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Aritstic Duo Takes High Fashion Photography And Pushes It to An Uncomfortable Perfection

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Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Artistic duo Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica turn a strange eye to photography, as they create worlds filled with plastic-like women with color palettes to die for. Having done many photo shoots for celebrities and fashion clients, their photography style is a mix of high-fashion shoots and Hitchcock movie scenes. Their use of dramatic lighting and cinematic sets create an eerie, yet playful, sense of mystery. In the series How to Spend It, a woman that seems to be frozen in an artificial stance like a mannequin, lounges around in extreme luxury. Her all-too-perfect house matches her synthetic and impossibly perfect look. Still, the scene seems too flawless, causing a sense of secrecy.

In the Dolls House, a more playful yet dark series of the dynamic duo, contains a palpable sense of madness. With the intense lighting and absurd make up, this series contains a girl who looks shockingly like a doll. Her limbs are limp and motionless, as if she has been placed like a child’s play thing in her dollhouse. Dulermo and Labica’s sense of color is absolutely breathtaking, as their photography, specifically this series, holds brilliant, bursting hues. However, these seemingly bright and cheery scenes have disturbing and dark undertones. The doll-like girl seems to have no life in her body. She is pale, expressionless, and without emotion. She is trapped in her perfect world, similar to the woman in the previously mentioned series.  Both women hold a hollow sense of plasticity that renders them lifeless.

Sandrine Dulermo and Micahel Labica are masters at creating cinematic, compelling photography with an irresistible palette. They construct uncanny, eerie scenes that are both undeniably appealing and unsettling. (via Behance)

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital PhotographySandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital PhotographySandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

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Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital PhotographySandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

Sandrine Dulermo and Michael Labica - DIgital Photography

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The Process Behind Making Barry X Ball’s Purity And Envy Sculptures

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The sculptor Barry X Ball is known for interesting projects. One called ‘Masterpieces’ was especially riveting. He took two Italian sculptures made in the 16th century: Corradini’s La Puria (“Purity (veiled woman)”) and Court’s La Invidia (“Envy”) and created perfected versions of the original. In a statement to his collectors he explains in detail the changes he made and why they are valid artworks on their own and not just copies or appropriations. Ball’s documentation also discusses his process and gives invaluable insight into it.

Both of these sculptures were made using materials other than white Italian marble such as onyx, calcite and black marble. This lends a different dynamic to the work altogether. Unlike white marble, onyx has the ability to glow from within and through the veils of Purity we are able to see light. On the other hand, the calcite material is veined and therefore camouflages Envy’s folds and sweeps creating complexity not there with the original.

Another different perspective on the two Ball pieces is that they are made to depict someone looking into a mirror. This is done with today’s advanced technology and adds a strange narcissistic glance. It’s almost as though we are looking at a more refined version of the sculptures which captures the very old paired with something new. Other changes involved refining of drape, finishing the back and making the pedestals which they are placed much sturdier in order to view the work correctly from all sides.

Barry xball sculptureBarry xball sculptureBarry xball sculptureBarry xball sculpture

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Dreams Within Dreams: Elisa Imperi’s Photographs Are Beautiful Worlds Within Themselves

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 Elisa Imperi - photography Elisa Imperi - photography Elisa Imperi - photography Elisa Imperi - photography

Photographer Elisa Imperi is a poet who uses her camera to record her prose. She has a sensitive eye for light and shadows, and captures moments of serenity and melancholia. Her work usually features long corridors, empty rooms, dark doorways, dirty floors, broken windows and beautiful girls. Like some twisted fairytale, Imperi’s images are a little bit creepy, full of strange happenings and sad characters that seem to be down on their luck.

Shot in ruins and abandoned buildings, Imperi’s pictures look as if the girl down the street has run away from home and found themselves somewhere undesirable. Based in Italy, she also gets the chance to shoot in lavish apartments, even castles. Recently completing a photoshoot for Vogue Italy, her ethereal style compliments the magazine. Beautiful white dresses lie sprawled out over old branches and piles of dust in forgotten mansions.

If you are like are us and are captivated by Imperi’s haunting photos, then be sure to check out more of her work here, here and here.

