Banksy

The creator of this picture is an anonymous graffiti artist known under the pseudonym Banksy. Though people figure that he may have been born around the end of the 70s in Bristol, he has managed to keep his identity hidden even after getting world famous. Since he was first noticed in 1993, he has done many remarkable exhibitions. London’s Tate Gallery and two other museums he entered completely masked to hang his paintings in between the current exhibits. These actions certainly expresses to which degree he refuses to submit to any society codex. Anonymity and autonomy are basic for his antiauthoritarian art. He sees himself as a “quality vandal,” challenging the authority of political and art institutions on both the right and the left.”

His authentic independence is probably one of the reasons why he was asked in 2005 to paint parts of the wall which separates the Palestinian West Bank region from the rest of Israel.  After he was done 9 huge paintings made the wall appear much more beautiful which was not welcomed by those locals who just want to get rid of it. Banksy himself says one of the wall’s effects is to convert the whole area into the world’s largest open air prison. When looking at the paintings, one has to keep this statement in mind.

The painting with the boy standing on a pile out of rubber is one of Banksy’s West Bank pieces, too. Since 2000 he uses stencils for his work; also the boy is created by using stencils. Children as an artistic, symbolical image belong to a group of iconographic and highly recognizable motives he developed during the past 13 years. Each of them, like policemen and rats, bears another meaningful message. Children, in the general comprehension, symbolize innocence, but also the future and they question what kind of world authorities leave for them to deal with. One may assume that Banksy followed this idea in this case. The boy he stenciled in this sky background stands somewhat forlorn on the piled rubber bricks gazing towards the Palestinian landscape.   The bucket he holds in his hands suggest a playful notion and yet contributes to this more than less solitary atmosphere. Questions arise when looking closer at the photo.  Is this an Israeli boy who has made his way through the wall because he is searching for some playmates? One may proceed from this possible interpretation and reflect on what possible future the new generation may have to face and may shape. A hole in the wall, a reunion, is what seems to be called for in this painting. If this hope gets real, what will happen to the Banksy pieces?  Probably they will share the fate of other walls that bear his graffitis and stencil works. They will be sold at auctions to the fans that have the money to purchase them. This circumstance shades the revolutionary and anticapitalistic attitude of the street artist Banksy who seems to take it easy, saying: "We cant do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves." (Banksy)

 Rebekka Bolte

Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848 – 1884)

Love in the Village (L’Amour au Village)

Oil on canvas, 181 x 199 cm

1883, Pushkin Museum (Moscow, Russian Federation)

Jules Bastien-Lepage was born in the village of Damvillers, Meuse, France on the 1st of November, 1848 and spent his childhood there. His father had a vineyard and his grandfather grew fruits in his garden. He developed a passion for drawing very early and his parents promoted his creative talent by buying prints of paintings for him to copy. His very first teacher was his father, for he himself was an artist too. Bastien received formal training in Verdun, then went on to study in Paris in 1867, in the École des Beaux-arts, working under Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), a very famous and sought-after artist of the day. He excelled at drawing in school, but he preferred to work alone and he only occasionally appeared in class – still he completed three years in the École. He fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, after which he returned home to paint the villagers. After exhibiting some works in the Salons in 1870 and 1872 which attracted no attention, his break-through came with Song of Spring (1874), a study of rural life, which represented a peasant girl sitting on a knoll looking down on a village. In 1873, he painted his grandfather in the garden (Portrait of my Grandfather) which was remarkable for its artless simplicity and true-to-life qualities. His success involved winning the second Prix the Rome in 1875, a scolarship for art students, with his Angels Appearing to the Shepherds. His Portrait of Mlle Sarah Bernhardt (1879) won him the cross of the Legion of Honour. His works include Joan of Arc Listening to the Voices (1880), The Beggar, The Portrait of Albert Wolf (1881), All Souls’ Day (1882), Love in the Village (1883). His last dated work is Forge (1884). After long ailing from stomach cancer he died on the 10th of December, 1884 in Paris.

Maria Konstantinowna Bashkirtseff (1858-1884) Ukranian-born painter, one of his great admirers and a close friend, whose artistic subject was rather the poor people of the suburban streets, wrote of him: “I say nothing of the fields because Bastien-Lepage reigns over them as a sovereign; but the streets, however, have not still had their... Bastien”.

Love in the Village (L’Amour au Village) is one of Bastien’s latest works (1883). The painting depicts a couple, each standing at the opposite sides of a fence, talking. Behind them, a garden full of vegetables and further away cottages and church tower – the skyline of a village. Beyond is the cloudy sky. A scene of a man courting a woman. This is our first glimpse of the painting, which, its subject matter being quite clichéd, seems to have nothing more to offer. But if we look at it closely we can explore its layered system of meanings and intricate execution as a painting.

The visual accuracy of depiction is convincing enough for us to take the subject matter seriously – whatever it might be. It is a nearly naturalistic painting with its precise and objective representation of everything in it. The plants surrounding the two figures are so detailed, they could as well be illustrations for a lexicon. And the man’s face is also very life-like.

Bastien-Lepage’s other works usually depicts villagers during hard physical labour and always with a sense of exhaustion, resignation and hopelessness on their faces. But this one is different. It is a lovely, pleasant scene – the beginning of love.

We can only see the face of the man; the girl is turning her back on us. We are kept guessing about what is really going on between them. The only indication of their affection for each other is the flower in her hand, but otherwise she is very shy, even in front of the loved one. Or is she in fact reluctant or even refusing the man by her turning away?

They are in a thoughtful conversation. It must be one of those rare occasions when they could meet – away from the village and the villagers. Is it a secret appointment? Or is it an open secret in the village (considering the pervasiveness of gossip)? And who initiated this meeting? So many possible scenarios and any of them can be the right one.

Why I love this painting is because of its tranquility. Nothing and no-one moves physically but inside there are overflowing emotions. And I chose this particular work of Bastien because it lacks the negativity that is there in his other paintings representing peasants. Here, there is a sense of hope, a possibility of a positive outcome. Dorottya Nagy

 Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Bastien-Lepage

http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artist.php?artistid=269

http://www.bashkirtseff.com.ar/marie_bashkirtseff_1_english_int.htm

http://artlex.com/

Degas

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was born as Hilaire Germain Edgar De Gas in Paris. He was educated from a young age; his school was the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and he obtained a bac in literature. After graduation he wanted to pursue his passion for art so he applied for a copyist job in the Louvre. However, his father was very much against his son’s ambitions so Degas decided to continue his studies on the Faculty of Law. In 1855, at 21 he ultimately decided to become an artist and he was admitted to the École des Beaux Arts. In addition, he spent three years in Italy after which he moved to a Paris studio. His first major themes were history paintings but in the late 1860s he switched to contemporary themes and introduced the topic he is most identified with: dancers. It was a very popular and fashionable subject and sold well. With the change of subject matter his painting style changed as well, he began to use vivid colors and bold brushstrokes. He managed to intertwine classical beauty and modern realism. What is interesting about his ballerina paintings is that he portrayed them while they were hard at work, when they rehearsed instead of showing the glamorous performances. His aim was to show the “petite rats” as they were: young girls training to be divas. He captured the reality, the blood, sweat, and tears behind the glory.

