Sunday morning on my way to the studio I saw these cats in a petfood store window. Good thing I had my camera and I'm in the reflection!
29.4.07
27.4.07
Lee Bontecou Link
A link to cool abstract constructionist and transformationist sculptor Lee Bontecou. The American born sculptor had a major in-depth retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 2004. Her unique surreal vision mixes organic forms and mechanical structures.
Toronto is 'city of future'
Toronto has been named runner-up in a British financial magazine's ranking of North America's Cities of the Future. Apparently Toronto has the best quality of life...and the best artists, ha, ha!
Not for Sale at P.S. 1
Via nymag.com. A review of a painting exhibit at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center NYC, in which the curator Alanna Heiss contests the marketplace. Writer Jerry Saltz claims the show is passable because of the inclusion of the artists statements explaining why they still own the works. There is a great quote by Gerhard Richter included in the backstory.
26.4.07
Life-supporting planet discovered
Via The Daily Telegraph. A new Earth like planet has been discovered 20.5 light years away orbiting a small red star. The first discovery of it's kind, an exoplanet exhibiting the conditions suitable to evolving life, makes Gliese 581c a prime target in the search for extraterrestrial life.
sunsound.mp3
24.4.07
The New Abstraction
Via ARTnews. A decent article on the renewed interest in abstract painting. Barbara A. MacAdam examines several ideas of abstraction in current art, offering glimpses into some artistic processes and use of technological tools.
22.4.07
crowgaurd
The blues look cool! I love it and printed a copy to take to my painting studio. I imagine the steel bands of the sculptures as large drippy brush strokes.
21.4.07
comebackdown
A sparrow pirched outside her nest inside an interesting sculpture. It is a beautiful capture!
19.4.07
clmppg3
Today at school I started the comic-art club for juniors. 3 boys attended. I showed them some resources including Stan Lee's book on drawing comics the Marvel way and we all practised drawing heads. Later tonight I coloured this scanned page from my sketch book.
17.4.07
14.4.07
Blockbuster directors to build T.O. studio
A new blockbuster film studio is to be built at Bloor and Lansdowne. This will liven up the neighbourhood with new jobs and commercialization! Via The Star.
10.4.07
Jackson Pollock 51 Test
Don't you just love Mr. Pollock's commentary when he tells how he is in the painting? After viewing this video I'm convinced that the "recently discovered Pollocks" are fakes, he just doesn't seem the artist to have done small token works!
Sol LeWitt, a Master Of the Art of the Idea
More on the dynamic wall paintings of Sol LeWitt, via The Washington Post. Also an interesting story by Mr. Anchovy.
9.4.07
Superman's Suit Auctioned
A Superman costume worn by Christopher Reeve in the 1978 blockbuster film has sold for $115,000 US in a Hollywood film auction. It freaks me out what people will buy and pay!
Tony Sherman
A video featuring the cool and big textural, drippy portraits by Tony Sherman circa 1865, via The Toronto Star.
orangeface
This 54X78" acrylic on canvas was worked on today. Believe it or not, it is a fourth incarnation of the previously posted "stages canvas." I see a big face in there now, which could be a self portrait in an abstract sense!
8.4.07
6.4.07
Kirk Armstrong's CD Wire
Kirk Armstrong's CD Wire is now available online at cdbaby.com.
You can now hear clips of all the songs on Wire in both hi-speed and lo-speed formats. Hey this album really has some excellent musical landscapes and cool cover art by yours truly! Thanks and congratulations Kirk!
Neuroplasticity
Via: Discovery. New books explain the science of how our brains continue to learn and adapt well into adulthood. Seems that meditation is the best exercise for lucidity. I bet that painting is equally beneficial, probably any activity which involves creative thinking or problem solving develops an open mind. In the future will science prove that active painting is the the highest form of redeeming our minds?
3.4.07
Stages: Acrylic Painting
This is the early stage of a less recent 60X78" acrylic canvas which would be revealed by x-ray, I think. Posted for Candy Minx. I like the urgency of the energy here.
The second stage documented and it looks smoother. I see how the initial layer influences and becomes merged.
This is the last stage and the canvas is now rolled up. I probably won't work upon it again. Although each stage has it's pros and cons my initial response is to work less in stages and to resolve my work as much as possible in one session. I keep pieces tacked up around the studio in order to retain visual references for current work.
2.4.07
Picasso's undercover painting
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is presenting a look at a hidden image discovered behind the artist's painting Scene de Rue. A prototype for Picasso's masterpiece Le Moulin de Galette is revealed by x-radiography and digital imaging process. Via:cnet.
1.4.07
Carl Ahrens Canadian Painter(1862-1936)
I discovered for the first time this Ontario born Canadian painter of trees via: Zekes Gallery. His work is in many public collections excepting the AGO. A much sought after painting of his is "The Goose Girl." This painting by Carl Ahrens appeared at an exhibition for the Palette Club in Toronto in January of 1894. The newspaper "Saturday Night" described the painting as "most striking in its misty landscape, vivid light in the sky, with a little red-headed girl who drives her geese.
goosegirl
I was at my studio early to work on this 50X54" piece which is simular to Dreamers in that it has faces. Two to be exact, one is obvious, the other hidden, maybe there are more. The Goose Girl is a traditional fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.
Chocolate Jesus Offends Catholics
Via: The Globe and Mail. The sculpture “My Sweet Lord” by Cosimo Cavallaro was to be exhibited for two hours each day next week in a street-level window of the Roger Smith Lab Gallery in Midtown Manhattan. The archbishop of New York called it a “sickening display.” Chocolate lovers better stick to the pagan eggs and bunnies that spring up in window shops this time of year.
No Museums Policy in Canada
Via: The Globe and Mail. Many of the museums are in dire need of repair. The Prairie Art Gallery in Grande Prairie, Alta., roof sagged under melting snow and collapsed on March 19. No one was injured due to fast acting curator Robert Steven.
Renting the Louvre
The French government had agreed to rent the name of the Louvre to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for 30 years for $520 million. Via NYT. With all of this globalization of the arts and culture, soon the you'll need to travel to Dubai to see the Group of Seven?
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