"Rising Souls, Haiti: the resilience of Haitians," Port of Prince, Haiti, www.jr-art.net

Inspired by renowned street artist, JR, the project brings coworkers, activists, friends and communities together by asking them to create a group action. A statement to define who they are, and what they are standing up for. A group could be as little as five people, or bring together an entire city, like the group action witnessed in New York’s Time Square this past month.

INSIDE OUT Project in Time Square, New York City, www.insideoutproject.net

INSIDE OUT has reached the far corners of the world. Meaning we, the citizens, are standing up for what we believe in. Some of the outstanding group actions are standing up to issues of oppression, apartheid, gender-based violence, youth-based violence, and climate change.

INSIDE OUT's locations, www.insideoutproject.net

INSIDE OUT’s project “Esperanza” (meaning hope) was a collective action that brought to light the faces of mothers in Caracas, Venezuela, whose children were victims of violence.

The Mother's of Caracas, Venezuela, www.insideoutproject.net

In Afghanistan, the INSIDE OUT project meant lifting the stigma that the media has laid out of what living in this country is really like. Collaborating with ISAF HQ, the people of Kabul proved that there is in fact happiness in the neighbourhoods – laughter can be heard, and living in Afghanistan is something to be celebrated.

INSIDE OUT Kabul, Kabul, Afghanistan, www.insideoutproject.net

JR’s innovative project has even landed in the Arctic, as activists of the #savethearctic movement created a massive eye at the top of the world, trying to rid the icy land of the destructive industries that are encroaching.

The Eye on top of the World, the Arctic, www.insideoutproject.net

Another project facilitated by JR, Face 2 Face has been his largest illegal call to action yet. Meeting people on both sides of the separation wall, in Israel and Palestine, JR pasted massive portraits along the separation wall on both sides of the conflict. Groups of portraits were posted together of people – from either side – doing the exact same job. One pasting presents passers-by with the face of a rabbi, an imam and a priest; another with the face of a Palestinian cook, and his equal on the Israeli side.

The Holy Triptych, Seperation Wall in Bethlehem, Palestine, www.insideoutproject.net

INSIDE OUT is putting all of us face-to-face. With our own issues, and maybe the ones we haven’t opened our eyes up to yet. Anyone can take part, so perhaps this is our call to action. What are we standing up for, yelling about, whole-heartedly caring about? Let’s paste!

“I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world… INSIDE OUT.”  - JR

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• Architect Daniel Libeskind; Chase Bank News; Artist JR
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Museumgoers snapping photos of Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night, 1889, at MoMA. ©2013 REBECCA ROBERTSON

From Carolina A. Miranda via Art News:

We’re in an age when people take pictures just about everywhere, an act that photography critic Jörg M. Colberg describes as “compulsive looking.” The phenomenon has created a unique set of challenges for art museums, many of which have historically had strict limitations on photography — either for the purpose of protecting light-sensitive works or because of copyright issues.

Diane Madden, center, leads Trisha Brown dancers in “Roof Piece Re-Layed” at the Modern photo: Ruby Washington/The New York Times

But the ubiquity of digital cameras, along with the irrepressible urge to take pictures, has led many museums to revise their policies in recent years. “You are fighting an uphill battle if you restrict,” says Nina Simon, director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History and author of The Participatory Museum. “Even in the most locked-down spaces, people will still take pictures and you’ll still find a million of these images online. So why not support it in an open way that’s constructive and embraces the public?”

image from allposters.com

Certainly, there are practical reasons for doing so – no-photo policies can be difficult to enforce. What’s more – social media further complicates the issue. This Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project reported that 97 percent of the more than 1,200 arts organizations it polled had a presence on platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr. New York’s Museum of Modern Art, for example, posts photos of artworks and installation processes on Facebook (where it has around 1.3 million followers), the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art has photos of its Sol LeWitt wall drawings on Instagram, [and the list goes on].

a typical day's viewing in front of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre museum in Paris. Photograph: Lydie France/EPA

With museums sharing so much imagery themselves, it can be difficult for visitors to understand that they can’t necessarily do the same. “If a museum is really active on social media, they’re putting forward the idea that they represent a venue that is all about being conversational,” says Simon. “For the visitor, it can be disturbing to then go to the physical space and be confronted with a policy that isn’t.”

Photo by: Ryan Donnell 2009

The biggest hurdle to wide-open photo policies is the issue of copyright. Museums often do not hold the copyrights to the works they display, which creates legal problems when visitors start snapping away. But with the deluge of cameras, along with the fact that the vast majority of visitors simply want to snap a pic for a Facebook album, has led some institutionsnto ask lenders for permission to shoot, with the stipulation that pictures are for noncommercial use.

photo via gizmodo.com

“There’s an undeniable benefit to having visitors tweet about their visit or share photos,” says Brooke Fruchtman, associate vice president of public engagement at LACMA. “We’ve had great success with our Stanley Kubrick exhibition because people could take pictures of anything.” For more than a year, the museum has allowed photography in its permanent-collection galleries. Still, for temporary shows, permission ultimately rests in the hands of the lender, as in the case of Caravaggio’s Toothpuller, which is owned by the Galleria Palatina at the Pallazzo Pitti in Florence.