One of his most important works of his oeuvre is The Ballet Class (1871-74). It is oil on canvas painting and he used light and pastel colors. In the painting the class is coming to an end, the pupils are exhausted, they are stretching, twisting to scratch their backs, adjusting their hair or clothes, an earring, or a ribbon, paying little heed to the inflexible teacher, a portrait of Jules Perrot, a real-life ballet master. Degas closely observed the most spontaneous, natural, ordinary gestures, the pauses when concentration is relaxed and the body slumps after the exhausting effort of practicing and the implacable rigor of the class. The slightly raised viewpoint looking diagonally across the studio accentuates the importance of the ground as the work tool of the ballet dancers.  Udvardi Anita

Hokusai (1760-1849)

The Great Wave of Kanagawa

Ukiyoe is a Japanese form of art that originated in the metropolitan culture of Edo, during a time when the country was virtually isolated from the rest of the world. On top of that, all aspects of Japanese culture were strictly regulated by the Shogunate, reflected by a Buddhist concept that was often used to describe the zeitgeist of the time: ukiyoe, which originally meant sadness (uki) of life (yo). However, by the middle of the 17th century, ukiyoe acquired a completely new meaning. This era witnessed the creation of the ukiyoe art form, the splendid genre painting of the city bourgeoisie, signifying the elegant world of urban pleasures. The term ukiyoe, was coined by Asai Ryoi in his novel, Tales of the Floating World: "Living only for the moment, savoring the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves, singing songs, loving sake, women and poetry, letting oneself drift, buoyant and carefree, like a gourd carried along with the river current." Unable to alter their social standing and the strict regulations imposed on them, the wealthy commoners took up new hobbies to find escape from mundane daily routines: theatres, tea houses, and pleasure quarters. This is how ukiyoe came to be associated with a sort of hedonistic lifestyle that was immersed in art, theatre and beautiful ladies. Ukiyoe as an art form emerged during this time too, many of them in fact were posters, advertising theatre performances and brothers.

As the genre developed, the technology progress too. Initially ukiyoe paintings were, as the name suggest, paintings – black & white, to be more precise. Soon, colours were added, than more colours, but the greatest change was the automization of the process, ukiyoe was no longer painting by the exact sense of the word, but woodblock printing. The process, far more complicated than painting, allowed for a tremendous increase in output. Printing began with an outline painting of the piece, which was then sent to a carver, who carved woodblock negatives, one for each 2-3 colours. Ink was then applied on the negatives, and a paper was pressed against the negative. The carver, because he paints the woodblocks, rubbed the paper with a special tool, and once all colours were applied, the print was completed.

The next great change in the ukoyie art came with Hokusai, who moved the settings of prints from the less sophisticated world of urban pleasures, and animated the Japanese love of nature, by creating the Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji series. Hokusai (1760-1849), was born in Edo, his life is best described by himself, by a passage written in the 70th year of his life: "From the age of five I have had a mania for sketching the forms of things. From about the age of fifty I produced a number of designs, yet of all I drew prior to the age of seventy there is truly nothing of great note. At the age of seventy-two I finally apprehended something of the true quality of birds, animals, insects, fish and of the vital nature of grasses and trees. Therefore, at eighty I shall have made some progress, at ninety I shall have penetrated even further the deeper meaning of things, at one hundred I shall have become truly marvelous, and at one hundred and ten, each dot, each line shall surely possess a life of its own. I only beg that others of sufficiently long life take care to note the truth of my words."

The Great Wave of Kanagawa, is part of Hokusai’s Fuji series, and arguably the most famous. The Wave was the first in the series, thus obviously it carries the greatest significance out of 36 views of Fuji, but its significance and beauty does not rest solely on this fact. The print depicts a great sea wave threatening boats near the Kanagawa province. The wave, called an onigame (sea wave), is the centerpiece of the print, whereas Fuji is only a small object in the backdrop. The wave personifies the Japanese tendency to deify nature. Living in a closed environment, an island, nature played a particularly important role in Japanese culture, as they had to rely on the island to provide most of their goods and resources. Especially the sea, which was the prime source of food, influenced Japanese life - it either gave or took. This notion is captured in the Yi and Yang philosophy, how seemingly opposite forces are interdependent and interconnected, and through interacting they give rise to each other. The composition of The Great Wave reflects this both spatially and conceptually. The wave is shaped in a sort of Yin Yang fashion, forming one half of the circle, while the land and its inhabitants for the second half. Conceptually the message sounds something similar: the sea provides food for humanity, it allows for life to exists, but it also destroys life. The print is a magnificent piece, not only for its beauty, but the depth and boldness of its concept.   Lengyel Tamás

Hubert

Robert Hubert was born May 22 1733. He was a French Painter mainly known for his landscape paintings and picturesque ruins. His father wanted him to become a lawyer but after a few years at university Hubert quit his studies to pursue his passion for painting. He studied painting under the Jesuits at the ’Collége de Navarre.’ His teacher, the sculptor Michel-Ange Slodtz encouraged him to pursue painting after viewing one of his pieces.

 In 1754, Hubert moved to Rome to gain some inspiration. At the time Rome was a festering sewer, there was no upkeep of the city and only artists went to view the city in lieu of romantic inspiration. These artists were later hired to create paintings which could be used in brochures to boost the tourism industry. Here Hubert met Fragonard and together they set off on a drawing expedition to the south of Italy. This is when Hubert become enamoured by the architectural etchings of Piranesi.

After his return to France in 1765, Hubert continued painting, using the drawings he had made as a base for his work. These masterpieces captured the eyes of many, including one King Louis XVI. In 1778 Hubert was appointed ’Designer of the King’s Gardens,’ ’Keeper of the King’s Pictures’ as well as ’Keeper of the Museum and Councillor to the Academy.’ Through these duties he planned the gardens at Versailles and Rambouillet. He was also appointed to the Committee of Five of the Louvre and was given lodgings there from 1778 until 1802. When the Louvre was being renovated Hubert himself sketched and painted ideas for the renovations. During the French revolution he was imprisoned but continued painting and when there was no paint or canvas he would etch pictures into the walls of his cell. Due to some luck he escaped the guillotine due to error. There had been some chaos and someone had died in his place while he was reinstated to his former positions.

He was so famous that in Voltaire, before his death in 1778, chose him to paint the decorations of his theatre in Ferrey. Robert Hubert died of natural causes on the 15th of April 1808.

His Work

Robert Hubert had introduced a new style into 18th century art. The use of old, romantic, and modern fused together to make a masterpiece. He mainly painted picturesque ruins with modern life converging around it or in it. He also painted beautiful garden sceneries, which helped him ascertain the rank of designer of royal gardens.

He first sketched what he wished to paint and then breathed colour and life upon the canvas. All his pieces incorporated existing places. The ruins as well as the gardens where muses that existed in the real world and no sense of fantasy; pixies, minotaur or other creatures of myth, was used.

Robert Hubert enjoyed depicting modern life amongst the ruins of the old, thus showing the usefulness of the past and the beauty that lay within it. Through his paintings he created two ideas that lived in harmony. The chaos of the past living with new ideals of the present. Dystopia and Utopia living in equilibrium. The ruins depicting a dystopian world where and Empire once strong crushed and destroyed, and a civilisation left in disrepair. The modern life showing the Utopia the ruins provide, providing for a family in harsh and troubled times. Destruction infused with life and serenity making something dystopian beautiful once more.

