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Category Archives: Art

Basel musing: Robert Williams’ Appetite For Destruction

Posted by AM Editor, December 19, 2008

This has been written on before, but AM thought that it was important enough to revisit. In the world of low-brow and pop surrealist art, there perhaps is no bigger name than Robert Williams, and Williams’ 1978 painting Appetite For Destruction is without a doubt his most recognizable work. People worldwide were exposed to Williams’ work when the paintings’ title and image were used by Guns ‘N Roses for their incredibly successful 1987 major-label debut (although the cover art was soon changed as many found […]

Banksy, or is it?

Posted by sleepboy, December 18, 2008

This sign with some Banksy imagery went up recently on Southwark Street in London. Speculation is that this is most likely just a publicity stunt by a company called The Bank. Although, here is another website with a similar logo… either a related company or perhaps there is still an outside chance this was taken by Banksy for an elaborate hoax. If this is indeed the start of a viral campaign by The Bank without Banksy’s cooperation, what do you think of companies subverting artists’ […]

Brooklynite Gallery launches online shop

Posted by AM Editor, December 18, 2008

Bed Stuy’s one and only Brooklynite Gallery has just added an online shop to their Web site, which contains a nice selection of well-priced prints and originals by the likes of emerging artists Ben Frost (pictured above), Remed, ZBIOK and others. The email announcement went out earlier this morning, and already a few pieces have sold, so it seems that at least someone out there is in the holiday shopping spirit. If you are still in need of that perfect gift for your art lover […]

Opening: The Piece Process @ Anonymous

Posted by AM Editor, December 18, 2008

A spirited crowd came out last night for the opening of “The Piece Process” at Anonymous Gallery on New York’s Lower East Side. The concept: connect pop/urban/graffiti/street artists from the last fifty years through an exhibition of their sketches, studies and preliminary works. Although some of the pieces seemed to represent the idea of process better than others, the collection of names represented was nothing short of impressive: from Ray Johnson, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat to Aiko, Judith Supine and the Clayton Brothers. Our […]

Creative Process: Eric Fortune

Posted by sleepboy, December 17, 2008

An artist you will be hearing more of in the future, Eric Fortune, has sent us some progression images of his latest piece “A Want To Believe.” Eric has a career in illustration but seems to be making a transition into the gallery scene with shows coming up at Ad Hoc Gallery, Cerasoli-LeBasse, and Roq La Rue. We love his elegant composition, delicate poses, and rendered lighting that seem to make his paintings glow. This will be the first of a series of “creative process” […]

Time PotY Cover: Obama by Shepard Fairey

Posted by juggernut3, December 17, 2008

On Friday, December 19th, TIME Magazine will release its “Person of the Year” issue. The winner… President Elect Barack Obama. He will get the cover of the magazine of course, but what image/photograph did Time use? They went to the person responsible for creating the most iconic portrait of Obama, Shepard Fairey, and asked if he would design the cover for the Person of the Year winner: Barack Obama. UPDATE: Time actually conducted a video interview with Shepard to dicuss the design process for the […]

Releases: Choegal – David Choe

Posted by sleepboy, December 17, 2008

The long awaited wooden Choegal figure from David Choe has been released. Limited to 1000 pieces and priced modestly at $45, it features mechanical parts, three facial expressions (happy, sad, angry), and comes with a mini comic book. These were produced and available here at Ningyoushi in conjunction with Upper Playground. We believe these are all hand-painted so no two are different, but not by Choe. For those interested, there is a release party at Giant Robot 2 on December 23 (6-8pm) with Choe present […]

Ryan McGinness book signing @ Zakka

Posted by AM Editor, December 17, 2008

AM friend and photographer Joe Russo was in Dumbo, Brooklyn, last Saturday night for the Ryan McGinness book signing at uber-cool Japanese art and design book store Zakka. McGinness was there in support of his latest limited edition book, No Sin/ No Future, which is “a collaged collection of snapshots, sketched and scans, culled from the artist’s studio archives.” Joe reported that Ryan was very friendly and eager to talk about his work, and hinted about the possibility of more exclusive McGinness coverage in the […]

Setup: Yoshitomo Nara @ Blum and Poe

Posted by AM Editor, December 16, 2008

Continuing with our coverage of Yoshitomo Nara’s upcoming show (teased) at Blum & Poe on December 20th, AM has received two new images of the Japanese artist’s temporary studio in LA. From the looks of it, Nara is planning another large-scale installation along the lines of the Yoshitomo Nara + Graf exhibitions of the last few years. In these shows, Nara teamed up with Japanese design firm Graf to construct structures in which Nara displays his paintings and drawings of mischievous girls and exclamatory slogans […]

Openings: Matthew Bone @ Copro Nason

Posted by stephen, December 16, 2008

This past Saturday, Copro Nason also opened “Like Giving a Kid a Loaded Gun,” the solo debut by Matthew Bone. A local of Los Angeles, Bone is a figurative artist who paints dark images filled with strong visual impact that are an allegory of the morbidity present in the world today and the consequences of the revelation of these conditions. While his work may be too edgy for some to stomach, AM welcomes the change in imagery and strong juxtaposition Bone brings to the “safe” […]