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GALLERY 1 - 2D Art

 

Banksy (?1974 - )

The Maid, 2006

Stenciled Graffiti, London

Banksy is an anonymous British graffiti artist and painter who was probably born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. He was expelled from school and spent some time in prison, but little is known about his life. He started graffiti between the age of 14 and 20 as a member of a graffiti crew in Bristol. At the beginning he used only spray-cans and applied stencils as elements of his work. Later on he realized that he is better in working with only stencils and also that stenciling takes less time to complete a piece of work. Today the technique of stenciling and the name of Banksy are closely linked in graffiti circles.

The black and white, sometime colored stencils appear in the very centre of public life all around the world. Illegality is one of the reasons of the artist’s mysterious identity. His satiric, surreal, and undoubtedly provocative art often addresses anti-war, anti-capitalist topics. He has some recurring motives such as monkeys, rats, policemen, children or soldiers. The stencils are often supplied with short slogans, messages. Like most artist, Banksy has also subverted works, placing Monet's, Millet’s or Degas’ works into a new, 21st century context.

 The chosen work by Banksy, called The Maid, slightly contains the artist’s philosophy about modern society in a way. The stencil was made on Jay Joplin’s White Cube Gallery’s wall in 2006 May in Hoxton Square, London. It existed for six weeks, later it was removed since it decreased the number of visitors to the Gallery’s exhibitions, and again, it was totally illegal. The stencil illustrates a maid sweeping dirt under the wall and this movement can be interpreted as a ‘problem-solving-way’ of the modern society.

Banksy's goal is to raise public attention to problems and what is unique about him is his courage and his special way of saying things out loud in the centre of attention, in the centre of public space.  Lengyel Anna

 

 

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Various Artists,

Travis Barker,Body Tattoos

Tattooing is a controversial topic even today. Although the situation has gotten better, conservative people still tend to have bad opinions about tattooed people, and I chose to present on this topic to popularize tattoos in class, and I was also curious about your opinions. 

Scarring the skin for the sake of decoration is more than 12,000 years old. People got tattooed in ancient Japan, Egypt, and even among European tribes, it was very prevalent. Tattoos used to symbolize marks of status, spiritual and religious beliefs, and they were used for the purpose of punishment too.

Tattoing has undergone a huge development: the first tattoos were made by carving the skin with animal bones and rubbing the wound with ash; nowadays professional tattoos are made with serious tattoo machines, completely hygenically.

I chose a picture of Travis Barker for the gallery because he represents what tattoos truly mean - devotion. Most of his tattoos symbolize his love for music, some tattoos he got to express his love for his family, he has tattoos as a tribute to her mom, and his right arm is full of symbols of luck. Tattoos are great to express ourselves, and unlike paintings that can be hung up on walls and thrown out anytime, tattoos are permanent; one has to remember that they will stay there for life and will tell things about its owner. I would like to finish up with a quote from Barker that expresses this perfectly: "I tattooed my body so I couldn't fall back on anything. I purposely did that so I couldn't get a normal job and live a normal life. I did it so I had to play music."   Joo Erik

 

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Michael Belk

The Second Mile, The joyful gift of forgiving

From the Parable Collection, and the Vision of Hope theme

Photograph, Matera, Italy, 2009

 

As a worldly fashion photographer, Michael Belk has been one of the best. His work has appeared in Vogue, Elle, GQ and Vanity Fair. And his clients have been a constellation unto themselves: Nautica,J.Crew, Polo and Christian Dior - to name but a few.

Combining his gift for photography with a natural sales sense, he's created advertising campaigns for many well-known names in the clothing industry. For 30-plus years, he has been the man behind the camera, the creative director and the account executive - a one-stop shop for fashion advertising.

Not bad for a self-taught photographer who never picked-up a camera until he was 20. Born in Orlando and growing up in Ocala, Michael had a different life envisioned for himself, but around his 20th birthday, he and his brother hired a photographer friend to photograph them as a gift for their mother. Michael had definite ideas and directed the "on location" photo shoot. "I was fascinated with the whole process. I bought a 35mm camera and began shooting pictures of just about everything."

From that moment on, his career began to develop, and he soon became very successful. By the year 1989, his company was of 2 million $ worth, and by a good decision, this amount jumped 400%. But success wasn't for free. He reached a point when he only felt at home on an airplane, or in a hotel. At the age of 42, his life had great excitement, huge success, but very little substance. 

Then on one day, he had an encounter with God. Michael says: " I distinctly remember the absolute presence of God in my room. He asked me if I wanted to keep doing things my way or maybe try them His way. I knew that I couldn't get out of this on my own, and realized that it was time to try His way." From that moment, Michael says, his life began to change.

In 1993, he decided to take a break. He closed his business, and started working on an idea for a book.  The book, "Beyond the Sport, The Victory Within," told inspirational stories of America's Winter Olympians, featuring greats such as Peggy Fleming, Scott Hamilton and Eric Heiden. Michael not only created the photographs, he wrote it as well. Twenty-five thousand copies were sold.

These days, Michael has spent the past one and a half years creating Journeys With the Messiah. "Although Journeys is in its infancy, I plan for it to occupy much of the coming years. There are so many directions it can go." He looks back on his life as an incredible journey - one full of lessons learned.

 Journeys with the Messiah: The 21st Century relevance of a 2000-year-old message. "Through these powerful images and messages, my desire is for you to explore Jesus' messages spoken over 2000 years ago to see how relevant they are in your life today. The Parable Collection images tell a story. The Messiah Collection includes ten beautiful images of the Christ figure plus an amazing Last Supper." - Michael Belk

This project aims to present the 21st century Jesus, displaying the well-known 'What Would Jesus Do' bracelet's meaning. The chosen place of the on-ocation photo shoots is the city of Matera in Italy, and the main character embodying Jesus is Sergio, an Italian man. All of the pictures are intense, shaking the judgements of people, awakening all to the truth. Michael Belk tries to uncover and bring Jesus' passion back. 

