Art Censorship in Sweden!

Hej you guys,

I thought this was interesting as we just wrapped up art and censorship!! No Sex Please We Are Swedish!

Mats Persson, secretary general of the Association of Swedish Museums said: “I fear that we will now see in Sweden what we have seen elsewhere in Europe: that other political parties adopt the rhetoric of the right. We have to accept that some art might be difficult to understand, but it is this questioning that society needs.”

humanizing poverty stricken areas

Like many graffiti artists, J R prefers to remain anonymous and to be known only by his initials and by his work. He rejects the term "street artist," instead preferring the label "photograffeur." (Graffeur is French for graffiti artist and J R is of French origin.) He may be seldomly seen, but his work, supersized street photography, is recognized in downtrodden areas across the globe. He's also expected to receive the TED prize for 2011...Perhaps it's because I've had many conversations about street art recently, have seen the Banksy film and exhibit, and am living in the art world, but I feel like street art is on the way out. I'm ready for the next big thing - whatever that may be.

Chris Ofili Last Supper

I stumbled across this video of Chris Ofili explaining this installation from 2002-03. It is 13 paintings making up the last supper. Ofili describes the work as acting like a good film where the passing of time doesn't phase the viewer. Underneath the video one Youtube member has commented on the piece explaining the use of pornographic images and elephant dung in Ofili's work. I have no idea if this user is right but it is an interesting interpretation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvUHucKDUF0

There is also a lesser known sculpture by Ofili from 06 titled "annunciation" that is worth checking out

performance art and its place

So I've been thinking a lot about performance art recently - no surprise given my course work. More specifically, where it fits into contemporary art. A few weeks ago, one of my classes traveled over the weekend to see a performance called Elephant. Here is the link to it's website.

One of our major questions was "is this theatre, or is it performance?"

There is a fine line between the two for sure - one that is quickly vanishing in my opinion. We used to think of theatre as plays that are written and performed involving serious productions. Performance art used to be (and somewhat still is) thought of acts done for shock value or to make statements that take less rehearsal and planning than a strictly theatre piece. Performance art goes not garner profit like theatre.

I am seriously considering performance as a large part of my future, and to be honest I am beginning to see very little difference between the two areas. But that comes from someone that has a background in one and is discovering newly the other.

Where does it fit?

Kansas City, MO

Unfortunately I was unable to attend class this week because one of my close friends was killed in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. I was in attendance at his funeral and spent the rest of the day visiting with family and friends. At one point, I was able to explore the town and ran across the Hilliard Gallery, by chance. This gallery featured many artists, one of which was John Marak. His exhibition entitled State of Contemporary Realism caught my eye both for its title and content. Below is a link to some of the pieces that were featured, however, none of them are shown in a way that truly captures the essence of his pieces. "Sycamore" was so much more intense and impressive in person than the photograph shows, for example.

http://www.hilliardgallery.com/gallery.php?artistID=59

WOW! BANKSY ON THE SIMPSONS

Did anyone else see Banksy's introduction last night on the Simpsons? Holy shit. Controversy in the entertainment world yet again but now it is going to provide a double target because of Banksy's involvement. I can't wait to hear some of the reactions throughout the day and this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AA8gEokOhU

This Friday I went to the Pilsen second Friday gallery nights. There, I visited several small galleries. Many of the galleries featured work from several artists whereas only a few galleries highlighted one artist. I really liked visiting these galleries because they had a very intimate, slightly more personal and less formal feel. At the majority of the galleries, the artist was available to talk about their work. It was nice to be able to ask questions and understanding what motivated the artist and what they were trying to convey in their work.