EscapeArt Magazine - Issue 1 - "What Makes Art Good?"

Esc

Art

Featured Artists

ISSUE 1, April 2019

Discussions

Networking

Interview with MatĂ­as Almargen

The Trail Artist

The artist with no obligations to please

Walking across the US

The Artist Forum

The Painting that Never Ends Inside the mind of Xavier Ott

A space to breath knowledge and exhale art

What Makes Art Good?

Issue 01, April 2019

Contents

Editors Letter p.3 Magazine Essay p.4, 5, 27, 43, 51, 61 Featured Artists

Xavier Ott p.6-11

Bernd Schirmer p.12-17

Matias Almargen interview p.20-26

The Trail Artist p.28-29

Jesus Ingles p.32-37

Natacha Perez p.38-41

Ida Stoycheva p.44-47

Marco Sperini p.48-51

Jos Leonard p.54-57

Or Menaged p.58-59

Guilherme Pantoja p.60

Artenet p.18-19 Surrealism Gallery p.52-53 Emerging Artists p.62-63

2

Once upon a time, there was a boy called Dan.

What Makes Art Good?

Editor’s Letter When we first started to exist, our purpose has always been to discover and create.

We are in most cases, promptly forbidden the freedom to do so by authority and rules beyond our sights. In our attempt to follow the rules we start to doubt ourselves - listening to the people who say that the laws which govern us must be followed as that is how it is and always will be.

EscapeArt Magazine is a movement which encourages turning your back on these boundaries through art without limitations. When going through the submissions

for this issue we realised that there are zero guidelines for categorizing whether art is good or bad. This brought us to the title dicussion ... What makes art good? Here, you will find that the artists must decide their own rules in order to accomodate their inherit talent.

However....

Some art is incredible from a technical point of view, while other artwork is able to touch the spectator on an emotional level. Some art that might be good to us might be horrible to others. Which is the art that is worthy to appear in art galleries or be sold in the most prestigious auction houses? What are the values a piece of art needs to meet in order for it to be called a masterpiece and more importantly, who makes these decisions? In our pursuit for answers weve reached out to art academics and researchers. We’ve even received emails from some stating that they cannot help us find a conclusion to this search, for there is none.

Welcome to the first Issue of EscapeArt Magazine. In each issue we aim to give artists and art lovers alike a space to show their work and say their piece. Every issue will cover a controversial topic where we will invite everyone to share their views on our online forum and have a chance to be featured here. We live in a busy and demanding world. We invite you to take a moment, to sit, to think and explore the wondrous possibilities of the human mind. Escape with art.

3

Dan’s parents loved him very much, and they made sure to give him everything he ever needed.

Issue 01, April 2019

So... What makes art good?

I

f we turn our attention back through time, we will discover a period which has been coined The Stone Age by historians. During this time paleolithic art was born. Specifically refering to rock carvings and drawings, stone arrangements and rare sculptures made of primitive materials dating from the Paleolithic era (40 000BC – 5 000BC)*. One of the most famous and well conserved pieces of art from this period is a limestone sculpture depicting what seems to be an obese woman, ironically called the Venus of Willendorf by researchers.

There is little known about the way this piece of work was created and even less information about the intention of the “artist”. On a closer look one will notice that her genitalia and breasts are highly pronounced, she has no face and her hands are tiny compared to the rest of her body. It’s assumed that she’s a symbol of fertility. Interestingly, this is not the only figurine of the sort found from the Paleolithic era which could indicate that the sculpture might’ve been used as a trinket in rituals or as a religious relic meant to be offered as veneration to the deities of that time.* The possibilities are endless and we shall come back to this figurine as we understand more about the evolution of art.

Civilization progressed with the discovery of copper, bronze and iron. These discoveries aided the advancement of the human race and more importantly for us, art.

One of of the most prolific civilisations to emerge out of this time was Ancient Egypt. Their culture resembled a structured society with people filling in the roles of workers, leaders, warriors and interestingly enough, the first professional

4

Venus of Willendorf 25000BCE

From the age of 7 Dan was able to impress anyone he met.

What Makes Art Good?

artists. They were in charge of creating the famous hieroglyphs. Their “art� has a very specific framework. The people depicted in the hieroglyphs often have their torso and eyes facing the viewer but the rest of their body: feet, faces and hands pointed in a 3/4 angle. Further research showed that the drawings kept a uniform size and ratio across multiple locations. Is this the first time our question has been addressed? Would people criticize the drawings that did not respect the technical specifications imposed?

When looking at Egyptian sculpture, we can conclude that similarly to hieroglyphs there are rules that had to be respected. Sculptures often show pharaohs and deities often carved in similar poses. The sculptures are made in the technique of sunken relief which depends heavily on the sun. The shadows it creates emphasize detail and outlines of such monuments.

At a similar time, in Ancient Greece there were artists attempting to sculpt small scale figurines which proceeded to get closer to realistic representations of man. Around 1000 - 500 BC sculptors embarked on a journey of sculpting realism by analyzing the curvature of the figure, the systems of muscle and different resting poses.

They eventually seem to have achieved their goal around 480BC with a sculpture that survives to this day: the Kritian boy. When looked at more closely we can see the first signs of sculpture moving away from the stiff posture to a more relaxed pose.

Continue reading on page. 27

Kritian Boy, 480BCE

He passed kindergarten already knowing how to write and read basic words

5

Shamanic dream, 65 x 92cm; 2018

Issue 01, April 2019

6

“The paintings tell me what to paint�

and his aptitude for learning posed for a very promising future.

What Makes Art Good?

Xavier Ott Follow Xavier on @ottxavier www.xavier-ott.fr

W

e came across Xavier on one of many excursions into the depths of instagram. Even though the world is breathing with art: the online platforms available where artists share their artwork are filled with fakes, automated software and money laundering systems. What struck us about Xavier was that he was a real person; and we do not mean merely just made out of flesh and bones, but real in the sense that he had an authentic story that woke him up.

When you first look at Xavier Ott’s artwork you might get lost in the lack of form and boundless shapes merging into each other in a hypnotic experience. The longer you study his work, the more your imagination is going to be able to make out different figurative elements; eyes, a face, a smile, a hand going across the canvas as it tries to

“All Ego/Vanity?” 116 x 81cm; 2017

7

His father, in order to show how happy he was to have such a unique child,

Issue 01, April 2019

8

decided to award his son with anything in the world.

What Makes Art Good?

escape its constriction. Early in his life during a fit of rage whilst painting, Xavier charged at his canvas and ended up with several severed arteries and tendons. Suffering trauma as well as an extended surgery and recovery period Xavier feels like he lost some of his childhood years. He attempts to recover some of his youth through his artwork.