 The Second Mile

A powerful, one of the well-known photographs of Michael Belk, made in the Italian city of Matera, in 2009. This picture grasps the truth about real forgiveness, the one that no people could express by their own strength. This is why it makes a division among the people looking at it, one group saying that there's no forgiveness in such cases, another group saying that there is, but not from our own strength. Michael Belk also shares his own thoughts about this photo:

The joyful gift of forgiving. Where does a mother garner the strength to stand in a courtroom and forgive the man who murdered her daughter? How do Jews ever forgive the Nazis for the Holocaust? Jesus' teachings on this subject were revolutionary: "Love your enemies as yourself. Pray for those who persecute you. Forgive people seventy times seven." Jesus reminds us that, just as God forgives us, we are expected to do the same for others. Still, His teachings on forgiveness are more for our benefit because He wants us to let go of the bitterness and anger we hold on to. He knows that our feelings of anger, resentment and hatred will not hurt the other person to the degree they can destroy us, even to the point of making us sick. Just saying, "I forgive you," releases you from emotional, physical and spiritual bondage. It sets us free to move on with life and His glorious plan. Forgive and let it go. 
Matthew 5:38-48    Gulyás Hanna

 

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Salvador Dalí, 1904 - 1989

Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)  1936 

Oil on canvas, 39 5/16 x 39 3/8 inches (99.9 x 100 cm)

Philadelphia Museom of Art, The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950 

Salvador Dali (1904 - 1989) was born as the son of a prestigious notary in the small town of Figueras in Northern Spain. His talent as an artist showed at an early age and Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali received his first drawing lessons when he was ten years old. Dali began to study art at the Royal Academy of Art in Madrid. By 1929 Dali had found his personal style that should make him famous - the world of the unconscious that is recalled during our dreams. The surrealist theory is based on the theories of the psychologist Dr. Sigmund Freud. Recurring images of burning giraffes and melting watches became the artist's surrealist trademarks. He died on January 23, 1989 from heart failure.

With its flair for detail as gruesome as it is meticulous, Salvador Dalí's Surrealist painting style might well have been invented for the depiction of the unique horrors of the Spanish Civil War. This painting, however, is one of only a handful in which Dalí turned his attention to the tragedy that beset his homeland on July 17, 1936, when General Francisco Franco led a military coup d'état against the democratically elected Popular Front government. The artist's savage vision of his country as a decomposing figure tearing itself apart preceded the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and thus prophetically foretold the atrocities committed during this bloody conflict.    Kovács Márton

http://www.artelino.com/articles/salvador_dali.asp

http://www.salvador-dali.org/dali/en_biografia.html

 http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/51315.html

 

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Anne Geddes (1956 - )

Julia Snail

Photograph, 1996

 

Anne Geddes (b. September 13, 1956) is an an Australian-born self-taught photographer. She is known for her stylized depictions of babies and motherhood. Typical images show babies or young children dressed as fairies and fairytale creatures, flowers, or small animals. Geddes' books have been published in 83 countries. According to Amazon.com she has sold more than 18 million books and 13 million calendars. Her books have been translated into 23 different languages. These books are: Down In The Garden (1996), Until Now (1998), Pure (2002), Miracle (2004), A Labor Of Love (2007) and Beginnings (2010).

This picture, called Julia Snail, was published first in the Down In The Garden collection in 1996. It has appeared in calendars, gift-products, books and postcards and is one of the artist’s most famous creations. This picture was taken with film photography but since the appearance of digital technology she has been using digital cameras and she has been working with a whole group of Photoshop experts. However, she rather "shoots from the heart” and warns other people to use Photoshop carefully.    Csóka Ágnes

 

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Hokusai (1760 - 1849)

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830

Wood-block print, 35 x 37 cm

 

Hokusai was born in 1760, in Katsushika,a district in the east of Edo (now Tokyo). His birth name was Tokitarō, and he was the son of a mirror maker to the shōgun. He started painting at six and at twelve his father sent him to work a booksellers. In 1804 he became famous as an artist when, during a festival in Tokyo, he completed a 240m˛ painting of a Buddhist monk named Daruma. Soon afterwards he appeared before the shōgun Tokugawa Ienari when he won a talent competition against an artist working the traditional Chinese style. During the last years of the 1820s he published his famous Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji which proved so popular that he later had to add a further ten prints. Later works included Unusual Views of Celebrated Bridges in the Provinces, A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces and One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji. In 1839, just as his work started to be eclipsed by that of Andō Hiroshige, his studio burned down and most of his work was destroyed. He died at the age of 89, in 1849.

Some years before his death he is reported to have stated:

"At the age of five years I had the habit of sketching things. At the age of fifty I had produced a large number of pictures, but for all that, none of them had any merit until the age of seventy. At seventy-three finally I learned something about the true nature of things, birds, animals, insects, fish, the grasses and the trees. So at the age of eighty years I will have made some progress, at ninety I will have penetrated the deepest significance of things, at a hundred I will make real wonders and at a hundred and ten, every point, every line, will have a life of its own."

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa Oki Nami Ura, lit. "Under a Wave off Kanagawa"), also known as The Great Wave or simply The Wave, is a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai. An example of ukiyo-e art, it was published sometime between 1830 and 1833 (during the Edo Period) as the first in Hokusai's series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), and is his most famous work. This particular woodblock is one of the most recognized works of Japanese art in the world. It depicts an enormous wave threatening boats near the Japanese prefecture of Kanagawa. While sometimes assumed to be a tsunami, the wave is, as the picture's title notes, more likely to be a large okinami lit. "wave of the open sea." As in all the prints in the series, it depicts the area around Mount Fuji under particular conditions, and the mountain itself appears in the background.

Ukiyo-e (lit. Pictures of the Floating World) is a Japanese print technique, which was very popular during the Edo period. It was this period that really saw the rise of the style known as ukiyo-e, which reflected the lives and interests of the lowest classes of society: merchants, artists and rōnin, who were developing their own art and literature in urban areas such as Edo (today's Tokyo), Osaka and Sakai, in a movement which was later called ukiyo, the floating world. It was the novelist Asai Ryōi who in 1661 defined the movement in his book Ukiyo-monogatari: "living only for the moment, savouring the moon, the snow, the cherries in flower and the leaves of the maple la luna, singing songs, drinking sake and enjoying simply floating, indifferent to the prospect of impending poverty, optimistic and carefree, like a pumpkin dragged along by the current of the river."

 This impression is of the yoko-e type, in landscape, and was produced to the ōban size, 25 centimetres high by 37 wide.    Kalmár Krisztián

 

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Li Wei: 

25 levels of freedom, Beijing, 2004 06 19 

150x150cm

Li Wei is a contemporary artist (born in 1970) from China. He began his work with the "Mirror" series in the late '90s. His work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality. He sees his art as both a mission to set the scene for the perfect photograph an performance. His pictures often depict himself in gravity-defying postitions. Li Wei claims that his photographs are not computer montages, and sometimes he is in real danger while making them. He says he works with props such as mirros, metal wires, scaffolding and also uses acrobatics for his pictures. Wei's works have been published in countless magazines, many times on covers. There is not much information about the artist or about his intentions with his art, but there are some quotes from Wei, which can be interesting: 

"My artistic language is universal and deals with themes about contemporary politics and society using symbols understood by everyone in every part of the world."

