everyday into intriguing & poignant paintings.

images taken from www.davidwilson.ca

Bev (:

Abstract painting-Amy Choi

Ambiguity means uncertainty or inexactness of meaning, and I decided that I wanted to portray this concept through abstract painting.

I was looking for some abstract painters, and I came upon an artist that really piqued my interest..

Marla Olmstead is a 6 year old girl from Binghampton, New York. She started painting a bit after she turned two due to her father's influence, and slowly became recognized by the media for her talents and her ability to create abstract art. 

Her artworks to me, have a tension and depth which seems impossible for a six year old child to achieve. But Marla has done so, and has executed her works beautifully. Although she may be lacking in conceptual aspects, her works nonetheless have a haunting beauty to them. 

this is her website http://www.marlaolmstead.com/

I haven't tried doing abstract art before, but i think by studying Marla's paintings and other people's works I will be able to learn a lot :)

Amy 

reserch

for my final project i am inspired by Carole Itter and her piano hanging piece. i was thinking of some how getting a gient tire that could hang and turn like the erath. in the middle of the tire i would divide it into different sections to show the impact of human pollution on earth. this would theoretically be a 3d installation and be made with as much reused matterals as i can find. The world would  show the foot print of how we use and destroy our world. the tire would be like an imprint of what we are doing ourselfs. Also as i was resrching i found another artist that i like named Holly A Senn


Holly A Senn

Holly A. Senn is known for her botanically inspired sculptures and installations created from discarded library books. In these labor-intensive works she explores the life cycle of ideas—how ideas are generated, dispersed, referenced or forgotten. Senn has exhibited in venues including the Brooklyn Public Library in New York, 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle, and spaces in Tacoma including Spaceworks Tacoma, Tacoma Contemporary’s Woolworth Windows, Fulcrum Gallery, Kittredge Gallery, and Collins Memorial Library. Awards include the Grant for Artists Projects (GAP) from Artist Trust and a Tacoma Artists Initiative Program (TAIP) grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission. Born in California, Senn graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (M.L.I.S) and Mills College (B.A.). She works as a librarian at Pacific Lutheran University. Since 2001 she has lived and worked in Tacoma, Washington.

 Carole Ittle

Artist, writer, filmmaker. Carole Itter is an artist, writer, performer, and filmmaker. Her solo exhibitions include Rattles (Western Front, 1984), The Float (Or Gallery, 1995), The Pink Room (grunt gallery, 2000), and Metallic: A Fish Film (grunt gallery, 2007). Her work was also included in WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2008. Itter has collaborated extensively with artist and musician Al Neil. Along with Daphne Marlatt, she compiled and edited Opening Doors (1979), an archive of oral history about Vancouver’s East End as part of the Sound Heritage Series for the British Columbia Provincial Archives. Itter’s work is included in the collections of The Canada Council Art Bank, the Vancouver Public Library, and the Vancouver Art Gallery

Research...

For my final project, I don't have a firm idea yet but I know that I want to create something of mixed media or 3D because I've done a lot of paintings until now. 

While looking through a blog, I found this artist very interesting.....

http://www.bochristianlarsson.com/

Bo Christian Larsson is a Swedish artist who works mostly with large-sized drawings, installations, performances and objects. He has also published several books of his works. 

What appealed to me the most was that all his works were nothing cliche or common.  Looking though his works, I've noticed he uses a lot of shapes and lines along with some realistic aspects. I also liked his usage of colours/materials on all of his works; not too vivid, but everything fits together nicely.

Bo Christian Larrson:

"I believe that strong feelings as a result of aesthetic experience form a very important part of my creative process. The accent on feelings like fear and anxiety – these are feelings you can experience when being confronted with the direct meaning of my work."

The drawings are works on their own, but Larsson also says that "the big drawings mostly work as blueprints for the installations and performances. My installations are mostly like my drawings just in 3D and the performances are like the act of drawing just with an audience."

About his performances and installations,  

Bo Christian Larrson: "I think this is the only costume you can wear at all, it makes so little and so much with your body at the same time. No big deal. You put on the wig and you are a different person. This has always fascinated me. I have the wig in front of my eyes. I turn it around, so I can't see anything. This is a very important point in my performances, that I blind myself and have to take a look inside. I become a different person and disappear in this role." (Interview on Bavarian Radio, 24.06.2008)

And the two links below are just two stop motion animations I found while looking through the art blog. Hope you guys find them interesting. :))

The Joy of Books:

http://www.booooooom.com/2012/01/10/the-joy-of-books-stop-motion-animation/#more-33956  

Going West:

http://www.booooooom.com/2009/12/01/nz-book-council-going-west-stop-motion-animation/#more-13463

-Jenice-

Art of Wearable Communication

Hey all!

I was doing research for a school project when I came across Kate Hartman and found her work very fascinating.

Hartman is interested in people and their interaction with other people and their surrounding. She basically makes these wacky devices which play with different forms of interactions.

Here's some of her work that I really like...

This is called the "talk to yourself hat".. which is pretty self-explainatory.

This one emits muttering sounds which you can listen to yourself or share with someone else.