As a culture, we increasingly communicate in images. Twenty years ago, a museumgoer might have discussed an interesting work of art with friends over dinner. Today, that person is more likely to take a picture of it and upload it to Facebook.

photo via www.sketchngintuscany.com

This transformation in the way in which people digest visual stimuli — not to mention the rest of the world around them — is something that Harvard theoretician Lawrence Lessig has described as a shift from “read-only” culture (in which a passive viewer looks upon a work of art) to “read-write” culture (in which the viewer actively participates in a recreation of it). The first step toward recreating a work of art, for most people, is to photograph it, which, ultimately, isn’t all that different from the time-honored tradition of sketching.

You can also find Carolina A. Miranda at C-Monster.net

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Balloon Boy by Spy

The practice of street art is one that is truly astounding. “Street art” is an umbrella term for graffiti, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheat pasting, guerrilla art, public mosaics, and yarn bombing. Street art around communities and urban settings brings an aesthetic to spaces, as well as a message.

Yarn bombed tank Copenhagen, 2006

Often, street art gets a bad wrap – stigmatized as vandalism, territorial tagging, or just another corporate advertisement.  In fact, this art movement, per say, requires a great deal of compositional theory and great attention to detail. Street Art, in any medium, often carries socially relevant themes, along with the flourish it adds to an ordinary brick wall.

Inside Out Project New York City, 2013

The INSIDE OUT Project, that recently took over Manhattan, is one that distinguishes the significance of street art, and art in the public forum. Through large-scale wheat pastings, the project enables everyone to share their personal and political views with a grandeur view of their own portrait. Participants can take their own photo, and take part in one of the photo booths set up for the project, and print their face, then paste it anywhere in their community. What a gift it is to be able to look up at the inspiring and driven faces within our own communities, and not just another ad for the latest automobile.

Inside Out Project New York City, 2013

As we integrate art into the streets around us, whether it is filled with political anarchy or is simply an intricately designed work, all thanks to the paint aisle at Home Depot, we also integrate this art into our homes. For the INSIDE OUT project, this means integrating our neighbours, and our sisters, and our uncles into the environment around us, and sharing the issues that matter to them.

Inside Out Project New York City, 2013

Perhaps here at home, we can do that same. Street Art doesn’t just have to be something we pass on our morning train. That same unsanctioned, underground passion can find a place in our homes as well – literally with artworks, like this photograph from Jon Bidwell, capturing street graffiti on the side of a train compartment.

Fourteen by Jon Bidwell on zatista.com

We can also incorporate the fervour, and graphic imagery found so commonly in graffiti, with mixed media, or graffiti-inspired paintings such as Deanna Fainelli’s “Slice of the City”.

Slice of the City by Deanna Fainelli on zatista.com

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IMAGE: Pinaree Sanpitak, Temporary Insanity, 2004, (installation detail taken at Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, 2004)

1. Pinaree Sanpitak: Temporary Insanity – Austin Museum of Art
WHAT: Exhibition of Southeast Asian artist, Pinaree Sanpitak, who combines organic symbols and brightly colored sculptural installations to reflect on themes of spirituality, femininity, and equality in the region.
WHEN: April 20-June 30, 2013
WHERE: AMOA-Arthouse
What to look out for: One hundred amorphous, squeezable sculptures that you can play with.

Lesley Dill. A Word Made Flesh...Throat, 1994. Gift of Stanley Freehling

2. The Artist and the Poet – Art Institute of Chicago
WHAT: Planned to coincide with the institute’s “Picasso and Chicago” exhibition, the array of prints and drawings reveal the collaborative relationship between artists like Pablo Picasso, Robert Motherwell and David Hockney and poets such as Max Jacob, Rafael Alberti and Wallace Steves, respectively.
WHEN: February 1st – June 2nd, 2013
WHERE: The Art Institute Chicago
What to look out for: ”Skin with O’Hara Poem” (1963–65), a print by Jasper Johns that was inspired by the poet Frank O’Hara.

mage: Shinique Smith, Swaying Beauty, 2007, clothing, foam, rope, and twine, 60 x 22 x 22 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Schiff Fine Art, © Shinique Smith.

3. Shinique Smith: Firsthand – LACMA
WHAT: A exhibition of Shinique Smith’s work that reflects on the artist’s Baltimore upbringing and early desire to work with fashion and design.
WHEN: February 8th, 2013 – ongoing
WHERE: Los Angeles Museum of Art
What to look out for: A combination of costumery and textiles tangled into sculptural installations like “Swaying Beauty.”

El Anatsui (Ghanaian, b. 1944). Earth’s Skin, 2007. Aluminum and copper wire, 177 x 394 in. (449.6 x 1000.8 cm). Courtesy of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

4. Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui – Brooklyn Museum
WHAT: The first solo exhibition in a New York museum by the Ghana-born artist El Anatsui.
WHEN: February 8th – August 4th, 2013
WHERE: Brooklyn Museum
What to look out for: Twelve giant wall and floor sculptures made from metal, wood and appropriated objects.

 

Thorne Anderson, Thawra, Baghdad, Iraq, April 18, 2003. Digital inkjet print. High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © Thorne Anderson

5. Eye Level in Iraq: Photographs by Kael Alford and Thorne Anderson – de Young, San Francisco
WHAT: The photographs of Kael Alford and Thorne Anderson, two American-trained photo journalists who documented the aftermath of the US-led allied invasion of Iraq in 2003.
WHEN: February 9th – June 16th, 2013
WHERE: de Young
What to look out for: Images taken outside the confines of the U.S. military’s embedded journalist program.

Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977) Marechal Floriano Peixoto (The World Stage: Brazil), 2009

6. Kehinde Wiley: The Memling Series – Phoenix Art Museum
WHAT: A new series of paintings by the New York artist Kehinde Wiley, who is known for his knack for re-envisioning classical styles of portraiture.
WHEN: February 20th – June 23rd, 2013
WHERE: Phoenix Art Museum
What to look out for: Eight paintings based on the work of Hans Memling, the Flemish master painter of the Northern Renaissance.

James Turrell, Acro, Green, 1968, projected light, the MFAH, Museum purchase. © James Turrell

7. James Turrell: A Retrospective – Museum of Fine Arts Houston
WHAT: A collection of the many light installations of American artist James Turrell, concurrently presented by the MFAH, LACMA and the Guggenheim
WHEN: June 9th – September 22nd, 2013 at MFAH (May 26th, 2012-April 6th, 2014 at LACMA and June 21st-September 25th, 2013 at Guggenheim)
WHERE: Museum of Fine Arts Houston
What to look out for: ”Vertical Vintage”, a grouping of a dozen interactive, light-based installations.

Claes Oldenburg. Pastry Case, I. 1961–62. Painted plaster sculptures on ceramic plates, metal platter, and cups in glass-and-metal case, 20 3/4 x 30 1/8 x 14 3/4" (52.7 x 76.5 x 37.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection. © 2012 Claes Oldenburg

8. Claes Oldenburg: The Street and the Store – MoMA
WHAT: A retrospective of Claes Oldenburg, an artist who once rented a storefront in New York City and filled it with handmade, painted sculptures that mimicked the everyday commercial products sold in stores throughout the neighborhood.
WHEN: April 14th – August 5th, 2013
WHERE: Museum of Modern Art
What to look out for: A selection of Oldenburg’s past “Store” performances, seen through films projected throughout the exhibition’s halls.

 

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"Red, Yellow and Blue" by Orly Genger 2013 photo: flatironhotnews.com

According to the The New York Times: Over the last 10 years, Brooklyn based artist Orly Gender “has become known for creating ambitious installations from seemingly endless coils of rope that she crochets and teases into shapes that recall modern masterworks.”

"Red, Yellow, and Blue" by Orly Genger 2013 photo: flickr.com

“In 2007 Genger filled a Chelsea gallery with 250,000 feet of knotted, paint-saturated rope called “Masspeak”, creating a black, lava-y environment that suggested Walter de Maria’s “Earth Room.”

"Masspeak" by Orly Genger 2007 photo: larissagoldston.com

“The next year, using similar materials, she built an even larger installation entitled, “Whole”, for the lobby of the Indianapolis Museum of Art — a sly take on the aggressive metal stacks and cubes of Minimalists like Tony Smith and Donald Judd.”

"Whole" by Orly Genger, 2009 photo: designboom.com

“In 2010, for a show at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Mass., Ms. Genger used 100 miles of red painted rope to create “Big Boss,” an 11.5-foot-high stack that burst through a gallery wall and bubbled over for 28 feet into an adjoining room — a giant Color Field painting run amok.”

"Big Boss" by Orly Genger, 2010 photo: museomagazine.com

“Now Ms. Genger, 34, has delivered her largest and most labor-intensive work yet, a public sculpture in Madison Square Park called “Red, Yellow and Blue.” On view through Sept. 8, it’s made of 1.4 million feet of hand-crocheted lobster-fishing rope, which she has used to create three towering enclosures, each painted a different primary color.”

"Red, Yellow and Blue" by Orly Genger, 2013 photo: flickr.com

“For the last two years, she and a team of assistants have spent almost every day in her studio cleaning lobster claws and fish bones out of the rope and crocheting it into the chunky scarflike strips, some 150 feet long, that she used as building blocks.”

"Red, Yellow and Blue" by Orly Genger 2013 photo: flickr.com

“Regarding the sculpture, Susan Cross, the curator of Mass MoCA curator who commissioned the piece “Big Boss,” says, “Everyone can relate to it, even though it’s this overwhelming size. You see that it’s rope, but you understand the labor involved. It really pulls people in.” Susan Cross also calls the artist, “a force of nature.”

"Red, Yellow and Blue" by Orly Genger, 2013 photo: flickr.com

“Read more about Orly Genger and her newly installed piece, “Red, Yellow and Blue.” The piece will reinstall it in October at the deCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass., where it will remain for a year.

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The Bedroom by Van Gogh photo: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

According to the Wall Street Journal last week: The modern myth of the tortured artist was launched by the turbulent life of Vincent van Gogh, whose bold paintings have been viewed as spontaneous outpourings of an anguished soul. Now, results of research into van Gogh’s work habits shed new light on the Dutchman, who emerges as less a hopeless Romantic than a diligent technician.

Still life with Carafe and Lemons by Van Gogh photo: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

A research project called, “Van Gogh’s Studio Practice,” culminates on Wednesday when its findings will be incorporated into a new exhibition, “Van Gogh at Work,” which opens the newly renovated Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Prior to this, there has never been such extensive research into van Gogh’s paintings and drawings.

