VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2 • April 2011
global contemporary art quarterly magazine for Twitter artists & art education
This magazine is filled with art & knowledge found on Twitter
Portraits
twitter artists - art education - photography - warriors - symbolism - #tARTm Twitartmagazine 2011 • 1
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In Memoriam 4 @AntonieKamerlin
A. H. H. by Alfred Tennyson
Cover: photo made by Sandra Sitskorn - @sitscom http://www.sandrasitskoorn.nl/ Production: Artstude.com Information is correct at press time. Check www.twitartmagazine.com for updates. Twitartmagazine is published per 3 months by Artstude© 2011. Photography: Margreet Ledelay All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole without permission is prohibited.
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“ Thou wilt not leave us in the dust: Thou madest man, he knows not why, He thinks he was not made to die; And thou hast made him: thou art just. ” http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/In_Memoriam_A._H._H.
Content
theme issue
Content & themes
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Artdirector column
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Portraits
Duncan McCormick seflportrait @tokenminds I can see you @verenas_tweets
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Warriors @RaoulMatulessy Miscellaneous
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Technique @TheaGerritsen
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Symbolism @MichalDziekan
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Art education about portraits @DMG_art Fire @Dhandra
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A Portrait of the Artist @Tdaonp
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Multiple perosnality @cArtoon_Erik
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There is more @S_Easson_art
Disturbing @artatsnow
NEXT ISSUES:
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Who are weary and burdened @TonKruse
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How Long? @defluiter16
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Layer on layer @MaryannReilly
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BORDERS your hometown
unguarded or restricted... 38
PAIN was one of
the inspiration sources from Fridah Kahlo, can we find the new Fridah Kahlo? Can you relate to her?
Lines & Support @jshawback
or your life or what else? Open and completely
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Thank You So Much @TYSoMuch
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LANDSCAPE
art is that still in the picture? Can we find
Stay Tuned @twitartmagazine
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enough artists on Twitter to write about this or make art? We need you to make twitartmagazine
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Art director Dear Tweople,
Thwart the common things, create to innovate! After issue 1 a lot happened. I created a new website a new logo... Hard work, just to persue my passion for art. As you can see below I made a wallpaper, you can download it from our ART shop together with issue 2. This wallpaper photo was taken in France, a lake early in the morning, a sign of hope to me. I believe all twitter artists who publish in twitartmagazine will be very successful! I think #tARTm (twitartmagazine) is going to be a big art magazine! In this issue artists from all over the world gave their submission. And you can find very great talent here, just see for yourself.
Portraits in different interpretations, in paint - photo or a symbolic way... I hope you enjoy this art as much as I do. And I hope that this new website contributes to the success of #tARTm/ twitartmagazine. I really think people change by seeing art. Innovation starts with creative people! Best regards, M.C. Broekhuizen Ledelay Contact us @twitartmagazine or on the web: http://www.twitartmagazine.com article@twitartmagazine.com
Art Director as Fridah Kahlo made in Madrid 2008 photo by @Trinette Ledelay http://www.trinetteledelay.com 6 • Twitartmagazine 2011
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@tokenminds Name Duncan McCormick Location Birmingham, England Web http://tokenminds.wordpress.com/ Bio I am an artist living and working in the UK. I work mainly in oils.
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I can see you... @verenas_tweets Bright Reflections I do not really know why I am drawn to make portraits. It is really such a completely natural thing for me. It is where the juice is. I am not an artist who has a great ability to render objects as such, say a cube, for instance, or someone’s pullover left hanging from a chair. My whole attraction as a person and as an artist is toward the figure, and for me the face is the most subtle and expressive part of that figure. If someone asks me why I make portraits, well, how honest can I be. On one level I could be very brutal. I could say perhaps it is because I want to get attention. Or I might think that I don’t like myself, but I will try anyway to make a beautiful drawing which is more wonderful than myself and therefore people will like me and the drawing I have made. But it is all really a very intimate thing. On the other hand I also like being generous, like bringing beauty and tenderness and wholeness to the world. I could say that I love to generously offer things of love to the world, things of beauty. All these things are true.
Each morning brings forth a new and different aspect of my being. There are joyful days with humor in the air and a lightness under foot and others when the entire weight of world rests on my shoulders. There are days of hopelessness, days of sadness, days of shining courage, days of laughter, days of total doubt, and days of simply feeling pretty or ugly for that matter. So I am fortunate to have each day another character to render in terms of mood, line and color. And what is so interesting, and is also some kind of paradox, is that I am the mood itself which is depicting the mood of my model as seen in the mirror. I am the situation but at the same time I am outside the situation. It is a very interesting puzzle, one that has endless fascination.
Over the last year I have been drawing and painting an unusual amount of self-portraits. I am not sure if I know exactly why. A very practical reason is that I am the only living thing that I have to draw. I am living alone and my studio has a large section of wall mirrors at one end. It is there that I sit in the best light to work and it is there in front of me that I see a figure with a face. It is me.