A child has the intrinsic instinct of curiosity.

They live in the moment not being aware or

understanding the concept of self, past and future.

They do not worry about the problems adults are concerned with and they certainly do not feel the economical responsibility so many of us feel day to day. This is one of the reasons Xavier’s work feels playful. His paintings seem to be created in a spontaneous manner which manages to capture the frankness and innocence of a child.

X.OTT since childhood. To paint thus took him years.

For him, “the painting paints the painting”. He did really see it until after. His work is an invitation to travel, his paintings dazzle the multitude of things that happen all the time. Things of which we are aware, but which we can not perceive simultaneously. It gives to see paintings impossible to embrace at a glance. To see them all, it takes time to circulate everywhere, and this requires changing several times from one point of view.

This time is a present, a gift, an experience where philosophy and spirituality interact with the actuality and simultaneously with the

Having spent most of his time in solidarity; sometimes even sleeping in his art studio for days on end, Xavier hasn’t been fully exposed to the social cues of society. Along the many elements of the art he creates, faces can almost always be distinguished. Drawing faces helps him understand the emotions of people in his waking life, even if he often finds himself getting lost in his own creation.

“Many creations are thought concepts.Eastern culture speaks of the presence and inner silence as the absence of mental activity.

According to them, in the silence of this presence lies all that is to be known. All the rest being concept. Spontaneous painting is a meditation. It’s a breath. The plot is the expression (of expiration).

It induces the inspiration from which the following expiration follows. The painting is discovered step by step, it is built under the eye of the painter who perceives the evolution of this meditation in action.

The painting is revealed progressively to which the time of presence is given. These paintings are meditation supports. Draw while watching the drawing evolve. It has subjugated and occupied

consciousness of each one.”

So how do you draw a painting that resembles

meditation? His current project comes close to it. He is using the platform of Instagram in order to paint something he calls the “infinite fresco”.

Xavier uses the squares of his profile grid (see pg. 10) as a stepping stone to a bigger picture.

Moreover, what makes his work unique is that every-time a new tile is added, the painting shifts around in a such a way that it continues to flow, whilst still somehow traveling from one element to another.

9

“Since you’ve been such a good child and you bring me so much happiness,

Issue 01, April 2019

instagram: @ottxavier

10

I’d like you to pick anything you could have.� he said.

What Makes Art Good?

What makes art good?

In order to assess if a piece of work is good or bad, we must ask ourselves the following questions: Do we feel that the artwork was free to express itself fully during the creation? Does the artwork manage to gain the sense of self and start a conversation?

For me an artwork must become its own entity.

Moreover, it must transcend “it” and become a he, or a she… a person. It must be alive and reveal new things. The artwork must be bold in its own right,

evolving constantly upon its transmutated culture and inspirations. A good piece of art must be able to transport us back to our origin. It must wake us up and guide us to the truth. It must arouse curiosity and make us question the values of the world and even our own values. Furthermore, on a technical level it must reach a culmination of many years of research, which might then become part of the research for a piece years later.

Nuclear/Nature Nightmare, 73 x 92cm; 2018

“Two elastic bands.” was the answer.

11

Issue 01, April 2019

Bernd Schirmer Follow Bernd on Instagram @byesphotography

I

first came into contact with art at the age of 15 when I took an advanced class at school and I was influenced by the street art of the 90’s.

My early style can be described as punchy and my medium journeyed from wall, to paper and then to canvas which I began to sell commercially until about the early 2000’s. This however was followed by a somewhat quiet period, but my interest in art endured as I continued collecting books, catalogues and manuals on art and illustration. It wasn’t until my wife encouraged me to become a professional photographer that my world exploded.

I love her very much for this because had she not, photography for me would have continued to be humdrum holiday shots of cultural monuments and landscapes.

12

So, in June 2018, I decided to deal professionally with the topic and that was when I met my mentor, Sascha Safdar-Götz (Mystic Moments). I learnt how to edit images digitally and also bought my first mirorless full-frame camera, A Nikon Z7,

“I mean anything in the world, son! Anything you could imagine!”

from Sascha. This was the beginning of something completely new, like discovering a part of myself which had always been present but hidden. I have also joined professional education courses and tutorials hosted by photography and digital editing masters from RGG Edu (RGG Education).

I find that my inspiration comes from everything. I move through the world with my eyes open, I see and perceive, I smell and I feel. I frequently imagine images I would like to preserve. I take many things from the countries I travel to and they often aid me in my creations. I have flown many times to the capitals of Europe, just to spend whole days at the museums there. I always keep a small notebook with me and fill it with sketches and ideas. When I have collected enough, the conception and process of transferring them into images begin to manifest.

My mind burgeons with a wealth of creativity which is endlessly trying to breakforth. This is both a gift and a burden. I have learnt to organize with the help of photography and image editing,

What Makes Art Good?

13 “Claws”, photography by Bernd Schirmer

Issue 01, April 2019

where you cannot succeed without structure.

My style is combining the works of the old masters with photography, sometimes in a surreal or fantastical way. I make my worlds resurrect and aim to achieve a certain atmosphere with the help of varying positioned lights and arrangement of different settings. Each of my works tell a story, has a message, sometimes hidden and at other times quite obvious.

My goal is not to be liked but to captivate and play with my observer´s view and emotions. Not knowing what is real and what is pure fantasy. I want you to take from the complete image some of what was experienced in its creation. When on set, I am in kind of a trance, I am in my element and perfectly focussed on the result depicted in my mind – my work of art. Hours fly by like in a frenzy, and for me reality disappears.

14

“Circe”, photography by Bernd Schirmer

“I will be very happy if you bring me two elastic bands father.” Dan started

What Makes Art Good?

“Dark Alice in Wonderland”, photography by Bernd Schirmer

“I move through the world with my eyes open”

“You see, I have a project I’m working on,

15

Issue 01, April 2019

16 “Madonna Rossa con Angeli”, photography by Bernd Schirmer

What Makes Art Good?

“The Wise”, photography by Bernd Schirmer

What makes art good?

Art is a trigger, an emotion looking to escape.

Art is the personal and individual expression of the artist. It is supposed to stimulate, to inspire, to liberate and invite others to stay. It is quality if it succeeds in capturing the observer, even if it is just for a moment. It is controversial, subtle, perverse, aggressive, easy, musical, inspiring and omnipresent. Nature, form, colour and everything else that’s around us put together according to laws, randomly and coincidentally, at the same time beautiful. Everybody perceives, interprets and reacts to art in their own way.

