 |
||
|
NATE LOWMAN About This Work: Nate Lowman is an American artist, well-known for being part of a group of New York artists who called themselves “Warhol’s children”. The main theme of his work lies in creating connections from the detritus of pop culture to its spectators. Lowman states: “I don’t have a great imagination to share something with you that I don’t know, so it’s about interpreting things, a dialogue”. Lowman brought downtown nonconformity to the mainstream art world with his “bullet holes” paintings. Bullet Holes, although resembling a very simple artwork, hides a lot of different references and has its roots in the American Pop Art. Metaphorically, the deafening shot of the gun refers to the nonchalant prevalence of violence in media culture and America’s obsession with guns. “America is built on violence “ Lowman has said. The destructive force of the bullets culminates in a bottomless black hole at the center of the two images, resulting in a powerful yet playfully hopeful message of culture awareness. Lowman came to prominence in the New York art scene during the early 2000s. He has has solo exhibitions in New York, London, Greenwich, Greece and many other places. His work has also been exhibited by the Museum Of Modern Art in New York, the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the Palais De Tokyo in Paris and the Whitney Museum Of American Art in New York. He lives and works in New York City, NY. |
Tag Archives: contemporaryart
WOW – Work Of the Week – Coinslot “Jobs Vs The FBI”
 |
|||||
|
COINSLOT About This Work: Alexander Perez, known as Coinslot, is a Miami based artist/satirist. “Coinslot not only has the remarkable ability to view a situation and create a ‘sick and twisted’ version of it in his mind, but also has the incredible talent to take what he sees in his mind and put the pen to paper creating this ‘sick and twisted’ masterpiece in the most fullest and complex detail you’ve ever seen” – Gregg Shienbaum. To view his works properly, one must stand in front of his art for at least 20-30 minutes to see all the minute and incredible details of wit, humor and absurdity that is poured onto the canvas directly from his mind. Here Jobs’ grave, as in real life, is unmarked. Coinslot cleverly places the old Apple logo on the grave marker, which is surrounded by FBI men asking for his permission to give Apple the go ahead to write the code that will eventually unlock all of the world deepest darkest secrets. It is just like Adam taking a bit of the Apple unleashing an uproar upon the world. The FBI men take Jobs silence as him giving them permission. This is Coinslot’s way of telling us that the government is going to do it any way with or without him. Aside from making the viewer think or in some cases making the viewer uncomfortable, Coinslot’s attention to detail is the other important aspect of his work. Everything is in the details. His attention to details can be seen in all the leaves in the trees and the blades of grass, but it is the details that you don’t notice at first that make this piece. The inclusion of a tiny man in the background visiting someone’s grave and the other names and sayings on the grave markers. He even places his name on a grave marker with fallen leaves on it. All these painstaking meticulous details, add to the WOW of the piece and it is these details that raise the most smiles and eyebrows. |
|||||
WOW – Work Of the Week – Ed Ruscha “Cash For Tools 2”
 |
||||
|
ED RUSCHA About This Work: Ed Ruscha is a well-known American artist who achieved recognition for artworks incorporating words and phrases, all influenced by the deadpan irreverence of the Pop Art movement. Indeed his textual art can be linked with the Pop Art movement but also with the Beat Generation as well. During the Cold War era, the rise of commercial advertising was a dominant force in American life. Consequently, the increasing importance of graphic design, the popularity of Hollywood and American cinema as well as the lights and the landscapes of the West Coast, provided the backdrop against which Ruscha developed his highly original iconography. Since the early sixties, Ed Ruscha has wittily explored language by channeling words and the act of communication to represent American culture. Language, in particular the written word, has pervaded the visual arts, but no other artist has the command over words as Ruscha. His works are not to be understood as pictures of words, but instead words treated as visual constructs. His idea plays into the very essence of Pop Art. Cash For Tools 2 is part of the Rusty Signs, series in which Ruscha uses words, that he considers as “neglected and forgotten signs from neglected and forgotten landscapes”. These Rusty Signs are reproduced in uncanny detail that blurs the line between the fictitious and the real. This artwork, as well as the whole series, is further expression of a consistent theme that runs throughout his work: the passage of time. We are confronted with the physical effect of time upon them, a blunt reminder of its inescapability, even on steel. Once again filtered through the language of common American objects, these prints appear to be rusted signs that read “DEAD END,” “CASH FOR TOOLS,” and “FOR SALE 17 ACRES.” Ruscha has chosen to produce multiple variations of these signs, giving the impression that they have been weathered by time in varying ways, as if they came from different locations or were subjected to a different set of circumstances. For example there are two versions of Cash For Tools and Cash For Tools 2 is more ruined and consumed than Cash For Tools 1. Some have gunshots and some are missing sections, while others appear to have acquired thick layers of rust and grime. In this way, each piece of the series seems to contain an independent story, their histories having literally formed their present state. The Rusty Signs series also marks a transformation of some of Ruscha’s aesthetic concerns; having painted and photographed signs and signage throughout his career, works such as Cash For Tools 2 signify the first time in which he is not merely representing the image of the sign, but actually recreating the sign itself. We no longer see a fictionalized representation but we actually see the sign itself, and its physicality is a part of its essence. At the same time, having been removed from context, they still share the sense of disconnection that permeates in many of his depictions of signs. Ruscha asks us to consider these components of visual culture as independent objects, as if their introduction into the world was not merely an accident or result of inevitable forces, but an act of creation, a work of art. Other works by this artist:
