Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Marcus Jasen Back in New York City - posted by Florida Fine Art Blog

Marcus Jansen on Prince Street & Broadway, Soho, New York

Marcus Jansen Back in New York City
Friday Art Walk, August 2. 2013
6:00pm – 10:00pm.

UNIT A is pleased to present rare unseen to the public works from 1997 - 2002

Marcus Jansen just returned back from his hometown New York City and he visited his old street corner on Prince Street & Broadway where he sold these same type of works on display August 2. 2013, sixteen years ago. One of his first works in his signature style that gave him International recognition over the last sixteen years was Harlem Deli, 30x40" on board, a work that sold to Hollywood Actor John Ortiz in 1999 from the streets of New York while Ortiz was shooting his latest Movie with artist and Director Julian Schnabel.

Most of Jansen's works back then were executed on cardboard because he did not have the money to buy canvas. Most also sold the same year. One work, Bookstand 30x40", from 1997 recently surfaced from a collector online who approached the studios asking for a current value.

Jansen is scheduled to have works at Phillips de Pury International Auctions in Geneva and Moscow in 2014.

Artist website found here 
My interview with Marcus here

Great to see Marcus doing so well. And this showing is a rare opportunity to see the artists early work. 

Marcus is one of the many artists I kick myself for not purchasing his work early for my own collection. Its hard to be a dealer and a collector at the same time.
There are acually many artists work I sold over the years but saved no paintings  for myself.  Missing the chance to afford a piece for my own collection. I even have a list of paintings I have sold called "the ones that got away", meaning in someway I regret selling them at all.  But as a dealer how do you keep a piece that you can flip quickly for a profit?  I comfort myself that the paintings are in a good home and are being appreciated. GL

 
  

The Psychedelic World of Takashi Murakami - posted by Florida Fine Art Blog


Every wonder what in the world was going on with Murakami's work?  I know I have.  Well Andrew Goldstein put together a great primer of several of the artists most famous themes and characters.  Yeaaa, I love this stuff.  GL
by By
One of the most coveted artists on the planet, Takashi Murakami has gripped the imagination of collectors and curators around the world with his anime-inspired Superflat art, a movement created by the artist that refers to the flattened aesthetic of Japanese graphic art forms, from traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints to contemporary animation, as well as to the shallowness of contemporary consumer culture. Here is a primer on several of Murakami’s signature themes, series, and characters.
FLOWERS
Perhaps Murakami's most emblematic motif, these candy-colored, smiling flora came into the artist's work when he was preparing for his entrance exams for the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts, and he embraced the form over nine years teaching prep-school students to draw flowers (even though, as he once said, "I didn't like flowers").
MR. DOB
Murakami's recurring characters each represent a different part of his psyche, and Mr. DOB—whose name plays on the slang expression "dobojite," meaning "why?"—was originally created as a statement that Japanese art doesn't need to imitate American art, and should find its own means of expression (a point somewhat complicated by those Mickey Mouse ears).
KAIKAI KIKI
With names that translate roughly as "bizarre, yet refined"—an homage to the famed style of a 16th-century Japanese artist—these two impish characters reappear again and again in Murakami's work as the artist's spiritual guardians as well as the official mascots of his production company.
JELLYFISH EYES
A trippy creature modeled after a Japanese monster called Hyakume (or Hundred Eyes) combined with elements of Humpty Dumpty, this character also lends its name to Murakami's first feature-length movie, a CGI-powered extravaganza that brings the artist's fantastical characters to life as the main attractions of an environmentally conscious monster movie.
MISS KO2
Inspired by anime and manga characters, Miss Ko2 is based on a "fighting 'bisyoujo' (Japanese slang for beautiful young girl) character from the game Viable Geo. Depicting an attractive blonde girl, the sculpture alludes to the eroticized figures in Japanese cartoon culture. Miss Ko2 was the first of Murakami’s characters to appear as a three-dimensional work, serving as a point of departure for the rest of his sculptures—one of which, the 1998 My Lonesome Cowboy, sold at Sotheby's for $15.2 million in 2008.   
LOUIS VUITTON COLLABORATION
In 2002, Murakami was invited to collaborate with fashion house Louis Vuitton on a series of accessories, for which he reinvented their signature monogram in a variety of candy-colored hues. Murakami later re-appropriated the monogram into his own work, further blurring the boundaries between high art and popular culture. As part of his 2008 retrospective at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, “© Murakami,” which later traveled to the Brooklyn Museum, pop-up Louis Vuitton boutiques were constructed inside the museum selling Murakami-designed Vuitton merchandise and limited-edition prints. As the artist stated, “The shop project is not a part of the exhibition; rather it is the heart of the exhibition itself.” 
THE CREATURES FROM PLANET 66
In 2003, Murakami was commissioned to design characters for Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills real-estate development. Known collectively as “The Creatures From Planet 66,” these smiling characters travel throughout the world on a mission to spread happiness and knowledge. 
MUSHROOMS
Anthropomorphized mushrooms, their caps dotted with blinking eyes, are another signature motif in Murakami’s work. As the artist has stated, “For me they seem both erotic and cute while evoking—especially for the Western imagination—the fantastic world of fairy tale. I thought that, by uniting the eroticism and the magic side of mushrooms, I could use them as motifs in my work.”
DARUMA
Hearkening back to the iconography of classical Japanese art, these portraits of Daruma—the founder of Zen Buddhism, who according to legend meditated in a cave for nine years until his limbs fell off—take on a much more modern, uncertain, and indeed zonked-out cast in Murakami's hands in a way that both pays respects to tradition and breaks away from it.