I don’t know really why I draw myself. Perhaps if I thought about it I might make up some ideas. Maybe it’s a way for me to be a little gentle with myself, to see and connect with myself, to nurture my self. I know that in doing art
297mm x 210 mm “We Can See The Stars” pen drawing and oil painting 10 • Twitartmagazine 2011
297mm x 210 mm “No Title” ink drawing and oil painting Twitartmagazine 2011 • 11
297mm x 210 mm “No Title” oil painting
one is involved in a process that is selfnurturing and at its best will nurture others and be a balm for loneliness. I think this depends on the degree of honesty and intimacy in the work. If I nurture myself properly then I also have the opportunity to nurture the people who look at my art. So I can only trust that this deep desire in me to complete myself, to fulfill myself, to connect with myself, and most importantly to have compassion for myself is a very real thing with beneficial results.
297mm x 205mm “The Mountain” sennelier oil pastel on old paper
respect for all my many aspects, no matter how embarrassing or revealing. And to touch each one tenderly as they might manifest day after day with my brush, and to be a good friend to all that I am. It is very helpful for me and perhaps it is also helpful to others. It appears that this is true from all that I hear in response to my most recent show at the Kunstmuseum in Solothurn. Verena Baumann, Switzerland
In summary, I think that the most important thing for me in doing the self portraits, is to have enough sympathy and
297mm x 210mm “Mostly Unseen” ink on paper
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297mm x 210 mm “The Upsides Of Down” sennelier oil pastel Twitartmagazine 2011 • 13
Warriors @RaoulMatulessy
Raoul Matulessy The Netherlands Sphere & Emotion Capturer | Photographer | Alifuru | Husband | Father | Brother | Son | Arts | Social Networker | InternetAddict http://www.oelisj.com/
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Photo made by Charlotte Broekhuizen a highschool student with a mobile phone.
Miscellaneous Art & highschool? Should twitter be blocked in highschools? What if students got all facilities to seriously work with social media and high tech smartphones?
One year after graduation, This work of @nitavbree impressed a lot of people. She is now an art teacher. How are you doing? How is your artwork?
To give people around you an assignment to make pictures, just as it it was for a museum. Maybe even in collaboration with a museum. You’ll be suprised!
@NitavBree : “Being graduated is the best thing in the world. There are no obligations, you make whatever you want, whenever you want to make it. So at this moment I’m not making anything. I’m teaching art in Den Haag, for now. I’m still figuring out where to go from here. Slowly I’m starting to feel like painting again instead of teaching about it. My way certainly isn’t the easiest way but we’ll see where I’ll end up. I’m invited to make work for an exhibition in the city I live in (Vlaardingen, the Netherlands), so thats first on my art to do list. I paint at home or at a friend’s place and paint when I want to. But my life-list comes first, and I’m still figuring that one out. “
You can be a catalyst in this world. Make people look differtent towards common things. What symbolism lies in ordinary common things? If you are an art teacher you can teach your students to think out of the box. Create a new generation, ready to face new challenges! Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
When you are working besides your art, you must find time to go to your workspace and make art. Create your own routine to continue making stunning things! Creative people must create to feel happy.
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Technique @GerritsenThea Lack of technique will show in your work. Practice every day and your technique will improve your work. We can see how passionate Thea works. She keeps you posted on twitter every day. A lot of people want their portrait done by her or get a portrait of a beloved one. Thea lives in a tiny town in the Netherlands, nature is surrounding her peaceful home. Every artists dream to live like she does. Her workshop is in her home... What is your secret material? ”In my work I use many kinds of pastels. I build up my work from hard to soft, beginning with Rembrandt, then follow Art Spectrum, Unison, Sennelier, Henri Roche, and finally the butter soft Schmincke. I find the the dark colors from Terry Ludwig, Sennelier and Schmincke the best. The “gold” among the pastels from Henri Roche, has also great pigmentrich “dark “.
With the children’s portraits, I used also pastel pencils. Every brand has its specific color and hardness, I use: Faber Castell Conté à Paris, CarbOthello, Derwent. My favorite paper is Art Spectrum Colorfix. This is a kind of “sandpaper” Available in many colors.” http://www.theagerritsen.nl
150mmx100mm Family 4 pieces portrait
http://www.theagerritsen.nl/page/241/family.html
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150mm x 150mm Babyportraits from left to right: Babysleep, Victor, Fanta, Luca. http://www.theagerritsen.nl/ page/626/babysleep.html
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Symbolism @Michaldziekan This talented artist illustrates meaningful situations. He portrays a story, it unfolds in his drawings. Everytime you look, you see something new. Very rich in details. Michal Dziekan lives and works in Warsaw, Poland.