His painting ‘De Vieux Pont,’ The Old Bridge, contains real as well as imaginary elements. He uses the ruins of the Roman Empire as a foreground landscape and then uses a family and the depiction of their everyday lives to create a certain beauty within the ruins. He used as source of inspiration ancient Rome, which was widespread at the time of enlightenment. His use of dark colours on the landscape depicts a morose and dark past, thus referring to Ancient Rome, yet bright colours on the family and animals, as well as the background and sky, to accent the beauty in the darkness. Partay Gregory

Citation:

Huisman, Philippe, French Watercolours of the 18th Century (1969) London, Thames and Hudson ISBN 500231052

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

"Hubert Robert (Getty Museum)." Hubert Robert (Getty Museum). The J. Paul Getty Museum, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. <http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=284>.

Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935)

White on White, 1918

Oil on canvas, (79.4 x 79.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Arts, New York

Kazimir Malevich was a Russian painter and art theoretician; a pioneer of geometric abstract art and the founder of avant-garde’s Suprematist movement.

He was born in the Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire, today called Kiev. His parents, Ludwika and Seweryn Malewicz were originally Polish refugees. He was baptised in the Roman Catholic Church. He had thirteen younger siblings, but only nine of them survived into adulthood. His father Seweryn managed a sugar factory, so Kazimir spent most of his childhood amidst sugar-beet plantations, away from urbanisation and culture. Until the age of twelve he knew nothing about professional artists, but enjoyed decorating walls and stoves. He started studying art in 1895 and he was able to paint in the peasant style for a long time (Taking in the Harvest, Flower Girl, Winter). Unfortunately, his studies ended a year later because he had to move to Kursk.

In 1904, his father died, and Malevich moved to Moscow. There he applied for several art schools, but decided to chose the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, in the studio of Fedor Rerberg. He participated in three major exhibitions organized by his master where he worked together with Vladimir Tatlin and Aleksandra Ekster. In this period, his works were influenced by Natalia Gorbachova and Mihail Larionov; both were representatives of the lubok style (their paintings mirrored Russian folk tales, folk art characters, myths, etc.). In 1913, Malevich attended an exhibition where he immediately absorbed the cubist style. In 1915, he published a manifesto, entitled From Cubism to Suprematism in which he laid down the principles of a new style called Suprematism. A lot of Russian painters adapted this simplified, liberal style. His major Suprematist works are: Black Square (1915), Black Circle (1915), Suprematism (1921-1927), White On White (1918).

He died in 1935, on the 15th of May. On his deathbed, he was exhibited with the Black square above him.

White on White is an extremely controversial piece of work among critics. Malevich pushed the limits of abstraction to a shocking degree; he reduced pictorial means to their bare minimum, and dispensed with the illusion of depth and volume. For him, white was the ultimate colour, the sign of infinity as it contained all the other colours in itself. He wrote: "I have overcome the lining of the colored sky. . . . Swim in the white free abyss, infinity is before you." Today, the painting is exhibited in the Museum of Modern Arts (MoMa), in New York City. Dimitrow Daniella

Francoise Nielly

Francoise Nielly is a contemporary French painter living in Paris. She was born in Marseille then she passed several years in Saint Tropez and in Cannes. This long period, dominated by Southern sunshine, highly determined the usage of colors in her paintings.

The greatly talented artist had a harsh education by her father. He was an architect who always said that there was “no room for flaws or errors”[1]. He thought her photography and optics, which were certainly useful for the construction of her paintings. However, Nielly preferred deconstruction and craziness.

The French painter is known for her portraits with bold and vivid colors. Moreover, she is fascinated by urban culture, racial diversity, by the blend of colors, by people and by contrasts. The ensemble of these aspects makes up her design. Besides, she feels close to Warhol’s, Bodini’s and Bacon’s art since she can easily associate with them.

As far as her technique is concerned, she is an oil and knife painter which might be considered as something unusual and more specific. She only paints portraits and she has already done one of the political French icon Charles de Gaulle or of the American President, Barack Obama. Thanks to her temperament and to her live in a moment style, she managed to extend her art in other domains. Nielly collaborated with the eminent cay manufacturer, Citroen and designed a car for them, which was displayed at the Champs Elysées’ Citroen showroom in 2010. Furthermore, she made a scarf collection since she liked the idea that silk and street can be put together. Besides, we should underline the fact that she is not only an open-minded person, but also a liberal artist who is willing to work with other artists and companies.

            One of her frequently used portraits is an untitled painting. There is no historical background beyond since as she says, she mainly works when she is asked to do so. So, we can suppose that she was told to produce this portrait, as well.

At first sight, people have some difficulties to decide whether it is a man or a woman in the painting. The only thing we see is a face painted in premier plan. Indeed, he is a man in the portrait whose face is made by her ever-used knives with pronounced lines; however the person’s eyes and lips might have been painted in another way she has never revealed. This man stares at the bystander; therefore it provokes ambiguous feelings in people’s mind.

Thanks to its huge success, Nielly allowed reproductions to be produced for those who want to enjoy the man’s look in their home.

Finally, the reasons why I am obsessed with this picture are multiple. First, I have always been addicted to human faces, especially to eyes and lips. This fetishism certainly affects my unconsciousness. Then, I love colors since I find them powerful, sensitive, feminine and expressive. And last but not at least, I am interested in feminism and in modern women’s art, though it was a perfect occasion to examine Francoise Nielly’s contemporary portrait. Mercz Fanni

1] http://www.francoise-nielly.com/index.php/francoise_nielly/parcours

George Rodrigue

New Iberia, Louisiana, 1944 -

Absolut Rodrigue, 1993

Canvas painting 48X36

George Rodrigue was born in 1944, in New Iberia, Louisiana. He studied at the University of Southwest Louisiana, then the Art Center College of Design

in Los Angeles. His major goal was to become an artist of his people, the Cajun, and his home state, Louisiana. From the very beginning of his career, he produced many paintings of topics, that corresponded his goals. He created Louisiana landscapes, focusing on Cajun people, oak trees, or later one oak tree in the centre. He also painted Cajun folklore in great quantity, including Evangeline and Jolie Blonde.

This particular piece is one specimen of a series of blue dogs, that came to existence as a modified Cajun folklore creature, the loup-garou (French word, meaning werewolf in English). This fierce beast is strictly Cajun related, however Rodrigue, after all those years of only painting in this

theme, liked the idea of modifying the animal of the night into a blue dog, a motif not restricted by context. The city scene during his Los Angeles studies was also full of pop and abstract influences at that time, which greatly affected him. The bright, vibrant colours used on the dog intend to make it friendly and lively looking. On the other hand, the intimidating gaze of the original loup-garou is unchanged, although the eyes are now yellow, not red. The warm tones of the background and the flowers enforce the feeling of tranquility, much needed to break away from the “werewolf”.

Rodrigue worked for Absolut Vodka as an artist, the bottle is a reference to this relationship. The partially visible plate with “Tif” written on it is a kind of tribute to Tiffany, George's late studio dog, and source of inspiration for the first loup-garou. Framed on the wall is a picture of an oak tree, in the style of Rodrigue. He never drops a topic completely, and sometimes likes to fuse them together, for curious results.

In general, the blue dog paintings are very popular among young connoisseurs of contemporary art, especially those, who run on a tighter budget, as the vast amount of these works produced makes them more affordable. Prints are also on sale, and are sold by their hundreds.

