Monthly Octopus

I often say that I hate drawing octopodes because of the repetitive process of making the suckers. But in the end, there is always a monthly octo-thing in my imagination.

If you'd like to know more about the structure of octopus suckers, here's a complete article  : suck it here!

So this is my monthly-made-in-few-minutes-octopus inspired by the previous article.

-Trai-

Heavy Metal art

 I wanted to write this article to 1) show my admiration for digital art 2) to show a bit of amazing art by album cover artists.
  I can understand not liking Heavy metal music but the illustrations and work behind these album covers are amazing,I might even say insane.
  The first artist I want to talk about is Paul Romano,he's done artwork for metal bands such as :
  Death by Stereo, Animosity, Godflesh and Turmoil but the one I want to show today is for the band
Mastodon( a very good band by the way) his work it seems is part digital and I can't tell what the rest is
(I know,how unprofessional)

What I enjoy most about Paul Romano's work is that you can sense all his inspirations,

whether it be Russian,Indian or Japanese art and you can see a love for classical art as well as modern.

Maybe I'm wrong,but I find his work incredibly respectful and loving towards classical illustration.

The second artist I'd like to talk about is John Baizley

a painter and musician based in Savannah, Georgia. He is notable for his album cover and t-shirt art for bands including Kylesa, Pig Destroyer, Darkest Hours,Daughters, Skeletonwitch, Torche, Cursed, Black Tusk, Kvelertak,Vitamin X, Flight of the Conchords and his own band, Baroness for which he is the singer and rhythm guitarist.

He has also begun doing art work for monthly guitar publication Guitar World.

His work reminds me of different things,one being Art nouveau,which is one of my favorite.

You can sense as well that his artwork is inspired by Pushead a.k.a Brian Schroeder who's illustrated for

bands such as Metallica and the Misfits.

Writing this article I was just thinking how album art has such diversity,I remember heavy metal bands such as

Cannibal Corpse making the most traumatising album cover art..

but the ones by Paul Romano and John Baizley I find quite fine and beautiful.

If the music is scary,loud or violent,doesn't mean the art has to be and maybe this shows us that there's more behind this music,for example Mastodon's album "Leviathan" has a great story behind it,"Moby Dick" I suggest you try it out..if it's not your type of music though,I totally understand!

here's a video from the band's album "Leviathan" the song is called

"Blood and Thunder"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=labytsb3gfI

    

crummy Crumb by me (Ava)

As I told you in the previous post,I was going to do a Robert Crumb article.
So as you all know Robert Crumb is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainsteam.

Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comik book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin''" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters Devil Girl, Fritz the Cat, and Mr.Natural.

     

  If i had to write all the work he's done,and his whole life,I'd write a 10 page article,which I'm not going to do!

 I just wanted to point out how much of an inspiration he is to me..and how perfect I find his work! I've tried to scribble some Crumb inspired drawings for you..but I warn you 1) my camera's terrible 2) my drawings are terrible as well..so enjoy!

I guess you can say that they're crummy but I enjoyed making them and many more.

Every body's into more digital art,i still haven't adapted,not that I'm not a fan but I just still enjoy my good old pen and paper..

meanwhile here's a little song,very "Crumb"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytVww5r4Nk0

  

          

where is this going???

Ok, you must be wondering where is this blog going?not any new info that transcends or blows the mind..no new artwork being posted..rest assured,it is coming..
  I've been salivating on Robert Crumb's sketchbooks these last few days being truly inspired..
So by the end of today I'll be posting some of my Crumb inspired sketches..he's probably the artist I'm most into at the moment..
so you'll be able to check out more about him in an upcoming post..


Meanwhile, I wanted to tell you about a great graphic design team you probably all know about already
"morning breath"
They are two guys out of Brooklyn, Doug Cunningham 
and Jason Noto.The duo has accumulated an impressive resume of clientele ranging from Zoo York Skateboards to Album design for bands such as Slayer, Foo Fighters and TV on the Radio.