|
||||
WOW – Work Of the Week – Basquiat “Hollywood Africans In Front Of The Chinese Theater With Footprints Of Movie Stars”
 |
||
|
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT Hollywood Africans In Front Of The Chinese Theater With Footprints Of Movie Stars1983/201523 color screenprint38 1/2 x 84 in.Artist’s Proof (A.P.) of 15Certified authentic, signed, dated and numbered on verso by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux of the Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate
About This Work: In less than a decade the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat went from being a teenage graffiti writer to an international art star; he was dead of a drug overdose at age twenty-seven. A legend in his own lifetime. Basquiat’s meteoric success and overnight burnout were an instant art-world myth; his brief career spanned the giddy ’80s art boom and epitomized its outrageous excess, from its art dealers to its drug dealers, from its clubs to its galleries, from Madonna to Warhol. Basquiat was very fearful of the unfavorable racial reality in America, and saw himself as in no small amount of danger. These feelings often presented themselves in Basquiat’s work, which was typically socially and politically charged. His paintings were highly symbolic in nature and often focused on what he saw as intrinsic dichotomies, such as the wealthy versus the impoverished or integration versus segregation. The subject of this impressive artwork is related to the widely known 1983 artwork Hollywood Africans, currently owned by the Whitney Museum of American Art. It depicts Basquiat with friends, the artists Toxic and Rammellzee. Toxic is the figure on the left, Rammellzee is the central face (as it can be seen by the green letters RMLZ on top of the head) and Basquiat is the right figure, as it can also be deduced from the typical shape of Basquiat’s hair. Hollywood Africans represents a commentary on the stereotyping and marginalizing of African Americans in the entertainment industry. This theme led these three artists to coin the term and refer to themselves as the “Hollywood Africans”. Furthermore, this is a very current theme, it has even been the controversy of last night’s Oscars ceremonies, where several black actors and actresses have emphasized the necessity of equal rights and wages in the movie industry. In this work, Basquiat challenges the art world by merging academic and “primitive” through his neo-expressionist style, which is recognizable by some stylistic choices: for example, when he chooses to represent his teeth not by drawing them but by writing the word TEETH, which is graphically very similar to what can be a a set of teeth. We can also notice his typical calligraphy, tough gesture and shrill colors. This is a very important work. It is a very large, moving, biographical, historical account based on the artist’s life and the recurrent issues that surrounded him during his time, and which continue to linger on in today’s time.  Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983, acrylic and oil stick on canvas, 84 1/16 x 84 in.  NBA all star of the Miami Heat and renown art collector Amare Stoudemire with Basquiat’s Hollywood Africans In Front Of The Chinese Theater With Footprints Of Movie Stars in his new Miami home.
|
WOW! – Work Of the Week – Claes Oldenburg “Typewriter Eraser”
 |
||
|
CLAES OLDENBURG About This Work: Claes Oldenburg is an American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects. This beautiful drawing represents a typewriter eraser, a recurring object in Oldenburg’s work. Why a typewriter eraser? Many of Oldenburg’s works depict mundane objects and, at first, they were ridiculed before being accepted by the art world – but they were also defined “brilliant”, due to the reaction that the pop artist brought to a “dull” abstract expressionist period. Oldenburg creates a distinctive order of objects. First, they are things made and utilized by human beings. Used, out-of-date or simply banal, they look rescued from oblivion by the artist. Isolated in a landscape or interior space and inflated in size, they are vulnerable giants. But they are not actual objects elevated to the status of art in the Duchampian tradition of the readymade. While recreating objects, Oldenburg alters their specifics, transforming them through changes in material, scale, context and exaggerations of forms that lend them more than one identity. A typewriter becomes also a tornado. When turned up right we see the eraser rolling towards us with the whiskers rustling in the air resembling a tornado. In this particular drawing of the typewriter eraser we see the subject in motion sweeping down the street like a tornado. Drawings like this are rare “little gems”, hard to find and representative of the soul of Oldenburg’s objects. Oldenburg’s drawings are continuous files of ideas from which major themes have developed. Drawings that he devotes to sculptural projects, imagined or real, appear as “proposals”. These drawings have an anecdotal character in cases where the sculpture is placed in new contexts. They chronicle the further adventures of a subject and track the creative and artistic process of this great artist. This drawing can be considered a generative tool for the large scale Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, constructed in 1999 and now located at the National Gallery Of Art Sculpture Garden, in Washington D.C. |
Gregg Shienbaum Fine Art’s “Keith Haring Narrated” Show features On ArtNet
Click on the image below to read the article
Keith Haring, Pyramids #1 – #4, anodized aluminum, Edition of 30, signature etched on verso
Gregg Shienbaum Fine Art will participate at Ink Miami Fair 2015
| Gregg Shienbaum Fine Art is proud to announce its participation at Ink Miami Art Fair 2015 | |||
| The show will be open December 2 to 6 | |||
| Come visit us at Booth 160 |
Click here for Miami Ink Art Fair press release
Pictures and news from the Fair will be coming soon!