Art is good if; carried by notes it flatters the ear, it evokes such emotion that the observer should

shed tears from the water of their soul, look upon it wide-eyed with astonishment, or if it enrages enough to drag up wrath from the fire of force.

Art is not supposed to represent anything, it stands for its own and does not know any definitions. It is liked or not liked. If it is dealt with, it has won, if it is looked at, it is thankful. It is an element of life, it decorates inanimate walls, it brings back joy to broken hearts. It may be possessive yet exercise so much power over anybody, it is stored, it is desired and it comes at a price. You may buy it, yet still it is invaluable, it is for free or cannot be owned at all.

Art is what the self senses and it keeps us awake. It means finding oneself.

and in order to be able to continue I need elastic bands.”

17

Issue 01, April 2019

Antonio Sanchez Cabello

www.artenet.es A platform that doesn’t sell artists’ original art; it promotes it and gives the power to the artists. The buyers contact the artists directly.

There is no commission involved.

The ability to sell prints of your original work is also possible.

18 Lluis Garriga

What Makes Art Good?

Santi Goni Guemes

Miquel Cazana Llagostera

Marita A Guardia

What makes art good?

Good art is artwork which leaves the viewer with something to think about and wanting more. Good art is art that teaches and shows the viewer something new. We see a lot of art pieces every day and good artwork is something that you still remember the next day.

19

Issue 01, April 2019

20

“ Musicians are magicians ”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier! Of course!” Exclaimed his father,

What Makes Art Good?

Interview WE HAD THE OPORTUNITY TO INTERVIEW MATIAS A FEW WEEKS AGO. A TRULY HUMBLE, TALENTED CHARACTER WITH A STIRRING VIEW ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN ARTIST.

Matias Almargen Follow Matias on Facebook @almargenpagina

Are you inspired by anything in specific? I read that you create based on instinct which can sometimes come from anger and impulse towards our society.

I’m inspired by life. Usually I try to show problems that happen to me or I see around me. If there is something that inspires me, it is music. I always draw listening to music.

When looking at your art, one might think that you are a pessimist. Could this be true in your daily life? It may be that my work is pessimistic, I do not know. I try not to tag it. I try to portray issues and each person draws their own conclusions. Personally, I like the works that draw attention to a problem. Imagine a novel or a movie where there is no obstacle, it would be very boring. In every story there is a problem, even if the story is a comedy. As the story develops the problem will aways be resolved or unresolved.

Stories always start from a problem.

21

both bemused and confused.

Issue 01, April 2019

22

What Makes Art Good?

23

Issue 01, April 2019

You don’t sell your artwork, so how do you pay the bills?

I’m always surprised when people don’t understand why I don’t want to sell my drawings. Surely many must think I’m an idiot or something, does everything that one does in life have to be for money? Do you fall in love or have friends just for the money? I think that in most cases it’s not like that. On the contrary, money often destroys families and friendships. I don’t have much money, just the opposite. I get up very early every day to go to work like most people do and I use my free time to draw.

24

I’m quite taken by aparticular drawing (p.18), it is quite beguiling. Could you comment on it briefly? I really enjoy listening to music. Musicians are a like magicians for me.

No other art form moves me as much as music. In that drawing I tried to show that in the enjoyment of music there is no reason or logic.

What Makes Art Good?

25

Issue 01, April 2019

What makes art good?

Our magazine issue tries to tackle the question: “What makes art good?”

Do you have any thoughts on this? To answer that question, we must first know what art is. I think nobody would or has agreed on this point. I studied at an art school and started to draw comics. Many people told me that comics were not art. Literature is art, drawing is art, but it to them the combination of both is not. Another thing that bothers me is when someone calls themselves an artist and thinks they’re on a pedestal and feels superior to others. It is as if they self-appoint themselves as geniuses. When anybody calls me an artist, I only answer “thank you”. I do not have to explain all this, but I consider myself only a draftsman. I can talk about drawings. What makes a drawing good? The subjectivity of the person who looks at it. It’s like music: there’s no reason or logic.

26

Doryphoros, 430BCE, by Ploykleto

What Makes Art Good?

more human than human. Exaggerating muscles was not enough anymore so in order to achieve a sculpture that looked godlike he created a set of adjustments to the pose of the Kritian boy. He achieved an effect in which the sculpture looks relaxed but ready to move at any time.

Let’s pause for a moment and look at how this answers the question of “What makes art good?”

Good sculptures in Ancient Greece from 1 000BC to 400BC were the sculptures that came closest to real life depiction. When that was achieved good art became the one that managed to move away from realism and innovate proportions and postures that exaggerated kinetic power. Did they move away from realism in such a short period of time because of the human nature to exaggerate and progress?

It’s important to also mention the Roman Empire, where art was very similar to the one that can be traced back to Ancient Greece. Unfortunately, few pieces of art remain after the fall of the Roman Empire, but it is speculated that most of the techniques which can be seen thousands of years later have been at some point attempted and studied in Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire.

(Continued from p.5) The sculpture’s right leg is slightly raised, the pelvis is pushed diagonally which causes the spine to curve in an S and the shoulders line to dip to the left. It seems that after the imitation of self has been achieved humanity returned to its primal instinct of exaggeration that can be seen in the Venus of Willendorf. Greek sculptor Polycleitus took this concept to the extreme and started what is now known as contrapposto.

Polycleitus tried to create someone that looked

After the fall of the empire, fast forward to the Middle Ages, where art known as the Byzantine art emerged. This type of work revolved heavily around iconography and religious paintings.

If classical art is representative of the attempt to reach realism and exaggerate certain features, Byzantine art represents things that people couldn’t normally see, such as God and Heaven. There has been a lot of debate in trying to find a description representative of this movement’s aesthetic. Highly symbolic and sometimes dark and unnatural we can go as far as saying that it is abstract while others might see oriental influences. Nonetheless, even if it went completely against what was considered

Continue reading on page. 43

Issue 01, April 2019

The Trail Artist

Viral IT D on ReTErDailArtist u/Th

Lucas Woolfolk Keep up to date with Lucas’s travels by visiting www.thetrailartist.com Follow on Instagram @thetrailartist

I

have long created art, but seldom considered myself an artist. I felt the word “artist” was too subjective and self-imposed. Who decides what constitutes what an artist is, or art for that matter?

Were we all born artists, and creating art the first moment we set crayon to paper? Or do you have to be recognized by a gallery or receive an education in art to be a “real” artist? The art world has always been full of impossible questions.

