Posts in Category: Art History
Moebius RIP
Moebius documentary – Boing Boing.
Jean Giraud, the comics artist who worked under the name Moebius, has died at the age of 73. Moebius defined the style of Metal Hurlant/Heavy Metal, a surreal, madcap, sometimes grotesque science fictional visual style that is often imitated but which Moebius himself produced to high spec and in such great amounts. On Tor.com, art director Irene Gallo remembers him: “He was a particular favorite among his fellow artists. Many creatives and readers will mourn his passing.” Neil Gaiman also has words on his passing:
I couldn’t actually figure out what the Moebius stories were about, but I figured that was because my French wasn’t up to it. (I could get the gist of the Richard Corben Den story, and loved that too, and not just because of the nakedness, but the Moebius stories were obviously so much deeper.)
I read the magazine over and over and envied the French because they had everything I dreamed of in comics – beautifully drawn, visionary and literate comics, for adults. I just wished my French was better, so I could understand the stories (which I knew would be amazing).
I wanted to make comics like that when I grew up.
I finally read the Moebius stories in that Metal Hurlant when I was in my 20s, in translation, and discovered that they weren’t actually brilliant stories. More like stream-of-consciousness art meets Ionesco absurdism. The literary depth and brilliance of the stories had all been in my head. Didn’t matter. The damage had long since been done.
The Medici Venus Once Had Red Lips : Discovery News
Red lipstick once shimmered on the lips of the Medici Venus, according to chemical analysis on the 2,000-year-old marble statue representing the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite.
The investigation, carried out at the University of Modena and Reggio and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, where the statue has been on display since 1677, indicates that the life-sized naked and sensual Venus originally had red lips and hair laminated with gold.
These features were meant to represent the Venus “in a very realistic way,” Fabrizio Paolucci, head of the Uffizi’s classical antiquities department, said.
To strenghten the effect, the naked statue also wore precious earrings, as newly discovered earlobe holes suggest.
Gilbert & George: Lives in art | Art and design | The Guardian
“Man. Woman. Murder.” Gilbert begins to intone. “Addict. Strangled. Rape.” “Pervert”, interjects George, “Suicide. Attack.” It’s almost comforting to hear Gilbert and George talk about their latest exhibition, London Pictures, which opens at all three of White Cube’s London galleries next week as part of a 13 gallery world tour. The show comprises 292 pictures based on the 3712 newspaper sellers’ posters they have stolen over the last six years – “we counted them in the end” – grouped together by headline words and arranged in their trademark grid designs. “And when you start to see the words together – School. Mystery. Tube – you start to see the most extraordinary townscape of London. And none of it is invented. These are real people’s lives.”
via Gilbert & George: Lives in art | Art and design | The Guardian.
Quote
“Cubism is no different from any other school of painting. The same principles and the same elements are common to all. The fact that for a long time cubism has not been understood and that even today there are people who cannot see anything in it, means nothing. I do not read English, and an English book is a blank to me. This does not mean that the English language does not exist, and why should I blame anyone but myself if I cannot understand what I know nothing about?”
— Picasso
The Ghent Altarpiece in 100 Billion Pixels
Check out the detail: Van Eyck‘s Adam. Adams Face in Infrared and visible light
It is now possible to zoom into the intricate, breathtaking details of one of the most important works of art from the medieval world, thanks to a newly completed website focused on the Ghent Altarpiece.
A stunning and highly complex painting composed of separate oak panels, The Mystic Lamb of 1432 by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, known as the Ghent Altarpiece, recently underwent much-needed emergency conservation within the Villa Chapel in St. Bavo Cathedral in Ghent.
As part of this work, the altarpiece was removed from its glass enclosure and temporarily dismantled—a rare event which also made it possible to undertake a comprehensive examination and documentation, supported by the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles.
It is Not Digital, It is Anamorphic Art! › Illusion – The Most Amazing Creations in Art, Photography, Design, and Video.
Felice Varini was born in 1952 in Locarno, Switzerland. and currently lives in Paris.[…] The paintings are characterized by a single vantage point from which the viewer can see the complete painting usually a simple geometric shape such as circle, square, line, while various ‘broken’ fragmented shapes are seen from various other view points. Varini contends that the work exists as a whole — the complete shape as well as the fragments. “My concern,” he says “is what happens outside the vantage point of view.”
Fantastic collection of art videos – DocuWatch
Welcome to DocuWatch, your source of free streaming documentaries!
On this site, you will find hundreds of documentaries that have been found
on the web, all in one place, all ready to watch.
National Gallery of Art – Videos & Podcasts
Stay up to date with podcasts from the National Gallery of Art, which include documentary excerpts, lectures, and other films about the Gallery’s history, exhibitions, and collections.
This is a great collection of podcast (video and audio) about works of art, artists and exhibitions at one the worlds best museums. Well Worth the time to check out.