Personally, I choose this artwork, because I find its development and interpretation fascinating. When I look at the blue dog, I see a strange sort of hybrid creature, a chimera, which just can not decide whether it wants to be a cute puppy, or a psychotic little critter, who bites through one's

throat in their sleep. This personality crisis fits Rodrigue, who struggles to paint outside the Cajun context. It also fits me in some situations, and I am sure even you can confess, that sometimes you feel like a blue dog. Matuz Bence

Saunders

Bryan Lewis Saunders and the drug experience: magic mushrooms

The American performance artist, videographer and performance poet was born in 1969 Washington D.C.

On March 30,1995 Saunders began drawing at least one self-portrait a day for the rest of his life.

For 11 days Saunders conducted an experiment in which he ingested or inhaled a different drug and created a self-portrait under the influence, documenting the effects of his altered perception.

In January 2011, a selection of drug “inspired” self-portraits presented online became extremely popular.  He wrote himself on his homepage: “After experiencing drastic changes in my environment, I looked for other experiences that might profoundly affect my perception of the self. So I devised another experiment where I took a different drug and drew myself under the influence. Within weeks I became lethargic and suffered mild brain damage. I am still conducting this experiment but over greater lapses of time. I only take drugs that are given to me.”

The portrait above is made under the influence of magic mushrooms. The magic mushroom contains psychoactive alkaloids which are used in the modern Western society recreationally for their psychedelic effects. It causes changes in the sensation, both audio and visual.  The experiencer has open and closed eyed visuals and the sense of melting into the environment, but there are emotional differences as wells, very similar to LSD.

This is the most famous of all his drug self-portraits. His grin is goofy. Tiny, pretty bubbles emanate from his head and beard. It looks like how everybody wishes drugs could make them feel, although they so rarely do. “Everybody wants to buy this one.” Bryan says “Every week someone emails, “How much for this one?”.  But Bryan does not intend to sell any of them. He believes in art for its own sake and is still experimenting with artificially changed environments and their effect on perception of the self. Wilson Luca

Struzan

Drew Struzan (born in 1974) is an american artist. Struzan has painted album covers, advertising, collectibles, and book covers, but he is best known for his extensive movie posterwork.

Popularly known by his signature first name on his work, Struzan is one of the industry's most recognized talents, having provided artwork for over 150 movie posters, including many of the best-known films of all time. A particular favorite artist of filmdirectors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Struzan created distinct and indelible images for many of their film releases, with Spielberg decreeing that Struzan be the only artist allowed to render the space-creature character E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Spielberg says that Struzan is his "favorite movie artist"; Lucas has called him "the only collectible artist since World War II"; and the Boston Globe called him "the greatest poster artist of our day".

Although equally talented in other mediums, Struzan's primary work medium is airbrushed acrylics on board with finishing details in colored pencil, which allow him the easy flexibility in having to accommodate any requested changes to the work. Preferring to work on a 1 to 1 scale, Struzan's one-sheet work would be approximately 27 x 40 inches, the size of a printed movie poster. Working from reference photographs and live models, Struzan has been known, at times, to include depictions of himself, family members and friends in his work. Known for working very quickly, typically it would take him two days to finish a painting.

Star Wars: The big break

In 1977 fellow artist Charles White III, well known for his own airbrush prowess, had been hired by Lucas to create a poster design for the 1978 rerelease of Star Wars. White, uncomfortable with portraiture, asked Struzan for his help on the project. As such, Struzan painted the human characters in oil paints and White focused on the ships, Darth Vader, C-3PO and all the mechanical details of the poster art.

The unique poster design, popularly called the "Circus" poster, depicts what appears to be a torn posted bill on a plywood construction site wall. “It was necessity that invented that,” Struzan explains. “They found out there wasn't enough room for the typography and the billing block they had left in the design. What can we do to make more space on a poster that's already been printed? Let's pretend it's posted, then they can put the type below the actual poster. We painted Obi Wan down the side and stuff across the bottom to make it wider and deeper.”

While a fortunate accident, the poster went on to become a fan favorite as well as the director's, as the original art hangs in Lucas' Northern California home. Thus began Struzan's long association with the Star Wars legacy. Kelemen Gergely

Szinyei Merse Pál

A lila ruhás nő (1874)

Oil on Linen

Hungarian National Gallery

102, 5 x 77 cm

Szinyei Merse Pál was born in 1845 in Szinyeújfalu, to an art loving family. He first started painting whilst in high school in Nagyvárad. Even then, he particularly liked painting portraits of his friends and family (e.g. A művész édesatyja karosszékben, Szinyei Merse Ninon), and the topic remained in the centre of his work later on as well. He met his later-to-be wife, Probster Zsófia while working in Munich and they got married a year later. They were married for fifteen years and had five children together, with Zsófia ending their marriage in 1887 due to Szinyei’s ever low mood. She was the model for Szinyei’s second most well-known painting, A lila ruhás nő (1874).

About the Painting

The contrast between the purple colour of the lady’s dress and the meadow’s fresh green is the first impression that the picture leaves in most people but somehow the unity of the painting is still missing. This might be because Szinyei’s wife, Zsófia was posing in his studio instead of in a real meadow. Szinyei painted the background from memory, which resulted in a strange disharmony between nature and the lady herself. Her full figure is shown in the painting, depicting the wholeness, the happiness they experienced in the first few years of their marriage. Every little detail is painted with meticulous care, the flowers in her hands for instance. The picture would like to represent peacefulness, perfection but for some reason it results in disharmony instead. The painting and Szinyei had been criticised because of this and because he just went with his usual painting methods without being innovative. Nevertheless, the colours of the painting and beauty of the lady make it a nice experience to look at it and this might be one of the many reasons it became one of Szinyei’s most famous works. Simon Anita

Andy Warhol (born Andrej Varhola); August 6, 1928, Pittsburgh, PA - February 22, 1987, New York City, NY

“100 Cans”

Oil on canvas, stencils used. (182.9 x 132.1 cm)

History: 1962, property of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (a gift by Seymour H. Knox, Jr. in 1963)

Andy Warhol was the most prominent and leading figure of the art movement called Pop art. Born as Andrej Varhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928, he was raised in a working-class immigrant family from northeastern Slovakia. In his childhood, he was suffering from a nervous system disease called Sydenham’s chorea, had three nervous breakdowns, and because of these, he developed a strong hypochondria, and was afraid of hospitals and doctors. He later claimed that these illnesses helped him to develop his art and his personality.

After moving to New York City in the early 1950s, Warhol first started selling his illustrations to magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, but the breakthrough was when he started exhibiting his works in the first two years of the ‘60s. He adopted the silk screen printing technology, the technique that made him world famous. After making countless prints of iconic celebrities (Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando) and most popular products (Campbell’s soup cans, Coca Cola bottles) of the era, he became the leader of the Pop art movement, and was called the “Pope of Pop”. This was the time when Warhol bought a whole floor in a Manhattan apartment and designed it as a studio, and named it The Factory. The hype around him and the enormous cultural changes of the 60s in the US attracted more and more people to Warhol, and his studio became a basis for contemporary artists (and licentious parties) of the time. It was his attitude which gathered so many people around him, the idea of producing art in a disrespectful, machine-like way: making thousands of cheap prints of the same artwork within a single day (and then selling it for horrendous prices). His philosophies that people “should be machines”, or that “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes” were controversial at the time, but he was also seen as someone who foresees the future.

