See the paintings of Yisa Akinbolaji, A Nigerian painter living in Canada

See the paintings of Yisa Akinbolaji, A Nigerian painter living in Canada

 Yisa’s ultimate goal has been to establish an identity that would be recognized by art lovers internationally. 

That identity would include the distinctiveness and excellence of his work and the attention he can bring to the sources of his professional achievement. Through his innovative technique, one can tell that his goal is progressively being attained.

See the works of Wangechi mutu: African Female Painter

See the works of Wangechi Mutu: African Female Painter.

 Born in 1972, Nairobi, Kenya, Lives and works in New York 

 Untitled, 2004: Mixed media collage and painting on vellum: 44.5 x 47cm

 

In Untitled, Wangechi Mutu creates a glamorous, yet barbaric centrefold. 

 In picturing female sexuality, Mutu offers a futuristic totality of womanhood that’s both fiery and liberated. Comprised of motorcycle parts, she’s a machine built for speed: corpulent, sexy, with the dazzling power creation.

 

 Backlash Blues: 2004: ink, acrylic, photocollage, contact paper, on mylar: 198 x 119.4 cm

Painted on mylar, Wangechi Mutu’s Backlash Blues conveys an otherworldly quality: the paint and ink suspends on the plasticy vellum-like surface with an unnatural luminosity.

 Using a variety of techniques from airbrush to stencilling, controlled spills, and detailed brushwork, Mutu’s image poses as a composite of gesture; collaged photographic elements merge seamlessly into the painterly aesthetic.

Lai Mohammed meets bloggers in Lagos.

Lai Mohammed meets bloggers in Lagos and I was not invited.

 Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed met with bloggers in lagos today, November, 23rd. He says the Federal government is not about to regulate  the Nigerian Social Media. The event took place at a chinese restaurant in Lagos. I am a blogger, but I was not invited to this meeting. WHY?

Jeannette Ehlers

See Jeannette Ehlers : Performing Arts

Jeannette Ehlers, Whip It Good: Spinning From History’s Filthy Mind

 

Photography with a twist

Brooke DiDonato: Photography with a twist

Brooke DiDonato. Blending In

Brooke DiDonato. Next-door

Brooke DiDonato. Unluck

Artistic Calling
Brooke DiDonato is a 25 year old astounding photographer based in New York, whose work interknits surreal elements of external appearances and uncovers the unseen, the hidden stories, and the interludes inside her pursuit for artistic calling. 

The Begining
She began taking photos since she was 18 years old focusing on photojournalism, then continuing with a very rewarding 365-day project mostly concentrating on self-portraits but she changed gears as soon as she realized that she needed narratives linked to her photographs. 

The Inspiration
Inspired by the subconscious mind and its relation to emotions and perceptions, Brooke’s first pictures were self-portraits taken straight from her imagination. She is searching for what lies behind the curtain of a typical image and recreates stories by pushing the onlooker to go beyond the surface and use the power of imagination. 

Viewer's Placement
The viewer is basically placed in the middle of a story with a beginning and an end. It then depends on him and his personal interior context to irradiate a meaning, envision and mold the characters. The external architectural elements are outlined and the individuals are fractured and placed in the background rather than front like we might expect.

Who is Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione?

Who is Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione?

This artist seems to have been forgotten.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, The Nativity with Angels, c. 1655. Monotype, 24.7 x 37.3 cm. Royal Collection Trust, London.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, "Sacred and Profane Love," c. 1635. Coloured oil paints on paper, 21.6 x 29.5 cm. Royal Collection Trust, London.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Circe with the Companions of Odysseus Transformed into Animals, c. 1650. Etching, 21.8 x 31.1 cm. Royal Collection Trust, London.

 Awe-inspiring.
An Italian 16th century writer and artist, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione was a Baroque master of the Genoese school, painter of portraits, historical pieces, mythological episodes, biblical scenes and landscapes. Especially his drawings and sketches are awe-inspiring.

His drawbacks
He was quite a textbook genius, possessing exceptional creative power and a strong willed character enabling him to break free from conventions and the restraints of society. But for him, much like for the majority of the most revered artists throughout history, brilliance comes at a cost. Autonomy, openness, and persistence may have benefits for innovation but they can also have drawbacks, such as selfishness, self-centeredness, intolerance, and so on.


His agitated lifestyle
In that tradition the Genoese artist known as Il Grechetto lived an agitated life. In addition to the twelve lawsuits he faced throughout the years, there are records of him shooting at an artist who had mocked him, of numerous brawls, and finally the anecdote of him trying to throw his own sister off a roof. He was following in the footsteps of Caravaggio, his life being a tale of hot-headedness, fights, and a lack of self-control. 

 His Innovative Techniques.
There is a whole different side to El Grechetto that must not be neglected. What he lacked in originality of style, he made up for in innovative techniques. He is the mastermind behind the invention of the monotype. Furthermore, he came up with a new approach to dry brush oil sketches; both hallmarks achieved through experimentation. These two technical novelties have a common thread to them: their Castiglionesque imprint. It lies in the abruptness, the speed with which they have to be carried out; within both approaches there is room for neither hesitation nor correction. With the monotype, a crossover between printing and drawing, one must move quickly, making the print before the paint dries. 

His Approaches
When painting in this unique way with oil, Castiglione used strong rapid strokes of diluted colour to outline then shorter strokes with dryer colour for the details. The oil soaked through the paper leaving a very limited timeframe for the creation of a masterpiece. As reckless, impulsive, and stubborn as he was in his personal life, he was the same in his artistic creation. These techniques reflect the artist’s nature perfectly which could be considered quite ‘modern’. His tendency to mix artistic media, his habit of creating from his head straight to the paper, without the detour of studies and further practice, not to mention his non-conformist lifestyle – it is safe to say that Castiglione was ahead of his time.(wsimag.com)

What is Metalpoint Art?

What is Metalpoint Art?

Leonardo da Vinci Studies of a Horse, c. 1490 Metalpoint (probably silverpoint) on pale buff prepared paper, 19.9 × 28.5 cm Lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

I bet you dont know this untill you started reading this blog.
Metalpoint is a pen-shaped object, made of metal or wood, with a cylindrical tip of a sharpened metal point.

 Silver is certainly the most widely used material for metalpoint drawing, but gold, lead, copper, or a mixture of those elements are also used. The style, size, shape and softness of the metal can vary, and this affects the resulting drawing.

Various methods of metalpoint drawing were in use as early as the era of the Romans, who employed it primarily for sketching larger paintings as well as creating smaller pictures and documents.

 The technique of metalpoint allows you to draw simple, thin, delicate lines. The filling of a space in the material is only possible through cross-hatching. Once set, a fine gray line cannot be removed, as it could be with pencil and an eraser, which makes this technique extremely difficult and the artist must have an exceptionally steady hand. 

The practice is otherwise similar to that of using a pencil, except that the surface must be specific: a base made of paper or wood, prepared with a cementite product to create a slightly rough surface on which the metal pin can release its pigments.

 Different colors, shades, density and depth can only be achieved by varying shades and by drawing dense grids. 

One of the most interesting observations is that silver drawings especially tarnish over the time, turning slowly into a golden brown color, which is probably one of the reasons why silver was, and still is, the preferred material. (wsimag.com)