28

I find that trying to decide the difference between good art and bad art, or defining “real art” is a slippery slope. It is what stops artists in their tracks and keeps canvases blank. We all create art of some kind as children, but as we grow up, more and more people stop. It is in human nature to create things, but we silence that part of ourselves because we decide we aren’t good enough, or someone is better. We can silence that part of ourselves when push comes to shove. As someone who pursued an education in art, I have been the punchline of many jokes, and I know too well the path of an artist is full of roadblocks. Don’t you want to study something that will actually make money?

Don’t you know your

What Makes Art Good?

art will only matter when you’re dead? Don’t you think you should pursue a real career? These kinds of questions stunt the growth of artists, but are a paralyzing reality for many.

In early 2017 I found myself at one of my lowest points creatively. I was trapped in the daily routine of a passionless job, sapped of any energy to create artwork, and struggling with depression. I had just finished my education in art, and lo and behold,

I could not find a job in the field. I found myself working overtime in a window factory at night.

In the hours I used to find the greatest bursts of inspiration, I found myself repeating the same stale day. I found myself slowly becoming a ghost of who I was before. I did nothing but work and sleep for over a year, desperately trying to conquer my student loans, and my art life took the back burner, sizzling into nothing.

I found myself in the middle of what many had warned of: the dreaded “real world.” But I was not satisfied with the sum of all my passions to remain

Issue 01, April 2019

30 Knobley Road, WV, 13x18cm, acrylic on wood, 2019

What Makes Art Good?

dead at the starting gate of life. I was not okay with following only the path of least resistance. I did not want to become another statistic of paintbrushes collecting dust and spreading the company line of “welcome to the real world.� I learned that art was not just something I did for fun, or a hobby, it was a vital piece of my identity. As days went on, the weight of this divide of who I was and who I wanted to be became greater and greater until I decided to make a drastic change.

I set out to walk across the USA on April 1st, 2018 to rekindle my passion for creating things, to challenge myself, and to come out a stronger person as well as an artist. I learned that questioning your own art, or comparing to that of others, is the soul killer of an artist. As much as you study your passion -- whether that is painting, writing, music, dance, or any category you may list under art -the how is never as important as the why.

follow a straight line and struggle to be happy. I learned from the strangers that I stumbled upon across the states that there is still plenty of kindness in the world. People invited me into their homes and gave me food and water for no other reason than to help a traveler. I learned from the landscape and wildlife that there is still plenty of beauty left in the world. I discovered new places I didn’t know existed like the rolling mountains of Dolly Sods wilderness in West Virginia. I rediscovered new beauty in old places, like my hometown of Grinnell, Iowa. And I learned from saying yes to my passions that they are still worth pursuing. And so are yours.

It was not until I made the leap to fully trust in myself and my abilities did the why become apparent in my own life. I began walking to shed myself of every excuse, and every roadblock I have either encountered or created myself. I believe becoming a better artist begins with becoming a better person, and for me that meant keeping my promises to myself. So far I have faced challenges of the body and soul, and redefined my limits. I came close to quitting after food poisoning in Maryland, and I had more than my share of blisters. Despite this, whether you are walking across a country or pursuing a passion, there will always be ups and downs. I have come to learn that art is all around us, and it is not simply a thing that we do, but a way of life. Art is an ever flowing river, a primal thing, and ignoring that is ignoring a part of yourself.

I am only about halfway done with my walk, waiting until the snow melts to finish my walk to California. So far, I have no regrets. I would rather live outside my comfort zone but be happy than

Anderson Falls, IN, 13x18cm, acrylic on wood, 2019

31

The next day, his father brought his son not 2,

Issue 01, April 2019

Jesus Ingles Follow Jesus on Instagram and Facebook @J.inglesartista www.jesusingles.com

J

esús Inglés Canalejo, born in 1988 in Cartagena, Spain, is a self-taught plastic artist.

He has been teaching drawing and painting since he was 24 years old. Immediately, one will notice his motif of nature. His main goal as an artist is to reconnect our human nature back to our original roots. His hope is that we will maintain the balance of our biosphere by understanding that we came from its dust. He urges us to prepare our home for future generations.

“Before becoming what I am, I must recognize that there was a time when I could not find the meaning of life, why we are here or why, when my inspiration when painting was practically null, ideas did not arise, I found myself empty and really lost, thinking that I lacked that gift to create ... until one day I remembered a man who raised the spirit and consciousness of people, Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente. From that day on I began to listen to his radio programs while I was painting and I felt that seed of protection of nature sprouting in me, when all of a sudden ideas began to emerge and more ideas were piling up inside me.

Felix taught me that the human being as a dominant species has the duty and obligation to fulfill a role in nature: the sacred responsibility to protect our Earth as a mother. She gives us everything in exchange for nothing.

Since then I have found meaning in my life, my role as an individual in this society is to transmit in the best way I know, through my work, that we only have one way, that of reconnecting the human Being with “Mother Earth” as it was in primitive times.

Somehow I want the viewer and my work to

32

but a set of 50 elastic bands and asked:

connect, to be founded, to make him feel part and accomplice of the fact that the most important path of the human being today is to protect our home.

We will go towards our own extinction if we continue destroying the planet that supports us, that nourishes us and that gives us life, on those foundations that nature has created during billions of years.

“Man is the synthesis of the Universe, the planet is synthesis of the Universe, between man and Earth there’s the deep embrace, the unbreakable umbilical cord, between the child and the mother, when the child is in the maternal cloister.

If the cord breaks, the child dies, and the mother herself is also in danger.”

- Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente -

Have you ever wondered, what is the role of the Human Being in nature, as one more animal that populates this planet? Each and every one of the living beings that inhabit the Earth, have a fundamental role to maintain the balance in our ecosystems.

For example: The grass is nourished by the sun, the water and the minerals of the earth. Grass is then eaten by the roe deer while the roe deer is eaten by the wolf. When the wolf dies, scavengers like the bearded vulture act as sanitary ingesting the remains of the dog and when it dies, microscopic organisms and invertebrates, i.e. carrion destroyers eat the remains of organic matter and with their excrements repopulate the earth with minerals to restart the cycle of life and death.

Félix Rodríguez of the fountain synthesized the phenomenon of life in this apparently infantile phrase of “to eat and not to be eaten”.

Since the Neolithic age (12,000 years ago), human beings began to feel that they owned everything

What Makes Art Good?

Comer Y No Ser Comido, “Eat and not be Eatern”, IN, 114x114cm, oil on canvas, 2018

Issue 01, April 2019

34

“Jaque”, oil on canvas

What Makes Art Good?

35

Issue 01, April 2019

Hermano Lobo, “Brother Wolf”, IN, 114x144cm, oil on canvas, 2018

36

“ To be or not to be eaten ”

“What else would you like? What is it that you really want?”

What Makes Art Good?

that surrounded them, thus separating themselves from the trophic chains that regulate ecosystems.