Character design Let the work speaks for itself, full of symbolism. I guess we all pick something else from his illustrations. Because we are all watching from a different view. Michal’s passion is to combine sound and image. We still taste that a bit in his illustrations. We can hear the sound of the the polluted sea. We can hear the busy traffic. We almost hear the swampy sound of the brains on a plate. After the first impression you might wanna understand the symbolism, wich lies underneath. Do we understand the message? Or do we make our own message? You might wanna follow Michal and get acquainted with his work: http://michaldziekan.com
Spilled Holidays - a4 digital -Photoshop personal work
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Bon Appetite! - a4 digital - Photoshop personal work Twitartmagazine 2011 • 21
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Road Rage - 29,7x15 cm digital - Photoshop personal work
Hansel & Gretel - a4, digital - Photoshop personal work Twitartmagazine 2011 • 23
Art Education portraits classroom in New York @DMG_art
Nothing is more terrifying to a high school student taking studio art than the dreaded portrait. In my experiences it’s probably the most fear inducing lesson plan that I’ve ever unleashed on my students.
Not Easy With good reason of course, drawing a human face is no easy task. There are so many specific proportions that have to be taken into consideration and shading of the convex and concave structures of the face. It’s no wonder students are overwhelmed when embarking on this project. Thankfully there is a foolproof method to ensure that every student achieves a successful portrait outcome. The grid method requires drawing a grid over your image reference followed by drawing a grid on your paper of equal ratio. This enables the artist to focus on each individual box rather than the entire image which makes creating a portrait much more feasible. Chuck Close, an American photorealist artist, used the grid method for his portraits, a fact that makes most of my students feel more confident in creating their own. My favorite part of my portrait lesson is seeing students who were so adamant that this project is impossible, create a well proportioned drawing and marvel over the fact that they did it.
NYS Standards: 1. Students will be able to create a portrait inspired by Chuck Close using the grid method with drawing pencils. 2. Students will be able to utilize and manipulate drawing pencils in a variety of ways. 3. Students will be able to recognize art vocabulary terms such as portrait, contrast, shading and value. 4. Students will be able to recognize the artist Chuck Close, as well as his grid method to create portraits, and be able to understand the impact it had on the art world. Motivation:
Grade Level: 9-12 Mixed
Begin by showing students all types of examples of Chuck Close’s portraits. Ask them how they think Chuck Close started the actual portrait. Explain how he used grids to draw box by box each portrait and that each box was treated as an individual drawing. Show students examples of Chuck Close’s portraits with the grid still visible. Explain how students will be creating their own portraits using the grid method.
Materials:
Procedure:
14“ x 17” Paper
1. Explain motivation and project to students.
Drawing Pencils
2. Have students chose a portrait from collection of head shots.
Title: Chuck Close Portrait Lesson Subject Area: Studio Art
Erasers Xerox Machine
3. Have students make a photocopy of their chosen portrait, have them resize it if necessary using the Xerox machine.
Rulers Masking Tape
4. Demonstrate to students how to make a grid on their chosen image reference and on the big paper.
Scrap Paper 5. Have students create the outline using the grid method Head Shots Chuck Close Portraits 24 • Twitartmagazine 2011
6. Demonstrate to students how to use the drawing pencils and erasers to shade and highlight their portraits.
7. Have students shade and highlight their portrait. 8. Once project is complete, have students fill out self assessment. 9. Have class critique Student Examples of Portraits: (finished works and in progress works)
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Fire @dandhra
Due to the economic crisis governments tend to cut on the art sector. Is this wisdom? What are the consequences for society when their artists cannot grow?
Vector Graphics are hot! “A southern California native and emerging artist, DE’BA Designs shows a talent for working in vector graphics, watercolors and mixed media to express creative visions of figures and abstracted surreal portraits telling stores with varied emotion. Current projects include inspiring collaborations with masterful execution.” –Norbertellen Gallery
Mission Statement
“It’s ace designer, Illustrator Rally contributor, and all round talent machine D’Andhra Bascomb. Slick fresh and totally on trend D’Andhra has a way of adding that little bit of extra class to the crowded world of Tshirt design with smooth clean lines and precise layered compositions. The best thing about D’Andhra’s work is that it seems in a state of constant flux, moving and flowing out at the viewer and it’s this digital dynamism that makes these slick commercial designs possible. D’Andhra seems to just know how to fit all the elements together and makes cool look easy, though the clever touches and dramatic well chosen palette certainly show there is real substance behind the design. Its a hard place to get noticed but D’Andhra has a spark especially strong when working with portraits and faces. She has a fantastic presentation and uses colour eloquently to pick out her subjects, which have a believability and depth that makes her pretty much unique in the field of vector art. Get noticed and believe the hype it’s D’Andhra!” –Illustration Rally
When in doubt, serve others.
Creation is an irresistible passion and normal thing to do and be.”- DE’BA Designs
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To introduce DISTINCT visual design using many mediums, surfaces and platforms. To collaborate with artists around the world to create unique, one of a kind compositions. Contribute. Grow. Supply the DEMAND. Final words
D’Andhra Bascomb SHOP DE’BA! www.dandhra.com www.debadesign-dandhra.blogspot.com dandhra.tumblr.com
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A portrait of the artist @tdaonp James Joyce wrote a book titled “A portrait of the artist as a young man”. Much later Chaim Potok wrote a book called “My name is Asher Lev”. These two books exemplify the struggles an artist must continually go through to be what he or she has no choice in being: an outcast.