"I am fascinated by the unstable and dangerous sides of art and I hope my works reflect these aspects."
"The philosophy that emerges from my work shows the independence of the spiritual values of Chinese artists and the internal peace of a culture."

"I incorporated gravity as one of my main elements. My work and artistic experience are characterised by a unique specificity and particularity."

 For more works by Li Wei, go to his official website: www.liweiart.com     Darvas Marton

 

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L. S. Lowry (1887 - 1976)

Going to the Match, 1953

Oil on canvas

Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887 November 1 – 1976 February 23) was an English artist, who was famous for painting scenes of 20th century industrial areas in Northern England. He is famous for painting in a rather unique way that was often referred to as “matchstick” paintings. One of his most famous pictures is his 1953 “Football Ground” which was later renamed “Going to the match” . It shows a crowd of people heading to see a football match in Burnden Park, Bolton. It is a standard oil painting based on  a sketch that was most likely destroyed during the years. The painting was sold for a record 1.9 Ł for the Professional Footballers’ Association in 1999.    Salamon Gergely

 

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Édouard Manet, (1832 - 83)

, « Le déjeuner sur l'herbe », 1863

oil on canvas, 208*265,5 cm,

Édouard Manet was a French painter of the XIXth century. He is considered as a transition between the realism of Courbet or Daumier and Impressionism.

Luncheon on the Grass was painted by Manet in 1863. Three people are picnicking in a forest landscape, a naked woman and two well dressed men. In the foreground, we can see the clothes of the woman and the basket of food, treated like a still life; in the background, there is another woman, who is bathing in a stream. The large canvas size was normally reserved  for historical subjects, here it's an «everyday scene».

 Its first place of exhibition, the «Salon des Refusés», underlines that it was shocking and disliked by the critics. Manet is considered as a realist painter, so the subject is treated without any idealization: the realism is based on direct observation of the modern world. Manet is playing with the classical references: a nude in a classical setting was considered acceptable, one in a contemporary setting was not. In the History of Art, most allegorical scenes depict naked women, close to other people, but they are Venus or the Virgin. In that painting, everybody thought that the woman was a prostitute, as the forest landscape could have been the «Bois de Boulogne», which is a place not far from Paris where we can find lots of prostitutes since the XIX century.

More, the treatment was considered as shocking as the subject itself: there's no transition between the light and dark elements; there's no shadow and no natural light; there's no gradation between the colors, in favor of brutal contrasts ; there's no depth and perspective: the lady in the background seems to float in the air and Manet didn't try to hide the brush strokes. That new way to treat traditional subject with modern modes of representation leads to the beginning of Modern Art; Manet was a great reference for Van Gogh and the Impressionists. Nowadays, this canvas is no longer in the «Salon des Refusés» but in the «Musée d'Orsay», which is one of the most famous in Europe.

I chose this work for several reasons ; I wanted to show you a French artist but I also wanted to introduce you a pivotal figure in the transition to Modern Art. Pedespan, Jeanne

 

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Mohácsi Regős Ferenc

House in the forest (Ház az erdőben)

Paper, ink

September 20, 1991

Mohácsi Regős Ferenc (March 25, 1917 – November 22, 2003)

Mohácsi Regős Ferenc was born in Mohács. The city is well known for its tradition, Busójárás, a 6-day carnival which marks the end of winter. Busójárás is on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009. It was Mohácsi Regős Ferenc who revived this tradition after World War II. He also founded a museum together with Móricz Zsigmond in Mezőtúr (Badár Balázs Múzeum). He became the freeman of Mohács in 1993.

His master was Szőnyi István, a widely recognised graphic artist and painter. Mohácsi was in first place a graphic artist, but he also made paintings, reliefs and he wrote poems, too. Most of his works were created in an impressionist style, but he also made portraits, e.g. of Kodály Zoltán. His most famous work is Horses (Lovak) which has been exhibited in Vienna in the Albertina Museum’s Horse Drawing Collection since 1984, together with for example Leonardo DaVinci’s horse drawings.

House in the forest (Ház az erdőben)

The drawing was made with ink on paper in an impressionist style. The artist created the picture about a vacation house during a family visit in the fall of 1991. He started drawing as soon as he got out of the car after he arrived, and made the picture in approximately 5 minutes.

The house (which happens to be my grandparents’ vacation home) is located in the Börzsöny. It is on the edge of a village, between a mountain stream and a huge forest area. I chose this work because the picture reflects perfectly the somehow magical atmosphere of the tiny house in the depths of the large, untouched forest.     Tóth Kata

 

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Paul Jackson Pollock

 Number 9A (Summertime)

Oil, enamel and house paint on canva

83 x 580 cm

Tate Modern, London

Paul Jackson Pollock (Jan 28, 1912 – Aug 11, 1956) was an American abstract expressionist artist. Having been kicked out of his first high school, he started to study art first in the Los Angeles Manual Arts High School, then in the Arts Students League of New York. After finishing his studies, he married fellow artist Lee Krasner in 1945, and in November they moved to the Pollock-Krasner House and Studio as it is known now, located in Rhode Island.

Pollock developed his ’drip’ technique in 1947 on the floor of their barn, where he laid a canvas out and poured paint from all directions.  He used household paints, hardened brushes, sticks, syringes, and his hands as applicators. Pollock denied the assumption that his paintings were accidents; he had an idea when he started to work. He decided to number his paintings in order to evade the influence of disturbing titles in the interpretation of the pictures.

Number 9A was painted in 1948 with the same method; it clearly expresses motion and energy. Commentators suggest that human figures constitute the main layer of the artwork.