 Elisa Imperi - photography Elisa Imperi - photography Elisa Imperi - photography Elisa Imperi - photography

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Tec’s Street Art Playfully Interacts With Brazil’s Roads

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The Brazilian artist known as Tec creates artwork whose scale is large enough for the open road. Kites, characters, and other symbols occupy the middle of the car-lined thoroughfares. Sometimes, Tec will add cast shadows that gives the illusion that his subjects are hovering above the streets. It’s additions like this that foster a sense of playfulness.

On the ground, you don’t get the full effect of Tec’s creations. They don’t translate as well and look distorted. It’s only when you’re at a bird’s eye view do you see the kite’s fluttering tail or the man clinging to the double-yellow line in the middle of the road. Although this is consequence of working at such a large size, it also changes who Tec’s audience is. Up in the air or on the roof of a tall building, it’s like he’s created a concealed messages for only certain people to see. (Via Lustik)

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Infectious Desires: Margarita Sampson Creates Soft Sculptures Of Chairs Bursting With Organic Life

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Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Zsa Zsa” (2011).

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Anemone Incursions: Klaus” (2011).

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Anemone Incursions – Bev & Eli” (2014).

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Anemone Incursions: Pussy Galore” (2012).

If you ever worry about the microbes living unseen inside your own home, beware: artist Margarita Sampson has beautifully manifested your worst fears — but with good intentions. In a series of soft sculptures currently being exhibited at the Stanley Street Gallery in Sydney, Sampson upholstered found chairs with colonies of organic growth. All of the sprouting nodules and budding orifices are meticulously hand-sewn with brightly colored textile materials, giving the hairy and spiny lifeforms both an endearing and unsettling quality. Inspired by Sampson’s upbringing on Norfolk Island, the coral- and urchin-like growths seem to take on a presence and consciousness of their own; leave them for a few weeks, and they might consume the entire room.

Titled Infectious Desires, Sampson’s exhibition explores the false dichotomy of domestic sterility and messy, organic life. We often imagine our bodies as detached from the chaotic and “dirty” processes of proliferation and decay — indeed, separate from the microscopic worlds that breed and die on every surface we encounter — when in fact we are already enmeshed within those environments. As Sampson eloquently expresses on the Stanley Street Gallery exhibition page, the “glamour” of interior life is illusory:

“Glamour is the strict control of the body or the environment, sublimated to an ideal — there’s no body fluids or stains in glamour. It’s about boundaries, zones of comfort. We feel we are betrayed by our bodies — a lot of this work is about my own aging, my body, about death and disease, about fear and surrender, tightening and release” (Source).

With their hyperbolic size and sexually suggestive shapes, Samspon’s sculptures boldly encounter us with the material realities of our bodies. There is no need to fear the lifeforms inhabiting our favorite furniture — we (and anything we shed, ooze, or excrete) are already hosts to invisible, microbial landscapes.

Visit Sampson’s website and Facebook page to learn more about her work. The exhibition page for Infectious Desires (which runs until March 14th) can be found here. (Via beautiful.bizarre)

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Zsa Zsa” at the Infectious Desires exhibit (Stanley Street Gallery).

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Anemone Incursions: Marlon” (2015).

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Anemone Incursions: Klaus” (2011). Side view.

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Zsa Zsa” (2011). Side detail.

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Anemone Incursions: Florence / Kiss Kiss’” (2013).

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Baby Jane (whatever happened to)” (2013).

Margarita Sampson - Soft Sculpture

“Anemone Incursions: Pussy Galore” (2012). Detail.

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Elena Montemurro Takes Her Camera On A Coming Of Age Journey

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Elena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photography

Like all good contemporary photography, Elena Montemurro‘s Coming Of Age series highlights a particular zeitgeist, or a certain subculture you wouldn’t normally see so clearly. Her study of American teens discovering life is like a Sophie Coppola film – featuring kids full of ennui, walking wistfully through the streets and sitting aimlessly in diners throwing food in their mouths and at each other. She candidly captures a time of innocence and sincerity. Her images show kids doing exactly what they want, authentically expressing how they feel, and being outright bored. Her photos feel like you are following your cousin around an affluent suburb somewhere in America.

