How does it feel to start a new painting? Filmed in his Greenpoint, Brooklyn studio, artist Eddie Martinezstarts a large new painting while taking a break to walk his French bulldog Franny in his graffiti-clad neighborhood. Surrounded by an abundance of recently completed paintings, Martinez refers to these compositions while working on a new seven-by-ten foot canvas. Martinez uses black spray paint to make a quick sketch before introducing larger fields of saturated color and developing a densely textured surface. Constantly moving and filling the studio’s silence with his own whistling, he impatiently makes marks and scrapes off paint before it’s had a chance to dry. Equating his very physical practice to that of a boxing ring, Martinez approaches his canvas like a fighter, rhythmically coming into contact and then stepping back from his opponent. Under his pet Franny’s affectionate gaze, Martinez is satisfied by the painting’s rapid progress at the end of the day, a testament to his ability to productively harness his anxiety and aggression in the studio.
EDDIE MARTINEZ
FROM SPRAY CANS TO OIL
Via: Art 21
For a full quarter century, the extraordinary art within Houston's Menil collection has been protected from harm - until now.
The museum is confirming an act of vandalism against a painting produced in 1929 by the Spanish master Pablo Picasso.
In a video posted on YouTube, a man can be seen approaching the portrait known as "Woman in Red Arm Chair" and blasting the canvas with spray paint. The stenciled message "Conquista" and the image of a bull defacing the original.
The vandal escaped as did the photographer who may or may not be a conspirator.
According to Menil spokesman Vance Muse, the Picasso was rushed to the collection's chief conservator Brad Etley who performed immediate damage repair.
Speaking from Berlin, Germany Vance told FOX 26, "The most important thing is to get the painting to full health, which is happening. All the spray paint has been removed. It is in the right hospital. The painting now needs to rest."
Meantime, Houston Police confirm the case is under very active investigation as "criminal mischief," a crime carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
In addition to the YouTube video, detectives also have the Menil's own surveillance tape to help capture those responsible.
A representative for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston says "appropriate" security measures have been taken at that institution.
"Woman in Red Arm Chair" has been a part of the Menil collection since 1956.
On the web: http://www.menil.org/
Spray Paint Over a Picasso
Vandal tries to make his mark on art history, and just as quickly the damage is history.
Via: Fox Houston
— KAWS Keeps Rising: Brooklyn-based street artist-turned-gallery star Brian Donnelly, aka KAWS, will join Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami in the exclusive hundred-feet-high club for artists whose work has floated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In November his figure "Companion" — a grayscale giant with cartoonish gloved hands covering its face — will become the latest (and perhaps the saddest) artist-designed balloon to float in the popular parade. "I kept imagining myself in front of that many people," KAWS said. "He’s shy, a bit out of place, not proudly posing like a Superman character."
kawz
in macy's thanksgiving day parade
DEATH OF STREET ART?
A new mural in Hamtramck claims street art has gone mainstream, and it's causing enough controversy to show public opinion on graffiti remains divided.
The maker of the provocative piece is SEVER, an Atlanta-based graffiti artist who has a day job as a professional muralist. He's one of a cadre "writers" participating in the Detroit Beautification Project, which brought in graffiti artists from around the world to paint murals all over town.
But while SEVER's loaded, tongue-in-cheek "Death of Street Art" piece at Joseph Campau and Goodson St. -- featuring a coffin labeled "Street Art" carried by cartoon-like characters riffing on notable artists -- received accolades from graffiti fans, it rubbed several local residents the wrong way.
Ron English is a contemporary artist that’s been blending classic brands and imagery along with current pop-culture since the early 80's. He has been a heavy player in the street art scene and even influenced a younger generation of artists considered Postgraffists. His guerrilla semiotics approach intended to expose apparently questionable political assumptions behind commercial culture in a colorful way grabs the attention of viewers. English uses common tactics including re-figuring logos, fashion statements, and product images as a means to challenge the idea of "what's cool" along with assumptions about the personal freedoms of consumption.
RON ENGLISH
GODFATHER
OF THE
POST
GRAFFISTS
Is Ron English the founding father of an art movement called Postgraffism?
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