Butterflies and Poppies by Van Gogh photo: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

Among the key discoveries is an understanding of how van Gogh used something called a “perspective frame”—a wooden rectangle, crisscrossed with threads—to help him accurately capture the physical world.

The Sea at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer by Van Gogh photo: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

Head of Collections at the Van Gogh Museum says the frame was threaded like a grid or alternatively, threaded diagonally like a Union Jack flag. Van Gogh would look through these at his subjects, and then transfer that regulated view onto the canvas. New infrared examinations revealed that he actually traced the outlines of the threaded frame right onto the canvas, fixing a sense of order early on, and giving a hidden rigor to paintings that are admired for their wild expressiveness.

show enlargment The Garden of Saint Paul's Hospital ('The Fall of the Leaves') by Van Gogh photo: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

Van Gogh was not the only artist at the time using the device – Degas also used a perspective frame, but Van Gogh used it in a distinct way. Discoveries also show that Van Gogh reused canvases quite often leaving layers of paint on a single canvas.

View of Auvers by Van Gogh http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

Until the mid-19th century, artists made their own paints, using traditional pigments. But van Gogh belonged to one of the first generations of artists who bought mass-produced paints sold in tubes. He then went on to refine his colors by mixing them together.

Van Gogh's palette photo: Van Gogh Museum

Van Gogh experts have long known that some of these paints were vulnerable to fading. Until now, the experts have relied on descriptions in van Gogh’s letters to correctly identify original colors; they have also found clues in the bits of paint on the edge of canvasses, where the frames shielded the pigments from damaging light. Now, using a combination of technologies, the project has determined something like the original appearances of affected major works. Being able to see famous paintings in their original colors can be quite shocking after the public has been viewing them in a faded state for so many years.

Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds by Van Gogh photo: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

Visitors to “Van Gogh at Work” will be able to compare the new digital renderings [of paintings in their original colors], accessed on computer tablets in an educational section of the exhibition. In September, visitors will also be able to download an app on their own devices. In art history and conservation, fading paint has long been a problem. But now we’ll be able to see these works as the artists meant for us to see them.

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What I love about Pinterest is its ability to be a one-stop shop for online browsing and “window shopping”. I can simultaneously shop for shoes for that dinner party while I plan my new bedroom with all the finishing touches, and be linked to products’ original websites. 

At Zatista we utilise the powers of Pinterest to share our art. We create boards geared towards our favourite timeless photography, American paintings, hand-pulled prints, as well as boards full of art that are meant to inspire thoughts of the coming spring weather, or remind us of the beach.

Many may not realise it, but Pinterest is an excellent resource for shopping for a finishing touch to a room. With access to original art marketplaces like our own, Pinterest brings multiple art suppliers to you in one neat webpage. But how do you go about finding art perfectly suited to your dazzling taste on Pinterest? Start by checking out some of Zatista’s boards and the works we’re loving, or just browse what Pinterest’s Art category has to offer. Many of the pins may not link to a product’s site, but this is the best place to start. Look for colours you want, styles, and even specific mediums.

To make your searching as simple as possible, we’ve tried to check off all your searching tactics – great gifts, artworks under a certain price, decoration for the man-cave. It’s all there on our Pinterest boards.

What’s great about Pinterest is not only does it bring you to original artwork you can invest in, but it is a center of ideas on how to introduce art into your home. It can teach you how to be an at-home curator, so to speak. When you check out our Pinterest boards, you’ll find ideas and inspiration for integrating original artwork into your home as well as ways to decorate with art, and around it.

Be sure to follow us on Pinterest. If you don’t know where to start when choosing which artwork is the best investment for you, Pinterest can be a great ease into the process. We swear… Pinterest can be Producti – OH! Look at that Cupcake recipe – sorry. Productive.

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photo: plentyofcolour.com

Sure, I notice the clothes on the mannequins and often buy them, but in my heart of hearts the clothes are just a gateway to the amazing 3D artwork that frames them.

photo: plentyofcolour.com

Masterpieces of form, composition and color made from brilliant installations of objects ranging from ordinary found objects to marshmallows, these artful window displays always capture my interest and attention. Who’s with me here?

photo: plentyofcolour.com

I don’t know the story behind the artists who come up with the concepts or the artists who install the work, but I do know it sounds like a really fun job and these artists have imaginations that are inspiring people every day in cities across the country.

photo: plentyofcolour.com

Look at that color! Don’t you just want to eat it up? And also buy that jacket?

photo: plentyofcolour.com

If you are privy to Anthropologie’s secrets of fabulous window installation art – do tell. Anthropologie lovers here on WallSpin want to know. We like our original art on our walls at home, AND in our favorite stores. Thanks, Anthro – you could have been just another store with ordinary windows, but no – you take windows to another level.  Anthro – we love art and we love you!

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Over the past three decades, Arthur and Cynthia Wood turned their four-story home into a work of art.

According to npr.org, “A New York landmark of sorts is in danger of being wiped off the map. The building now known as Broken Angel was an ordinary 19th-century brick structure until self-taught artist and sculptor Arthur Wood started building on top of it in the late 1970s. Now Wood faces eviction from his own masterpiece — a towering structure that looks like a cathedral built out of salvaged junk.”