The word outcast is a strong word which conjures up images of people living under bridges, warming their hands at braziers and drinking cheap whisky out of bottles wrapped in brown paper. I have met these outcasts and I have talked to them in my younger years when I was travelling the length and breadth of the U.K. I felt an instinctive feeling of kinship with these people. There was a strange connection between me and those that were cast out of the garden of Eden. It is no coincidence that I use a religious metaphor. Society has strict rules and to breach them, to listen to the snake and bite a chunk out of the apple is viewed with the utmost suspicion and ultimately results in a process of alienation and rejection. Both James Joyce and Chaim Potok wrote their stories from the viewpoint of religious emancipation. The main characters in these books struggled free from the shackles religion put on them. Shackles that prevented them from becoming true artists. Religion in this sense is the ultimate restrictive society for the artist and thus a good device to give the story credence - quite apart from the autobiographical reasons. But make no mistake: secular society is only marginally less restrictive, if it is so at all. From a young age, we are taught to conform. The class room is a micro-society where all the rules and restrictions of the grown-up world apply and we learn there what we practice later. But not all children can adhere to these restrictive views of the teacher. Some children sit and stare out of the window. They live in a world where other ideas prevail. A world where the flights of fancy are more real than the sums on the black board. Such children may try to walk the prescribed line for a while but inevitably this will lead to disaster or... an artist is born. What happens next is a function of circumstances, character and talent. The prospective artist either plans a career of compromise or throws caution to the wind and becomes a full blown, living for art, society wary artist. The latter route paints a dangerously romantic picture. The image of the artist toiling away in his or her studio is an appealing one. However, the road to artistic survival is paved with the bones of artists who died young and unknown. Frustrated by lack of success, subsequent money worries, drink and drugs, and the damning vista of an inevitable end in obscurity. The route of compromise, the route of employing your artistic talent in the service of society, gaining financial reward - however modest - in the process, is often seen as a cowardly route. The less heroic course to fare. As far as society is concerned, artists do not work for big companies and earn a salary. The public loves a martyr. The grey masses are made up of those that would never dare to step out of line themselves but ironically they are quite happy to see another of their flock step out, test the water, swim out and drown. As long as the show is good enough. Not withstanding the baying of the masses, the route of compromise does offer sustenance to pretty fertile artistic brains. Shakespeare wrote for money, Wren built for money and Rodin sculpted for money. These artists and many more worked very consciously at becoming a commercial success and yet never lost sight of the artistic element. And in their way they were as much an outcast as any other artist. No matter how much society adopted them, praised them and awarded them, in their work can be seen the comment on what they thought of that society.
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Detachment is a necessity for an artist. An artist needs to swim out to sea, look back, realise what it was that drove him or her into the sea, shout about it and drown, sooner or later. Because an artist can never swim back and become a member of the flock again. Once you have looked upon the shore with the crowded populace elbowing each other for a glimpse out to sea, dry land does not look as appealing anymore. A few years ago I became a writer. I noticed that I had been distancing myself from almost everything everyone else held to be important. I began to observe from a distance the world around me. What I saw both appalled and fascinated me and I had to write about it. It was not a conscious decision. As a matter of fact I had been a writer all my life. I had been that child staring out of the window observing life outside rather than the black board. I had been that frustrated I.T. specialist that failed to see the importance of things that seemed to excite everyone else but ultimately did not matter. All the while the artist grew within me, begging to be let out. All the while the realisation dawned that society and I saw things differently and that I had to express my bottled up frustration about it or burst. And therein lies the main function of the artist. Therein lies that which defines an artist and has done so since the dawn of mankind. It is not the romantic picture of someone sacrificing life to art. It is not the distinction between rags or riches. It is independent from era, independent from medium. What truly defines an artist is the ability to observe society, instinctively dissent from the common view and feel the unstoppable need to shout that dissent from the rooftops.
