The latest contribution by Google has been officially launched and I am happy to say that it is related to art. The “Art Project“, as it’s called, is basically Google’s “Street View” technology but brought indoors; and most importantly to art lovers, inside some of the worlds most famous art museums. Now fans from all over the world can visit the Uffizi in Florence, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The National Gallery in London, and more. Viewers can take a virtual tour of the museum, much like many galleries have been trying to do for a while now, and take a look at how the works are displayed. The best part is that you get these amazing high resolution images of the artworks. You can zoom in pretty close, so for all those people such as myself that like to really take in every detail, you can now do that with many of the greatest masterpieces. Of course this will not replace seeing the work in person, but it’s not as if everyone can fly to Florence or New York on a whim.
There have been some others sites that do offer high resolution images of artworks, ArtStor is one them. During my Art History eduction this website was used daily, and while it is cumbersome to use the images were often the best you could find. The one problem was that you always dealt with an inconsistency in the way the photos of the artworks were taken. So some would be true to the original works, and others would be poor in color and saturation. If Google can address this, and make the site a little less buggy, then I imagine Art Project will become a part of our daily lives, such as Google Maps or Gmail.
James Jean has just added a new open edition print to his online shop. “The Black Parade” was first created for an MCR album cover, which explains the format of the print. This uniquely sized print is 10″ x 40.6″ on 17″ x 41″ Hahnemühle Fine Art Paper, signed and embossed. Thanks to Omgposters.com for the heads up. Click the image for a larger version, a must for all that detail.
Chet Zar has added a new print to his online shop. “Pipe Dream” comes from a painting Chet first showed at the Thinkspace 5 Year Anniversary Show (http://www.creepmachine.com/events/thinkspace-gallery-5-year-anniversary-show.html) this past year. The print is 17″ x 22″ on velvet fine art paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 100 for $135. I’m really glad this made it into a limited edition.
JR Goldberg created an illustration based on Yolandi Visser from Die Antwoord that I had to share. It’s not often that the artist creates works based on real people, but as she stated on her blog Yolandi is already a living cartoon character. From what I have been reading, this image has also made its way onto the Die Antwoord official Facebook page (here), Congrats JR Goldberg!
David Lozeau added a painting video over at Youtube, that shows the artists creating a painting that took a total of 50 hours. You can watch the artists process in just around 4 minutes. Thanks for sharing this David.
N.C. Winters has just updated his homepage and fully redesigned it. This new design looks amazing, and it’s very easy to find anything you are looking for. The shop area has also be updated to match the look of the main site, so it’s a very seamless design no matter where you are. Make sure to check out the site, and even look at some new work Winters has added such as this “Matadora” progress shot, one of the works that will be added to his 100 Drawings section.
Ok, so all of the entries for the Trevor Brown print contest were read over by Trevor himself and a winner has been chosen. Unfortunately the winner that Trevor did choose, gave a fake e-mail address and is now forfeited. So I used random.org to choose a random winner, who is Celeste Noel. Congratulations! Stay tuned as we will be having some more contests very soon, and thanks to all those that entered.
An artist working out of Sacramento, Ca, Jeff Felker has a degree in English as well as studio art. He works primarily in oils, and was nice enough to share some of the new works he will be exhibiting at an upcoming show at Rothick Art Haus this February 12th, entitled “Behind the Striped Curtain”. This group show focuses on circus themed art, so Jeff’s works “address female empowerment in the misogynistic, objectifying environment of circus sideshows. In circus sideshows women are commodified for sexual entertainment value, but in Jeff’s paintings, the women earn back their self respect. By gazing out and confronting the viewer, the women are able to remain self-empowered, despite the physical oppression of their bodies.” Make sure you check out the artists homepage, as well his Etsy shop where you can also find some prints.
Tomer Hanuka will be dropping a new print this Thursday, January 27th. The print is entitled “Perfect Storm” and is a Valentine’s Day Edition. The print is 13″ x 19″, signed and numbered in an edition of 45 for $85 each.
Get it here: Tomer Hanuka Shop
Justin Kamerer, aka Angryblue, has just released two new prints. “You Are Safe” is an 18″ x 24″ print with 5 impressions, and a new technique that creates a “faux embossed” look to the work. The print is signed and numbered in an edition of 90 for $30 each. The next print is “Faun”, an 11″ x 14″ letterpress print on soft cream paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 100 for $30 each. Once again Justin brings us some amazing looking prints. Can’t wait to see what he does next with these new techniques he is working on.
Get em here: Angryblue.com
Back in October I featured the art of Byran Pickens (here), and have been watching his site ever since. He recently added two new paintings, and even some process shots for one of the paintings “CMYK” (shown first), the second one is “Untitled”. I love the textures and the feel that Bryan is able to achieve with his work, and the clean, sharp, illustrative style the figures still hold. It’s a very dynamic combination. Make sure you check out Bryan’s homepage, and the blog area for more process shots, to see how the artists works and any upcoming news or prints.
Banky’s documentary film “Exit Through the Gift Shop” has been nominated for an Oscar. I have already read on a few sites that some fans are against this, and even sites such as the Guardian commented how the “outsider status of graffiti artist Banksy took a further blow”, because of the nomination. I believe this nomination will draw even more attention to the artist and to street art as a whole. Which is a good thing right? There are always those that love the underground, and special feel of art, music, and movies that are not mainstream, but as an art historian I am intrigued by what this new attention will bring in the coming years to this ever growing art scene. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Banksy in line for Oscar Nomination