The building, which was featured in the film Dave Chappelle's Block Party, once towered nine stories over the street. Arthur took out most of the floors, creating a soaring open space with stained glass windows.

NPR goes on to say, “The building was featured in comedian Dave Chappelle‘s film Block Party, which follows Chappelle as he puts together a free hip-hop concert in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn in 2004. “[The house] is a monument to Brooklyn, my dear,” Cynthia Wood, Arthur’s wife, explains to Chappelle. But after the film was released, a fire broke out in the tower, which had been built without permits or plans. After that, the New York City Department of Buildings cracked down on what they considered an unsafe structure.”

In October 2006, Broken Angel's tower caught fire. The New York City Department of Buildings declared the structure was dangerous and sought to demolish the home.

“He took a tenement and he transformed it with a lot of materials people have classified as discards and tossed away into dumps,” says Carl Zimring, who teaches at the renowned Pratt Institute art school a few blocks away. “And turned that into a coherent form of art — a folk art, an art that very much relied on the materials that Brooklyn had to offer.”

Old bottles and salvaged glass make up the "stained glass" windows in Broken Angel.

“The Woods bought the property in 1979 for $2,100 in cash. They gradually transformed the 19th-century brick building into what’s been hailed as a work of 21st-century art.”

Cynthia Wood died of cancer in 2010. Her husband, Arthur Wood, is once again facing eviction from his home.

NPR continues, “To some, the building has been an inspiration. “People come here from all four corners of the earth,” a neighbor says. “People wait, literally wait outside … for hours waiting for Arthur to show up just to talk to him. That’s what you’re taking. You’re taking a bit of history and very much of our future right away from us.”

Broken Angel in 2006, after a fire photo: Liz O. Baylen for The New York Times

“Hoping to avoid demolition, Arthur struck a deal with a local developer six years ago to turn Broken Angel into condos. The five-story tower was dismantled. But Chris Wood says the developer never held up his end of the bargain, and the bank foreclosed. So, is it art? Or just a pile of junk? Share with us here on WallSpin.

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Flotsam by David Wiesner

Flotsam is a book about a magical camera which washes up on a beach and is found by a curious boy.

Illustration from Flotsam by David Wiesner

Barbara Lehman has written several great books in this genre including, The Red Book, Rainstorm, The Secret Box, and Museum Trip.

Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman

Museum Trip tells a story about what might happen if  a boy suddenly became part of one of the museum’s exhibits.

Illustration from Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman

Some of the stories are more intricate than others, but even the simplest stories are beautiful when told via the artwork alone.

Wave by Suzy Lee

Wave is a story about a little girl who spends a day at the beach engaging in imaginative play with an ocean wave.

Illustration from Wave by Suzy Lee

Chalk is a story of three children who find a bag of chalk in a playground. To their amazement, everything they draw becomes real.

Chalk by Bill Thompson

Illustration from Chalk by Bill Thompson

If you know of some books in this genre that love and have enjoyed reading with your family, please share them with us here on WallSpin!

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crusadeforart.com

As an update to Kate’s post last week on the Crusade for Art tour, I’m happy to report that Jennifer Schwartz‘s initiative to merrily bring art to the people is in full swing. After a successful first stop pop-up event in sunny Venice, CA, folks walked away happy, and with free art. Yes, you heard me!

crusadeforart.com

Straight from the Crusade for Art blog, “In case you need a refresher, five local photographers are curated into the project in each tour city. They each give away ten signed copies of one of their images in a 6x9ish size. The artists need to have chutzpah too, since they actively engage people walking by. This group was tops.”

The five artists featured in the Local Photographer Showcase (from left): Bootsy Holler, Tom Johnson, Shannon Leith, Kurt Simonson, Jeff Rau – each holding the image they gave away

The Crusade blog continues, “There wasn’t a single moment of pause – it was a chorus of “Would you like to become an art collector today for free?” and “Would you like an original signed photograph to take home today?”. Art guns blazing, charm for days – these photographers were amazing and each made it a point to have meaningful conversations with their new collectors about the image, about themselves, about the project, about the awesomeness of art.”

If this sounds 100% cool to you, check out the Crusade for Art blog for behind the scenes details of Lady Blue’s journey and meet up with the tour on one of their stops.

Crusade for Collecting Art crusadeforart.com

Feel the excitement and join the crusade! How can you resist hobnobbing with real live artists and taking home free art? I know I can’t!

crusadeforart.com

Because we at Zatista heartily believe in the cause, we have co-sponsored the Crusade for Art tour and welcome you to catch the fever. If you do, be sure to report back to us here on WallSpin about your experience.

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Claes Oldenburg’s Floor Burger, 1962 photo: Sean Weaver

In 1967, Claes Oldenburg’s big lovable burger sculpture called Floor Burger (1962), was not necessarily well received at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. People stood in front of the gallery with signs reading ‘Don’t Burger Up Our Gallery,’” says Shiralee Hudson Hill, an interpretive planner at the gallery.

Dropped Cone 2001 by Claes Oldenburg Cologne, Germany

According to Art News, “Today, “the burger” is one of the museum’s most popular works. And the painted canvas sculpture, which recently underwent a major restoration, will be among the works included in the show “Claes Oldenburg: The Street and the Store,” opening at the Museum of Modern Art this weekend.”