Jackson Pollock died in an alcohol-related car accident in Springs, New York. Recently, large-scale exhibitions could be seen in the Museum of Modern Arts, New York; and Tate, London.    Weissz Georgina

 

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Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006)

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
Camera: Graflex Speed Graphic
Taken on February 23, 1945 on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan

Joe Rosenthal was born in Washington D.C., in 1911. His interest in photography started as a hobby, but later he became a reporter photographer at San Fransisco News. After being rejected by the US Army due to his poor eyesight, he joined the Associated Press and followed the US Marine Corps throughout the Pacific Theater of Operations during Wolrd War II. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he took his most famous picture: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. After the war, he worked as a photographer until 1981. In 1996, he was named an honorary Marine. He died of natural causes on August 20, 2006, at the age of 94, near San Fransisco.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. On the picture, you can see 5 US Marines and a NAVY corpsman raising the flag of the US on top of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. On the fourth day of the battle, some platoons were sent to the top of the mountain, one of them was given a flag. They attached it to a pipe, making it the first foreign flag to fly on Japanese soil.  An officer wanted the flag as a souvenir, so he sent another squad with a second, larger flag to replace it. Among them was Joe Rosenthal with his Speed Graphic camera. On the summit, Rosenthal discovered a group of Marines attaching a larger flag to a length of pipe. Nearby, another group of Marines stood ready to lower the smaller flag at the same instant the larger was raised. Rosenthal briefly contemplated attempting to photograph both flags, but decided against it, so he focused his attention on the group of Marines preparing to raise the second flag.  Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the group of Marines start to raise the second flag. He swung his camera around toward the action and pushed the shutter.

The picture quickly spread all over the US, becoming the most reproduced photo of all time. Rosenthal won the 1945 Pulitze Prize for Photography, the only photograph to win the prize in the same year it was taken. Also, the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery was designed after the flag raising. What is more, they created a stamp of the raising 5 months after the event. For many years, this was the biggest selling stamp in the history of the US Post Office. Over 137 millon copies were sold. The flags are kept in the National Museum of the Marine Corps, while the photo itself is in private hands.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima instantly became the symbol of victory, uniformity, strength and fortitude and gave hope to the people of America who were tired and demoralized by the war.    Kovács Péter

 

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Swiss Army Knife

Example of the Golden Section in design

The golden section (in mathematics: golden ratio, in arts: Fibonacci pattern, divine section, etc) is a term used in mathematics and arts to describe a certain ratio of two quantities, where the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The ratio itself is a constant number called Phi (approximately 1,618).

It also appears in nature as an elemental organizing rule. For example, the slackening of the snail shell as it grows; it follows the proportion of the section. The branching rates in plants occur in the Fibonacci pattern as well, where the first level has one "branching" (the trunk), the second has two branches, then 3, 5, 8, 13 and so on. Also, the spacing of leaves around each branch or stalk spirals with respect to the golden ratio.

This substantial parameter of our world soon became noticed by artists. Partly it also suits the natural feel of beauty, but otherwise it also used consciously. In reality, it is basically coeval with the earliest manifestations of art, but the earliest remarkable usage for example is the Stonehenge, or the pyramids of Egypt, where the ratio of the basic structure's lengths are acting upon it. With the evolving of the portrayal techniques and perspectives, it becomes more and more evident that the rule takes an important role in structuring the creations. Works of famous artist like Leonardo da Vinci are the best examples.

However, it does not only appear in nature or high culture and masterpieces of art. Industry, mass production and industrial design also adopted the acquired experiences. One of the simplest rules of making something that is clear-out, beautiful and good for the eyes is applying the golden section in the production. We can notice it on, for example, postcards, widescreen televisions, pieces of furniture, layout of a text, and everyday articles of personal use, like a cigarette lighter or a Swiss army knife.   Eliás Dávid

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Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
Snow Storm - (Full title: Snow Storm – steam boat off a harbour's mouth making signals in shallow water, and going by the lead. The author was in this storm on the night the Ariel left Harwich).

Oil on canvas, 91.4 x 121.9 cm
Exhibited in 1842, accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest in 1856

 

Joseph Mallord William Turner (English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker), 1775-1851)

 Family & life:

J. M. William Turner's father, William Turner, was a barber and wigmaker and his mother, Mary Marshall, became mentally unstable after his sister died in a mental asylum otherwise known as 'Bedlam'. He was brought up by his uncle, Joseph Mallord William Marshall, who lived in Brentford (a small village on the banks of the River Thames). This is where he first got interested in art, and also the place where he fell in love with one of his favourite subjects: harbours.

He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Art schools when he was only 14 years old. At first he was interested in architecture, but he was advised to continue with painting instead by one of his architect teachers. One of his watercolours was accepted for the Summer Exhibition of 1790 after only one year of studying there and his first oil painting was accepted 6 years later. After that, he exhibited one new painting nearly every year for the rest of his life.

Anecdotes

As an adult, he lived in the house where he was born (above the barbershop) in a house with a glass roof. He made his living chiefly by producing watercolours and etchings as illustrations for anthologies of poems and travel guides. This was important because it kept him from having to sell his paintings to which he was very emotionally attached. When someone convinced him to sell one for whatever reason, he was depressed for days afterwards.

He had a notebook full of sketches from his travels around the countryside and the world, and he used it to draw inspiration in his studio. His imagination was captured by the way the atmosphere and the weather change light, and frequently painted the same scenery in different conditions. He got into a wild storm on the English Channel, and when they arrived at shore he just stood there drawing what he saw in the storm, which he later made into a painting. This picture was very much like an illustration in a book, very detailed, and he felt that it didn't convey what it felt like to be in the storm. He is rumoured to have persuaded some sailors to lash him to the mast of a ship during an actual storm at sea to experience what it really feels like, and then created “Snowstorm”. However, critics said the painting just looks like a bucket of soapy water mixed with lime, which understandably made him very angry.   Cserző Dorottya

Sources:

Charlie Ayres: Lives of the Great Artists

Wikipedia

 

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Zhang Guo Dong

"The dragon character by one stroke" and the artist

Calligraphy literally means "good writing". However, Chinese calligraphy cannot be defined as just "writing" Chinese characters. Chinese Calligraphy, also known as brush calligraphy can be identified as one of the four critical standards for Chinese literati. The four skills are: calligraphy (shu), painting (hua), playing on a stringed musical instrument (Qin) and a strategic board game (Qi). Calligraphy is an art which is unique to Asian cultures and is regarded as the most sublime form of art in the Chinese culture.

  Several styles of writing can be distinguished, such as seal, official or clerical, running or semi-cursive, cursive and regular. Each style has its own specific features and purpose. There exist seven basic strokes, also known as the seven mysteries. The basic strokes consist of a dot, a horizontal line, a vertical line, a sweeping downward stroke, a sharp curve and a downward stroke. Chinese calligraphy distinguishes itself from other calligraphy techniques, as it is painted on a special calligraphic paper known as Xuan paper, which is somewhat absorbent, using a special brush and special ink.