Since then, Humanity is destroying 4,500 million years that cost the planet to create a biosphere full of the most incredible and beautiful forms of life.

The planet has gone through numerous climatic changes, which almost forced it to restart life, giving rise to new species, until arriving at its masterpiece, the Human species. I do not believe that nature has created us to destroy itself.

The Sun has about 7.5 billion years left to go extinct and with it it will disintegrate our planet.

Now we come to the answer to the question of the role of our species on Earth...

We are even capable of transforming sunlight, as plants do, into energy, something that we would never have dreamed of achieving some time ago and we have only just begun.

Nature has created one species after another, so that life is always possible, but ours seems to get out of the logical mechanisms of nature.

Humanity is the key, capable of doing whatever it sets out to do, nature’s masterpiece to save itself from its own extinction.

Time is running out, if we do not change our consciousness and stop acting like a godless and selfish society destroying our home, in less than a blink hope will be broken and with it the future of our planet. *Let us eat, but let us not be eaten. “(...) When the real Man will be in possession, and allow me the redundancy of the real truth, we don’t know... all tell us that they have it, all, the philosophers, the mystics, the politicians, but who has the truth... that’s why, the Man, Dear friends and above all dear children and young people, in your tremendous and absolute solitude, pilot unfortunately or fortunately of a gigantic sidereal ship that departs from the space millennium after millennium, you have no choice but to seek the truth, your own truth... (…)”

-Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente- “

What makes art good?

Art that is good is art that is necessary. Art is a means of expression and as such, we artists have the duty and obligation to transmit to the world a good to society. One can reflect in their works the beauty of a landscape, the sensitivity and feelings in a face, express through the work their state of mind, their own personality, but above all, I believe that as bearers of the culture that we are, artists must bring a good to society, creating change, disseminating problems that concern our planet, whether social, political, ecological, etc. I would give my humble example as an artist that I am, that I could even say that I would not dedicate myself to painting

if it were not for the great motivation that I felt when knowing that our planet and life itself is now more than ever in a great decline, the pillars that sustain the balance of nature are being destroyed dramatically, for that reason I felt the great duty to express through my work this great historical fact that can take us to the sixth massive extinction that our planet has lived, according to the science assures literature.

Art in all its disciplines, as a cultural medium, can contribute greatly to changing the modules of behaviour of the Human Being by creating awareness for a common good.

37

Dan takes the set of elastic bands from his father and

Issue 01, April 2019

Hermestia, 100x100cm, mixed media on canvas, 2018

38

Rhinoceros G1, 100x100cm, mixed media on canvas, 2018

What Makes Art Good?

Natacha Perez Follow Natacha on Instagram @perenart

F

rench artist Natacha Perez hopes to be one step closer to meeting her true self whilst attempting to understand the world. She is passionate about hidden senses, colour and living beings. She has a constant hunger for information and her research for more knowledge led her to travel the domains of magic and poetry but also science and quantum physics. When asked to describe her work she delineated it as figurative, realistic and symbolic. Despite her artwork strongly suggesting a quest for realism, this is not her personal journey. Instead she wants to give life to her paintings by being present in all the stages of the process, from the materials she paints on to its completion.

“My main supports are canvas frames but also wood, medium or MDF, I like to participate in every stage of my creation, that’s why I like to stretch my canvases myself and sometimes even build my frames when the weather allows me. I am amazed by the transmutation of the material. I love working on increasingly larger formats or even frescoes, as I find that the physical dimension of the work takes on a different resonance and a different radiance.

I work mostly with acrylics, yet I frequently alternate mediums such as spray paints, inks, pencil and pen. Occasionally, I also like to sculpt and engrave using all the materials which require different techniques based on newsprint or textures.”

Natacha glues newspaper to the canvas in order to bring her subject matter to life through the “bas-relief” it creates. The idea is to make a lively phenomenon of surface beauty when light hits the varying exterior. After working for a long time on precision and meticulousness she is now learning to detach herself from the technical

aspects and approach painting using an expressive style.

“I like to play with the order/chaos balance, with a very colourful background, while adding a figurative subject in the foreground. When the alchemy between the two takes place, it is possible to appreciate the work on several levels - both in its entirety and also in its detail, as a whole and in its singularity. Colours are very important to me,

I love this game between cold and hot, always this search for balance between the complementary ones. I wish to cultivate the imagination of the spectator and not to lock him in a figurative frame which would harm the inner journey proposed by the work. Thus the canvas is out of time and space, only the moment counts.

It has been scientifically proven that colours have an impact on man, his emotions and his state of mind (knowledge widely taught and used in visual communication). I paint with intense colours; I create harmonies so that they are both energetic and soft. I hope that my colours will invite you to joy, a feeling of peace and inner well-being.”

Her subject matter often features animals which

have inspired her since she was young. Special attention is spent on their eyes in order to capture the wild beauty of their gaze, but also characterize the subjects with intelligence and sensitivity.

“Painting allows me to capture this moment and

39

puts them in his toy drawer;

Issue 01, April 2019

share it. As mentioned above, I am interested in symbolism. So I looked at the meanings and interpretations of certain animals across the world’s cultures, from Egypt to China to Amerindian shamanic traditions. Through my paintings I wish to represent both nobility and animal wisdom from a new angle. I am very interested in symbols and their impact on humans. I was trying to understand the code of the universe, why certain forms come back into nature, in our constructions, why this choice, is it a choice or simply something intrinsic transmitted unconsciously or consciously of which we have lost the meaning. So I became interested in many areas where form was used for its impact, such as constructions based on geobiology, feng shui, energy, vibrations, etc. This naturally brought me back to the morpho-magnetic field of which Rupert Scheldrake speaks, the memory of form and therefore of the object, sacred geometry, the golden number, fractals... The geometry that I am currently posing in a naive way is only the symbol of a much deeper search for understanding.

From this point of view, one could say that my creations retrace my journey from the background to the foreground, from the past to the future.

The coloured background reflects this creative energy of moving love, the points that remind us of the stars symbolize the basis of our history. The simplest and most abstract graphic symbol point (or undue in Sanskrit). It represents the first stage of the manifestation of creative energy when it applies to the world of form. Painting therefore allows me to carry out these two steps: three-dimensional at the time of its creation and two-dimensional at the time of drying. It is the first manifestation that emerges from the void (the coloured background).

40

Chouette Brune, 50x40cm, mixed media on canvas, 2018

The shapes drawn represent a slightly more advanced demonstration of the point and then the animal symbolizes the result of geometric coding in the third dimension (ours). The triangle represents spiritual alignment, the trinity is the third law of manifestation of the unitary principle, the second its vision, the third term of a trinity stabilizes duality as the earth in an electric bipolarity. The circle is a symbol of the cycle but also of life, of perfection and harmony.