Garden Hose 1983 by Claes Oldenburg Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

“Floor Burger’s form is very well-constructed,” says AGO conservator Sherry Phillips. “Oldenburg’s first wife, Patty, sewed all the pieces together.” But they needed to address the inside of the sculpture. “The burger’s stuffing—chunks of foam and, surprisingly, cardboard ice-cream cartons—has fared well, but the pieces shifted, leaving the sculpture with an uneven appearance,” Phillips explains. “We used archival images of the piece for comparison, and gently pushed and pulled the stuffing to create a better-defined ‘burger’ shape.”

Spoonbrigde and Cherry 1988 by Claes Oldenburg Minneapolis, Minnesota

Oldenburg admits, “I was more concerned with the effect of the piece as I was making it rather than its future conservation,” adding, “We were careful to use high-grade materials, but still the result is a lot of people work in art restoration now because works from that period are starting to need attention.” The 84-year-old artist explains why he decided to use ice-cream cartons as stuffing. “I started with the foam, but found it was weighing the sculpture down,” he says, “so we used the empty boxes to make it lighter.”

Binoculars 1991 by Claes Oldenburg, Santa Monica, CA

Many urban legends about Floor Burger circulate at the AGO, including early reports of visitors jumping on it, expecting it to be cushiony like a beanbag chair. There are also tales about the pickle that sits on the burger’s bun. According to one story, the pickle disappeared in the early ’70s, and Oldenburg flew to Toronto with a replacement, claiming it was a travel pillow to get it through customs. “The pickle is made differently from the rest of Floor Burger,” says Phillips. “There’s a different type of paint, so it could have been a later addition or substitution.”

Shuttlecocks 1994 by Claes Oldenburg Kansas City, MO

Oldenburg laughs upon hearing this. “That sounds like it could be true,” he says. “But like a lot of things, I can’t remember for sure. I do recall that the sides of the pickle are covered with a shinier paint than the rest, so it looks wet like a pickle. But that is still a very convincing story. I’ll have to look in my diaries.”

Tumbling Tacks 2009 by Claes Oldenburg Norway

Oldenburg is best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Many of his works were made in collaboration with his wife of 32 years, Coosje van Bruggen, who died in 2009.

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Slated for release this April by Ten Speed Press, Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art by Caitlin Freeman

Now here’s a twist on something sweet. According to the LA Times:

Caitlin Freeman is a former UC Santa Cruz photography student who co-founded San Francisco bakery Miette and then started making pastries for her husband’s Blue Bottle Coffee locations in the Bay Area, including the cafe on SFMOMA’s rooftop.

Caitin Freeman’s real-life interpretation of Wayne Thiebaud’s lithograph Chocolate Cake, 1971. Clay McLachlan

As SFMOMA’s in-house pastry chef, Freeman and team are able to channel a love for paintings and photography into baking, resulting in cakes, cookies and confections that pay homage to artworks on view in the museum’s galleries.

Lichtenstein Cake - Red Velvet cake gets even fancier in Freeman’s polka dotted homage to pop art icon Roy Lichtenstein. photo: Photo by: Clay McLachlan (c) 2013

Past creations have included a Katharina Fritsch ice cream sandwich, with poodle-shaped chocolate cookies sandwiching vanilla ice cream; a Thiebaud pink cake inspired by the museum’s large collection of Bay Area artist Wayne Thiebaud’s paintings; and a fresh spearmint ice milk and strawberry popsicle for Santa Monica-born artist John Zurier’s painting “Arabella.”

Miette's spearmint ice milk and strawberry popsicle photo: LA Times

All of said edible spinoffs and more — a Mondrian cake, Kahlo wedding cookies, Matisse parfait, Warhol gelee and Koons white hot chocolate — are in Freeman’s new cookbook “Modern Art Desserts.” The cookbook will be released on April 16, just in time for those wanting to try their hand at making the cafe’s art-inspired desserts while the museum is closed for renovation, starting June 2, until early 2016.

Bradford Cheese Plate For beginner bakers, the simple cheese plate gets an upgrade with homemade buttermilk crackers, apricot butter, and savory slices of cheese arranged according to Mark Bradford’s layered, abstract paintings photo: Clay

Freeman has some treats in store before the museum and cafe close including an ice cream cake based on a Garry Winogrand photograph that plays music while you eat it.

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Jennifer Schwartz Crusade for Art van Lady Blue

Founded by Jennifer Schwartz, Crusade for Art is currently on the road, probably (hopefully) rocking some Dobie Gray, driving across the US-of-A in a 1977 VW bus, by the name of Lady Blue.

Crusade for Art van Lady Blue in New Orleans

Much like Zatista, the Crusade stresses buying original artwork, and representing the photographers creating that art. Essentially, Lady Blue herself will pull into a bustling, and of course artistic metropolis, will set up a pop-up event showcasing local and national photographers and their works. The catch is, the photographs are not for sale. Participants and passersby are encouraged to peruse the works and choose the work that gives them that love-love-triple-love feeling. Then they can engage in activities, and even get a chance to speak with the particular artist before taking the artwork home with them.

Crusade for Art on tou

The tour breaks down the stigma of art collecting and gallery hunting, and creates a space for artists to connect with the future aficionados in their own area.