Flirting between gaming arcades, car parks, playgrounds at night, pet shops, lonely trains and empty beaches, Montemurro is able to show an accurate view of the disjointedness of modern life. The way we live our daily lives are quite ho-hum and underwhelming and she manages to turn the dreariness of it all into something a bit magical. Just because something is mundane doesn’t mean it can’t be appreciated. Montemurro transforms unexciting routines and the in-between space into something worth having a second look at. The waiting room somehow doesn’t seem like such a boring place after all. Elena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photographyElena Montemurro - photography

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Artist Allie Pohl Uses The Torso To Comment On Society’s Notion Of Perfection

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Allie Pohl uses the measurements of an ideal woman (36-24-36) to engage in a number of conceptually driven art projects. Taking this ‘perfect form’, she fabricates a mannequin torso to represent the prototype for her conversations. To Pohl, this middle area constitutes a place of birth, renewal and assists the artist in her studies about self esteem, image and determination. In one project, the form is used as a chia pet showing the grass growing in the torso’s genital area.  In another, the form is created using a red mirrored material and placed on a pedestal.

Pohl reassesses our idea of beauty and reflects on what women deem important. Some of her other work has examined the torso in the bathroom where she photographed a model on the toilet in gallery and museum restrooms. Her intention was to show the amount of time woman spend in the john. Another saw her take on the high heel. In 6″ shoes with a strap-on camera she went hiking. The result bore an all too familiar metaphor to the extremes women go to achieve physical perfection.

The hairier sex has also been the subject of Pohl’s studies. Using male mannequin legs from different eras, she created a group sculpture. The idea was to show what the perfect ‘male leg’ looked like throughout the years. Most recently, her torso has been used for philanthropy through a line of jewelry where all the proceeds go to various women’s organizations where Pohl lectures and discusses these important issues.

allie pohl sculptureallie pohl sculptureallie pohl sculptureallie pohl sculpture

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Adventure Photographer David Heath Captures The Enchanting Beauty Of Burma Over The Course Of Five Years

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David Heath - Digital Photography

David Heath - Digital Photography

Adventure photographer David Heath delicately captures the enchanting land of Burma, showing its shockingly stunning, exotic beauty. Over the course of five years and after taking eight individual trips to this mysterious place, Heath has completed a masterpiece of a collection of photographs radiating with natural beauty, and dripping with color. This incredible series, now available in print as a coffee table book, is a tribute and celebration to the lush culture and land that is Burma.

“From the moment I first set foot in this magical land, I fell under its spell. I found it to be one of the most enthralling and visually captivating countries I have had the privilege to explore – truly a photographer’s paradise,” explains Heath, “I aspired to convey the soul of the beautiful Burmese people, their mystical culture and mysterious customs, in the most artistic way possible”.

Burma, a place not many people can say they have traveled to, has become a place of comfort for Heath, as you can see in his photographs. He captures subjects with such love and allows such a strong authenticity to remain within them. Heath uses no flash, only natural lighting in order to show the true, authentic nature of this amazing culture. Traveling through Burma by boat, canoe, train and foot, Heath shows us remote and rare perspective of this captivating land. Each image is a remarkable adventure where we can see ancient temples, colorful and traditional Burmese clothing, busy street markets, tribal face tattoos, and the sparkling, eager eyes of the children of Burma. We are able to experience a culture that seems a world away through the intimacy of David Heath’s travels.

Make sure to check out the book “BURMA: An Enchanted Spirit” to see more unforgettable photographs.

David Heath - Digital PhotographyDavid Heath - Digital PhotographyDavid Heath - Digital PhotographyDavid Heath - Digital Photography

David Heath - Digital Photography

David Heath - Digital Photography

 

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Julie Green Paints The Final Meals Of Death Row Inmates Onto Porcelain Plates

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Maryland 17 July 2004:  Had the regular prison fare of a chicken patty , potatoes and gravy, green beans, marble cake, milk and fruit punch.

Maryland 17 July 2004: Had the regular prison fare of a chicken patty , potatoes and gravy, green beans, marble cake, milk and fruit punch.

