Ordinary Problems: An Exhibition of Drawing

A collective of up and coming Canberra-based artists are finalising preparations for a new exhibition of drawing on Thursday, 23 May at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space. Artists Zoya Godoroja-Prieckaerts, Clare Alexander Jackson, Sacha James Jeffrey and Chris Sutevski (each a student of visual art at the Australian National University) will showcase new work. The act of putting pen to parchment, from its most considered to its most organic, is fundamental to the creation and discovery of new thought. These artists draw to question and make sense of processes, emotional expression and contextual difficulties, tackling the ordinary problems that arise in their practice. See a taster of what to expect below, with some drawings by Zoya Godoroja-Prieckaerts.

A Modern Teenager Interprets Classic Art

[via Pleated Jeans]

The Girl With The Vintage Camera Tattoo

Say cheese! Dutch tattoo artist Helma van der Weide’s tattoo for her daughter Lotte van den Acker shows a vintage 1970s Ashahi Pentax 35mm SLR, an iconic design that influenced generations of cameras. The picture has received more than 35,000 likes on the Tattooed Women Facebook page. Me likey!

via [news.com.au]

Art.sy and the Art Genome Project

On Monday this week the art curation website Art.sy launched. Art.sy provides a new way for people to discover art and is based on the Art Genome Project. Much like how the music streaming service Pandora curates art according to what songs you like, Art.sy curates art based on your visual taste. The website has one of the biggest collections of art online and comprises more than 17,000 artworks by over 3,000 artists from leading galleries, museums, private collections, foundations, and artist estates. Art.sy works with more than 300 of the world’s leading galleries, museums, private collections, foundations, and artist estates from New York to London, Paris to Shanghai, Johannesburg to São Paulo.

As Melena Ryzik noted in the New York Times:

Any music fan knows that there are myriad ways to find new songs online: a scroll through digital playlists and streaming radio services like Pandora, which serve as musical recommendation engines. Likewise, Netflix subscribers are regularly showered with suggestions for, say, romantic comedies and horror films, based on previously viewed movies.

But until now, there was no automated guidance for art lovers seeking discoveries online — no “If you like Jackson Pollock’s ‘No. 1,’ you may also enjoy Mark Rothko’s ‘No. 18.’ ”

For the Art Genome Project, Matthew Israel, 34, who holds a Ph.D. in art and archaeology from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, leads a team of a dozen art historians who decide what those codes are and how they should be applied. Some labels (Art.sy calls them “genes” and recognises about 800 of them, with more added daily) denote fairly objective qualities, like the historical period and region the work comes from and whether it is figurative or abstract, or belongs in an established category like Cubism, Flemish portraiture or photography.

Other labels are highly subjective, even quirky; for contemporary art, for example, Art.sy’s curators might attach terms like “globalisation” and “culture critique” to give ideological context.

Maybe Tumblr or Pinterst is more your bag, but new channels for finding art are always welcome.

This is Coffee! A ‘Mad Men’ Era Ode to Coffee

This rather splendid Mad-Men-era short film, produced by Vision Associates in 1961 as promotional material for the Coffee Brewing Institute, traces the art and culture of coffee from its harvesting and production to its many traditions of preparation. Get yourself a brew, sit back and soak it in.

[via Brainpickings]

Daniel Eatock

Daniel Eatock discusses his work Felt-tip Prints (2011), part of the Walker Art Center’s exhibition Graphic Design: Now in Production. Such a great idea.

Ye-Z

It’s not the official cover of Jay-Z and Kanye’s highly anticipated collab album, Watch the Throne. But it really should be.

[via The High Definite]

NY Adorned – “Tradition”

Speaking of NY…

The Archibald Prize 2010

Earlier this month the Art Gallery of New South Wales unveiled the finalists for the 2010 Archibald Prize. The Archibald Prize is one of the most popular annual art exhibitions in Australia and continures to chronicle the changing face of Australian society and is awarded to the best portrait of a man or woman “distinguished in the arts, letters, sciences or public life”. The 2010 winner was announced on Saturday and the prize was awarded to Sam Leach for his portriat of singer/songwriter Tim Minchin (above).

See some of my favourite portraits from this years finalists below. You can also get a taste of some of last years entries here.

Andrew Upton by Alexander McKenzie

Bill Wright AM by Jasper Knight

CW Stoneking by Carla Fletcher

Michael Zavros by Cherry Hood

The Bequest (Geoff Ostling) by Nick Stathopoulos

Haroshi’s Skateboard Art

Haroshi does cool stuff with old skateboard decks. Check out more here.

[via Monster Children]

Michael Zavros

I’ve posted a piece by Australian artist Michael Zavros before, but I was scoping his site again recently and decided he deserves more attention. His art is inspired by fashion and has a nice illustrative quality to it.

 

Russell Shoemaker

Russell Shoemaker loves colour and favours oil on canvas. As his website says, his “work seems to ceaselessly navigate between representation and abstraction.”

[via Booooooom]