  Chinese characters constitute one of the oldest forms of writing in the world. Their place of origin turned out to be the remains of a Shang-dynasty capital, and its excavation some thirty years after the discovery yielded tens of thousands of the inscribed dragon bones. The bones are the remains of Shang soothsayers' archives. The Shang people collected turtle shells or shoulder blades from oxen, drilled shallow holes at certain points, and stuck red-hot bronze rods into the indentations. The resulting cracks in the shells and bones were interpreted by the court soothsayers. The prophecies were carved beside the cracks, and the bones were filed in vast archives in the capital. The characters on the bones are called oracle bone characters.

It is said that to become a good calligrapher requires a lifetime of practice and at 76 years of age Master Zhang has been writing diligently for over 60 years. This artist's story cannot be told in the space we have here, but it is one of perseverance and dedication.

Unsure of his birthday, Mr. Zhang lost his mother at an early age and his art has been one of the only constants in his life. At times unable to afford ink, paper or brushes, especially during the infamous Cultural Revolution, Master Zhang often used water to write on newspaper or the floor of his home.    Pósa Csilla

 

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GALLERY 2 - 3D Art

 

 

Dragon Dance, China

The Dragon Dance is a highlight of Chinese New Year celebrations. As part of the lunisolar Chinese calendar, the date is partially determined based on lunar phase. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: ??; pinyin: zh?ng yuč) in the Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese New Year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colored cutout couplets with popular themes of "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is a great way to reconcile; forgetting all grudges, and sincerely wishes peace and happiness for everyone.

 Dragons are of course legendary animals, but they are important to Chinese people who think of dragons as helpful, friendly creatures. They are linked to good luck, long life and wisdom. They are nothing like the fierce, fire-breathing Western dragons that carry off princesses and eat people.

They have special powers so they can fly in the air, swim in the sea and walk on land. From its origins as totems or the stylized depiction of natural creatures, the Chinese dragon evolved to become a mythical animal. The Han Dynasty scholar Wang Fu recorded Chinese myths that long dragons had nine anatomical resemblances.

The people paint the dragon's shape with a horse's head and a snake's tail. Further, there are expressions as 'three joints' and 'nine resemblances' (of the dragon), to wit: from head to shoulder, from shoulder to breast, from breast to tail. These are the joints; as to the nine resemblances, they are the following: his horns resemble those of a stag, his head that of a horse, his eyes those of a demon, his neck that of a snake, his belly that of a clam , his scales those of a carp, his claws those of an eagle, his soles those of a tiger, his ears those of a cow. Upon his head he has a thing like a broad eminence (a big lump). If a dragon has no lump, he cannot ascend to the sky.

Chinese dragons are strongly associated with water in popular belief. They are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas. They can show themselves as water spouts (tornado or twister over water). Dragon dances are performed at New Year to scare away evil spirits. During the dance the performers hold poles and raise and lower the Dragon. Sometimes one man has a 'Pearl of Wisdom' on a pole and he entices the Dragon to follow him to the beat of a drum, as if searching for wisdom and knowledge.

The history of the Dragon Dance can be dated back to the Han Dynasty (180-230 AD) in ancient China and, like the lion dance, plays an important part in Chinese culture.

Dragons used in Dragon dances vary in length from a few meters to up to 100m long. Longer Dragons are thought to be luckier than shorter ones. The dragon itself is a long serpent shaped body on poles, assembled by joining the series of hoops on each section and attaching the ornamental head and tail pieces at the ends. Traditionally, dragons were constructed of wood, with bamboo hoops on the inside and covered with a rich fabric, however in the modern era lighter materials such as aluminum and plastics have replaced the wood and heavy material.

 In order to make a Dragon Dance successful and entertaining, the dancers must properly coordinate their movements with each other, thus correct timing is crucial to avoid tangling up or falling over. A mistake from any one person can disrupt other dancers as this creates a "ripple effect", which would spoil the performance. Equally important is the precise timing between the Pearl, Dragon's head and the tail.    Pósa Csilla

 

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Main Architect: Gaudí a.k.a. "God's Architect"

Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia: "Expiatory Church of the Holy Family" (1882 ? 20??)
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Parts of it were recently declared World Heritage by the UNESCO
18 towers, 12 for each apostle, 4 for the evangelists,1 for Jesus Christ and 1 for the Virgin Mary

Antoni Gaudí was known as 'God's Architect' for designing and starting to built La Sagrada Familia. The full name of the church translates as "Expiatory Church of the Holy Family". To expiate means to show that you are sorry for bad behaviour by doing something or accepting punishment, and according to the private devout group that funded the church this was necessary for Barcelona because with the industrialization and increasing wealth of the city it had been 'de-christianised'. It has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026, the 100th anniversary of the death of Gaudí or, according to other sources, 2041. The original architect gave up the job after a year, and Gaudí stepped is, making serious changes to the plans such as including direct lighting and natural ventilation. He kept improvising and  changing the plans, in fact, in the last few years of his life he was so obsessed with the church that he lived in a crypt of the "Sagrada Familia" (re)designing it. It soon became obvious that construction would not be finished any time soon, but when questioned about the matter Gaudí simply said "My client is not in a hurry."

In 1926 he was hit by a tram, and since he looked so shabby, no-one wanted to take him to a hospital. One day later he was found in a poor man's hospital by his friends, and he refused to be moved claiming he "belonged there among the poor." He died three days later and was buried in the church. After his death work was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, during which parts of the basilica and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed by Catalan anarchists. The present design is based on reconstructed versions of the lost plans and on modern adaptations of his sketches.
The Passion façade is adorned with cubist statues and elements, which were made following the drawings and instructions left by Gaudí for future architects and sculptors. (He knew he wouldn't live to see it built, and took necessary precautions.) His aim was to create rigid, angular forms to better express the severity and brutality of Christ's sacrifice. It faces the setting sun, which is symbolic of the death of Christ. It is very different form the Nativity façade on the opposite side of the church, which was the only one finished during Gaudí's life (the other two are still under construction).

Many works of Gaudí show that he was inspired by nature. His typical style incorporates parts of plants, spirals and other natural shapes, and vivid colours into the buildings. These elements can be observed all over the church, and would in themselves make for a unique place of Christian worship, but coupled with the modernist statues and the workmen between the chapels, they make  visiting La Sagrada Familia a truly one-of-a-kind experience.   Cserző Dorottya

 

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Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926)

Casa Batlló (1904-'06) - "Casa del Ossos"

iron, wood, glass, ceramic, stone

Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) was a Catalan architect, who clearly left his mark in the whole Catalan territory, but mostly on its capital, Barcelona. He was a genius at proportions, his ancestors were coppersmiths, and he was exposed to nature during his childhood; all three influenced his art, the most well-known of them are the Güell Park, La Sagrada Família, Casa Milá, and Casa Batlló.