                   

Their work often depicts boldly colored, mixed-up layers of old skool advertisement slogans, pin-up girls and comic book style characters. Morning Breath will be coming to London for the first ever time as part of London Miles’ group exhibition alongside Ekundayo and Fernando Chamarelli.

As I was reading about them online I stumbled across an interview of the artistic duo..

          

What mediums do you guys use?

Most of our paintings are done with a combination of acrylic paint and silkscreen. We paint primarily on wood board.

                                          

                  

How and why did you both start doing art?

We both have been creating art since childhood. I don’t know if there is an answer to why, we just do, and in a way always have been creating art. I guess if there is an answer it’s been different throughout stages of our lives. If you ask why we do it now, I guess it’s just a need to escape the confounds of commercial work. Although one might think even our commercial work is creative, it still has more compromise than we’d like.

 Was building a work dynamic difficult for you at all? If you hadn’t begun working together, how do you think your artistic styles would be different today?

The building of our work dynamic came about very naturally, we each offered something that the other didn’t have. Jason was trained as a graphic designer, and I was an illustrator. Had we not joined forces I guess we both would have evolved, but only in our respective areas of art.

Will your work for the upcoming show consist of any British influences for this show?

I don’t think there will be much in the way of British influence on our art. Most of the influence on our art comes from 1950s to 1970s Advertising and typography. We take the ideas from that era and remix with a fucked up broken aesthetic.

Did you guys make any kind of alterations to your work for the upcoming exhibition at London Miles because you will be showing to a different audience or, is audience a non-factor for you?

The audience is really a non-factor for us. When it comes to our painting we’re doing it for Morning Breath. Our commercial work forces us to keep the client in mind, so when it comes to our personal work, we need the freedom.

You guys have been doing a lot of incredible design work for albums recently, who has been your favorite musician/band to work with?

The Band we had the most fun on the Project was with Queens of the Stone Age. That was one of the few music projects that very clearly let the Morning Breath aesthetic come through.

What is your creative process; how do you amalgamate your ideas?

When we are working on our personnel work there is very much a free flow of ideas, and the process is experimental within the confines of our familiarity. Our paintings are a reflection of the tag team approach that we take. We don’t force the evolution of our paintings, but just let our feelings toward them add, or subtract over time.

Who has been your biggest client to date?

Our biggest client to date has been Universal Music Group. With its many sub-labels, and a huge list of big and small artists, they have kept us fairly busy with work for roughly the past decade.

If you could only choose one, would you rather produce for galleries or continue doing commercial work for clients?

If we could make a comfortable living doing nothing but gallery art, we would much rather go that route. We both have families and live in New York. It is very expensive here, and the reality for us is that we need to bring in a solid income if we want to maintain life the way we’ve been living. If we we were single and younger we probably wouldn’t give too much a shit about it.

Morning Breath will be showing their work at London Miles Gallery in London alongside works by Ekundayo, and Fernando Chamarelli, which will open with a reception slated for Friday, October 8th 2010.  Details here.

Exhibition on show: October 9th to November 5th 2010.

For more information, contact www.londonmiles.com

Should Larry Clark be censored?

Obviously I had to write a little article about the big controversy going on in Paris around Larry Clark..

This show was conceived by the American movie director Larry Clark and is his first big show in France around his photographic work.The exhibit represents fifty years of work reflected through two hundred original photographs,main theme being the hardship of adolescence,most of the photographs relating to that were taken between 1990 and 2000.You can also find pictures from  "Tulsa"(1971),"teenage lust"(1983) and "Los Angeles 2003-2010"

    Larry Clark has been exploring for over fifty years the limits and the minds of American teenagers.The exhibit is at the Modern arts Museum of Paris,and is creating a huge controversy over the fact that the show's entrance is limited to visitors 18 years or older.why? because he represents sex,drugs,guns and skate-boarding.

                          
   The artist's work was censored for being pornographic by the Parisian city hall.
I first found it quite shocking coming from France,seeing as they're very open minded and secondly I truly don't understand why you would organize an exhibit and censor it or limit it to people 18 or older ..anyways,I guess this was a blessing in disguise for Larry Clark being that the controversy created a huge buzz that I don't think he would've had if he hadn't been censored..everybody wants to see it now and it's a wonderful publicity stunt in my opinion!