Chouettes Taito G1, 50x50cm, mixed media on canvas, 2018

which was mostly filled with the toys that his parents bought

What Makes Art Good?

What makes art good?

The notion of good in art is relative because it depends on our individual capacity to question ourselves and to persevere. If I can’t draw what I want, I will go through a stage of frustration, so art puts me in front of my inability to achieve something. If I stop there, art could be seen with a negative connotation since it has become the tool of my frustration. But if I accept that I don’t know and I agree not to succeed, I go into experimentation.

Art then allows me to reach my goal but also to surpass myself, learning more about myself in the process. Art comes into our lives like a mirror because if we look back at the first example, it is not art that frustrates me but my inability to accept that I’m not perfect. So I would say that whatever the final result of the work, what counts is the journey

of creation: the different phases as well as our way of understanding its phases. It is our reactions that will allow us to grow out of this experience. In any case, esthetics is of little importance because in reality, what we see does not come from our perception but from our projection. The only barrier to art is our imagination, by transgressing our artistic limits, we overcome our own barriers as a person. Art is good in the sense that it allows us to move forward, to grow and to rise. I think that Art is therefore neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’. Art reminds us of our fundamental essence as human beings, that is, it reflects our duality. In my opinion, art can, but does not necessarily have to be used for something, it just has to ‘be’. We often forget to just ‘be’.

41

8

attempting to guess at what interested their child .

Issue 01, April 2019

ow l l o F On IG

Deathwish Society Art Collectives Publishing house Instagram @deathwishsocietyart

42

Based in New York, the DeathWish Society Art Collective & Publishing Co. was founded with the intent of discovering, nurturing and showcasing a variety of art styles. It promotes (but is not exclusive to exploring), artists within the Lower East Side of New York City. The Collective’s

resolve is driven by a passion to provide a means of exposure and free expression to individuals who would like to be involved, as well as create a community that will be dedicated to elevating one another to a higher level of artistic expression. Welcome to the future...

(Continued from p.27)

What Makes Art Good?

good art in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, orthodox churches, the most powerful and prestigious structures at the time were only decorated with such art.

The Renaissance is probably the most studied art movement. It came after Byzantine art and its literal meaning is “rebirth”. Its name hints at the inability of literature and art to flourish during the Middle Ages due to the constriction of the religious

David, Michelangelo, 1501 - 1504

depictions of art. During the Renaissance, there is an effort to show highly realistic linear perspective in order to create spatial depth. Artists move away from representing single portraits or small groups of people onto representations of scenes with huge three-dimensional space. Additionally, individual artists start studying perserpective, shadows and light, or even anatomy in the case of Leonardo Da Vinci. In his lifetime, it is approximated that he dissected close to 50 corpses to understand the way muscles and bones are linked inside the body as well as a focused curiosity in the reproductive system of women. Michelangelo’s “David” is regarded as one of the greatest sculptures in the history of art.

We can immediately see the contrapposto used by sculptors in the classical age but it also depicts the biblical hero David which was represented in hundreds of instances during the Middle Ages.

Michelangelo had an unfathomable understanding of the human anatomy as well as art history and technique. David is technically correct, ratios are proportionate, anatomy is accurate with careful mastery of the contrapposto. It creates emotion due to the sheer size of the artwork as well as the unique concentration that emerges from David’s eyes and is then imposed on the viewer. Is this what makes art good – perfection across all aspects of a work?

Numerous art movements followed; Mannerism, the Baroque, Realism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism etc. However, there should already be sufficient information to draw common denominators which might help us answer our question.

Firstly, we can safely say that it is possible to objectively appreciate the technical aspects of an artwork. Good art is built on the foundation and

Continue reading on page. 51

43

Issue 01, April 2019

Ida Stoycheva Follow Ida on Instagram @idastoycheva

O

riginally from Bulgaria, Ida is currently studying 3D modelling in Glasgow, Scotland. Art has been part of her life as long as she remembers. Memory brings her back to moments in her past where she would spend time with her family creating works collectively using watercolours and sketchbooks during the holidays. Suffering from imposter’s syndrome, Ida stopped painting until she started studying graphic design in high-school. The numerous fine art lessons she attended diminished her fear of not being good enough.

When asked to describe her style, she explained that working in different art mediums made her inconsistent in her style, but there is a clear blend between the fleeting emotion captured in expressionism and the roots of figurative art. Her training as a graphic designer can also be seen in her work, emphasizing what she said about working across mediums.

44

To be completely honest, besides the fact that Dan was one of the

What Makes Art Good?

“I’m looking for some subtle feeling in most of my works, even if they’re studies for practice.

Something I particularly seek is the contrast between some very detailed areas of a painting and some that are nearly abstract. Another thing I don’t see very often is adding hatching, which is primarily a graphic technique, in a painterly work.”

What makes art good?

“In my belief, art is humans’ attempt to somehow mimic or interpret the beauty we see and appreciate.

It’s the one thing that makes us unique species in a way that’s impossible to explain.”

45

smartest kids of his age group... he was kind of a strange child.

Issue 01, April 2019

Ida Stoycheva

46

For the majority of his time, he would spend it drawing geometric shapes

What Makes Art Good?

Ida Stoycheva

47

Issue 01, April 2019

Son of the sea, acrylic on canvas, 2018

“ I prefer to describe myself as a creative, a dream shaper. �

48

and asking his parents questions.

What Makes Art Good?

Marco Sperini FollowMarco on Instagram @__satsuma_

M

arco Sperini hopes that one day he will have contributed towards the immortality of art. He mainly paints surrealism using oil and acrylics on canvas.

Surrealism to him is the most efficient escape from reality, a medium which allows free and conceptual ideas while logic does not prove to be restrictive.

Sperini’s work he hopes to be able to capture the concept of self-knowledge and understanding. He doesn’t mean the knowledge we get by inspecting our human bodies in the mirror but by inspecting our human soul using the eyes in our mind. Only then one can find out where their inner moral conscience aligns.

“Surreal is the matter of dreams, illogical but at the

“I never defined myself as an artist. I prefer to describe myself as a creative, a dream shaper. In my paintings I tell the discomforts of reality with my dreamlike representation, by embarrassing reality itself. My art is simply unique because it is MY art, it expresses MY concept of seeing things and the brushstrokes derive from the rage of MY hand.”

same time rooted in the human unconsciousness.