Missouri 30 August 2000: 12 ounce T-bone steak (medium rare), Caesar salad, double order onion rings, 20 ounces of Diet Coke.

Missouri 30 August 2000:
12 ounce T-bone steak (medium rare), Caesar salad, double order onion rings, 20 ounces of Diet Coke.

Washington 27 May 1994: Salmon, scalloped potatoes, peas, tossed salad, cake.

Washington 27 May 1994: Salmon, scalloped potatoes, peas, tossed salad, cake.

Oklahoma 22 January 2009: Barbecue ribs, chopped beef, hot links, baked beans, plain potato chips, coconut doughnuts and chocolate milk.

Oklahoma 22 January 2009: Barbecue ribs, chopped beef, hot links, baked beans, plain potato chips, coconut doughnuts and chocolate milk.

Since the year 2000, artist Julie Green has immortalized the final meal requests of US death row inmates. It’s an on-going project aptly-titled The Last Supper, and she paints cobalt-blue pictures of the meals onto second-hand porcelain plates.

Green’s initial inspiration for the series came when she was working at the University of Oklahoma and noticed this menu printed in her morning paper: “three fried chicken thighs, 10 or 15 shrimp, tater tots with ketchup, two slices of pecan pie, strawberry ice cream, honey and biscuits, and a Coke.” It was included in the death notice of an inmate’s execution. This tradition of a final meal startled her, and she clipped the menu, as well as others that she saw.

Not long after seeing that clipping did she start The Last Supper. Along with painting the plates, she also details what the inmate ordered. Green writes:

In states with options, most selections are modest. This is not surprising, as many are limited to what is in the prison kitchen. Others provide meals from local venues. California allows restaurant take-out, up to fifty-dollars. Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, and Long John Silver’s are frequently selected in Oklahoma, where their fifteen-dollar allowance is down from twenty in the late 1990’s. Requests provide clues on region, race, and economic background. A family history becomes apparent when Indiana Department of Corrections adds “he told us he never had a birthday cake so we ordered a birthday cake for him.”

Over time, she’s completed 600 plates – 50 a year. Green spends six months of every year working on this project, and she plans to continue it until capital punishment is abolished.

The Last Supper will be on display this spring at the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio in an exhibition titled The Last Supper: 600 Plates Illustrating Final Meals of U.S. Death Row Inmates. (Via PBS Art Beat)

Oklahoma 23 January 2001: 2 orders onion rings, 1 cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, 1 grilled chicken sandwich, and 1 medium cherry limeade.

Oklahoma 23 January 2001: 2 orders onion rings, 1 cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, 1 grilled chicken sandwich, and 1 medium cherry limeade.

California 17 January 2006: Had a last meal of buffalo steak, a bucket of KFC white-meat-only chicken, sugar-free pecan pie, sugar-free black walnut ice cream, Indian pan-fried bread and whole milk (ice cream was left out one hour to thaw, and turned into a milkshake by hand).

California 17 January 2006: Had a last meal of buffalo steak, a bucket of KFC white-meat-only chicken, sugar-free pecan pie, sugar-free black walnut ice cream, Indian pan-fried bread and whole milk (ice cream was left out one hour to thaw, and turned into a milkshake by hand).

Indiana 05 May 2007: Pizza and birthday cake shared with 15 family and friends. A prison official said "He told us he never had a birthday cake so we ordered a birthday cake for him."

Indiana 05 May 2007: Pizza and birthday cake shared with 15 family and friends. A prison official said “He told us he never had a birthday cake so we ordered a birthday cake for him.”

New Mexico 06 November 2001: Shrimp and ice cream.

New Mexico 06 November 2001: Shrimp and ice cream.