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Multiple personality portrait @cARToon_Erik
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There is more... @s_easson_art
‘There is more to paint than creating the illusion of depth; there is the depth that paint is. The sculptural nature of a liquid that becomes a solid is remarkable. It is not just a vhicle for displaying colour. It is a substantial material unto itself. Combining the textural surface inherent in wood board with all of the possibilities paint presents allows for a greater exploration of making 2D 3. Grinding into the wood complements paint, and makes the material on which the paint is applied more than just a platform for the pigment. Scott Easson http://www.scotteassonart.com
Title: Memories Are Made of This Media: Oil on board Size: 4’ x 4’
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Who are weary and burdened @TonKruse
Surprising and bewildering works of Dutch artist & painter Ton Kruse ‘Who are weary and burdened’ is a series of paintings, a work in progress, by Dutch artist and painter Ton Kruse. Ton studied fine-art and works since 1995 as a visual artist and designer. He works with various two-dimensional media (from paintings and drawings to photography, print and film), and with environmental installations. But for the last couple of years he has worked mainly with the classical media of painting and drawing. Ton Kruse took part in several international exhibitions and filmprogrammes, and his work is included in several business and private collections. The series ‘Who are weary and burdened’, spring from the year-long collection of the artist, of images from (news)media and art-history. Items and figures from these images are confronted with each other in a new composition. The pictures that thus come to be are surprising, bewildering and may be shocking to some. “The title of the series sprung into mind when I finished the first work of the series,” says Ton, “just like the working process the title is intuitional. My art is not the illustration of an idea or an oppinion. It is more poetic and instinctive.” Kruse explains that working on this series is a bit like coming to terms with images that have touched him over the years. When we come to talk about Ton Kruse’s painting, he explains that he is trying to get away from the dogma of modernism. “Since the Renaissance the empirical reality became dominant. The natural sciences took a flight and in painting the linear perspective was formulated. Increasingly paintings had to represent the empirical reality, we all know and love the seventeenth century Trompe l’oeuil. This modernism lead into the the abstract painting of the twentieth century. A painting is, after all, empirically nothing more than a carrier with paint on it!” says Ton. For all the good that this modernist development brought us, and all the wonderfull works of art, Ton feels that this empirical supremacy sometimes becomes a prison. “I don’t want to be narrowed down to having to deal with just what I see. I want to be able to communicate about the meaning of what I see.” More and more Kruse is getting away from the idea that an image has to tally with the facts. That a painting has to look right. Ton explains: “For instance: in the painting that I’m working on right now, I purposely make figures take ‘wrong’ proportions towards each other.” But what do Ton Kruse’s paintings mean? “I’m not trying to explain something to you. I’m taking images from our (recent) history, and put them together in an intuitive proces,” says Ton, “I see it more like visual poetry, or lucid dreaming, in a sense. I’m coming to terms with images that struck me, somehow. And discover what they mean to me. But the meaning that the pictures suggest to me, and to the audience, is not a defintive one. You can’t put life into boxes…” The viewer of Ton Kruse’s work is thus challenged to engage into his own process of looking and reflecting on what he sees. Ton adds: “Both our perspectives aren’t definite. In the discour of the meaning of what we see, we complement each other.” TK 12-01-2011
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“Who are weary and burdened 2” 40/60 cm. acrylic on canvas
“Who are weary and burdened 4” 100/80 cm. accrylic on canvas Twitartmagazine 2011 • 33
Disturbing @artatsnow
Michelle Kuen Suet Fung sees herself as part of a young generation of Canadian ethnic artists who work in the Pop Surrealist genre. Michelle draws on references from popular subcultures such as fairy tales, children’s picture books and the Otaku; typically Japanese obsessed with the fantasy world of Anime and Manga. Like many Otaku, the artist has a deep bond with her childhood memories.
On the edge
Her multi-layered imagery is always poetic and sensitive, carefully balanced on the edge between disturbing and the vulgar. Her sensual and suggestive compositions often exude and allude to sex, violence or death. She enjoys the influence of Gustav Klimt, Albrecht Durer and Henry Darger. She does not conceive of her work as self portraits, but acknowledges a lot of herself in the work. She identifies with the young girls and their apparent confusion surrounding their sexuality, the inexplicable absurdity around them, and their own position in the world. In 2005, the book Dreadful in Truth,by Kiryu Misao inspired the artist to create a series of intricate and bizarre drawings that explored the difficult issues in fairy tales and how these issues resonate in today’s world. This project was a pivotal point that defined her artistic direction. Michelle has since continued to work in the narrative style that assembles the cute and the grotesque in an uneasy tableau. In 2009, Philippa Mennell, writing for Ricepaper Magazine, described her work as “alluring and jarring”. Michelle’s drawing is well-loved for her intricate ink work that features childlike faces with large starry eyes and rosy cheeks. One of her most popular ink on paper series “Into the Woods.” features the symbolic tree of life with disturbingly cute figures attached or caught in the branches. These images cite botanical illustrations but with the dark humour of childlike figures in and hovering around the trees. The trees, roots and branches all float in a void much like the way jellyfish drift in the ocean. Currently, Michelle is working on a new body of mixed media paintings on wood that explore the inexhaustible subject of romantic love. Using the English alphabet each of the 26 paintings refers to a dark and elusive aspect of romance. She likes the primal obsessions signified by the various animal motifs in the images like the lizard in L for Loss, the octopus in O for On My Own and the romantic sensitivity suggested by the delicate young girls. Animals have thoughts and feelings in a children’s landscape and Michelle’s paintings lament the loss of this psychological importance and intimacy as a child enters puberty. In March 2010, Michelle took an artist residency at Canada’s prestigious Banff Centre. Working intensively for 2 weeks with other international artists, Michelle refined her painting skills, and discovered exciting ways to layer imagery, in additional to experimenting with bringing a sculptural component to her work by shaping the panels. The artist is represented by Sense Art Studio in Hong Kong. Selected works can be found at Doctor Vigari Gallery, Vancouver and Compound Gallery in Portland, Oregon, USA. Recent exhibitions includes Asia Top Gallery Hotel Air Fair at Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong, 2010 and By Land, Sea and Air at Compound Gallery in Portland, Oregon, USA, 2010. Michelle has been interviewed by City TV, Omni TV (former Channel M), Fairchild TV, Darizi Magazine (Hong Kong), Ricepaper Magazine and more. Her works are in international private collections, and The Canada Council Art Bank.