Check out if Lady Blue will be setting up near you:

Los Angeles, CA – April 6

San Francisco, CA – April 13

Portland, OR – April 17

Seattle, WA – May 1

Chicago, IL – May 24

Cleveland, OH – May 26

New York, NY – June 2

Washington, DC – June 5

Richmond, VA – June 9

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Paseo Marítimo de la Playa Poniente in Benidorm, Spain photo: thecoolhunter.com

I came across a post on thecoolhunter.com recently talking about how we love art of all kinds – temporary installations, art happenings and exhibits, and large-scale sculpture in urban spaces. But according to the article, the people want more.

Paseo Marítimo de la Playa Poniente in Benidorm, Spain photo: thecoolhunter.com

Thecoolhunter.com says, ” We are on a quest for truly transformed urban spaces. We are looking for instances where a council, city, town, municipality has taken the initiative, come up with the funds and actually transformed a mediocre, unused, ugly space into an inviting and fun public environment.”

Paseo Marítimo de la Playa Poniente in Benidorm, Spain photo: thecoolhunter.com

For example, the website lists The High Line in New York and the seaside promenade at Paseo Marítimo de la Playa Poniente in Benidorm, Spain as two incredible examples of the urban landscape transformed.

Superkilen Urban Park in Copenhagen photo: designboom.com

There is also Superkilen Urban Park in Copenhagen where the designers and planners invaded the entire available space to create a lively expression of the various cultures and backgrounds represented by the area’s residents.

Back at the beach, don’t forget the world’s longest 324 meter-long meandering bench by Studio Weave on the seafront at Littlehampton in the UK. It is not just a bench, it is an experience and an environment.

The Longest Bench, Littlehampton UK photo: studioweave.com

I love seeing and experiencing art coming into our lives all around us in creative ways like this. Why limit art to museums, text books, gallery walls or our own walls at home? The opportunities to incorporate art into our environments is endless. Let’s support these ideas so more and more cool and artistic urban spaces come to fruition. We just cannot have too much art in our lives!

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Muhammad Ghandi

How does one make a difference in a world so vast and shifting? Can we all stand in front of towering tanks? Despite our best intentions, it may not be realistic for every passionate person to stand on the corner with protest sign. But perhaps making a difference in this world is simpler than we think.

Wall in Bethlehem by Banksy, Photograph by Andrew MacEacheron

My belief is you don’t have to have an “I-was-doused-with-pepper-spray” story to prove that you care, though we should all be thankful for the activists on the frontline. Education is a fundamental element to making a difference in the world. We live in a world of little understanding, perhaps even ignorance, and I say that with no judgement as I consider myself wrapped in a blanket of ignorance as well. So, what is the solution to educating the masses on the injustices in the world?

Sunflower Seeds by Ai Weiwei, at Tate.org.uk

Art. Art can be this education. I did not learn of the Napoleonic Wars from the textbooks my teachers provided me, but from the artworks of Antoine Gros, and Jacques Louis David. In the same way, art can illustrate a war, a conflict, or an uprising. Art can act as a voice for the oppressed, and is a method of spreading a message, an opinion.

Napoleon Visiting the Plague House in Jaffa by Antoine Gros

Educating ourselves by whatever means one finds most effective, and passing that knowledge along to others, is one of the key components to activism. Think about it – it’s acting. By sharing, and discussing, we can change. Art is just one of the ways we can do that.

Homeless at Christmas by Kim Weimer, at Zatista.com

What are you passionate about? Maybe it’s something our Zatista artists are passionate about as well. Be sure to check out what artists have to say, because they are changing the world.

War Torn Reflections by Terrece Beesley, at Zatista.com

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Edificio Bacardí, San Juan de Dios, Old Havana photo: Claire Boobbyer for The Guardian UK

According to the New York Times, 250 Cuban and foreign connoisseurs gathered last week in Havana for the World Congress on Art Deco for the hope the event would foster wider recognition of the island’s Art Deco heritage and the urgent need to preserve it.

Calle 13 corner of L, Vedado photo: Claire Boobbyer for The Guardian UK

Havana, like many of the island’s provincial cities, is peppered with Art Deco houses, apartment buildings, cinemas, theaters, hospitals and office buildings that range from the bold, vertical skyscraper style to streamline moderne with its cool horizontal lines and curved corners.

Juan Pedro Baró mausoleum doors, Catalina Lasa, Cementerio Colón photo: Claire Boobbyer for The Guardian UK

These landmarks are not as grand as the Chrysler Building in New York, and there is no Art Deco district like in Miami Beach, but fans say there is an unusual wealth and diversity of stock, much of which has remained standing — if poorly maintained — through 50 years of Communist rule.

El Tiempo (Time) in the Vestibule of the Edificio López Serrano photo: Claire Boobbyer for The Guardian UK

Havana is renowned for its crumbling elegance. Although some of the colonial buildings of Old Havana built between the 16th and 18th centuries have been carefully restored over the last 30 years, many buildings are in disrepair due to a lack of resources, high humidity, salty sea air and the fact that until a year ago Cubans could not buy or sell property.

