New Perspectives - Art Filler

We have a very special intersection of pastime and profession on tap for you tomorrow, but until then, please enjoy this piece by Hokkaido-based artist Kenichi Nakaya. Visual Flood describes Nakaya's "Folklore" series thusly:

This ongoing project sees him transforming common, sometimes even quirky, Japanese rural crafts into fresh, modern works. Nakaya’s distinct approach breathes new life into items deeply embedded in the nation’s cultural fabric, offering a contemporary perspective on traditional aesthetics. His dedication to recontextualizing these familiar objects highlights a unique blend of preservation and innovation within his practice

Me, I was just tickled by the juxtaposition between what I first saw and what actually existed.

Potraits

zdaughter enjoys making art, especially painting.  This is her fifth year of art camp so she comes home every day with new pieces.  Our home gallery includes a paper-mâché hippopotamus head, a drip-painted statue of a rabbit, a picture of a watermelon pressed onto paper using a styrofoam block, and many many canvases.  She likes landscapes and seascapes but I think her best work is her portraits.

Here are two self-portraits.

She has become a major Teedge fan ever since she saw photos of his cats with wine.  She calls him The Cat Wine Guy and will tell me "text this photo to The Cat Wine Guy."  Here's her portrait of him.

Alright, maybe not.  But that's a couch potato so it could be Teedge.

Here's her portrait of TR:

Alright, maybe not.  It's a deep pull from We Bare Bears but it could be TR if you watch the episode.

Here are portraits of zcats.

The one on the right was rushed so she's going to do another this coming week.  She also says the cat on the right is harder to paint because she's all one color.  We'll see what happens.

Here's one of me.

She says it looks better this way.

Again, maybe not.  That's Spider-Man but I'm a superhero for shlepping her to and from art camp all summer.

And my favorite portrait of the summer is the one of rob.

No joking here, that's our man squirrel.  Note the slightly angry camber of his eyebrows and the tuft of gray on top of his head and peppered into his chest hair.  Spot on.

Please feel free to request a portrait.  Every morning while I'm getting her ready for camp she says "what should I paint" and no matter what I suggest she says "that's boring" or "that's lame" so she needs inspiration from outside the house.

Men, Moment

Sports fans share a common visual vocabulary. There are iconic images that we recognize instantly. Neil Leifer's shot of Muhammad Ali standing over a vanquished Sonny Liston. Walter Iooss Jr.'s photo of Dwight Clark making The Catch. Leifer capturing John Carlos and Tommie Smith quietly and powerfully making a statement at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. You have your favorites, I'm sure.

Jerome Brouillet may have captured my new all-time favorite. Yesterday, during the Olympic surfing competition at the fabled Teahupo'o in Tahiti, Brazilian Gabriel Medina delivered the best-scoring ride of the day. He surged off the back of the wave and held his index finger aloft in recognition of the quality of his performance. Brouillet caught the moment perfectly:

That's just spectacular. And it will be hanging in my house at some point.

The Green Fields of the Mind, Among Other Colors

"What goes around, comes around" -- Beastie Boys

The human mind is a hell of thing. Mine took me on a journey this week, a detour down rabbit holes that enlightened and amused me. And so I invite you to take a trip with me to visit my beautiful mind and see what I saw.

I was reading a news story so forgettable that I've, well, forgotten it. The piece was illustrated by this starkly beautiful painting of a winter scene. 

The piece, as it turns out, is entitled 'Winter Blue'. The artist? His name was Zoltan Sepeshy. 

I think you understand what synapses fired at that point. So I did some digging into Z Sep. Turns out he was a Hungarian-American artist of reasonable renown, serving as the Director of the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research in Bloomfield Hills, MI, a suburb of Detroit. His work was alternately realist and cubist, and his subjects were both pastoral and urban-industrial. This 1947 work, entitled Factory Rhythm (Back of Hudson Motor Plant), is more of the latter.

That painting lit up a different pathway in my mindtunnels. It reminded me a lot of the streetscape from this legendary video:

At roughly the same time, another brainprecinct weighed in with something for consideration, combining the two things I know about Detroit and art. 

This work is entitled Sunday Neurosis. It's an early-ish work by Doug Malone, a Detroit-based artist and teacher at The College of Creative Studies, as well as a FOG:TB.

That's where this particular journey through my mindtunnels ended. I do hope you kept your seatbelt on, and that you enjoyed your trip.

Gheorghemas Interlude: I'm That Type of Guy

The National Portrait Gallery is one of the more underrated museums in the Smithsonian system, suffering a bit from its location several blocks off the National Mall, and its relative lack of marketing attention. It might be my favorite spot to see art in the Nation's Capital.

We took a family trip there a few days ago as a way to get out of the house and not spend the entire holiday period laying on our asses and overindulging. Our primary objective was to see the new portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama recently unveiled in the Gallery. We didn't have a ton of time, so our trip was mainly focused on the Presidential wing, though we did see a handful of other notable portions of the collection.

Because you're an erudite bunch, I thought I'd share my favorite images from the day. Some struck me because of the artistic expression, others for different reasons entirely. In any case, here are a few of my favorite things, portrait category:

James K. Polk looked a lot like Colin Farrell. I was amused by this.