Casa Batlló was commissioned by textile manufacturer Josep Battló I Casanovas, who gave Gaudí a free-hand in reconstructing the house. He did so, and in two years (1904-1906) created one of the landmark buildings of Barcelona from an average 19th century building with the use of all kinds of materials (iron, wood, glass, ceramic, and stone) and shapes. The house is called Casa dels Ossos (House of Bones) amongst the locals; the name becomes obvious if we take a look at the building. The facade is an uneven surface, covered with glazed ceramic and fragments of glass in different colours from golden orange to greenish blues. The house is made even more remarkable by the stained-glass windows and the dragon slain by Catalonia’s patron, St. George; his sword is represented as the turret and the cross.

The whole building, both inside and out, feels as if it is always undulating and swirling like the ocean.

Casa Battló is part of the UNESCO World Heritage, and based on popular vote is one of Barcelona’s Seven Wonders. The building can be visited every day from 9 am to 8 pm for 17.80€.     Weissz Georgina

http://www.casabatllo.es/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Batll%C3%B3

 

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H. R. Giger (1940 - )

Microphone stand for Jonathan Davis, 2000

Cast aluminium

H. R. Giger, Swiss artist has a unique style. His works of art are labeled under surrealism, which fits great to the disturbing, nightmarish mood of his paintings and sculptures.

Giger's works are almost exclusively biomechanical, which means human figures interconnected with mechanic elements. This is just what the singer of Korn was looking for in 2000, so when asked to make a microphone stand for Jonathan Davis, Giger was happy to say yes to the opportunity. Giger was given complete freedom for the project, the only thing Davis asked for is that the stand had to be biomechanical, very erotic, and as movable as possible.

5 aluminium casts were made, 2 of which Jonathan Davis got and the remaining 3 are displayed in Giger's museums. Joo Erik

 

 

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Damien Hirst (1965 -)

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991

Tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde

The British artist Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol. Hirst creates installations that confront people with the relationship between art, life and death. He is considered as the leading member of the Young British Artists - YBA. As he is the most famous conceptual artist he's very publicized and controversial.

During the 1990s his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, who in 1991 had offered to pay for whatever artwork Hirst wanted to create. He decided to realize The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, which, as the title suggests, deals with death. It consists on a tiger shark, preserved in formalhyde, in a glass vitrine.

Due to deterioration, it has been replaced by a new shark in 2006 ; art historians argued that the piece cannot be considered the same artwork. About that replacement, Hirst answered :

« It's a big dilemma. Artists and conservators have different opinions about what's important: the original artwork or the original intention. I come from a conceptual art background, so I think it should be the intention. It's the same piece. But the jury will be out for a long time to come . »

The critics also said that anyone could have done that artwork, because Hirst neither caught the shark nor built the tank. Hirst answered « But you didn't, did you? »  

This artwork is very famous because it's one of the most expensive works ever realized by a living artist. Pedespan, Jeanne

 

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Japanese Garden,

Royal Roads University,

British Columbia

Japanese gardens (nihon teien), that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles.

Some of the Japanese gardens most famous in the West, and within Japan as well, are dry gardens or rock gardens, karesansui. The tradition of the Tea masters has produced highly refined Japanese gardens of quite another style, evoking rural simplicity. In Japanese culture, garden-making is a high art, intimately related to the linked arts of calligraphy and ink painting. Since the end of the 19th century, Japanese gardens have also been adapted to Western settings.

 Though often thought of as tranquil sanctuaries that allow individuals to escape from the stresses of daily life, Japanese gardens are designed for a variety of purposes. Some gardens invite quiet contemplation, but may have also been intended for recreation, the display of rare plant specimens, or the exhibition of unusual rocks. Kalmár Krisztián

 

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Anish Kapoor (1954 -)

Cloud Gate, 2004 – 2006
AT&T Plaza, Millennium Park, Grant Park, Chicago, US

Stainless steel, 10m x 13m x 20m

Anish Kapoor was born in 1954, in Bombay, India. In Israel, he studied electrical engineering. During the 70s, he hitch hiked across Europe and moved to Britain where he began to study art at Hornsey College of Art and Chelsea School of Art and Design. Soon, he started to exhibit his work as a member of the New British Sculpture scene and gained recognition after representing Britain at the 1990 Venice Biennale.

Cloud Gate is a sculpture located at AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois. In 1999, Millennium Park officials reviewed 30 artist portfolios and asked two of them for proposals. Eventually, Kapoor won with a seamless, polished stainless steel surface inspired by liquid mercury measuring 10m by 20m by 13m, weighing more than 100 tons and made up from 168 plates. It reflects the Chicago skyline and its special shape would twist the reflected image. Underside the monument is the Omphalos, whose mirrored surface creates multiple reflections of everything beneath it.

 Although Kapoor usually doesn’t draw with computers, computer modelling was necessary for this project. Construction started in 2004 and Cloud Gate was finally unveiled in May, 2006.

Kapoor’s Intention:
What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline…so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one's reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around.

Kapoor always tries to remove ‘traces of the hands’: signs of fabrications, artist signature, etc. Thus, his works have independent realities. Cloud Gate feels perfect and the viewer keeps wondering where it came from. It creates a bridge between the viewer and the sky.    Kovács Péter

 

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Marcell Komor and Dezső Jakab

Cultural Palace, Marosvásárhely, 1911 - 1913.

The Cultural Palace is a remarkable bulding in Marosvásárhely (Targu Mures), which was built between 1911 and 1913. It was designed by Marcell Komor and Dezső Jakab in Hungarian art nouveau style at the request of the city's mayor at that time, György Bernády. Both architects were followers of Ödön Lechner and before winning the competition for building the palace, they mostly worked in Budapest and Szabadka. The national art nouveau, their style of architecture is characterized by nature-inspired, most typically floral motifs and extravagant appearance. On the exterior of the building famous Hungarian people of the 19th century and famous Hungarian legends appear both on the window glasses and on the embossments on  the main facade. The roof is decorated with white, red and blue tiles. The interior of the palace is most known for the Hall of Mirrors, which is situated on the first floor. The building also has a large concert hall, which has entrances from all the floors. The walls and ceilings are decorated almost everywhere in the building. This fascinatingly detailed paintwork was done by the members of the Gödöllő Art School in 1913. The Cultural Palace gave home to many things throughout the hundred years of its existence (City Cinema, State Theatre, etc.). Today it functions as the county library and there are also some exhibitions held in the gallery. The palace can be visited for a relatively small amount of money, which also includes the entrance fee to the current exhibition. It is definitely worth a visit if you happen to be around.