Bacon's paintbrushes expected to fetch £25,000 - posted by Florida Fine Art Blog

Francis Bacon's paintbrushes expected to fetch £25,000 at London auction

Eight brushes given by Irish-born painter to fellow artist Clive Barker in 1978 will be auctioned at Christie's in September
by The Guardian

Paintings sell for millions at auction, but now a set of Francis Bacon's paintbrushes will go under the hammer and are expected to fetch around £25,000.
The eight brushes which the Irish-born painter gave to fellow artist Clive Barker in 1978 are in a paint-splattered butter bean tin encased in a Perspex box.
They will be auctioned at Christie's in South Kensington, London, in September as part of its Out of the Ordinary sale.
Dublin-born Bacon, who died in 1992, is one of the most sought-after modern artists.
Last month, his 1966 triptych portrait of his friend, muse and lover Isabel Rawsthorne went for £11,282,500 while the first work the artist ever sold, his historic Head III, went for £10,442,500.
More than 150 lots will be auctioned off including a flying machine prop made for the 1985 Young Sherlock Holmes film, which is expected to fetch £80,000, a Triceratops skull valued at £250,000 and one of the world's biggest caviar dishes.
Head of sale Charlotte Young said: "Out of the Ordinary is a tightly curated one-off sale offering a unique opportunity to acquire something a little different from Christie's South Kensington. Each lot has been selected as either visually striking or with an intriguing story to tell, and many have never before been seen at auction. "

Auction website found here 

It is not unusual for paint brushes, easels or even paint rags of an famous artist to be sold.  What is unusual is the high price.  But Bacon's work has been hitting records for the past few years.  

The legendary artists Howard Finster would even take old paint rags and add faces to them and then turn around and sell them through galleries for top dollar.  It amused Howard that he was so popular that even his old rags had value.  GL

"Video of the Week" Rembrandt comes Alive! - posted by Florida Fine Art Blog



Onze helden zijn terug!  Our heroes are back!

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has reopened its doors to the public after a 10 year closure for rebuilding. It's most famous exhibit is "Nachten Watchen"  or "The Night Watch" by RembrandtThis short clip Onze helden zijn terug! celebrates the rejuvenation of The Museum.