100 Cans is a great example of his philosophies. This stenciled work is about nothing but a hundred soup cans, or about everything that goes wrong (or well?) in the Western culture. Depends on interpretation. Warhol loved the ideas and the products consumerism in such an exaggerated way, that still no one is sure if he was serious or not, taking the whole idea of Pop art to the next level. Anyway, hailing and praising cheap products by making cheap paintings or (even cheaper) silk screen prints of them, then selling them for sometimes even 100 million dollars (!) show that there is definitely some irony behind this “love”.

I chose this work because I am fascinated by the cultural changes of the era, and by how art and society reacted to each other. I also love that in the case of Pop art, one can never be sure whether it is a brilliant criticism of the downsides of consumer culture, or a declaration of true love of the object on the canvas. Of course, there is always some sarcasm behind each work, but it still leaves questions. Andy Warhol was often called “mirror” by others, and I think this is the role of Pop art, no more: to hold a mirror up to our faces, so we can have an idea of what we are becoming. If this is good or bad, we have to decide. Kovács Kristóf

Sources:

http://www.albrightknox.org/collection/collection-highlights/piece:100-cans/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol

Warhol, Andy. (1975). The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again). New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Page Bradley (1974- )

Expansion

Paige Bradley was born in Carmel, California, in 1974. She knew she would be an artist by the age of nine. Immersed in nature and art, her fascination with the human figure began early. Paige started drawing from the nude model by the age of ten and by fifteen was studying intensely at university campuses during the summer months. Knowing that she was naturally a sculptor, at seventeen she cast her first bronze sculpture.

Educated at Pepperdine University, Paige spent a year in Florence, Italy with the university’s scolarship program. There she took classes at the Florence Academy of Art which included art history. She went on to continue her studies at the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she studied sculpture and learned to paint.

 In 1995, she was an assistant sculptor on a monument for the Atlanta Olympic Games. In 2001 she was voted into the National Sculpture Society, the Catherine Lorillard-Wolfe Art Club and the Salmagundi Club as a professional sculptor. In 2006 one of her sculptures was selected to become a prestigious international award for young dancers. A replica of the sculpture is now awarded to a talented dancer selected by a panel of judges annually from Ballet International.

Every year, Bradley has several solo exhibitions, and her works can be seen in selected galleries throughout the whole world. In 2004 she moved her studio from California to New York City, and in the spring of 2007, she moved to London where she currently works full time.

In Expansio”, a female figure resembling Bradley, who often serves as her own model, sits in lotus position, her expanding consciousness causing light to radiate from within her but cracking her bronze ”skin” as it does. Her liberation threatens the integrity of the physical container for the self. Bradley further explores the theme in her ”Containment” series. Each piece features an individual female figure, again seated in the lotus position, on the top of a Plexiglass box. The box represents the confinement of the individual within set limits. One figure’s pedestal-like container is filled with Barbie dolls; another sits above a box filled with bullets. Both are iconic symbols ”that may not be of our choosing” but can hold power over us. Dimitrow Daniella

Columbia

István Csákány

István Csákány, a Hungarian contemporary artist, created with “Ghost Keeping” an art piece that bears something peculiar when compared to other mixed-media installations. This may stand in close relation to his personal history.

Since he was born in Sepsiszentgyörgy in 1978, he has not only experienced the issue of an uncertain national identity, in this case as a Hungarian in Romania, but furthermore he has witnessed the authoritarian influence of prescriptive political decisions. As a result his art got a rather political and social critical focus. However, Csákány’s view is not limited on Hungary at all. He is not tied to this country, although he became project leader of “Space Definitions”, located at the public building department of the University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, soon after graduating at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in 2006. He has already gone abroad several times . Four times he joined the programme called Artists-in-Residence and gained a lot, due to a deep cultural and artistical exchange.

When Csákány was asked to create a piece for Documenta 13 (Kassel, Germany), his work had already been presented in exhibitions all over central Europe, in countries such as Italy, Czech Republic or Britain. This circumstance impacts a maturity that is one of the striking aspects of his installation “Ghost Keeping”, which is his response to that request. Although he deals with the well-known issue of the textile industry shifting east-wards, the composition he created to represent this issue is remarkable: Two parts - diverse in material, but related in connotation – create a three dimensional space, appealing to curiosity ready for exploration. Many museum guards stated that it sometimes got quite stressful to keep impressed visitors from touching the finely carved wood, the facsimile of the fully equipped sewing workshop. This exact, though slightly over-sized replica has so many details (even screws are not missing) and the cables, sewing and ironing machines are so thoroughly carved that the whole scenery appears in an authentic naturalism. It makes you wonder whether the tailors may not only have left for a short coffee break. The 5x12 meters large, slightly disposed cabin is surrounded by 8 mannequins who seem to have replaced the workers. Although the elegant suits they wear are made out of silk, the cut is nevertheless one that was used for uniforms the Chinese working class wore during the 70s of the last century. (This may refer to the already stated message of this installation.) Csákány, leaving out any human features, such as faces or hands, limits the expressivity on the suits. They are the only medium which communicates human interior, creates atmosphere and stirs the visitor’s emotions and phantasy. As a result the visitor may not see suits, but the empty remnants of humans; 8 ghosts which are gathered in groups around the workshop. They are frozen in movement and seem to be frozen in time like the workshop itself. In combination with the sewing workshop, they may as well witness a time that is long lost. A silent cry seems to become audible, a appeal for the tailors to revive the dead productions in Europe. Due to the present state of globalization, they cannot and the ghosts keep on being ghosts, witnesses of the early time of European industrialization and a comment on the resulting east-wards trend of crafting productions. Rebekka Bolte

Festetics

The construction of the castle was started by Kristof Festetics in 1745. It gained its final - neo-baroque - form in the 1880s. It miraculously avoided destruction during the second World War. As Helikon Castle Museum, it has been independent since 1974. Its library of 90.000 books is the only complete aristocratic collection in Hungary to have been left intact. It is a museum (permanent and temporary exhibitions), a conference and cultural centre.

The Festetics family settled in the town of Keszthely in the middle of the 18th Century, and set about improving the economy, science, literature, art and knowledge through their patronage. At the end of the 19th century the family built one of central and eastern Europe's most important architectural landmarks which, together with its landscaped gardens, has blossomed into one of Europe's most beautiful scenes.

 In 1739 Keszthely was "acquired" by the Festetics family and the town became the nerve centre for the management of their vast estates. First Kristof Festetics founded a hospital, and later  a school in the town. Then, in 1797,  György Festetics opened the doors of the Agricultural University, the Georgikon, the Continent's first college fully dedicated to agriculture, and still in operation today. The building of the chateau began shortly after Keszthely became theirs. This is credited to Kristof Festetics, who began work in 1745 building on the ruins of the castle of the previous landowner. . Latterly he invited an architectural consultant, Professor András Fischer from the Vienna Academy, to help with suggestions for finishing the building. György Festetics also employed local craftsmen. Stonemason József Zitterbart laid the foundations of the library, and crafted the door and window frames, windowsills and wells from stone. This fine master even managed to sculpt statues at the same time.