 In the meantime, here you can take virtual walk in the building in quite high definition: http://bit.ly/C8Emv     Darvas Marton

 

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Mambakwedza Mutasa 

Guilt of Mankind, 2003 -04

Stone and metal, 213 cm X 178 cm X 165 cm

Paulo Coelho writes, "it's the simple things in life that are the most extra-ordinary, only wise men are able to understand them." Chenjerai Collin Mutasa and Mambakwedza Mutasa are brothers who have taken scrap metal, used glass, bamboo and various found objects amongst other things and turned them into well crafted sculptures and hanging constructions which have found their way to the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare. The Mutasa brothers have taken what society views as junk, and turned it into what wise man call "beautiful art".

Mutasa was born in 1974 in Harare, Zimbabwe where he lives and works. Inspired by the creator to create, a sheep of the shepherd, an instrument to glorify his living word in the spirit of Jesus Christ, a mirror of his Godliness, as to bring consciousness of the presence of the present things, all this defines the core of his work.

Primarily a sculptor, Mambakwedza Mutasa also paints, photographs and creates performance art. His work explores the opposing forces that define human life: spiritual and physical, natural and supernatural. His sculptures often bare a monumentality that is always on the verge of disintegration, commenting on both universal human spirituality and the political state of the African continent, the physicality of materials such as scrap metal, stone and wood enliven his spiritual themes with a rich, vibrant tactility. He mainly works with what he calls 'weld art' a method of welding shaped steel into new forms. At the same time, his spiritual beliefs introduce a sacred dimension into the act of creation with his resourcefulness and imagination becoming instruments of his faith.

He's a director now at Domboramwari (~ God's Stone) Art Village

From 1994 - 2005 he has received awards every year from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and several International awards as well.

"Guilt of Mankind is from Romans1 vs 18-32,an insight in the future. Mankind is so blessed, but the flesh is weak, always attracted to evil. Satan is the king of this world. Mankind need to know that there is a spiritual world, which is more real. God is spirit and we need to worship him in spirit and truth. What is physical is temporary but spiritual is eternal. When one is born again, he a new being, Godlike, partaker of the divine nature, Zoe (Godlife)." M.M.

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." Romans1:17-32   Gulyás Hanna

 

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Veijo Rönkkönen (1944- )

Female figure in the sculpture park of Parikkala

Made of concrete, using real human teeth

One of Scandinavia’s many artistic treasures is the extraordinary sculpture park in the eastern part of Finland, near the small city of Parikkala. The park was designed by the artist called Veijo Rönkkönen. He was born in 1944 and has lived all his life on an isolated, small farm. He used to work in a paper mill. He completed his first work of art in 1961 and started to built quietly a garden inhabited by nearly five hundred human figures made of concrete. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he could open the park to the public, who can enter freely.

Interested in yoga and philosophy, Veijo has made self portraits in Yoga gestures.

The line of statues, along with most of the other works, can be seen as Veijo’s private carnival. The motley crew of the un-Finnish- looking figures brings medieval carnival processions to mind. It is interesting to try to figure out the origins of these strange characters. The artist himself says he simply tried to fit as many different sculptures as possible into the group.

Most of the statues are fitted with loudspeakers inside, and the sound effects create the eeriness of the park. In addition, the sculptures have real human teeth in their mouths.Veijo says that each statue was arranged in different themes to show changes in his own life from  growing up with the dreams and fears that he experienced, to some signs of ageing and mature giving up. In many parts, one can sense tones of a persuasive dialogue. Some of the sculptures are provocative, even aggressive, whereas others produce a sensation of thorough consideration and an aspiration to achieve spiritual harmony. The park is like a portrayal of a personality, with all its doubtful and conflicting characteristics.

Besides, this sculpture park is characterized by a variety of flora and fauna, paths as well as benches for visitors. Sculptures are placed in appropriate locations to make room for blooming flowers. Therefore, flourishing flowers help to reduce creepiness of the static stones.

Veijo’s sculpture park is the most notable tourist attraction in Parikkala, and it is regularly advertised in various media. Despite its status of an ‘official’ sight, Veijo has kept the park as his private garden and has nothing to do with the tourist business that surrounds him.    Csóka Ágnes

 

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Potsnik Yakovlev (attrib)

St Basil's Cathedral, Moscow

Saint Basil’s Cathedral, or officially: The Cathedral of Intercession on the Moat is a Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow and is part of UNESCO world heritage. It was built in the 16. century on the order of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, a.k.a. Ivan the Terrible. The cathedral was built to commemorate a military victory in the Russo-Kazan war.

The central church is 46 meters tall internally, but it has a floor area of only 64 square meters.

It is said that it almost fell victim to Stalin, because he said it prevented his soldiers from leaving Red Square en masse, but an architect stood on the cathedral’s steps and said he would cut his own throat if it was destroyed. Stalin relented, but punished the architect with 5 years in prison.

Tsar Ivan IV was described as intelligent, but prone to episodic outbreaks of mental illness. Once he beat his pregnant daughter-in-law, which led to a miscarriage and thus a heated argument between him and his son. During this argument, he killed his son by striking him on the head with a poisoned staff, although he didn’t intend to do so.

Basil the Blessed was a saint who led a life-style of shoplifting and giving to the poor. He also went naked on the streets and weighed himself down with chains. He impressed Ivan so much by foretelling a fire that swept through Moscow, that Ivan himself carried Basil’s coffin to the grave. The ninth side chapel of the cathedral was built over Basil’s grave.

The identity of the architect or the architects is unknown, but researchers propose that it was a man called Potsnik Yakovlev. Legend held that Ivan blinded him so that he could not create such a masterpiece again, but in fact, Yakovlev remained active for years after building Saint Basil’s.