What an inventive way for a museum to get the word out about the reopening.  Out of the box thinking like this can really get you noticed by the sometimes lethargic public. GL

Purvis Young: Works from the Collection - Boca Museum of Art - posted by Florida Fine Art Blog

Purvis Young: Works from the Collection

BOCA Museum of Art
July 27 - September 22, 2013

Artwork from Miami-born Purvis Young (1943-2010), a prolific self-taught artist whose works depicted life in Overtown, one of America’s poorest neighborhoods, is on display for Purvis Young: Works from the Collection.
An internationally recognized “outsider” artist, Young’s art reflect what he saw in the world, from soaring interstate highway overpasses, fleets of trucks, run-down streets, angry protests, funeral processions, teeming life, struggles, and violence. His works also depict fantastical elements such as glowing skies, rescuing boats, saints, and hovering angels. The medium for his art includes found objects such as broken furniture, to construction site trash, to discarded books.
Spanning almost four decades, Young’s artwork offers insight into his creative genius and its triumph over a legacy of urban poverty in America.

Museum website found here

This is the second Purvis show Boca has had since the artists death. Purvis' work always draws crowds. Seeing the work properly hung in a museum setting helps to put Purvis' work in the proper context compared to the rest of the contemporary art world. I'm going this weekend!  GL

Here is a link to my tribute page and personal collection of everything Purvis.

4 Broward County Artists Receive 2013 South Florida Visual and Media Fellowships - posted by Florida Fine Art Blog


Four Broward County Artists Receive 2013 South Florida Visual and Media Fellowships

Four Broward County artists have been named as recipients of the 2013 South Florida Cultural Consortium Visual and Media Artists Fellowships. Leah Brown ($15,000) - Mixed Media; Henning Haupt ($7,500) - Mixed Media; Catalina Jaramillo (($15,000) Installation; and Rosanna Saccaccio ($7,500) - Visual Art, were recently selected to receive this esteemed, five-county artist fellowship. This year's selection is from a record-breaking group of more than 360 applicants. In total, fourteen fellowships were awarded in the five-county area - Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Martin counties.
The recipients were selected during a two-tier panel process which included the participation of regional and national arts experts. The 2013 regional panel, whose selections are conducted anonymously and based solely on the evaluation of the artists' work as evidenced by samples submitted, included: Chris Cook, Executive Director, Cannonball (Miami-Dade); Tom Scicluna, Artist, 2012 SFCC Fellowship Recipient (Miami-Dade); Chelsea Guerdat, Director of Exhibitions, Bass Museum of Art (Miami-Dade); Jane Hart, Curator, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood (Broward); Peter Boswell, Curator, Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale (Broward); Cheryl Brutvan, Curator of Contemporary Art, Norton Museum of Art (Palm Beach).

The submissions selected by the regional panel were forwarded for final adjudication and selection to the national panel comprised of: Elizabeth Dunbar, Executive Director at DiverseWorks in Houston, TX; Andria Hickey, Associate Curator at the Public Art Fund and Ryan Inouye, Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Education and Public Programs at the New Museum, New York.

A juried exhibition - Who Am I to You? featuring the works of the 14 South Florida regional recipients is scheduled to be presented at the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, One East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from June 22, through September 1, 2013. The South Florida Cultural Consortium Visual and Media Artists Fellowship Program is a cooperative project funded in part with the support of the boards of County Commissioners of Broward, Miami-Dade, Martin and Monroe counties and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council.
Visit the Broward Cultural Division website for additional information on the South Florida Cultural Consortium and the Broward County recipients.

Read more about Four Broward County Artists Receive 2013 South Florida Visual and Media Fellowships - BWWVisual ArtsWorld by art.broadwayworld.com

CALLING ALL ARTISTS - Bear and Bird Gallery - posted by Florida Fine Art Blog


Mysteries of the Unexplained: Exploring the Supernatural

Who can put art in this show?
This art show is OPEN to all artists living in South Florida. You do not need to submit your artwork for approval ahead of time. How do we define the area of South Florida? If you can drop-off and pick-up your artwork IN-PERSON and ON-TIME you can participate! We do not accept any mailed-in entries, nor will we return any artwork via mail for any of our “all locals welcome” shows.


What do I have to do to join?
If you are certain that you will be taking part of this show, then please RSVP by Friday, September 6 at midnight and you will be included on the printed flyer & receive email reminders. To RSVP, simply email your “artist name” exactly as you want it to appear – in the body of the message to us at rsvp@bearandbird.com.