Much of the chateau's original parquet flooring still exists. This, too, was the work of Keszthely master carpenter János Kerbl, who was also responsible for the fittings in the library. The concert hall's light brown oak panelling is decorated with a wide, Baroque edging.  The chateau of György Festetics' time was the most beautiful building of its age and capable of receiving the most distinguished guests. Significant changes happened after 1883 during the time of Tasziló Festetics. Plans for rebuilding were drawn up by  Gusztáv Haas 

 The most beautiful and, with its original fixtures and fittings intact, most valuable room in the chateau is the superb library. The first task of Kristóf Festetics after completion of the building in 1763 was the fitting out of the library. This was not just prompted by a desire to collect the arts, but also to protect them: entailing becoming part of ensuring safety of the collection in perpetuity. This is how the much-valued library has been able to remain to this day. The collection of etchings, which is still not yet fully complete, was established by Pál Festetics. The Festetics family never intended the library purely for their own private collections and they tried to put it at the service of the cause of Hungarian culture. György Festetics granted access to the library and lending to the faculty and students of the Georgikon university in Keszthely.

Today books and periodicals number more than 90 000 editions, with an additional 119 manuscripts and four source texts that the library owns. Aside from the decorative library there are 16 rooms that have been fitted out in period furniture. The one-time dining room now hosts concerts of national renown, and the corridor which leads off from there is home to some of the National Museum's most beautiful ornamented weaponry. A separate room houses the Windischgrätz trophy collection. Because of the great number of rare plants, the chateau's grounds are also under special protection. First held in 1817, the annual Helikon festival has become a traditional way of opening the program of the Keszthely summer season. A particular part of this are the Festetics chateau classical music concerts and master classes.

 The Hunting and Historical Model Railway Exhibition was opened on April 25, 2008 On the ground and the first floor of the three-story museum a hunting museum can be found. Trophies and stuffed animals presenting five hundred species In addition, there is a hunting weapons exhibition with rarities displayed, too. Famous Hungarian hunters’ (Zsigmond Széchenyi, Kálmán Kittenberger and György Dózsa) trophies can also be found among the exhibits. The exhibition gives an introduction into the wildlife of Europe, Africa, Asia and America.

Stuffed animals are placed in their natural surroundings so visitors find themselves in African savannahs for the time of their visit. The Historical Model Railway exhibition with tables in 500 m2 can be found on the second floor modelling the railway lines of three regions including the railways stations that are scale models of the original ones. More than 2 kilometres of rails and 14 kilometres of cable were used to make the tables. On the tables imaginary passengers are transported by 150 different locomotives and motor-driven carriages used in the past 200 years according to the schedule controlled by computers. Kelemen Gergely

Dying Gaul

Hellenistic sculptures are among the most innovative and spectacular pieces of art, showcasing the brilliance of ancient Greeks. Among these beautiful statues however, the Dying Gaul stands out, as a most striking and controversial piece. Its sculptor is unknown, as only a copy remains, a roman marble, while the original bronze is lost. The statue was initially dubbed Dying Gladiator, but archeologists and art historians managed to retrace its origins to ancient Pergamum, and concluded that the original was a monument commemorating the defeat of the Galatians. Hence, the statue has been renamed: Dying Gaul.

Pergamum was an ancient city-state in Asia Minor. The city gained significance during the Hellenistic era, when the city successfully broke away from the remains of Lysimachus’s kingdom, and achieved independence under Philataerus, the founder of the Attalid dynasty. Under the Attalids, Pergamum became one of the most important cities in the Hellenistic world. The third Attalid, Attalus I, brought Pergamum to her Golden Age, defating the Galatians, a Gallic group that raided Greek cities and demanded tributes. Their defeat allowed Pergamum to further expand, and open new trade routes. To commemorate the important victory, Attalus commissioned a monument to be built, commemorating the defeat of the Galatians. The monument is lost; however, historians managed to create a hypothetical model: the monument consisted of probably five statues, on a circular plateau. The center piece, is arguably the Ludovisi Gaul, depicting a Galatian who just murdered his wife and is about to commit suicide. Four other sculptures are positioned around the Ludovisi Gaul, one of which is the Dying Gaul.

The Dying Gaul depicts a Galatian warrior who has been fatally wounded, as is about to collapse. The statue is important for several reasons: it showcases a completely new, emphatic depiction of barbarian; a strive for realism as opposed to idealism; and finally the sheer fact that the statue is stunningly beautiful in all shape and form. In archaic and classic times, barbarians – usually shown as centaurs – were always depicted as inherently lesser than Greeks, closer to animals than human. In contrast, the Dying Gaul has an essence of dignity and nobility, even in his battle with Death. Though obviously a barbarian - evident from his large brow, rough hair, slightly big nose, jewelry - the statue is not stripped of human qualities, the pain and suffering is very human, very real. However, this willingness to represent death without the archaic smile, and basically emotionless and transcendental deference could be a result of the fact that he is a barbarian, and not a heroic Greek. In addition, we can see movement towards reality, sensual, dramatic and even philosophizing depiction was a  growing trend in the entirety of Hellenistic art, therefore the Dying Gaul is not an exception, but a herald of many great sculptures to come.

To continue this point, the Dying Gaul is extraordinarily human. The composition utilizes contrapposto, to depict a Gaul falling on the ground in pain and anguish, his strength not only shifting, but almost vanishing – a never before seen rendering. The Dying Gaul is one of the first to depict death in a very real manner: the Gaul’s face is masked by pain, he is bleeding from the ribcage, his sword is shattered, he is defeated and weak. Through contrapposto, which previously utilized to depict gods and heroes in eternal states, here, the sculpture depicts a single moment in time, something evanescent, the point between life and death. Though the barbarian is utterly defeated, there are indications of his former power and strength: veins are popping from his muscular arms, his broad chest is forefronted; however, all this is failing, as he is slipping from life into death. This is a very emphatic depiction of a barbarian, and a beautiful composition, therefore the Dying Gaul is rightly hailed as one of the greatest sculptures ever made. Lengyel Tamás

Hundertwasser

Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark) ( 1928- ) “Love”, 1971,

Sculpture, weathering steel. (370 cm × 370 cm × 180 cm )

commissioned by the Philadelphia City Council.

Robert Indiana is an American artist, who created one of the most iconic artworks of the Pop art movement, which encompasses the main idea of the cultural revolutions of the 1960s, delivered through the simplest message. He was born as Robert Clark in a small Midwestern town called New Castle, in the state of Indiana, where he spent the childhood in constant destitution. His father lost his job during the Great Depression, therefore the family lived in poverty, constantly moving around the neighborhoods of Indianapolis, which resulted in that Robert lived in 21 different houses and apartments before turning 17. Growing up under conditions like that, he knew one thing: he wanted to escape the Midwestern United States and start his career as an artist in New York City. He studied in the Art Institute of Chicago and spent a year in Scotland, attending the Edinburgh College of Art, between 1953-54. After returning home to America, success did not come early. He spent years working in New York doing art and working at an art supply store to make contacts in the field, but he still wasn’t recognized by many. However, in 1958, he unintentionally started something that later became his trademark: he realized that placing letters under each other makes nice visual effects. After a few experiments, LOVE was done. He started to make paintings of it, in his distinctive “hard edge” style. After waiting for the big breakthrough for a couple of years again, in 1965 Indiana was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art to make a version for a Christmas card. The artwork was a huge success, and became one of the most popular cards in America. From that moment, his career took off. After spending some years painting with painting, the recognized artist was commissioned again by the city of New York: to make a large sculpture of the painting. The idea became a huge success, which started a whole movement: cities from around the world adopted the trend to order a LOVE from Robert Indiana, from Lisbon to Hong Kong. However, he made a huge mistake: he did not want to disrupt the painting by placing a signature or a copyright symbol on it, therefore he did not own the rights of his own artwork. Because of that, he could not handle the countless imitations: false LOVEs were all around, printed on NYC and Philadelphia souvenirs like mugs and t-shirts, making millions of dollars for imitators, but nothing for Indiana. He also stated that he’s “practically anonymous”, because it was hardly possible not to see his artwork in some form, but no one really cared about him, as a person. He was also criticized (and even expelled from many museums) for being a “sell-out”. These reasons made Robert escape the hostile world of artists in New York, and in the late 70’s he moved to a remote island near the coasts of the state of Maine. He dedicated 30 years for living for his art there, and only returned in 2008, when he was commissioned by Barack Obama’s campaign team to make another rendition of his sculpture, with the motto of the campaign: HOPE. Again, he did not become any richer with this action: sales of the HOPE merchandise raised more than $1 million, but 100% of it went to support the campaign.