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Michelle Kuen Suet Fung sees herself as part of a young generation of Canadian ethnic artists who works in the Pop Surrealist genre. Like other Pop Surrealist artists, Michelle draws references from popular subcultures such as fairy tale illustrations, children’s picture books and the Otaku (Japanese obsession with the fantasy world of anime and manga.) Much like many Otaku, the artist has a deep bond with her childhood memories. Her multi-layered imageries are always poetic and sensitive, never vulgar. Her sensual and suggestive compositions often exude and allude to sex, violence or death. She admits influences from Gustav Klimt, Albrecht Durer and Henry Darger. She never sees any of her works as self portraits, although at the same time she sees all of her works as symbolic self portraits because she identify with the young girls’ confusion about their sexuality, the often inexplicable absurdity around them, and their own placement in the world. This deliberate confusing aesthetics again recur in the series “Terrible Beauty.” Here we see young beauty women, again drawn with the starry large eyes and giant heads, in mug position on the conventional portrait dimension 11x14”. The inviting nude female breasts rings a loud feminist alarm, and yet the titles suggesting an array of diseases and the various visible physical defects blocks the viewer from enjoying the female figure at ease. Being a young woman, Michelle explores the concept of beauty and self-image with her signature sensual art of pen and ink. Michelle Kuen Suet Fung visual artist Terrible Beauty 2007-8 http://www.artatsnow.com/fine-arts/art/terrible-beauty-2007-8/ snow@artatsnow.com
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Thank you so much @TYSoMuch
As an artist you can ring the alarm bell in a very special way. Dave Estes make his alarm bell in form of art. First BP got a mail message from Dave. #ThankYouSoMuch is a project by Dave Estes in which he sends critical artwork to major corporations and other entities via “thank you letters”. By illustrating the envelopes in which the letters are sent, the recipient has no other choice but to view it.
“I figured that I could make art all day that bitches and moans about the various corruptions and injustices in the world, but the reality of it is that it isn’t going to make much of a difference.... The people who show up at my shows will probably already have the same roundabout view on these matters as I do. What really needs to happen is a debate between these guilty parties and the public. Hopefully acts like sending art directly to these people will spark some sort of change or conversation somewhere. Maybe they just didn’t know that people were painting the visual history of their crimes to be seen by future generations. Now they can’t say nobody told them.” The letters can be seen at http://www.ThankYouSoMuch.org New letters are posted every Sunday. Dave Estes is a visual artist based out of Wallingford, CT. His work draws inspiration from an eclectic mix of sources such as: Antique stereoviews, Solipsism Syndrome, 9/11, terrorism, and all of the other fun things you try and ignore when you read the paper. Mostly self-taught, Dave works mainly in oils but on occasion has been know to delve into lino-cut, pen and ink, and photography. Dave has shown in numerous galleries around CT, NH, CA and NY. http://www.ThankYouSoMuch.org http://www.dave-estes.com info@dave-estes.com 38 • Twitartmagazine 2011
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How long? @defluiter16
There he sits. Lion upon Lion near the Zoo entrance “Ouwehands Dierenpark” in Rhenen, the Netherlands. My life just started some years before on August 16th 1940. After the chaotic evacuation of the Rhenen inhabitants during the first days of May, most did return. Amongst them my pregnant mother. She gave birth that particular day, inside the mini hospital which still existed. A war-child, even though the date of conception was pre-war. There is a reason to mention the war. I suppose it has had a big influence on my later life as a Fine Artist. Particular due to the fact that Rhenen was evacuated again in 1945 at the end of WWII. A period I was rather aware of. After the war ordinary life took its course. No big issues, no dying family members, not even poverty. Just a boy’s-life in a recovering country with as only one more or less noticeable personal quality a certain talent for drawing. During these days mainly copying. This changed later during high-school (Christian HBS in Veenendaal). Here drawing and painting became part of the curriculum and some talent was recognized. I informed if it could be of some use but the teacher did not give me an appealing perspective. Maybe something in the commercial ads. Hence I found a regular job and started with evening classes at the Arnhem School of Arts in Graphical Design. Fine Arts could make a nice by-line. And then, all of a sudden a girlfriend, a wedding and money to be earned. The latter mainly as entrepreneur in catering. No such thing as Graphical Design, Fine Arts or whatsoever. Yet blood is thicker than water and in 1976 there was this turning point. I applied for the School of Art and Design in Den Bosch, department Sculpture and Spatial Design. It was chosen because of the fact that people do not just walk past a sculpture like they do with a flat work of art. A naive thought. Started in the second grade, with teachers amongst which David van der Kop (†), Cornelius Rogge and Marius Verbeek (†) I graduated with works best described as sacks. Fabric forms filled with various materials were placed or hung in the space where painful pinching and herniation with ropes and iron elements were emphasized. Monumental sacks stuffed with sawdust placed downtown Den Bosch were part of my 40 • Twitartmagazine 2011
