I´ve been sketching some more hands with black ink as preparation for an etching on linoleum.
I´m playing with the idea of linked hands... how hands can communicate with each other, how they can be connected in some way.
The images are clean and easy because those are the ones which work best when etching. I like the contrast in them, and the idea that both hands can be part of the same "object", like one is a continuity of the other.
Brian Dettmer and Nicholas Jones work with books to create beautiful sculptures... words and images mix in these stunning pieces of art which are carved, cut, torn or folded using all kinds of books. I think that books have their own personality and "essence", and I find it´s interesting to create a new piece transforming an object which I already consider a piece of art.
Brian Dettmer´s books: Nicholas Jones´s books:
Nicholas Jones´ next exhibition ("The Tower of Learning") will take place from July 15th to August 2nd at Pablo Fanque Gallery (Sydney).
Brilliant ad by Ogilvy & Mather Singapore for The Economist... no words needed with such a strong and powerful image (for those who can´t see the photo clearly, it´s a bunch of small plastic hotels from Monopoly)! Great work!
I´ve always been fascinated by hands... the way they express every kind of feeling or mood. In fact, they´re the first thing I notice when I meet someone. I´ve been drawing them for years...
I found a very interesting photographer, Alexey Titarenko... these shots of crowds are the most intriguing photographs I´ve seen recently.
This unremarkable technique – the long exposure – has the effect of transforming these crowds into amorphous, black masses moving through the city. The repetition of all these people, and what looks like a creature made of hundreds of bodies, is definitely unnerving. It´s like the residue of everyone who's ever passed through that spot the photographer chose...
I find fascinating these haunting images of his native city, St. Petersburg, part of his photo series "City of Shadows" (1992-1994). The artist wanted to capture the mass anxiety at a time when people wandered around the city looking for food and goods.
They clearly remind of the vision Dostoyevski had of St. Petersburg, as a dirty, dark place that swallowed its inhabitants.
This week I´ve been drawing some horses using pencils and ink... I haven´t been drawing for a while... too much time in front of a computer... I reallly miss it because it helps me relax. I let my mind wander, listen to some of my favourite music... ... just the pencils, paper and me...
Miquel Barceló is one of my favourite painters. He has a unique, strong and dynamic style. His technique is based in the use of organic materials, like insects, meat, fur, rotten plants, ashes. He describes his work as violent, pungent, rude. He´s always investigating, and this makes his works always different and interesting.
He has traveled constantly, but he definitely wouldn´t be the artist we know today without his "african experience". Africa, and especially Mali, was a revelation for the artist, and everything he experienced there enriched his work, not only the colors, textures, aromas and images of the country, but also its textures (clay, cow dung, etc), which he included in his paintings and ceramics.
Barceló´s workbooks/diaries are very inspiring...sketches of everything he finds, writings about art in general, and about his work. Here are 2 of his paintings:
I recommend trying a technique, used by artists such as Joan Miró, that consists of making blobs of drawing ink and allowing them to run down the paper. Try using different coloured inks, and several different kinds of paper (some more absorbent than others). This is an interesting way to begin a painting...the ink makes beautiful shapes on the paper!
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