I introduced the cathedral, because I think that it is a work of art (and as such, it divides the public’s opinion). It looks like a gingerbread house from a fairy tale or a Disney cartoon, but in my opinion, this is the best thing about it :P      Tóth Kata

 

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Amber Room, Catherine Palace

Material: Amber

Craftmen: Andreas Schlüter and Gottfried Wolfram

The Amber Room in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg is a complete chamber decoration of amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. the original Amber Room represented a joint effort of German and Russian craftsmen. Construction of the Amber Room began in 1701 to 1709 in Prussia. The room was designed by German baroque sculptor Andreas Schlüter and constructed by the Danish amber craftsman Gottfried Wolfram and remained at Charlottenburg Palace until 1716 when it was given by Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I to his then ally, Tsar Peter the Great of the Russian Empire. In Russia it was expanded and after several renovations, it covered more than 55 square meters and contained over six tons of amber. The Amber Room was looted during World War II by Nazi Germany and brought to Königsberg. Knowledge of its whereabouts was lost in the chaos at the end of the war. In 1979 efforts began to rebuild the Amber room at Tsarskoye Selo. In 2003, after decades of work by Russian craftsmen, the reconstructed Amber Room was inaugurated in the Catherine Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia.    Kovács Márton

 

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Michael Paul Smith (1950 -)

Elgin Park, detail

Michael Paul Smith

 He is a photographer and a model artist, he was born in 1950 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which he still feels as his spiritual and geographical center, even though he has lived in New England for 40 years. He did all kinds of  work from book illustrator to wallpaper hanger, all of his works were inspired by the 20th century and his childhood. A few years ago he created a fictional town, which only exists in photographs, he called it Elgin Park. The virtual town soon became an internet phenomenon and it is "visited" 20 million times a month. Mr. Smith uses die cast cars he collected as a child, and places them in scenery he designed from common household items, the backdrops are real, he photographs outside in a way, so that the background scale approximately matches the foreground scale. He describes his photographs as stories, he never wanted to exactly replicate a real town, he just wanted to capture the mood of his memories. Salamon Gergely

 

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Szines Város, or Colourful City is a NGO project with the aim of making Budapest more lively, colourful and liveable, while having a strong philosophical background and will to change under the surface as well. Founded by local people in the city, the group has been active since the end of 2009. Mixing street art with the legacy of Vasarely's "szines város" idea, and following those traditions, they renovated and decorated several sights and junctions of Budapest. 

The project is not financed by the government, but it has all the support that it needs. Partly, they use their own money, and they get sponsorship from several other foundations.  It is somehow similar to street art, especially the process of materializing the ideas, but it is more organized, perfectly legal, and it is on a larger scale. At first, they choose a certain location to use as their canvas, and they paint the walls there in different, mixed styles, they put up sculptures, and they use the facilities of the city to create their own piece of art.

The main aim is that they want their work to be part of the people's life, they want them to use it. They also make interactive creations. A strong criticism of society is also part of their work, by using environmentally friendly materials and techniques, and by trying to affect the citizen's way of life and connection to their city. Overall, they are one of the pioneers of the modern, conscious lifestyle in our times.  Eliás Dávid

 

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Zimoun (1977 - )

Sound Sculpture, 2009

There is a fog around the creator’s name of the so-called Sound Sculptures. There are only few a data about the author. His artistic name is Zimoun and he was born Switzerland in 1977. He still lives and works in his hometown, Berne. According to his CV, he and Marc Beekhuis, a graphic designer, established Leerraum “which serves as a label, networking hub and platform for creative exchange”. People can gain direct access to Zimoun’s website through Leearraum, where the video installation of Sound Sculptures has been available since the fall of 2009.

          The Sound sculptures are created from metal, natural and plastic objects such as wires, ventilators, cardboard boxes etc. Miniature motors and machines are moving these raw materials. Zimoun collaborated with other artists and experts from different fields because the Sound Sculptures’ complexity needed the knowledge of architects, physicists, and engineers. Zimoun creates little systems within which the behavior of the objects become observable. The behavior of the objects contains the movements, sounds, and corporeal figures.

           Today, the “Version 2.1” of the video is the accessible one on the website: zimoun.ch, and it takes 14 minutes and 33 seconds to watch. The unique feature of Zimoun’s work is that watching the video raises very strong associations in the viewer and pretty different associations in every people. Some of the sculptures are similar to natural phenomena, for example the plastic bags being blown by ventilators or the bending wires at the very beginning. Simple, everyday objects are put in a beautiful context and the border between material and organic world is tailing away.

           The movements of the pig-like objects (on the left side) make the viewer feel towards these metal elements. The metal elements transform into living beings. After their metamorphosis they can be regarded as “loveable animals”. However, some parts of the video are almost impossible to watch. The reason for it could be the sounds, could be the phenomena or the hardly bearable associations. The vibration and the sounds of the sculptures create the main body of this piece of art. The monotonous “comings and goings” could be paralleled with the life of our society as well.

            Finally, I appreciate that Zimoun does not give a specific direction of how the receiver should interpret his work. It has a simple title: Sound Sculptures (and Installations) and what is appealing to me is the work’s simplicity and complexity in one. He perfectly achieves what a piece of art should achieve. It makes you think. It makes you feel. Lengyel Anna

 

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GALLERY 3 - Moving Image

Jeanne: Michel Gondry: Commercial for Air France, 0.52: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmNztYfInOA&feature=related

Dorka: Tobuscus: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer Parody, 02.33: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MahTKZDHXaA

K. Marton: Bob Dahlin: Monster in the Closet Trailer, 02.56: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZtGOef5aCg

Csilla: Dragon Dance, 01.07: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apimBqgTeBA&feature=related
            Dragon Dance, 4.05: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh1vQNFZxwE
            14 Blades Trailer, 03.08: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ts3tHR5TMM

Krisztian: MZeroX Samurai Champloo 05.01: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQlVTjYJYkw

Agi: Alberto Mielgo: Beatles Rock Band, 02.36: http://vimeo.com/10864426

Georgina: Pixar: Presto, 05.15: http://vimeo.com/7461633

David: Macaframa: Massan, 01.12: http://vimeo.com/5862934

Kata: Commercial for Berlitz Language Schools, 0.45: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT86iWiH2mI

D. Marton: Title sequence for Dexter, 01.56: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuqPQL-1hgg&feature=&p=DC860610F9BEDC8E&index=0&playnext=1
                    http://www.artofthetitle2.com/media/tv/2006/dexter/dexter_480p.mov )
            Patrick Jean: Pixels, 02.35: http://vimeo.com/13362364

Gergely:  The Super Inframan Trailer, 01.05: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz4rl0TwoKE
            Phillips Carousel Commercial. 2.19: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ3D4CqHbJM