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The Funeral Pictures Of Genevieve Blais Studies The Business Of Death

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The business of death is the subject of Genevieve Blais’ photo essay Funeral. In the series Blais looks at how consumerism dominates our lives even after life. Using a mechanical almost step by step process she captures the funerary procedure from start to finish through an itemized set of rules. In catalog fashion she shows what is needed to accomplish the final step of life; flowers, caskets, makeup, embalming machine, credit cards and waiting room. The photos themselves look dated, perhaps on purpose pointing to the fact there really hasn’t been much advancement in the business of death.
A picture of an embalming machine with the brand name Dodge makes you wonder if the popular car company was thinking proactively when designing their product which accounts for approximately 30,000 deaths per year. Turns out there’s no relation to the two and Dodge the funeral provider has been a family business since 1893. The website advertises their formaldehyde-free products and offers seminars and even a magazine for those interested in this type of work.
In her statement, Blais says when she first embarked on the project she didn’t know what to expect but as she went along she began taking a Marxist attitude towards the whole procedure. However, death is big business and those working in that industry make a comfortable living by a simple fact of nature that is both unavoidable and inevitable.

genevieve blais photographygenevieve blais photographygenevieve blais photographygenevieve blais photography

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Christina Pettersson Creates Revisionary Illustrations Of Mythological Tragedy, Savagery, And Beauty

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Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“The Sentinel” (2012). Graphite on paper, 65″ x 80″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“I Will Still Be Here, Long After the Kingdom Cometh” (2012). 68″ x 96″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“Desdemona Sleeping Beside Death” (2009). Graphite on paper, 66″ x 70″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“Ophelia at Fourteen” (2008). Graphite on paper, 72″ x 80″.

Christina Pettersson is a Florida-based (Stockholm-born) artist who draws on mythology and classic literature in the creation of large-scale graphite works that depict scenes of tragedy, savagery, and beauty. With realistic shading and elaborate textures, the images have a narrative-rich and highly expressive style that is reminiscent of historical paintings. Fascinated by the role such ancient, emotional, and metaphorical stories have on contemporary culture, Pettersson writes:

“I want to restore that epic and mythological dimension, a sense of awe and reverence for the world. The fact is they are not much about my personality. I want to be a storyteller. I want to believe that life is still wild” (Source).

Central to Pettersson’s illustrations are references to classical female figures, including the huntress/protector Artemis and Shakespeare’s Ophelia. Most of the images are dark in their imagery and/or atmosphere: Artemis, holding her bow, confronts the viewer with a fatally impassive expression; Ophelia, still awake, sinks into an oceanic abyss; while other women, unnamed, lie slain and bloodied. What Pettersson seems to be exploring (and critiquing) is the female body-as-sacrifice in such mythological traditions. These women — whose deaths are often treated as incidental plot-devices or metaphors in otherwise male-centered narratives — are given representation that mourns the tragedy of their deaths, and in many cases, signifies a liberating rebirth. Desdemona, for example, murdered in her bed, lies beside her peacefully-sleeping resurrected self; Ophelia, submerged in water, remains conscious while a ship — a symbolic “lifeboat” — turns her way. In a beautiful poem accompanying the latter image, Pettersson explains how she seeks to reclaim Ophelia from Shakespeare’s lethal sentence:

We are accustomed to your cruel pen,
the way it marks a creature for death, death only,
and evermore,
but this is too much.

I refuse.
I am taking it back,

taking it all back. (Source)

Visit Pettersson’s website for more revisionary and emotionally-infused mythological illustrations. (Via Art Fucks Me)

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“The Hunting Ground” (2010). Graphite on paper, 45″ x 80″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

(2015).

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“We Are No Longer in the Land of Kings” (2008). Graphite on paper, 86″ x 68″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“Please Don’t Bury Me in Wood” (2007). Graphite on paper, 106″ x 78″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“The Slow Extinction” (2010). Graphite on paper, 48″ x 96″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“The Birds of Evil” (2007). Graphite on paper, 90″x78″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“Double Self-Portrait, Train Tracks” (2005). Graphite on paper, 54″ x 132″.

Christina Pettersson - Illustration

“Oh Lucius, This Ghastly Flooring, How it Wounds Me So” (2014). Graphite on paper, 72″ x 48″.

