Julie's back.

Julie Blackmon, one of my favorite photographers and American Photo's "Emerging photographer in 2008", has returned with a great new collection of work.  

"Line Up" does feature lots of kids, but that's okay when you see what she does with them.

Er Mom, your kid may be drowning.

Julie incorporates her stylized twist of color and wit to capture moments that give domesticity a beautifully creepy quality. But enough of my layman's view. Here's what the art guy at Village Voice has to say.

Image of the now.

Gottfried Helnwein: The Disasters of War 24, oil and acrylic on canvas

Gottfried Helnwein is an Austrian artist/photographer/visual provocateur. His stuff isn't for the easily offended.


(Sharing credit to Cosimo Urbano)

Nice shoes.

More good stuff from Lernert & Sander. Take it away gentlemen.

"To help celebrate the launch of their epic new Shoe Galleries, Selfridges called on us to create 11 sculptural installations that take iconic shoe design to surreal extremes. We have taken the most mundane of household domestic appliances and comedically refashioned them into divine creations. A humorous take on fashion as an ideal escape from the daily grind."

On a graceless, self-promotional aside here is a print ad I did a few years ago for a Procter & Gamble product that also takes shoe design to a surreal extreme.

Jonathan Wateridge.

It's been a while since I posted some art. I give you Jonathan Wateridge, a young British painter who recently caught my eye. 

 

 This is from his new exhibition called "Another Place".

Wateridge doesn't just paint, he creates. For these paintings he first created miniature sets and models.

For a previous collection, "On A Clear Day You Can See" he painted on glass instead of canvas, which he calls "obsolete". Although probably not nearly as obsolete as the Sandinistas he was painting.

Brain-teaser Monday.

In this banner comp for the Metropolitan Museum of Art suspected heretics were what?

• Boiled in oil.
• Waterboarded for 40 days.
• Tickled with features.
• Called rude names.
• Burned at the stake.
• Urinated on by the Pope.
• Eaten by rats, alive.
• Sawed in half.
• Whipped to death.
• Ripped from limb to limb.

Non-Format.

I have to confess that I'm not one who gets a warm, tingly feeling when I see graphic design. I mean I'd like to, but I feel nothing. Maybe there's a pill I can take.

That said I can't get enough of  Non-Format. Not sure how exactly you'd label them, hence the name, but they basically bring uber cool art direction, design, illustration and custom typography to music, fashion, advertising and the arts.

Now if only I can sell something worthy of their talents and vision.

Brain-teaser Monday.

Unscramble this provocative poster. (Hint: It's for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

SmArt.

The Glue Society have done some great work over the years, especially in the realm of branded- entertainment.

But its their art pieces that really stir the imagination. Like a sculpture of a man crapping on the head of a giant pigeon. Or a satellite photo of Moses parting the Red Sea. Or this sculpture done in 2006 called, "Hot with the chance of a late storm".

Their work has been exhibited at Pulse Contemporary Art Fairs in Miami and New York.

Civilizing the subway.

I have to confess, I'm not totally sure what to make of this guerilla campaign by artist Jay Shells. I mean I really appreciate his idea of trying to bring civility to the New York Subway. Riding the trains can certainly test your faith in your fellow man. And no doubt Letitia Baldrige would approve.

And yet despite Jay's subtle use of wit I find it a little too heavy-handed for my sensibilities, like you're being reprimanded by an employer for not washing your hands after using the bathroom. Or being scolded by a zoo attendant for feeding an animal. And by the way asshole attendant it was only a piece of beef jerky and the walrus seemed to really enjoy it.

Personally I go by cab. Even if the occasional cab driver picks his nose.


(Sharing credit to brainpickings)

Art alert.

I'm not a big fan of "vintage", perhaps it goes back to that unspeakably disgusting thing I found in the pocket of a vintage coat I purchased some years back. So if anyone is going to make me fall in love with vintage again they're going to have to come up with something special. Cue London-based designer Tavis Coburn.