Boudoir and bathroom of Countess Revilla de Camargo, Museo de Artes Decorativas photo: Claire Boobbyer for The Guardian UK

Fortunately, the absence of a construction boom during the past 50 years had spared many of Cuba’s historic buildings from the developer’s bulldozer. However, architects say that poorly enforced building codes and overcrowding in houses have resulted in cheap or tasteless alterations to houses that should be designated landmarks.

Miguel de Soto Methodist Church photo: Claire Boobbyer for The Guardian UK

Regarding the meeting of the World Congress on Art Deco, “Part of our purpose is to make a lot of noise,” said Gustavo López González, deputy director of the National Museum of Decorative Arts and one of the organizers. “If we in Cuba don’t appreciate the value of these buildings, how can we expect people from overseas to do so?”

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Marquam Bridge by Elizabeth Wade

Something about the night romances me. Driving down the highway I am overwhelmed by the consistent streetlights and the line of brake lights in front of me – absolutely mesmerizing. Good thing I’m just the passenger.

Night Empire by Jennifer Childs on Zatista.com

Something about evening creates a magical atmosphere, no matter what part of town you might be in. The big city becomes cosier, and the emptying streets light up to guide you.

Night Vision by Tracy Mewmaw on Zatista.com

What better sight to come home to then a calming, evening scene? Our Zatista artists seem to have mastered this comforting atmosphere, both in their photographs and their paintings.

Hot Summer Night by Katya Belilovsky on Zatista.com

The night we see in these images masks the industrial that we see on our daily commutes, or the construction we pass that has torn up our neighbourhoods. It all goes away at night. It’s wrapped up in a blanket of unknowing and indiscernible. With the night comes the comfort of knowing that tomorrow will be new, a blank canvas. Why not remind ourselves of this urban beauty, and this potential everyday in our homes? What is art’s purpose if not to calm us and remind us of the potential that surrounds us.

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Head of a Southern Cassowary by John James Audubon

According to the Associated Press (AP), the New-York Historical Society is exhibiting its entire collection of 474 bird watercolors by John James Audubon for the first time. They’re being shown chronologically in three exhibitions over the next three years.

"Snowy Owls" is from a rare first edition set of John James Audubon’s “The Birds of America”

The first group went on view Friday. The exhibit also celebrates the the release of the lavishly illustrated book Audubon’s Aviary: The Original Watercolors for “The Birds of America”―published by the New-York Historical Society and Skira/Rizzoli and winner of a 2013 New York Book Show Award.

John James Audubon (1785-1851), Great Egret (Ardea alba), 1821

The collection includes 435 watercolors engraved for Audubon’s monumental “The Birds of America.” The intricately detailed, life-size renderings are the naturalist’s greatest work. An original edition of Audubon’s book, known as the double elephant folio, is also being shown. Its plates will be turned weekly.  The exhibit will showcase every masterpiece from its unparalleled collection of John James Audubon’s preparatory watercolor models for The Birds of America (1827–38).

Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis), Study for Havell pl. no. 26

The 3 1/2-foot-tall volume features all the avian species known to Audubon in early 19th-century North America. He sold the engraved plates in a subscription series. The museum purchased all the watercolors, except one, from the artist’s widow in 1863. The exhibit features the stunning collection alongside engaging state-of-the-art media installations that will provide a deeper understanding of the connection between art and nature.

Northern Parula (Parula americana), Study for Havell pl. no. 15

Times flies when you’re having fun. The first exhibition ends May 19th.

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photo: http://www.madeinbrazilblog.com/

MOVE!, a series of installations created by world renowned artists in collaboration with fashion designers, opened to the public at Sesc Belenzinho in São Paulo, Brazil on Saturday. In 2010, the first iteration of this art and fashion mash-up spectacular happened at the Museum of Modern’s Art’s MoMA PS1 in New York and lasted for 2 days.

Cynthia Rowley + Olaf Breuning photo: cityist.com

This second time around, the festivities have grown into a 10-day interactive festival and the excitement is in Brazil. “We realized after P.S. 1 that the participatory events were the most successful,” says Curator Cecilia Dean via the madeinbrasil.com blog, who has pushed for more engagement with the crowd this time around. “With Brazilians, it should be pretty fun.”

Cynthia Rowley + Olaf Breuning photo: cityist.com

For example, visitors can put on a basic tunic designed by Cynthia Rowley while Swiss artist Olaf Breuning splashes them with buckets of paint to create instant, take-home fashion. That particular “movement”—as Dean, a Visionaire co-founder, and David Colman, an arts and fashion writer, calls each performance—is a beloved holdover from the original MOVE! in New York.

Cynthia Rowley + Olaf Breuning photo: cityist.com

But most of the other acts are new and tailored to the São Paulo scene, such as the alliance of artist Vik Muniz and Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa, two Brazilian powerhouses putting together a synchronized swimming performance that can be seen through the glass floor of the stupendously appointed SESC complex, according to wmagazine.com.

Cynthia Rowley + Olaf Breuning photo: cityist.com

“It’s this crazy place where you can hang out in pool or the cinema or the cafeteria, but where you can also go get your dental work done,” Dean says of the sleek government-funded space. “They’re all about bringing cultural programming to the people, and we want to make the intimidating worlds of art and fashion really accessible and fun.” MOVE! runs from March 9 to March 19. Admission is free. Kind of makes you want to go to Brazil, doesn’t it?

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