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Mario Zanaria’s Fractured Photographs Pay Homage To The Contact Sheet

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Mario-Zanaria-9Mario-Zanaria-2Mario-Zanaria-6Mario-Zanaria-11 New York-based photographer Mario Zanaria started taking pictures when he was 12 years old and hasn’t stopped since. His work focuses on people, and his series Pianosequenza“a[n] homage to the contact sheet.” In it, one single image is composed over the course of one of these sheets. It’s fractured but coherent, and each assemblage reveals an alluring scene. Pianosequenza is an Italian word in cinema that translates to “long take” in English. “The idea,” Zanaria writes, “is to turn a part of a movie in one only single take, without cuts or re-plays of a scene. If everything is good in the scene than it can be taken, otherwise it will have to be taken again from the beginning.” He’s fascinated by the contact sheet, and says:

I like how they can tell stories that most often only the photographer knows. They have a very interesting double identity: an intimate relationship with the photographer, in which they are fundamental in the process of choosing the pictures that will survive the editing process, and a nearly non existent one with the public who will see the photographer work mostly only after the selection has taken place.

Zanaria’s series allow the contact sheets to be “the main and essential actor.” Without them, the image is not complete. (Via Blu) Mario-Zanaria-13Mario-Zanaria-12Mario-Zanaria-10Mario-Zanaria-8Mario-Zanaria-7Mario-Zanaria-5Mario-Zanaria-4Mario-Zanaria-3Mario-Zanaria-1

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Andréanne Lupien’s Amusingly Surreal Series Of Crazy Cat Lovers

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When you think of a someone who’s a “crazy cat person” you might imagine them to live in shambles overrun by felines. In Andréanne Lupien’s series Crazy Cat Lovers, however, that’s not the case. Her amusing photos feature people in their otherwise tidy homes, yet surrounded by their cats duplicated many, many times.

These images celebrate her love of felines, and the initial inspiration was her own cat. Lupien tells us, “I had fun taking pictures of myself with my cat, putting it around me in the room so that the final picture would result in my cat being multiple times in the photography doing multiple actions. That was it!

Crazy Cat Lovers makes light of the cat phenomena. With their Internet presence like videos, GIFs, and photos, felines become more and more popular. This was  my opportunity to fully talk about it.” Lupien says. “To create the photos, I would take my photography kit, put it in my bag and leave to explore the world of some crazy cat lovers. It was a great adventure! I would visit unknown people or I would go to a friends house. It was always a new universe to discover. Every picture had its own essence and energy, its own universe. It was like visiting a person’s unique world.” (Via Yahoo News Tumblr)

Zoé-KazooMarie-LuckyKat-SoiaKateJudith-BillieJouhe-MougleIsabelle-MonsieurAlex-MéliesAlex--DaliMomIsa-Capucine

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TALWST’s Miniaturized Scenes In Ring Boxes Reflect Contemporary Events

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Toronto-based artist TALWST creates works in a miniaturized scale. The tiny sculptures are constructed in reclaimed ring boxes and feature landscapes that are inspired by current events, dreams, and icons in pop culture. TALWST’s details are incredible, and it’s only after careful inspection that you see every fleck of paint, particle of moss, and patterns drawn on clothing. The artist also paints the top inside of the boxes and creates a small yet all-encompassing world.

While the attention to detail is one reason to intensify your gaze, the other is the subject matter. TALWST is timely, and although some scenes might conjure the past (their backdrops, especially, look like old paintings) the artist portrays contemporary issues such as Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s deaths. These miniatures his prototypes for creating responsive, diversified and inclusive history, unlike we have now. “The work’s small scale allows me the opportunity for a very particular kind of meditation,” TALWST explains. (Via Skumar’s and Junk Culture)

miniatureminiatureTALWST-1TALWST-3TALWST-4miniature

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At The Intersection Of Classical And Modern

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bathroom_designer_mary_1

Pop Round Vessel Sink, Randall Vessel Faucet, Transitional Floor Mount Bathtub Faucet, St. George Freestanding Soaking Tub

Thanksgiving 2003 by John Currin born 1962

John Currin, Thanksgiving 2003

bathroom_designer_mary_3

Pop Round Vessel Sink, Randall Vessel Faucet

cecily brown2

Cecily Brown

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St. George Pedestal Bathroom Sinks, Landfair Widespread Bathroom Faucets, Fitzgerald Two-Piece Elongated Toilet