Here is his collection of wonderful vintage-inspired posters he specially created as homage to the five movies recently nominated for best film at the British Academy for Film and Television Arts.

And one to wet your appetite. It's for "The Hurt Locker". 

(Sharing credit to Brain Pickings)

The Johnny Cash Project.

If you're a Johnny Cash fan or just a creative type with a little time on their hands then you should love this very cool project. It invites users to help build a music video for Cash's last ever studio recording, "Ain't no grave" (sunshine was already taken).

It's not just an exercise in crowd-sourcing of course, it's much bigger than that. It's all about celebrating the man, the myth, the legend and his music or at least his last recording. But the use of user-generated content is incorporated in a wonderfully non-intrusive and selfless way. The creators of the project quite rightly refer to it as a "communal work".

And the real beauty is that this idea could only really work for a handful of artists. The Miley Cyrus project won't be coming to a website any time soon.

Kudos to director Chris Milk, Aaron Koblin and Radical Media amongst others.

Naoto Hattori.

If you're like me and once in a while get a hankering for some surreal art, I give you Naoto Hattori. He's a young artist originally from Japan, but is now based in New York.

I knew people who looked like that in high school. Not that I hung out with them or anything. They just helped me with my math homework. Here's what Naoto has to say on the subject (not math, but surrealism).

"Why was the surreal painter so important back in his day? Why did the royal residence hire those artists? Not because of their love for surreal paintings, just because the camera had not been invented yet. Now we have a computer, a video.. and numerous other things, so that contemporary art became abstract and people rely on a computer and tend to forget about the traditional art. I'm young but I just want to show them that surreal style of painting is still not dead."

(Sharing credit to Brain Pickings)

Can your paprika do this?

I love hearing stories about brilliance emerging from an accident. Reminds me of the story of Hermann Einstein doing a spot of nude gardening when he tripped over his own big feet and landed right on top of his wife, Pauline, who happened to be in the middle of her nude thigh stretching exercises. Nine months later Albert was born. Okay I totally made that up. Albert was born prematurely after only eight months.

This though, really did happen. In 2008 Matthew Albanese, a young artist spilled some paprika and a Strange World was born. Who knew everyday materials like cotton, faux fur, parsley, tile grout, cinnamon, wool and jello could make for such beautiful art.

(Sharing credit to Brain Pickings)

A very moving read.

I recently had the pleasure of working with the good folks at Razorfish on a Ralph Lauren project that called for "cool digital shit". That was pretty much the brief, sans the word shit.

One of the ideas we came up with pushed the possibilities of augmented or alternative reality. A very fun (and strategic) idea it was too, which may yet become reality. But it turned an AR skeptic into a believer of sorts.

Well here is a sweet reminder that augmented reality isn't just for mad people. Its experience can be shared outside the realm of marketing too. Now if only Camille Scherrer can do it for "War and Peace".

Improv Everywhere.

Those lovable, shareable folks at Improv Everywhere have done it again. Check out poor Rob getting lost at a Knicks game. (Though not as lost as the Knicks players!)




(Sharing credit to Brain Pickings)

Champagne Valentine anyone?

It's not a fizzy cocktail, but rather a wonderful creative digital agency based in Amsterdam. These guys are making interactivity in art and video a whole new experience.

“We are trying to create new mythologies and new visual and interactive experiences for the world, to give it something beautiful to engage with,” says Anita Fontaine, one of Champagne Valentine's founders.

Case in point: Their interactive video for Placebo's “The Never-Ending Why” is mesmerizing. The video pulls you into a graphic world inhabited by monsters, but you get to control the experience. Click here and play god.

(Sharing credit to jawbone.tv)

Paging Yong Ho Ji.

I wait with bated breath to see what Korean artist, Yong Ho Ji comes up with next. His mythical mutants made from recyclable tires were brilliant. So much so, I resisted the temptation to exploit them for advertising purposes. Even after I learned that his inspiration to use tires came from a childhood memory of the spare tire on his family's Jeep Wrangler. The ad practically writes itself. Won't be so honorable the next time, Yong.