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"
Tree of Light"
By Deb Boultwood
Who is BANSKY???
Many people recoil at the thought of a guy in a hoodie [sweatshirt] with a spray-paint can and something to say. Others foam at the mouth when they see the same guy’s artwork auctioned off for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Banksy just laughs at all of it. He has a gift: an ability to make almost anyone very uncomfortable. He doesn’t ignore boundaries; he crosses them to prove their irrelevance.
People usually see art as an abstract emotional vehicle, lacking the direct impact of language. Bansky paints over the line between aesthetics and language, then stealthily repaints it in the unlikeliest of places. His works, whether he stencils them on the streets, sells them in exhibitions or hangs them in museums on the sly, are filled with wit and metaphors that transcend language barriers.
Banky’s work embodies everything I like about art. It’s accessible, public, not locked away. He makes social and political statements with a sense of humor. His latest exploit is Exit Through the Gift Shop, a film about a filmmaker who left off making a film about Bansky to become an art star himself. It sums up the art world perfectly -- the authentic intertwined with the absurd.
About the author: Shepard Fairey is an artist and the creator of the 2008 Obama Hope poster.
Bansky’s Website
Do you have to dress your art like Lady Gaga to get it noticed?!
Nah…try these tips instead:
* Open your ears - listen and learn, check on what other artists are up to
* Open your mouth - lead events and discussions
* Show your work - get it out there!
* Write Press Releases for newspapers about your show - before and after
* Get reviewed
* Get interviewed
* Talk it up - share conversations
* Use “stepping-stone” referrals - you know someone, who knows someone…
* Work the influencers - find out who they are and meet them
* Increase visibility - develop a website, art Blog, Forum
* Participate in other on-line Blogs, Forums, social networks
* Write articles, commentaries, editorials
* Make a Video and put it on You Tube
* Take a stand - let others know your values and interests
* Be true to yourself - you’re unique
* Like BANSKY...Find a niche
* Be kind, considerate, polite - to fellow artists, art promoters, critics and the like.
Finally, be brave and go for it! Remember, you are the vehicle that generates the interest in your work. Be confident and allow yourself to freely express what you believe is of value and substantive.
--M
"
Dearly Departed "
By Susie Holderfield
“Mary’s Page” honors the life and death of loved ones and our veterans - soldiers of war, this Memorial Day
About Painting
Tony Godfrey, author of Painting Today asserts, “Painting is a primary activity, somewhere between whistling and scratching. It’s an extremely efficacious and enduring method of communicating simple as well as complex ideas. It is also a means of expressing love of life and love of creation. And, given that humans inhabit interiors with walls, paintings still function extraordinarily well -- It is a method for human exploration and expression, one that offers five persistent themes constantly: tradition, desire, beauty, the body and spirituality. A painting is not just a picture on the wall: it is also a way in which one creates their world. It is very personal.
Making a painting is all about hand, eye and brain co-ordination: no other art form links mind and body so totally. In a world of alienation and consumerism this is important.
Painting today is a global phenomenon: one of the great excitements of the twenty-first century is discovering the richness of painting. In the age of mass visual media what distinguishes painting is its variety and flexibility, its rich past, its collective memory and our apparently innate hunger for it.
Some may question what painting is in the twenty-first century, what is its function in a world of global communication, the Internet and digitalization. They want to know what purpose painting will serve, or can serve in the future. They wonder whether it is an obsolescent medium and whether a “master” will ever be created again. What are the options for painters in this century?”
The answer may be in part as simple as natural media or graphic painting ; a formidable wave that is poised to overtake traditional thinking. Critics argue that when you paint digitally you lose the experience of working with actual materials: paints, canvas, brushes, knives…which cannot be rebutted. However, there are other tactile experiences when one paints digitally that equally challenges the mind and body. Precision, skill and creativity are certainly not lacking. There is as much, albeit different, experimentation that ensues with similar uncertainty and the results are equally as powerful.
Godfrey further states, “It is time for other scions of painting to come to life and step into the future. These are the years of new opportunities: the seeds of new ways in painting are to be sown.”
We agree.
-- Mary
Source: Excerpts from Painting Today, a new book from Phaidon Press by Tony Godfrey
Send us your finest digital paintings! The field for digital masters awaits.
Point, Click, Drop and Dive
When it comes to digital cameras the only thing worse than dropping one on the ground is dropping one in the drink. Such calamities are common, which is why camera manufacturers have come out with point-and-shoot models that can be fumbled, dunked and even buried in snow.
After evaluating these core features: shockproof, waterproof, and freeze-proof these four cameras proved to be the “best of” --
#1.) Olympus, Stylus Tough - 8010 Cost: $400 USD
See a video on the performance of these cameras at: Time.com/camera
Article Source: Time Magazine; May 24, 2010
"
Memories"
By Andrea Raffaelli
This page posted 31 May 2010
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