pop art

More auctions....

Christie's.

And, insuring your art....

ARIS.

So the world of film is constantly referencing fine art...typically this involves contemporary directors referencing old or modern masters (Guillermo del Toro references Goya quite a bit and there are countless films referencing Bacon paintings (Alien, Silence of the Lambs, Jacob's Ladder)). However, it is fairly uncommon, I would argue, to see contemporary art referenced in film. 2000's "The Cell", directed by Tarsem Singh, is one of few films to use contemporary art as a main source of inspiration. So if u haven't seen it Jennifer Lopez goes into the mind of a serial killer and so on and so on. The most interesting scenes show the inner workings of the killer's mind which resemble a contemporary art gallery. In the first clip im attaching the three women sitting down are from an Odd Nerdrum painting. In the second clip he is referencing Damien Hirst. There are also nods to Gotfried Helnwein, Jane Alexander, and I'm sure other artists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zCICwYt9cU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbrqV2httgI&feature=related

As a photographer, I am really interested in different photographic processes that are being used today. Right now at the Kavi Gupta Gallery, Curtis Mann's work is being shown. Bleaching is a technique that has been used in dark room photography creating an effect similar to dodging. Curtis Mann's work takes the idea of bleaching in photography and uses it in a contemporary way. He prints found pictures on a Lambda printer and dips them and paints bleach on them to discard some of the information that was in the photos before.

Here is a link to the gallery and his work:

http://www.kavigupta.com/

Strange Contemporary Sculpture

It would be easy to write this work off as being kitschy but I can't help being so fascinated...

http://www.pxleyes.com/blog/2010/03/the-most-controversial-art-sculptures-by-patricia-piccinini/

sold

well, somehting sold, so here's a link....
because you know it will be talked about on friday in class

(spoiler: its a Modigliani for $69 million)

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd share one of my favorite contemporary artists. Sedrick Huckaby is a Dallas/Ft. Worth based painter. His subject matter usually includes people from his family and generates a feeling of antiquity when seen in person. He paints impasto so heavy that the paint often stands half an inch off the surface. I think it is safe to consider him a regional painter. I discovered him off of McKinney avenue in Dallas, TX at a gallery where paintings of his grandmother's quilts were hanging. His influences include Giacometti, Lucian Freud etc.

http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/winter-spring10/huckaby/

Photography

So I recently stumbled onto photographer Kim Keever who is working with landscape photography in an interesting and contemporary way. For the image, he creates miniature landscapes and otherworldly places in a tank like arena. He then fills the tanks with water and he photographs the scenes submerged in these aquariums with different lighting and the dispersal of pigment in the water. The final outcome is an image of a mysterious other world. The effect is quite unique and haunting and I thought this was a really interesting approach to the typical landscape photograph. Kim Keever is currently showing his work at the Carrie Secrist Gallery in Chicago. Here is a link to the website:

http://www.secristgallery.com/exhibitions/