The illogicality, the instinct and the absence of imposed rules, projects into a timeless cathartic state, a world made of immortality and elusiveness…”

One of the recurring subjects of his paintings is the character without skin representing our inner nudity. Through this theme that seems to be

Icaro, acrylic on canvas, 2018

49

Issue 01, April 2019

Immortality, acrylic on canvas, 2018

What makes art good?

“Good art must be charged with involvement. It is a difficult concept because the beauty of art is precisely that each of us can have a different vision of the artistic work based on our life experiences.

But in any case the art must make people understand, must create an internal disturbance, must move our being to bother him from the usual and monotonous comfort zone.

This is my idea of good ​​ art.”

50

He wouldn’t play with toys or watch cartoons.

(Continued from p.43)

What Makes Art Good?

techniques that proved to work in the past and revolutionized the way art was created. For an artwork to be considered good the artist needs to be able to understand the principles needed in order to conserve their creation as well as the aspects of color, composition, form and value. The way these elements interact with each other often dictates if an artwork is good or bad. On the other hand, there are artworks that in order to communicate a message or emotion create a disproportion between the elements mentioned. It is important for a good grasp of the technical aspects of art media to exist even if the artwork moves away from the structure which defines technical skill. To create a door, you must know where the wall is.

In 1719, English painter Jonathan Richardson

published “An Essay on the Whole Art of Criticism” in which he suggested an objective point system which ranged from 0-18 ought to be given in each category of an artwork: drawing, composition, invention and coloring. However, it would be impossible to use this system to evaluate a film or even something less extreme such as a poem. Therefore, across the years subcategories of this discipline have been created. It would still be impossible to be able to fully grasp the countless art mediums, boundless subject matter, unlimited ideas and imagination. There are so many art forms that we haven’t yet covered and some art that we haven’t yet discovered.

In 1924, Andre Breton, leader of a group of poets and artists in Paris, France, wrote in his ‘Surrealism Manifesto’ the definition of surrealism as “pure psychic automatism by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason outside of all

Continue reading on page. 61

to anything that has been discussed so far? Artists participating in the surrealism movement sought techniques such as automatic drawing and writing to unlock ideas hidden deeply in their unconscious

51

Even more peculiar, whenever his parents would try to surprise him

Issue 01, April 2019

Follow on IG

Surrealism_ Gallery 52

What Makes Art Good?

The goal of Surrealism_Gallery is to unite surrealist artists from all around the world. The online gallery brings forward artists’ work to as many people as possible in order to make it more accessible and popular.

Due to the sometimes absurd and very much diverse subject matter, surrealism artwork is difficult to categorize and ultimately to be searched for. This is especially true for emerging artists who find it difficult to achieve fame on their own.

What makes art good?

No one will argue that imagination is especially important for art; more so this thesis is relevant for surrealism. I am also convinced that the technical skill makes art good.

Conceptual ideas and skill makes art great.

The online surrealism gallery will give them the opportunity to succeed, and it will also give the audience an aesthetic pleasure of viewing the magnificent paintings of talented artists from all around the world. The gallery was founded in late October 2018 and in just four months has received a following of more than 10000 people. Our movement is not in vain.

Nora Duus

Andrew Ferez

Oscar Seco

53 The Traveler, Jason Engle

Issue 01, April 2019

Jos Leonard Follow Jos on Facebook @jos.leonard

J

os Leonard is a self-taught artist from London.

He has been painting since before he could speak and is currently giving his talent to digital painting. His main influences are drawn from music.

“Music is intrinsic to this process and is often what plants a concept in my mind. Whenever I hear a track that clicks with me I get a drive to learn the inspiration behind it - reading lyrics, artist interviews and diving into the background of whatever made that piece come to be. It’s this cycle of identifying with feelings and themes that crosses mediums in all kinds of art and provokes reactions, often reassuring or sympathetic ones, that I find really powerful.

In turn, it’s that message or expression that prompts me to start to throw ideas on to a page. I feel that art (be it visual or audio) that can offer that feeling of consolidation is an excellent tool. The consistent theme of lots of my current work has been expressing particular aspects of mental health in conjunction with music that’s spoken to me on that subject.”

54

When we look at ‘The Disconnect’, we can clearly see a theme of disassociation in a kind of expression of the difficult but necessary of cutting

away from deadweight in order to get past the obstacles of your own world, usually imposed by elements out of your control (eg. societal norms and implementation, expectations, etc.) When looking at how Jos’ work relates to the lyrics of the songs inspired by, we can not only see a clear link between the themes but also the lyrics:

“We can’t continue wasting time Day after day trying to find a new means of escape (…)

And I can’t face the disconnect I’ll shed the dead weight and rise” “Although no one likes to speak about it, the tracks I draw my inspiration from exemplified to me the ability of art to communicate at the viewer or listeners own pace without pressure, which

is an amazing thing. Thankfully, this is far from unique to me though and the role of social media and technology in making accessing material like this much easier is, in my mind, one of its real strengths. Across so many mediums you can see art acting as support and speaking to people who otherwise may well feel alone with whatever they’re dealing with. Be it illustrations, music or film, the effectiveness to communicate is what I think makes it unique in a “this person gets it!” kind of way. With art it doesn’t have to be a bleak conversation about something that most people hate opening up about, it can just be a subtle show of solidarity.”

Another important point of influence in Jos’ work is the environment he grew up in. Growing up in borderline wilderness by the coast of Ireland, nature became one of the major driving forces in his life; not only as a source of imagination but as an entity that he feels he needs to protect.

“Conveniently for me it (nature) marries in to music and mental health seamlessly. Research into the positive effects of both art and nature on mental health is pretty extensive now (and also really not rocket science). For me environmentalism

or take him anywhere he would show no excitement or emotion; only compliance.

What Makes Art Good?

transcends any politics. Even if you view it through a very narrow lens nature inspires brilliant art and cultivates good health- there are so many reasons to fight for it.

So if I had to speak about my dreams as an artist it would be to lend my art and energy to causes fighting for these issues. Some of my most respected artists have used their platforms to these ends excellently. Brighton based band Architects for

example have consistently produced material about both issues and have been excellent ambassadors for the amazing work of Sea Shepherd and on a smaller but absolutely no less important scale, tattoo artist Sasha Nicole and her Black Heart Project have created means to spread awareness and raise funds for mental health charities like Mind.�

The Disconnect, digital painting, 2019

“ nature inspires brilliant art and cultivates good health- there are so many reasons to fight for it.�

55

Issue 01, April 2019

56 Sleep This Away, digital painting, 2019

What Makes Art Good?

What makes art good?

“Personally to me, this is what makes art ‘good’; It’s a unique communicator in that it requires no response and yet offers a lot and in turn can create a platform to champion and rally support for really important issues that otherwise often end up swept under the rug. If in the future I can use my art to similar ends then I’ll be satisfied.”

