Friday, April 30, 2010

Artist recreates a masterpiece using a single pen

Vermeer Masterpiece Drawn With One Bic Pen
In an entertaining new advertisement, Bic challenged artist James Mylne to recreate Johannes Vermeer's The Girl With a Pearl Earring—using a single pen. The ad is part of a series by Bic.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Banksy art painted over in Melbourne

CBC News - Art & Design - Banksy art painted over in Melbourne

Officials in Melbourne, Australia, are red-faced after a city cleanup crew painted over street art by internationally renowned artist Banksy.

Melbourne has a policy of encouraging street art and Banksy had created several murals during a visit to the city in 2003.

But the city also has a problem with gangs tagging walls and public property, and it sent a crew last week to clean up a downtown laneway.

The overzealous workers painted over the tags, but also the Banksy mural.

The work by the elusive British artist, who does not want anyone to know what he looks like, was a stencil of a parachuting rat wearing aviator goggles.

"Apparently what happened was that the residents requested that the laneway be inspected and cleaned because it was in pretty awful condition in terms of tagging, and also a whole lot of other people had dumped rubbish [there]," said city CEO Kathy Alexander.

"Unfortunately the contractors were not made aware by us that that was an important piece and unfortunately that means the piece is gone."

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says it is difficult to protect street art, which is vulnerable to others painting it over. He called the gaffe an "honest mistake."

In Britain, Banksy's work has been defaced by vandals and ordered painted over by some local councils who do not want to encourage graffiti artists. However, his works have sold for more than $1 million at auction.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2010/04/28/melbourne-banksy-street-art.html#ixzz0mSQ9bsrg

Met to Unveil Picasso Exhibit




***additional note: I was at a booth at Art Chicago last year (I think) and I was taken by an etching, at a distance, and i said, that looks like a Picasso, a Picasso I have never seen. The gallery gentleman came over and we discussed it. I made it quite clear that I could not afford the work, which did not diminish his enthusiasm for an informative discussion. It seems the gallery will not be at Art Chicago which is here this weekend, but you can see many less familiar works on paper by Picasso (and others) at their site http://www.johnszokeeditions.com
 
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