Ca. 1943. With his elder sister Bep on a concrete lion at the entrance of Ouwehand Zoo, Rhenen (NL) graduation exhibition in 1979. The sack as a metaphor for the forbearing man. Here I discovered the impact of the war on which I never could not stop reading about. Great impression, aged approximately 14, made the book Stalingrad by Theodor Plevier. We (my wife, son and me) moved also in 1979 towards Drenthe. Out of this rather remote area sacks, drawings and paintings gained a certain esteem in the Netherlands with an initial exhibition in Rotterdam. Disputed sacks appeared subsequently in a.o. Eindhoven, Eersel, Amsterdam (Amstelpark), Roden and in Emmen near the Bridge Building. A lot of critics linked them with victims and the etches and paintings of Goya. In 1985/1986 the works change. The sack materials (cotton and other fabrics) now became used as materials as is. That is to say, it could be ripped into strips used to wrap steel and wooden frames. I called them “Wikkelbeelden”, wrapping sculpts. Giant stacked constructs evolved and again got exposed now also abroad. Poland (Poznań), USA (Rhode Island, TX), Denmark, Japan and Taiwan are some of the locations. Meanwhile the importance of drawing and painting grew so next to the temporary installations these two-dimensional works were exhibited. Gradually the necessity developed to evolve the wrappingsculpts with elements jumping out of the shape. The concept of inside out. Elements reminding of flames and tongues as I found so the slogan “the flame of the Art moves the World”. A true statement in my opinion. Looking at the most important human remainders starting at prehistoric times most of them are Art objects. Depicting and imaging our world helps us to really “sense” our world and from this sensing we can understand and manipulate. So flames it is, ever since 1998 and I suppose it goes on and on. So you can see flames for example in trees. The latest large project so far was “Spirits of the Rio Negro” in the city
1980 ‘Supported’.Soloexhibition in Emmen(NL). Cotton, polystyreen grains, poles, rope. High 5.0 mtrs
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of Resistencia, Chaco (Argentina). About those flames a critic wrote: “The way in which Adri de Fluiter shaped the flames is not a stereotype, but a personal interpretation of the phenomenon ‘fire’: a powerful dynamic form. Yet we recognize the flames as such is due to the fact that it is an archetype, an ancient shape. The artist also uses another linguistic meaning of the word fire: “zeal, enthusiasm, passion and urge.” That is why he states that the title refers to Adri’s creed “The flame of art moves the world”. The flame to him is a symbol for the spirituality in every men, the fire that burns inside. Organizer The origin of my organizing activities lie way back in the “Musée de la Sculpture en Plein Air” in Paris, France. In 1986 I held an exhibition on the premises of the Curie Institute. During a walk along the river Seine I accidentally passed this museum. Marvelous, sculptures out in the open, accessible to the public. Merry-go-round, landing stage, benches, anything, Fine Arts at best. That should also be possible in the Netherlands. After consulting people in my circle we started in 1987 with “City Sculptures Emmen”. Sculptures of artists were delivered from their studio and were exposed in the urban environment of Emmen, 14 years in a row. It taught me that it is not an art to expose sculptures as long as you understand the art of financing. This requires involvement of the right people. In 1999 I was asked to act as curator for a project in Belgium “Fieldwork and Sculpture in Puurs”. It was my job to put together a representative group of Japanese artists in Installation Art and Land Art. Combined with the sculptures selected by Gallery Owner Francis van Hooff, it became a success. It tasted like more. So when I was approached to do more or less the same in 2000 in the National Park “Het Dwingelderveld” in the Netherlands, I instantly was enthusiastic and the idea arose to name these organizing activities “Global Art Fund”. Dwingelderveld also was successful. Along a track of 17 kilometers art work appeared from international artists from Japan, Czech, USA, Turkey and the Netherlands. Even our Queen Beatrix payed attention and we rode a day on horseback with her to view the works from a different perspective. A lunch like in a fairy-tale in the middle of a work of art became a golden memory to this visit. The trend was set. Organizing became a part of my life. In 2001 a European Sculpture Symposium in Oosterhesselen, In 2003 the fantastic project PeatPolis on a original peat moor in the moor-park in Barger Compascuum. Seventeen artists from many countries worked with peat to construct temporary installations. An exertion which led to a very successful exhibition in the mysterious moor. Here also the Queen was amongst the visitors. In full glamor she flew in by helicopter and she performed the opening on a sunny summer-day with temperatures around 32 degrees Celsius. Yet also frustration. It demands continuity to establish prominence and there was no such thing as continuity. It seemed we had to reinvent the wheel every time. In my quest for the better I spoke with the Community of Coevorden. The click was made. The beauties of nature with forests, heather and pools was fit to organize an annual Nature Art Symposium annex Exhibition. This started in 2005. The
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managing authorities of the terrain (Staatsbosbeheer) and the hosts for the artists Holidaypark ‘t Kuierpatien. Every year ten artists work and live together during a fortnight to realize the proposed projects. The Nature Art Drente Foundation covers the event. Every year a theme related to the cultural history of the area with a rich ancient and contemporary history. From Huns to Peatworkers, canal diggers and foresters. Now, 2011, I start to resign. A new coordinator will take over. His first project is Border Country. Exciting in a word where borders are strictly monitored and asylum seekers are returned to “there where they belong” as if they were spoils. So the circle is closed... Started with forbearing sacks now ariving at the human sent as a package by governmental mail though the world skies on the road to nowhere. The fire keeps on burning though. Seventy is a good age to take up the Fine Arts. Even now when the world becomes a global village where many meet on the digital squares, facebooks and twitter areas. The villagers find ways to find and expose. Me being an enthousiastic follower wander the digital area on a daily basis, meet artist from the big village we call world. Both my art work and information on the projects can be found on http://www.defluiter.nl.