Bill Clinton's portrait is an abstract by Chuck Close, himself accused of sexual assault. There's a lot to unpack here. It's visually fascinating, and inspires mixed emotions, if the people around me were a representative sample. 

George W. Bush occupies a wall directly opposite from his father, gallery-wise. Bush 41 is depicted in a suit, formally. His son chose to be portrayed casually, which seems to me to fit his character.

Elaine de Kooning's portrait of John F. Kennedy was the most unique of all the Presidential images, abstract and expressionist. 

I hadn't seen this view of Abraham Lincoln before. Dude aged a lot in the last four years of his life.

I didn't love Amy Sherald's portrait of Michelle Obama, to be honest. The skin tone seems gray and flat, and the likeness of Mrs. Obama's face isn't great. But the artist captured the former first lady's elegance and grace in the carriage of her wrists and arms. I couldn't stop looking at those details.

Norman Rockwell painted Richard Nixon. I did not know that. The artist said that he found his subject difficult, and ultimately chose to paint him in a flattering light because he wanted his subjects to feel good about themselves. It's a Nixon I don't think I've ever seen.

Kehinde Wiley's portrait of Barack Obama was my second-favorite image. It's visually remarkable in its attention to detail - the folds of Obama's suit and lines on his hands are perfect, for example - and its contrasting colors. It juxtaposes a serious man with an unusual background, a reminder that Obama moved comfortably between the most formal environments and the most relaxed with equanimity.

After we'd seen the Presidental portrait gallery, we wandered through several other halls. When I entered the room that contained Michelle Obama's portrait, I was immediately attracted to an image. It wasn't that of the First Lady. On a wall by itself, an immense 6' by 8', all pop and flash, Kehinde Wiley's (the same artist who painted President Obama's portrait above) 2005 study of LL Cool J dazzled. It's worth the trip to the Gallery just to see this single painting. It's stunning.

Going, Going, Gone

I don't presume to know anything about the art world, in particular the rarefied precincts where artists sell their works for millions of dollars. I know what I like (Roy Lichtenstein, for example), but the nuances of valuation completely escape me. I think artists should be able to make a living providing us with beauty and joy, making us think, calling attention to injustice and inequality, and sometimes just celebrating whimsy.

You could argue that Banksy's newest work, a combination of artistic technique and subversive social commentary, ticks all of those boxes.

The painting, entitled Girl With Balloon (voted last year as the UK's most-loved artwork), was auctioned at Sotheby's in London on Friday night for $1.4 million. Moments after the sale was finalized, an alarm sounded, and a mechanism within the frame activated, slowly pulling the painting through a series of blades hidden within the frame, shredding the picture in front of gasping onlookers.



That's a lot of bemused rich white people, man.

Banksy himself (herself?) posted on Instagram in the aftermath, using the words in the headline to this post. On the one hand, it's a brilliant commentary on the absurdity of trying to put a value on art and the ephemeral nature of life (or something). On the other, it's a cynically genius bit of marketing, calculated to continue to build a brand and increase the value of the next thing Banksy does. This thing even, actually, as some experts suggest that the shredded artwork is now worth as much as 50% more than the auction price, given its notoriety.

I choose to focus on the whimsy. I laughed. And that's enough.

Penance

Apparently, people don't much like seeing their cartoon heroes bathed in blood. My bad.

In an effort to cleanse this space and restore some beauty to it, today we discuss art, poetry, and history, all in one of my favorite places in the world.

Here's a video preview of the Twenty Summers program, an arts education effort initiated just a few weeks ago in the renovated Hawthorn Barn in Provincetown, MA. The barn has been a place of congregation and learning for such luminaries as Stanley Kunitz, Norman Rockwell, Jackson Pollack, and Norman Mailer. Seven years ago, it was at risk, as the development of that unique Cape Cod town threatened it. Today, it's been revived and restored.

Culture Up (Out?) Your Ass Thursday

Say what you will about Chinese sculptor Chen Wenling (just the other day, talking to some colleagues, I said I found him shallow and pedantic, but I may have mistaken him for someone else), his work is certainly striking.

Take, for example, his 2009 series, What You See May Not Be Real. The painted fiberglass works skewer (below, literally) the Wall Street culture that berthed banking crisis of the late 2010s. In the work below, the figure pinned to the wall by the gas-powered bull (according the The Design Inspiration, farting implies bluffing or lying in Chinese culture) is intended to represent disgraced financier Bernie Madoff.

 

Subtlety, it seems, may not be a Wenling attribute. 

But if you like your art muscular and flatulent, Wenling's work is available through Ode to Art Contemporary Singapore. Pick up a couple for the team next time you're there.

Portrait Saturday

We're nothing if not supporters of the arts. And goofy shit. So when we heard about Wes Naman's latest work, we were naturally excited.

You may know Naman from his Scotch Tape series, in which volunteers allowed him to cover their faces and heads with tape and photograph the results. The portfolio quickly went viral, both overwhelming Naman and inspiring his next project.