These Colours Don’t Run, digital painting, 2019

57

Issue 01, April 2019

Or Menaged Follow Or on Instagram @or_menaged

D

igital artist Or Menaged has been drawing since the age of 3. Now a young adult at age 18, he’s been striving to become professional in the next few years. He is greatly inspired by graphic novels, comics and great immortal painters such as Rembrandht and Goya.

Or Menaged’s artwork is a mix between traditional and digital techniques, often portraying humanoid figures in dark and abstract environments. His digital paintings are suggestive through the sometimes religious symbols, and links can be found between the characters portrayed and Egyptian mythology. The vibrant colours, careful construction of contrast between subject and environment, as well as the intriguing stories emerging out of the frame towards the viewer make Or Menaged’s art a definitive conversation between artwork and the audience.

58

Their first guess was that he suffered from some sort of disorder,

What makes art good?

“I think that what makes art great is the artist’s passion and idea, and our own ability to relate and put our own views or ideas upon art.

Art is great because of our ability to talk about art and the ideas behind it.

Keeping this in mind I think that something that has been a big influence on what we think makes art great is it’s relevance to our day to day life.

We see most art as a thing of beauty and not as something with a meaning behind it, until we stumble upon something that speaks to us on a personal level, only then we actually take the time to appreciate the piece and consider it “good art”.”

What Makes Art Good?

59 Devil’s Advocate, digital, 2018

Issue 01, April 2019

Pink Dalia, 2018

Guilherme Pantoja Follow Guilherme on Instagram @elguilhermee www.guilhermepantoja.com

Beyond the fact that Guilherme Pantoja attempts to explore the feelings inside a piece of art, he classifies himself as a flower/nature artist.

Consequently, Guilherme has a deep appreciation for the aesthetic of natural beauty.

Guilherme Pantoja argues that what a person perceives as good or bad art can be heavily influenced by the environment and culture in which they’ve been brought up.

60

but after extensive medical checks,

What makes art good?

“Colours and shapes are the minimalistic deconstruction of any modern piece, being the basis of any object in our daily lives. Let’s take in consideration my collection “Flowers, Colours and Shapes”, from 2018. Why would I classify it as good art? The compositions of the simple shapes along with the vibrant colours are arranged in such a way to make the viewer feel specific emotions.

“Fire contrast” (the 1st piece of “Flowers Colours and Shapes”) is the painting where I used warmer colours inside a crooked frame. This framing makes you feel unease, although it’s immediately contrasted by a warm feeling exposed by the colours. This is what I would classify as good: a balanced composition that is aesthetically pleasant to see and also makes you not think but feel.”

What Makes Art Good?

(Continued from p.51)

minds while others attempted to depict dreams and abstract thought. It is uncertain what dictates good art for this movement – perhaps artists that managed to go deeper down the rabbit hole were considered better than those who only remained at the surface of the logical mind.

It’s even more difficult to separate good art from bad art in today’s world. Since the late 1800s artists sought to deviate from classical art. Such examples include Art Nouveau, Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Op Art, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art and Contemporary Art. Contemporary artwork (1970s –present) includes (but is not limited to) post-modernism, feminist art, street art and digital art. Unfortunately, sometimes art is more of a business than an attempt of creation and perfecting each other’s’ styles and technique.

Today’s art critics rarely describe good art or bad art in absolutes and it seems that there is a mentality of inclusion where everything is appreciated as long as revenue can be made out of it. The problem with this mentality is that already established artists that don’t necessarily bring something important to the art scene are appreciated by art galleries and critics alike whilst emerging artists that might have spent their entire lives on research and studying, perfecting their technique and bringing their imagination alive will never achieve merit for their effort.

Subjectively, we believe that good art is the art that manages to guide the viewer through a story.

In landscape photography for example, different ratios and rules are used in order to guide the viewer’s gaze towards the subject matter of the photograph. Similarly, form, content, colour and other elements are used in the fine arts in order to communicate with the viewer. If an artwork managed to direct your attention towards the issues of today’s world, manages to make you feel a certain emotion or simply lets you glimpse a certain moment in time then in our eyes that artwork qualifies as good. Escape Art Magazine aims to promote art that starts conversations between the artist and the audience. We urge you if you haven’t already, to spend several minutes if not longer, with each artwork featured in our magazine. See if the image manages to speak to you and if it does listen.

61

Issue 01, April 2019

Want a chance to be featured here or one of our othe

Mahima Tiwari Instagram @Kala_arcade For me art is my life. It is the only thing that gives me peace from within. After a long day at work when I come back home all that makes me happy is painting, sketching, calligraphy or any art. It has become part of my daily routine. Art is something which helps me to grow everyday bit by bit. I was very conscious at first to showcase my work to everyone but finally I did it and made a page on instagram.

The overwhelming positive response has helped me and my art grow by everyday.

So actually art is something which has made me more me. It has enhanced me in every way possible.

Laura Marie Hansen Instagram @metamagda

he showed no signs of any kind of abnormalities medically speaking.

A

Emer Arti

We are now accep

Because the progress of creating helped me personally on such a high level, I developed the wish to help other facing difficult times in their lives the same way. I applied for a scholarship earlier this year to help me finance the costs of an art therapy studies. I‘m hoping that afterwards I‘ll be able to help others express their feelings, grow from their experiences and help them by teachinghow to help themselves by expressing themselves in any artistically way.

62

Esc

What Makes Art Good?

Submit your work on our website w w w. e s c a pe a r t m a g a z i n e. c o m

er channels?

Edwin Holly Instagram @originalnoblefriend I am really proud of what I have become and I only wish that my art brings people together and offers them pure feelings of joy and happiness. Because after all, what makes art good? I believe art can be good if we model it with our own hands.

That is what I think makes art not just good but beautiful too: not our

Art

ability to paint or draw but our own wild creativity.

rging ists

Abel Garcia Ramos

pting submissions

Instagram @siemprecriticando Art is the best way for someone to express themselves. I use my art to express my thoughts in the world and offer a means to escape daily routine. I love underlining issues of the world through my work.

63

To be continued...

Esc

Art

contact@escapeartmagazine.com www.escapeartmagazine.com #EscapeWithArt @EscapeArtMagazine

Have your say ...

What do you think differentiates good art from bad art? What do you think the next art movement will be? We invite you to discuss your ideas on our Artist Forum onour website. Let’s create our own movement, let’s be pioneers of a movement which uses artwork as a means of communication, helping our audience escape from corruption and bureaucracy to a state where the mind wanders and creates.