“Dishing - be my guest “ From the series ‘Unstable tables’. Plywood, rubber, jute. High 138 cm.
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Layer on layer @MaryAnnReilly It is the everyday image that catches my eye that often serves as the stimulus for a composition. The face of a young woman. A wall in Tuscany where the bills posted have been worn. At the moment, I am usually unclear about why the image is of interest, but have come to trust that I may later include aspects of the work I shoot in larger compositions. The Bricoleur: Art and Tinkering This form of photographic bricolage is a method I use to compose the images shown here. In The Savage Mind, Claude Lévi-Strauss (1962/1966) referred to bricolage as the makedo activities a handyperson employs while working. Like a bricoleur, I am one who tinkers with the images at hand. Lévi-Strauss explained that “the materials of the bricoleur are elements which can be defined by two criteria: they have had a use...and they can be used again” (p. 35, italics in original). So too is this true for me as an artist. The images shown here are the result of tinkering with individual photographs taken and rearranged to create new compositions. For example, in Looking and in Stefano, I had composed portraits of two people. We were all staying at a monastery in Tuscany and participating in a weeklong Zen and Art workshop. The task that day was to make portraits of one another outside at noon in full sunlight. Later that same day I was in Pienza, Italy shooting and I passed a wall where posted notices had worn thin. I was immediately interested in the textures and partial words that remained and quickly shot a few images. Later, I combined the portraits and the textured wall to create the finished works. In the work, The Quiet Flow Into things, I combined several
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images and texture to create the final image. Unlike Looking and Stefano this finished work was composed with three images I had taken across four months from different geographic areas. The last image, Voyeur, began with an image I made at a lake. A young girl who had come to the edge of the lake with a prayer book in her hand and was praying captivated me. Even as I shot the image of her, I also recognized the conflict I felt that I was intruding in a private moment. Voyeur is a statement about the tension artists face when making art: What remains private and what private moments do we make public? Voyeur, a compilation of four photographs, is an attempt to show that tension. Like the bricoleur, it is the tinkering with everyday images of ordinary life resituated that inspires my art. Mary Ann Reilly is a fine arts photographer who lives in Ringwood, NJ. To see more of Mary Ann’s work, please visit her website: http://maryannreilly.blogspot.com
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Lines & Support @JerryShawback When you are an artist and you are on twitter, you must follow Jerry Shawback. He loves to support twitter artists, he always RT good art and he will support you! And he makes very nice artwork himself. His paintings are painted with his special signature, his drawings with special lines. He knows how to catch a portrait in lines. Jerry is very active in social media. People blog about him, write about him. Jerry always make portraits. Why does he love to make portraits over and over again? Jerry: “ What fascinates me is that so much of what we learn about one another is non verbal through the smallest of gesture and expressions. The face communicates so much its a mask we use to express or hide emotions self consciously as well unintentionally. Repetition allows for deeper exploration of as the subject as well the medium...” We can support you too Jerry, because you make nice art work! His new project is very interesting, you can follow this on twitter with the hashtag: #TheShawbackRedemptions http://theshawbackredemptions.wordpress.com Quote from the site: ”The Shawback Redemptions is an exploratory journey between two artists to discover the ways in which improvisatory free form in both fine art and poetry influence and evolve the other over time. The artwork and poetry are equally random, yet each capture the intimacies of the other, in cameo depictions of essential personal experience. The Shawback Redemptions began with a writerly response to a series of self portraits and quickly developed into an ongoing collaboration. The selected drawings and sketches is random and each poem written piece is purely off the cuff, with no editing or structural reworking of any kind. Jerry has no idea which pieces Renée selects nor does he see the the poetry until it is written. Renée has no idea which drawing or panting Jerry will send her next. The result is a purely ‘coincidental collaboration’. The goal is a collaborative piece that speaks cohesively as an interdisciplinary artwork and finds a home with you the audience.”
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“ I miss granddad, he died yesterday...... “ A.
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Next issue all about: borders
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kids and computers....
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