DXV by American Standard is a landmark product line that represents the company’s storied history spanning 150 years. The collection spans four broad movements: Classic (1880 – 1920), Golden Era (1920 – 1950), Modern (1950 – 1990), and Contemporary (1990 – today).  Each piece in the carefully curated collection harkens back to the era it was inspired by and combines it with modern sensibilities, technology and performance. Although each fixture is inspired by a distinct era, the entire collection has a dialogue and the ability to cross over and create a remix of eras in one space. The pieces in the Classic Movement by DXV echo the curves, details and flair of times passed while integrating the technology of the present. Whether you’re a restoration buff who wants true-to-period pieces or someone who loves modern finishes with a nod to the past, the Classic Collection has something to round off any design. The designers working with DXV created timeless spaces with a nostalgic flair that feel both traditional and contemporary. Artists like John Currin, John McAllister and Cecily Brown all take cues from classical periods in art history, while recontextualizing them into modern color schemes, subject matter and treatments.


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Victorian Kitchen and Bar Faucets

John Currin’s satirical, skillfully executed paintings call to mind the portraits of European royalty during the Renaissance era. Combining modern gestures, clothing and subject matter, his skills, “which include elements of Old Master paint application and high-Mannerist composition, have been put to use on some of the most seductive and rivetingly weird figure paintings of our era.” McAllister Screen Shot 2015-03-08 at 3.41.05 PMMcAllisterScreen Shot 2015-03-08 at 3.41.27 PMMcAllister-Screen Shot 2015-03-08 at 3.41.41 PM John McAllister’s paintings evoke the spirit of Post Impressionist artists like Henri Matisse and George Braque. However, he uses vibrating patterning and detail, along with near-neon colors for an effect that is thoroughly modern. Each of his pieces invites the viewer to look into a world that is bright and strange and yet comfortingly familiar.

cecily-browncecily brown Cecily Brown’s emotionally charged paintings reference the broad history of painting, “from Rubens and Veronese to the muscular expressionism of Willem de Kooning.” The movement in Brown’s painting evoke something timeless and ethereal, grounded in history and yet expanding its vocabulary.

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Daniel Barkley Paints The Nude Body Engaged In Acts Of Emotion And Ritual

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Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Deep Water” (2006). Acrylic on canvas, 56” x 50”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Dare Devil” (2004). Acrylic on canvas, 29” x 42”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Brother’s Keeper” (2012). Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 60”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Incredule (redux)” (2010). Watercolour on paper, 26” x 36”.

Daniel Barkley is a Canadian artist who explores the physicality of the human figure and its relationship to mythology and the history of art. Recurring among his paintings are nude, predominately male bodies depicted in scenes of both visceral power and stunning vulnerability. Whether drawing in the dirt, lying prone on the ice, or anointing themselves with mud or paint, the characters appear to be engaged in profound rituals of unknown meaning. Barkley’s work captures the emotion of the event, as well as the role of flesh and muscle in the enactment of human spirituality.

By presenting his characters nude, Barkley explores narratives that are powerful and mythological in their appearance, but open to analysis and extrapolation. “Clothes denote social class, profession, period, gender, age, etc.,” Barkley states in his website’s Artist’s Statement. “By eliminating them, paring down the mise-en-scene, the interpretation of the narrative is broadened to hopefully include the viewer’s own speculations.” Caught between states of intimacy and theatricality, Barkley’s nude figures operate as metaphorical expressions of the pain and passion that has shaped Western mythology.

More of Barkley’s incredible work — spanning over a decade — can be found here. (Via Juxtapoz)

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Morality Tale II (Rob)” (2009). Acrylic on canvas, 32” x 48”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“The Bridge” (2006). Acrylic on canvas, 38” x 48”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Ship of Fools II” (1997). Acrylic on canvas, 83 x 75”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Study for Fallen Angel II (Vincent)” (2011). Watercolour on paper, 30 x 22”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“The Blue Basin” (2011). Acrylic on canvas, 40” x 36”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“The Lost Fishermen I” (2001). Acrylic on canvas, 117” x 64”.

Daniel Barkley - Painting

“Robert as Lazarus I (Clay Hiepel)” (2000). Acrylic on canvas, 50” x 34”.

