Jean-Jacques Lequeu, Visionary Architect

Lots of bizarre stuff from this creator, seen at this page, and also here.

And if you're in New York City over the next couple of months, you can visit an exhibit.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 05, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Architecture, Art, Eccentrics, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century

Khrushchev’s Top Secret Coloring Book

Finally, some artwork that might amuse the Soviet dictator, from the great Jack Davis.

Buy your copy through the link below.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 30, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, Books, 1960s

The Artist’s Dilemma

This pretty much encapsulates my average workday.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 04, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Surrealism, Movies, Special Effects, 1900s

Abstract in Concrete

Ten minutes of colorful blobs reflected in puddles. Not sure what audience this was aimed at.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 02, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Urban Life, 1950s

The Temple of Plastic Excess

Created by British artist Andy Hazell circa 2010 for a New Year's parade in Newcastle. It's street legal and uses more than 4000 LEDs. He says, "I tried to imagine what Barbie and Ken would use for wedding transport."

More info: andyhazell.co.uk

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 19, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Religion, Cars

Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 25

"King Solomon" was the last sculpture that Alexander Archipenko made and the only one that he conceived as a monumental sculpture. Throughout his career, Archipenko experimented with positive and negative space in his sculptures, often using voids or holes to suggest form. In King Solomon, he placed abstract shapes together to create the vague shape of a figure. The tall prongs at the top evoke a crown, and the intersecting triangles suggest an imposing archaic costume. Archipenko captured a dramatic sense of scale, and it is easy to imagine how formidable this figure would be if enlarged to the sixty-foot-tall version that the artist envisioned.

Source.

His Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 11, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Body, Criticism and Reviews, Russia, Twentieth Century

Worm Painting

How to paint with worms.

Though I believe there's another technique, in which you first dip the worms in paint, and then set them loose on a canvas.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 09, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Art

Banana duct-taped to wall

Artist Maurizio Cattelan’s latest piece, consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall, sold recently for $120,000.

Gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin defended the work by saying, “It looks like a joke, but step back and look at it again, and it becomes so much more.”

The new owner will receive a certificate of authenticity. However, they’ll also be expected to periodically replace the banana (and presumably the duct tape also). Which begs the question: what did they actually buy? The idea of a banana duct-taped to a wall, apparently.

I'm curious to know how long the owner will actually bother to replace the banana. Twenty years from now, will they still be replacing it every few days?

More info: artsy.net

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 07, 2019 - Comments (8)
Category: Art, Overpriced Merchandise, Bananas

The (upside down?) art of Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew has been in the news lately, but this post isn't about the various scandals besetting him. Instead, it's about the prince's brief foray into the world of art, when he was a teenager.

At the age of 17, he completed an oil painting which he titled "Canadian Landscape." It was displayed at the Windsor Festival, which was an exhibition that gathered together works related to the Royal Family from Tudor times to the present.

I'm sure his painting must have been in color, but the AP image archive has a photo of it in black-and-white. As seen below.



As I was looking at the picture, I kept thinking that it didn't visually make much sense. Of course, perhaps it was intended to be an abstract work, but out of curiosity I flipped it around, at which point it immediately made a lot more sense. At least, I think so. See below for comparison. So, I'm pretty sure that the AP archive has his picture upside-down — and it's had it that way for years.



What I wonder is if this is just a screw-up by the AP archive, or was his painting actually displayed that way? Does Prince Andrew's painting deserve a place in the WU Gallery of Art Hung Upside-Down?

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 22, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Royalty

Juvenile Offender

Throw the book at her!

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 21, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Crime, Toys, Children, 1930s, Postal Services