Recently I posted an entry on an upcoming Chilean artist Nicolás Radic who is awesome because his hyperrealistic paintings are at the same time, abstractions of the things portrayed in real life. This time, I found Alexa Meade, who challenges the definition of what a canvass is. I'd say her approach is maybe the inverse to Nicolás'; she paints on her subjects and turns the real thing into wonderful paintings:
Mediation 2
alexameade.com 24x15 Chromira Print. Limited Edition of 7. For pricing information, please contact lauren@irvinecontemporary.com
Amazing, eh? From afar you could actually believe it's an oil-on-canvass, only the hair seems to give away the true reality of the piece of art.
Blake
24x18" Chromira print. Limited Edition of 7. For pricing information, please contact lauren@irvinecontemporary.com.
Seems like tons of fun, and probably a lot easier than it really is. Now, I wonder how would it feel to be there in person and walk around the 'painting' (as a photograph we no longer perceive depth, hence our illusion of it being flat), and if it would be equally convincing.
Probably not but that's maybe not the point. If only, then we'd be able to one day achieve amazing effects... remember that Robin Williams movie 'What dreams may come'? Alexa Meade's official Page
Somehow Japan is really good at taking English words, combining them in unlikely ways and exporting them back to the West as a brand new thing. Think about the Walkman, for instance. The term I'm bringing up here however is ''superflat''. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is a pioneer. His art screams in wild colours and outrageous characters with roots in anime and pop art (like Warhol's). He creates things in many media and he's able to merge all of them into one unified entity, hence the ''flattening'' (not 'flat' as in lacking). Truly something I'd like to try.
Anyway, this video provides some insight into his art and how the new wave of Japanese art owes to his particularly crazy and colourful mindview:
Warning: if you get offended by strange things, then don't watch this. Open your mind a little and maybe you won't get offended =P
And here I have the two adverts which he made for Louis Viutton. I say the first one was a mixture of crazy awesome music by the Fantastic Plastic Machine with Murakami's distinctively seizure-inducing colour explosion. The second one looks like a continuation a few years later, but it lacks the bang of the first loco one.
And
Seen enough? Kaikai Kiki Co., an artists' collective founded by Murakami himself. Apparently, they are working on a film called Kaikai & Kiki, to be released this year, featuring many of Murakami's brainchildren. More of this infectious stuff:
Now let's see, what will this mean outside of Japan?
point. If only, then we'd be able to one day achieve amazing effects... remember that Robin Williams movie 'What dreams may come'?