Admission Hours:
Wednesday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am t 3:00 pm
For any information or to know what we will be showing at the Fair, please send us an email at info@gsfineart.com or call us at 305 456 5478
Miami Artisti Ahol Sniffs Glue Signing first Gregg Shienbaum Fine Art Edition “Balls To The Walls”
Gregg Shienbaum Fine Art is pleased to present its first edition with Miami Artist Ahol Sniffs Glue.
Limited to only 30 pieces and is laser cut on walnut wood.
The Eye Pattern is cut out all the way through. So what ever the background color of the wall you choose to hang it on is the color the eyes will be. It can also be framed as well.
We did not want to do a regular print on paper, we wanted to do something more unique and more substantial.
The details of this new edition are below as well as photos of the work and of Ahol signing the piece.
- Ahol Sniffs Glue
- Balls To The Walls
- 2015
- laser cut out on walnut wood
- 32 x 24 x 1/8 in.
- Edition of 30
- Signed and numbered
- $650
* please note that the grain of the wood varies from piece to piece.
WOW! – Work Of the Week – Shepard Fairey “Obey ’04 (Wage Peace)”
Shepard Fairey aka OBEY
OBEY ’04 (Wage Peace)
2006
Screenprint
42 x 30 in.
Edition of 89
Pencil signed and numbered
—
ABOUT THIS WORK:
Shepard Fairey’s background is rooted in American skate and punk rock culture, with his work born out of a combination of a graffiti aesthetic and Pop art sensibilities. Straddling the divide between the fine art world and the street art world, Fairey—despite his massive popularity—has had to wait to be accepted by the more traditional art world. His higher profile has also, in turn, gotten him into some serious problems with law enforcement (he recently faced felony charges in Detroit, despite eighteen prior arrests for illegal tagging). Fairey said of this conflict: “To some people street art is vandalism, to others it’s gentrification, and either of those could be considered more legit than the other depending on your perspective“.
His artwork stands out in both the street and in a gallery setting. Although he is still viewed primarily as a street artist despite his indisputable commercial success. Fairey’s use of powerful, accessible images and messages display an influence from early advertising, alternative culture, and Pop artists like Andy Warhol. This combination of clear messaging and graphic compositions gives his work a broad appeal that speaks to a wide cross section of society. “Street art has to stand out from the static, and contend with the metabolism of the city“. He evokes communist propaganda, Barbara Kruger style advertorials and Jasper Johns subversion.
Fairey’s work also has a strong political component. He was already well known for his OBEY Andre the Giant tags and stickers before he created the image Obama Hope in 2008, a block-colored portrait of the presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The image, now world-famous, was subsequently adopted as the official presidential campaign image and became probably his most famous image. In addition, he also created a poster in support of Ai Weiwei’s—now successful—campaign to regain his passport in 2014.
Early in his career, during the OBEY sticker campaign that made him famous, Fairey seriously questioned the nature of his imagery, firmly establishing himself as an outspoken counter-culture figure, often addressing issues of war, human rights, ecology, and politics.
His art can be explained as an experiment in Phenomenology. Heidegger describes Phenomenology as “the process of letting things manifest themselves.” Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with this art provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer’s perception and attention to detail.
A perfect example of this is the work entitled Obey ’04, from the Retro Series. The silhouette of the soldier is a strong graphic form against the red background. Here we can see all the typical elements that characterize Fairey’s art: red, beige and black colors, modern and current subjects and the predominant presence of the graphic element.
Also present is the image Fairey became known for, the Andre The Giant face. This is represented by the soldier holding up this iconic image. We also see it in that sort of mandala shaped like a star in the upper right, a true symbol of the artist.
Fairey, who is definitely a pacifist, creates work that speak of peace and war, conveying his concern with politics.Here we can see the words “wage peace” instead of the typical “wage war”, and a flower inside the rifle instead of bullets.
The Obey ’04 from the Retro Series was created to commemorate the 20 year anniversary of the artwork of OBEY. The series was first released for the opening of Shepard’s 20 years Retrospective at the ICA Boston.