More about the work: The LOVE I’ve chosen (the one in Philadelphia) is made of weathering steel, just like the others. These four letters placed in two lines look simple, however, they carry a big message, coming from an era when many things changed. The 1960’s, when everything was all about cultural revolutions and rebellions, the term of love was frequently used in many contexts. The artwork captures and symbolizes all of it, and manages to deliver it very effectively. Facts like the Philadelphia sculpture was actually placed on Love Square, which was named after the sculpture show that the symbolism behind it was understood not just by art-lovers, but was popular among ordinary citizens, too, while the effectiveness of the message is proven by its international success. In some cases, the international versions had bigger political roles for carrying the message of love than in the US, for example, Indiana’s reproduction of the sculpture in Hebrew (ahava), which is exhibited in Jerusalem, and carries Robert’s strong pacifist message that fighting and killing each other can never be the solution. LOVE is the mostly reproduced artwork in the world, which lived and lives in countless forms, from cheap replicas and musical album covers to stencils on streets, by street artists.

I chose this work because it is amazing how the simplest message in the simplest form can make a huge impact in people from all around the world. It is a wonderful bit from an era, where many things and customs went through enormous changes. When the US was busy fighting with Vietnam, and the majority of the world was polarized in the cold-hearted Cold War era, Robert Indiana’s LOVE simply showed that there is another solution to solve problems. A much easier and effective solution, just like the sculpture itself. Kovacs Kristof

http://mentalfloss.com/article/25276/masterpieces-robert-indianas-love

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_(sculpture)

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/LOVE-Artistically-322466.html

Les Twins

Les Twins are two of the best New Style dancers in the world. Their nickname comes from the fact that Larry and Laurent Bourgeois are identical twin brothers. Les Twins are 24 years old, French hip-hop dancers. They were born and raised in the Northern suburbs of Paris, in Sarcelles. They are the youngest in a large, extended Guadeloupian family with 18 children. Neither of them received any formal dance training, however they have been in the artistic area since the age of 6. Therefore, Larry and Laurent might be mentioned as one of the typical urban dancers who grew up in the streets and left school in the age of 13. Regarding their inspiration, Michael Jackson is the main figure who can be mentioned.

Indeed, I had the opportunity to attend their first steps in public in 2008 in Paris when they gained the attention of the dance community at the semi-final of the eminent international hip-hop dance competition, Juste Debout. Soon after, they were finalists and audience favorite in the Incroyable Talent show, which is the French equivalent of Britain’s Got Talent. Then, they amazed Americans in 2010 in San Diego on the World of Dance tour. After that, they came back and won the competition of Juste Debout, which I have mentioned above. After all, since winning this competition is every hip-hop dancers’ dream, many of them thought that they reached everything and there was no more left to climb, however soon after their victory, they performed alongside Beyoncé Knowles, the well-known R’N’B singer at Billboard Awards which was more than anyone could have expected.

Regarding their dance collaborations, Cirque du Soleil, Kanye West, the famous rapper, Missy Elliot and also Timbaland have to be mentioned among others. Moreover, Jean Paul Gaultier, the French designer also asked them to walk the runway on his fashion show in 2010. Besides, we could also see them in H&M, Givenchy, Benetton and Adidas advertising campaigns.

To present their style, it is essential to underline that there are many different styles within hip-hop such as Locking, Popping, Hype, Break dance, Experimental, House, Wacking etc. Their style, called New Style should be mentioned as one of the latest form of hip-hop. Its specialty is that different styles can be put together and therefore it allows dancers to create something new. “Like African dance, new style hip-hop is very rhythmic and involves a lot of footwork and radial movement of the hips.”[1]  Les Twins are experts of New Style, however, they are known for having created a unique style from this dance. They have a special ability to anticipate and finish each other’s moves, and one of their specialties is their skill of making freestyle dance look like choreography[2].

In the video I have chosen[3] there are several things we should take into consideration while watching it. First, I would like to highlight the usage of music. In the beginning, for instance, it is not a typical hip-hop music as we might have been expected. Furthermore, it is rather close to a show, since they are also dancing with their faces. They give more than a simple dance performance usually does, by creating a powerful and vivid atmosphere on the stage. At the end of the performance, we can see their hands crossed. This sign refers to their group which was created in their childhood, called Criminalz Crew.

Finally, I would like to present my personal attachment to them. As I said before, I first saw them in 2008 than in 2012 in Budapest. They made a workshop in our capital which remains an unforgettable experience in my life. And as I used to be a hip-hop dancer and amateur choreographer in France, I had been inspired mainly by their style, their enthusiasm and their energetic way of dancing. Mercz Fanni

1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip-hop_dance#Commercial.2FNew_Style

2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cpz0ww7srIY

3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu0grjZGXRc

Auguste Rodin

Francois-Auguste-René Rodin was born on the 12th of November 1840. He was a French sculptor and considered the progenitor of sculpture in his own time. He was schooled traditionally, yet he desired academic recognition so he strived to excel and attain placement in the best schools possible. Unfortunately this did not happen because he was constantly rejected from Paris’ foremost schools of art. His entrance applications and portfolios were rejected to the Grand École as well as many of his first pieces. Today people believe it was due to the teachers’ neoclassical tastes. With no other choice he enrolled himself in the École Impériale de Dessin and this was where he discovered his talent with clay sculptures.

While attending school he earned a living as a craftsmen and ornamenter, as well as making roof decorations and stairway embellishments. In 1864 he me a seamstress called Rose Beuret with whom he immediately fell in love with and remained committed to until the end of his days. In the late 1890s he fell in love with a model called Camille Claudel, but only after a few months of wooing he severed all ties with her. Only one year before his death did he wed Rose, but  he was always committed to her as well as his son.

In 1870 he joined the National Guard to do his duty in the Franco-Prussian War. He was released due to shortsightedness. Due to the lack of work as well as materials to work with during the war he left to Brussels. There he began work on the new stock exchange building and here is where he held his first exhibit. He immediately became a huge success spreading throughout Belgium and later into France and the rest of Europe.