                                             

The show is called "Kiss The Past Hello" I suggest you go see it,and if you're under 18,go fornicate and reenact the show,ok ok just kidding..


                                       you can see the show at :Musée d'Art moderne - Paris
                                             Dates :  8 October 2010 till January 2 2011

                  For more information about Larry Clark's work or movies
                                      http://www.larryclarkofficialwebsite.com/

How art is sold in 2010..

a little gift for today,a video made by Sotheby's to sell Andy Warhol's 1962
"Coca-Cola {4}"

This is 2010, and if you are going to sell a piece of art for around $25m, creating a video presentation for that particular piece of art would let everyone know a bit more on what they are going to bid on.

Sotheby's created this video for Andy Warhol's Coca-Cola [4][Large Coca-Cola], 1962, set to go to auction on November 9, 2010, at Sotheby's evening Contemporary Art Evening Auction.

The video is great summary on the significance of the piece, and historical context in regards to Warhol's career.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8orJEWKhao&feature=player_embedded#!

From Neoclassicism to Expressionism

I wanted to write a little article about an amazing sculptor,

FRANZ XAVER MESSERSCHMIDT 1736-1783 , this artist's work as unbelievable as it may seem was 18th century and way ahead of it's time,we can even say he represents the roots of Expressionism..

   Messerschmidt made his mark at first in Vienna, where he enjoyed a successful career, including several royal commissions. Working in a neoclassical vein, Messerschmidt produced some of the most important sculptures of the eighteenth century. He presented the individual features of his models in a way “true to nature,” in keeping with their age and without idealizing them. No other sculptor in Vienna at the time was similarly uncompromising when producing portraits.

    Around 1770, there was a rupture in Messerschmidt’s life. The artist was thought to have psychological problems, lost his position at the university, and decided to return to Wiesensteig, his native Bavarian town. From that period on, Messerschmidt devoted himself to the creation of his “character heads,” the body of work for which he would become best known. To produce these works, the artist would look into the mirror, pinching his body and contorting his face. He then rendered, with great precision, his distorted expressions. Messerschmidt is known to have produced more than 60 of these astonishing works before he died in 1783 at the age of 47.

       Messerschmidt can be seen in relation to artists such as William Blake and Francisco Goya for his explorations of the dark side of the human soul. His “character heads,” in particular, are masterly works of sculpture, whose expressive intensity anticipates several later developments in art.

  

September 16, 2010- January 10, 2011

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt is the first exhibition in the United States devoted exclusively to this major late 18th-century Bavarian-born Austrian sculptor. It focuses on the artist’s so-called “character heads,” among the most important works of sculpture from their era. 

  The exhibition is organized by Guilhem Scherf, chief curator of sculpture at the Musée du Louvre.

The show will be on view at the Neue Galerie New York from September 16, 2010, to January 10, 2011, then travel to the Louvre, where it will be on view from January 26 to April 25, 2011. This is the first collaboration between the Neue Galerie and the Louvre. It is accompanied by a full-scale catalogue, with essays by Guilhem Scherf, Maria Pötzl-Malikova, Antonia Boström, and Marie-Claude Lambotte.

                    

Yes,a lot of his work does look painful or like the characters are going through a bad case of hemorrhoids,but the artist was said to have been suffering from  Crohn's disease, which caused him considerable discomfort. In order to focus his thoughts away from his condition, Messerschmidt devised a series of pinches he administered to his right lower rib. Observing the resulting facial expressions in a mirror, Messerschmidt then set about recording them in marble and bronze. His intention, he told Nicolai, was to represent the 64 "canonical grimaces" of the human face using himself as a template.Messerschmidt's work is truly amazing and I can't wait to go see his portraits at the Louvre!

-Ava 

Daily Randomness

No. It is not my version of the mustache. Just a random illustration I made last night. She's cute, huh?

From now on, I have a week to grow up my mustache. Fooooo!

-Trai-