For Naman's Rubber Band series, subjects wrapped themselves, creating grotesquely silly masks. As wired.com offhandedly notes, "Some went crazier than others, because rubber bands hurt a lot more than tape. That said, there’s still a whole lot of nose and ear warping, and the rubber bands do an even better job than tape when it comes to forcing skin and hair to stick out in awkward and painful ways."

We think this one's our favorite, but it's close. The Wu-Tang Financial t-shirt pushes it over the top.

The best/worst thing about this series? The Teej does this kind of thing just for kicks. If only he'd known he could get Internet Famous for it.

Ghustice League, Assemble

I call to order this meeting of the Ghustice League, and offer to Mark and Zman a mission. Find Jay Shells and offer our assistance in his endeavors. From Fast Company:

Graphic designer and urban interventionist Jay Shells decided that New York City locations, memorialized in rap songs by the likes of Mos Def, Nas, or Jay-Z, should get the recognition they’re due. His guerrilla signage project has installed official-looking signs with rap lyrics at the exact locations referenced. "Cause I want to be on 106 and Park pushing a Benz," rapped Kanye West. Now, a sign says as much, posted at, you guessed it, the intersection of Park Avenue and 106th St. (the Harlem location where BET once had a studio).

We don't have to limit our efforts to rap, of course. I'm certain Clarence and I would enjoy figuring out where Oppenheimer Road is, and posting an Old 97s lyric, among numerous other songs and places. Everybody sign up for something in the comments. We'll make assignments soon.

Me and George

The snarkosphere is in full squawk these past few weeks over a series of pictures released by a hacker allegedly depicting the paintings of George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States and punching bag of elites from both sides of the aisle. In what might pass for self-parody, Gawker calls them 'odd', 'awkward', and 'monstrous-looking'. Various other interweb commentators review Bush's works with tones more often associated with descriptions of the first, halting efforts of modestly talented middle school musicians - half sympathetic, half mocking with faint praise.

To those about to snark, we...say "fuck you".

I'm no fan of Bush the Younger, as you well know. But as one who's dabbled in the acrylic arts, I can say this with certainty: painting is hard as shit. I've completed somewhere around 40 paintings, and I'd be willing to let other human beings see a grand total of one of them. (I'd post a picture here, but I gave it to Clarence, figuring I'd knock off a couple more. I have yet to do so.)

I started painting a few years ago on a whim, and because my daughter showed some talent for art. I took a painting class at a local art studio, one I really enjoyed and not only because I was the only male in a group of 12. But I very quickly realized that I had little talent for representational painting - I could make colors work together, but my understanding of perspective, and shading, and light, and most of the other building blocks of good art is, as it turns out, highly limited. My kid has lapped me, frankly, though I have developed an abstract style I like to call 'slap some colorful shit on a canvas and smear it around'.

There are people in the world like our friend Doug, both gifted and extremely hard workers, who create incomprehensibly beautiful and compelling art from nothing. There are others who are both talented and lucky, with public acclaim and riches to follow. And then there are the countless rest of us, like me and President Bush, who paint because it makes us happy, even though we suck.

So I stand with W, in this perhaps singular case. Go on with your bad self, George. That picture of Barney isn't half bad. Can't wait for our joint show in Kennebunkport. Haters gonna hate, but if you're not gonna grab a brush, and mix some paints, and make an effort, you're just making noise. And none of us have time for noise.

BREAKING NEWS:

I lied above. I have actually allowed real human beings to view THREE of my paintings. One hangs in my dining room, and the other in my office. It's pictured below. Please be kind.

BREAKING NEWS:

I have photographed Rob's painting that resides in our kitchen.  Here it is, and I dig it.  -- Whitney

Culture Up Your Ass Wednesday

My daughters are, like many children, really interested in art. I've had lots of conversations with them lately about what constitutes art, especially as technology vastly expands artists' ability to create. My wife is still angry with me for telling the girls about Andres' Serrano's 'Piss Christ', in no small part because my oldest girl brought it up in front of her Sunday School teacher. (At least I've kept Robert Mapplethorpe's later work from their attention. Our church is pretty progressive, but that might raise some eyebrows.)

It was with the perspective of a child, then, that I encountered The Heidelberg Project, a 25 year-old effort that's turned two blocks of inner-city Detroit into a colorful folk art installation. Artist Tyree Guyton, a native of the neighborhood, mixes found objects, sculpture, bright paint, and words to "demonstrate the power of creativity to save lives." In addition to continually adding to the work, Guyton and his team offer tours and work with local children to demonstrate a different vision for their largely blighted community.

The City of Detroit tried twice in the 1990s to destroy the project razing buildings in both cases. And each time, Guyton picked up the pieces and kept at it. Now it's a protected landmark, and one of the city's leading tourist attractions.

In the first installment of another recurring feature destined not to recur, Tyree Guyton is G:TB's first Artist in Virtual Residence. He couldn't join us in person today, but his people did send word that he's humbled and flattered by this prestigious honor. More of his story below.

Annual G:TB Culture Post

Redskins tight end Chris Cooley is opening an art gallery featuring his pottery and paintings down the block from my house. The grand opening is Friday. At least he's got something to take his mind off the season.