He had earlier received to become a successful artist. Like all successful artists, they sprouted from notoriety in one place, Le Salon. This was where artists had a chance to exhibit one of their pieces which either made them or broke them. On his first try Rodin was a failure, due to the cold in his first workshop, because of the lack of heating, the piece, a bust, froze instead of hardening and when it thawed in the Salon it crumbled to pieces. But after his success in Belgium he was given another opportunity wherein he created one of his masterpieces, The Gates Of Hell, Due to this piece and his notariety in Belgium his fame finally took off and became a household name in Europe.

His Work

At first Rodin was accused of using moulds because his clay sculptures were just too perfect to be handcrafted, the foremost piece accused of moulding was The Age Of Bronze. After many years and many other sculptures did the artistic world finally accept that the piece was handcrafted.

Rodin’s work claims to be a mixture of many different ideals. It is close to naturalism because it depicts such anatomical precision when portraing humans. It is romaticist for its underlying expression and symbolism in both the piece and he titles given to them. It is attributed to the Roccoc style, a more graceful approach to romanticism. Rodin is also considered to be the founder of the Impressionist style in sculpture.

He claimed to have been influenced by both Michaelangelo and Donatello during his visits to Italy in the late 1800s. He mainly used clay, bronze, marble and plaster.

His piece ’Le Penseur,’ or The Thinker is known worldwide as his greatest piece and his foremost masterpiece. It was originally called the poet because it depicts Dante looking down upon hell and contemplating the Inferno. The piece was first envisioned on the top of the Gates of Hell but became a solitary piece. It was commissioned by the Musée Des Arts Décoratifs in 1880 and was his first sculpture publicly displayed. The original was a small sculpture and the 2-meter-tall one was created 2 years later. The sculpture is usually attributed to Descartes famous words ’Cogito Ergo Sum’ – ’I Think Therefore I Am.’ Partay Gregory

Crone, Rainer and Siegfried Salzmann, eds. (1992). Rodin: Eros and Creativity. Munich: Prestel.

Hale, William Harlan (1973) [1969]. World of Rodin, 1840-1917 (Time-Life Library of Art ed.). New York: Time-Life Books.

Jianou, Ionel & Goldscheider, C. (1967). Rodin. Paris: Arted, Editions d'Art

Royal Academy of Arts (2006). Rodin. London: Royal Academy of Arts

Szanyi

Tattoo

 A tattoo is a form of body modification, made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment.

 Tattooing has been practiced for centuries, particularly in Asia and spread throughout the world.

 African tribal tattoo art is among the most unique forms of indigenous tattoo art.  While most types of tattooing techniques are working with the principles of opening the skin and rubbing in some sort of pigment that would remain under the skin after the wound has healed, The African tribal tattoo is actually a texturing process rather than simply a pigmentation process. The tattoo design is cut into  the flesh with a knife or other sharp object and because of the dark pigmentation of most African people, simply pigmenting the cuts is not sufficient to create a clear, distinct tattoo design. To resolve this issue the cuts are packed with dust, ashes or colored soil to create a raised design. The resulting ‘’ raised’ scar is the tattoo itself. This process is excruciatingly painful of course, but it will indicate the recipient’s role in the society.

 The West African adinkra design which contains geometric symbols indicates the greatness of character and charisma. Each symbol has its own abstract meaning and West African people from Ghana not only wear it on their skin, but they also use them on cloth, walls , in pottery and logos, these Asante tribe symbols can be found everywhere.

 In more modern areas of the world, African tribal tattoo art is popular as a way to remain in touch with the roots and to celebrate the African cultural heritage. Wilson Luca

See "prezi" at http://prezi.com/h-xcj8k-lcym/untitled-prezi/

Toyota

Top Gear (Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard Hammond)

The Indestructible Toyota Hilux, 2003

Beaulieu Motor Museum

The immensely popular motoring show of the BBC, Top Gear, is not widely known for creating works of art, and there is a very good reason for this. They usually don't.

The three masterminds behind the show, who write it, are also the ones who present it. Jeremy Clarkson, admirer of anything that is loud, powerful, and spits fire. James May, nicknamed “Captain Slow” for his relaxed driving style, who loves small, practical vehicles, a polar opposite of Clarkson, and finally Richard Hammond, the healthy golden mean.

The most important elements of the show are auto tests, timed laps, automotive news, invited celebrities and various car-related challenges. Such a challenge spawned the piece of art this entry is entitled to describe.

The toughness of Toyota off-road vehicles is legendary. This reputation helped the Toyota Land Cruiser decimate Land Rover sales in Africa, and it also renders Toyota pickup trucks an obligatory piece of equipment in guerilla warfare, all over the world.

Top Gear attempted to find out just how much one of these said pickups can take, in one of their challenges. This 2.4 litre diesel Hilux from 1990, in a much neater shape at the start , was the lab rat

. They had various accidents with it, involving walls and a tree, they then sunk it in the sea for 5 hours, ran over a shed with it, dropped a caravan on it, stroke it with a wrecking ball and set fire to it. They did not expect the truck to survive all of this, but it did. So as a last attempt, they demolished a 23 stories high building with explosives, while it was on top of it. One reconnected battery later the engine burst into life yet again, and the pickup was also still drivable. The presenters, the producers and the audience alike were so shocked, that a decision was born. The Toyota was never to be harmed again. It was put on display in the Beaulieu Motor Museum, but when the show is filmed, it is always moved to the Dunsfold Aerodome, into the studio.

Many people yearn to lay eyes on this particular car, because it came to represent many things. On the surface of it, it is a monument to Japanese, and specifically Toyota engineering. Matuz Bence

Travis Wall

25-year-old Travis Wall is a contemporary dancer, choreographer and a 2-time Emmy Nominee. He was born and raised in Virginia Beach where his mother, Denise Wall owns a dance studio called Denise Wall’s Energy. That is where 3-year-old Travis started dancing. His natural talent was obvious from the beginning and he won numerous competitions as a kid. He was even more successful in his teens as in 1999 he won the Junior National Outstanding Dancer Award and in 2006 New York City Dance Alliance chose him the Teen Outstanding Dancer of the Year. That same year at just 18 he auditioned for a reality competition called So You Think You Can Dance and he made it into the live shows and ended up getting second place. Throughout the competition he was praised for his flawless technique, great artistry, and creative choreography. This show was a great springboard for him as he went on become its most successful alumni. He has appeared several times on Dancing with the Stars, he was an assistant choreographer of the 2010 Academy Awards and the VMA’s. In 2012 choreographed several routines for the Step Up 4 movie. He has also been a resident choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance since 2009 and has created many memorable pieces. His is current working with his three best friends to launch their contemporary dance company Shaping Sound and last year they had their own reality show called All The Right Moves which centered around this company. As of right now the company is preparing for their nationwide tour.

Two of his most famous pieces were performed last year. The Titanic routine was created for So You Think You Can Dance and tells the eternal love story of Jack and Rose to the song Unchained Melody. It was praised by the show’s judges and dance experts for its artistry, musicality and for its meticulous details. Also, the effortless quality of the lifts was noted as the crescendos of the music fit the dynamics of the dance just perfectly. The other piece was performed on Dancing with the Stars by Shaping Sound to the song Without You.  It has an angelic theme and is set among the clouds. The dance has a floating feel to it and it has an ascending structure; it becomes more and more intense as it reaches its climax. This piece is also acclaimed by experts and got Travis an Emmy nomination. Udvardi Anita