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Erik Jones’ Splices Together Fragments Of Women And Geometric Patterns

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Erik Jones paints a blend of vibrant, colorful, graphic-orientated paintings with hyper realistic, disconnected parts of women’s bodies. Originally from St Petersburg, Florida he moved to New York with $81 and took different jobs in the comic industry – an influence to which he owes his distinct graphic style. They are a original mix of pop styling with hard lines and distinct patterns, sporadic mark making and illustrative details of the female form. High fashion magazine-style renderings of faces, breasts and limbs are broken up and disjointed by digital-like patterns.

Realizing his passion for illustration and figure rendering, Jones initially was drawn to animation and creating stimulating visuals. Not completely satisfied by just animating, he applied the techniques he learnt to painting. He starts his creative process with a photoshoot, or various inspirational photos, then adds the figure reference and refines it digitally. He explains more:

I build on top of the figure as if they were wearing these shapes. I’ll also create patters with the shapes to move your eye around in a structured way. Despite all the clutter and chaos in these newer works, there is something soothing and comfortable in each piece, at least I feel there is. I believe it’s the patterns that you’re subconsciously finding that keep it from being completely chaotic and overwhelming to look at. (Source)

Jones uses several different types of media to build up a textured, layered, collage look. Even though his work is a blend of so many different elements, he tries to give equal weighting to each of them. He says most importantly for him is to keep a harmonious balance, and not to glorify the figure. 

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Ryan Salge’s Drawings Conjure Dark Dreams And Eerie Realities

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Artist Ryan Salge’s monochromatic drawings are of surreal scenes that feel like dreamscapes. The tightly-rendered compositions feature expansive outdoor worlds and figures that traverse through them. Often times, the men and women in them are as curious as we are. Their backs are turned towards us, and it’s as if we’re on the journey right along with them.

There’s always something a little strange or alluring in each of Salge’s drawings. A woman looks up to dark, swirling sky as a small patch of light shines through. Another work features bodies rising upwards into the atmosphere. And, in an especially eerie piece, a barefooted man peers down as a spotlight shines onto a desolate field. (Via Lustik)

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Simin Qiu Reimagines The Water Faucet With A Groundbreaking And Beautiful Design That Conserves Water

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A London Royal College Of Art student named Simin Qiu has designed a water faucet that will dazzle you in more ways than one. By placing specific grooves inside a faucet’s pipe he not only conserves one of the world’s most precious commodities but also manipulates it to pour out in beautiful lattice-like patterns. The project was conceived by Qiu in an attempt to make water use in the home not only more aesthetically enjoyable but also user and conservatively sound as well. The end result not only makes the water look more interesting but it also comes out in a gentler, fresher way from the pipe.
For his efforts, Qiu won the 2014 IF Student award. The prize is awarded annually to students or recent University graduates in 7 design categories including product, packaging, photography and fashion to name a few. It holds not only prestige but awards the winner a generous 30,000 euros in prize money.
The official name of Qiu’s product is “The Swirl Faucet” and in the last week or so word of it has gone viral on several prominent design blogs. (via boredpanda)

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Painting And Fashion Photography Meet In The Works Of Jean-Francois Lepage

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Photographer Jean Francois Lepage has been recycling. Lepage is a well known fashion photographer who in recent years has been concentrating on fine art projects. One called “Recycle” uses his fashion photography as background to his painting, drawing and cutting. This presents a kind of superimposed painting onto a photograph which has both modernist and classical references. The works hint at Picasso, Calder and Klee, but also finds new ground in the photo image combined with other mediums. Whereas fashion photography mostly projects a self-absorbed glance, Lepage reinvents these same photographs to look within its subject instead of just on the surface.

In some of the pictures, he draws over the faces to hide the features. This turns the picture into a more abstract form and allows the shapes of his subjects to be seen as free flowing objects instead of just perfect physical specimens selling a product. In others, Lepage renders marks which could be interpreted as word bubbles or strange appendages, sometimes outlining and extending beyond the figure. The colors are bold and primary in some while in others he opts to color over in softer pastel shades. The more intriguing works are those with less coloring and just black outlining which lend a sculptural element.

Lepage finds an agreeable shortcut to the painted image. He finds inspiration in the balance of what is real and imagined.

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