To see more of her projects, this is the link to Hartman's Ted talk video

For our final project.. I was thinking that "interactivity" would be a nice theme to develop on. What do you think?
- Teresa

Hey guys

During the past few days I've discovered and fell in love with the installation pieces by Scott Sona Snibbe. Snibbe is a media artist who dabbles with interactivity and is well known for his works that call to question the relevance of people to one another. Does that make sense? A bit? Not really? Not at all? Ahh, I'll make sure to link you to his website later so you can read his artist statement.
Snibbe has some really great stuff, man. Falling Girl and Boundary Functions are two of his works that I really enjoy which incorporates participation from the public.

For my final project I'm thinking about making an interactive piece that tests the willingness of spectators to move/open/flip/touch/etc my art without being explicitly told that they are allowed to. I'm playing with the thought of making my art piece then either placing it in the pages of a large scale book or on the walls of a wooden room in the middle of the gallery. Everything is still a bit wishy washy but I know I want public interaction to play a key role in whatever I end up creating.

Anyway, here's that link I promised you: http://www.snibbe.com/
Also I'm going to go ahead and leave this video here for you to watch. The first segment is about Boundary Functions!

Oh, here's a picture of him if you're curious. He's just so casual it's amazing. I kinda love this. There's such a high amount of attractiveness in this photo I can hardly handle it.

- Irene

Research

So I really like the Clayton Bothers works, because they're all so bright and colourful, and they use all different sorts of media. The link that i'll post to their artwork, is one that really captured my attention. It was basically a room of their artwork. It's kind of hard to explain, but I was thinking I could do my work the wall, making it part of a "bedroom" setting. Something that represents me, how my wall in my house would look like. Also, I definitely want to do something with the rice art. But I couldn't find anything on google so... Don't really have any inspirations for that one. The link doesn't go directly to the photo, but it's the one at the most bottom, third from the left.

http://www.claytonbrothers.com/exhibitions#


Brittany

research.

so far i have been researching the physical limitations of my idea

i want to basically horizontally stack panes of glass and i have been figuring out how to transfer images to glass.

i want it to be a human form, built up layer by layer, glass sheet by glass sheet.
the idea is to be able to view the whole thing as one piece and also be able to look at each individual layer as well.
i haven't progressed it very far
this was the first thing i thought of, i'm sure by the end it will be developed and changed once i get started on it.
i couldn't find anything online resembling it, but hopefully there's something out there to compare it to.

blake

Queen of self(?)-portrait?

Cindy Sheraman's a diverse image collections at NY Times as she's preparing a retrospective at MoMA.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/02/19/arts/design/20120219-SHERMAN.html

Some of you may be familiar with the artist name, Cindy Sherman. Sherman became famous for her 1970s "Untitled Film Stills" series that portrait fictional female figures she inspired from movies and magazines. These pictures make us believe that we saw them somewhere in a movie, but they are not really taken from a specific scene and created by Sherman. So the characters are all artist herself, but none of them are really her. Do you agree with me?

Art 21 video excerpt on Cindy Sherman

http://vimeo.com/10167964

Train of thoughts on the theme to start

From "Ambiguity"

- Ambiguity of identity: as a result of immigration, globalization, or virtual avatar...

From "Identity"

- Autobiography: authenticity, alter-ego, hometown...

Exhibition Space Confirmed

Great news! I found out our final exhibition will be held in Elliott Louise Gallery located at 1st and Main Street.
http://www.elliottlouis.com/

We'll be using the space for the week of May 28-June 3,  installing our works during the 28th-30th, and opening on the 31th. Let's discuss what we need to prepare for this grand event happen!

Ideas for Materials- Xu Bing’s Tobacco Project

Well, don't use tobacco as a material for our project please... that's not what I'm suggesting here but pay attention to how the Chinese artist used the material/ subject matter in his project, and how he documented his research to turn it into art.

http://blog.art21.org/2012/02/10/ink-contemplating-nicotine-xu-bings-tobacco-project/

Ideas for Materials-"Mother's pride"

Even though this is not what it made him one of the most famous contemporary artists, it is very interesting to see how Antony Gormley used bread for his drawing and sculpture material.

Bed 1980-1

http://www.antonygormley.com/sculpture/item-view/id/259#p2

And his comment on the piece from the newspaper Guardian yesterday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/feb/06/vicken-parsons-antony-gormley-bed?newsfeed=true

Critical thinking: understanding 'images'

As an image maker, it is crucial to understand what it is that you're making, and why, eventually, why it is relevant to you and to the current society. Ways of Seeing by John Berger first made as a series of BBC TV show in 1972, and now is one of the most famous books in visual art. Here is the link to watch the first part of the series on youtube. I'd like to hear what you think of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnfB-pUm3eI

Drawing- Colter Jacobson

It was a pleasure to see lots of great drawings and paintings last Sunday. And this artist wasn't the first person I was going to share, but I thought it might be interesting for some of you to see. I encountered  Colter Jacobson's drawings at SF MoMa couple of months ago. His meticulous drawings and watercolours are melancholy but very attractive. I think it's partly because most of them were done on found ephemera, such as vinyl cover, old photograph, postcards etc. We'll continuously talk about material choices, and it's not only to those who make sculpture and installation. Your choice of canvas is part of an announcement of your message too. Follow the link if you'd like to see more information about Colter Jacobson. It's a bit difficult to see the real effect as the drawings have fading quality though.

http://visionfield.blogspot.com/2009/11/colter-jacobsen.html