Ninja October 16th, 2009
Since Penguin is a fan of Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder work, I thought I’d post this for him (and you, of course) to enjoy!
Explosion Work
Long Island, New York, 2006
Video produced by McConnell/Hauser Inc
Ninja September 30th, 2009
Atlanta-based Brian Dettmer and Helsinki-based Sami Havia breathe new life into cassette tapes.
Brian Dettmer:
Dead Bird, 2005
Altered Cassette Tapes
Photo credit: Packer Schopf Gallery
Skull Mutation 1 (Classical), 2007
Altered Cassette Tapes
15 x 16 x 20cm
Photo credit: Mito
Bull Skull, 2007
Altered Cassettes Tapes
56 x 44 x 37cm
Photo credit: Mito
Goat Skull, 2007
Altered Cassette Tapes
18 x 34 x 19cm
Photo credit: Mito
Sami Havia:
Blind Melon – Nico, 2006
aerosol acrylic & pencil on c-cassettes
Mos Def – Black On Both Sides, 2006
aerosol, paper & felt-tip pen on c-cassettes
Michael Jackson – Thriller, 2006
aerosol & alkyd on c-cassettes
DJ Krush – Code 4109, 2006
aerosol, acrylic & alkyd on c-cassettes
NOFX – Punk In Drublic, 2006
aerosol, ink & acrylic on c-cassettes
Ninja September 17th, 2009
Here are some stunning acrylic and gouache paintings by Tokyo-based artist Kazuki Takamatsu. His paintings remind me a bit of depth maps. Takamatsu calls his style “distanfeerism.”
Takamatsu was born in 1978 in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture and graduated from the Tohoku University of Art and Design in 2002.
Beautiful night, 2007
1455 × 1455mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
Enemy, 2008
1620 × 1620mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
How to make, 2008
420 × 420mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
Hunting grounds, 2008
420 × 420mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
It is possible to do alone, 2008
420 × 420mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
Meal time, 2008
420 × 420mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
Patience patience patience, 2008
420 × 420mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
What a good solution, 2008
1620 × 1940mm
acrylic and gouache on wood panel
To see more of Kazuki Takamatsu’s work, visit his web site.
Via acidolatte
Related postsNinja August 6th, 2009
Guitar goddess/song bird, Kaki King, presents The Exhibition: a one night exhibit of guitars turned into pieces of artwork inspired by a Kaki King song title. The highlight of the evening will occur around 9:00 pm when Kaki puts on a solo performance of several songs, then plays the song Playing With Pink Noise with pink paint covering her hands on her iconic blue guitar. That guitar and several others will be auctioned off to benefit VH1’s Save the Music foundation.
Where
The Littlefield
622 Degraw Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue in the Gowanus
Brooklyn, New York 11217 (map)
718) 855-3388
When
Friday, August 7, 2009
One night only!
Doors open at 7:00 PM
Cost
Free admission
All ages welcome
Here’s a sneak peak at some of the guitars on display:
Sad American
Reni Papananias
Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person?
Vincent Hui
I Need A Girl Who Knows A Map
Kate Havnevik
Can the Gwot Save Us
Morgan Grenier
Here’s my contribution:
I Never Said I Love You
Detail
All my process photos and comments can be viewed here.
Come out and say hi! I’ll be the one with the pink streaks. ^___^
Big smiles,
Ninja
PS. Correction: looks like Magic Hat won’t be there after all, so no free beer. But hey, it’s a free Kaki show with some amazing art—that should be enough reason to come out and join us. ~__^
Related links
+ To see more, become a fan of Kaki King Guitar Art on Facebook
+ Kaki King SPIN interview
Album purchasing links
+Mexican Teenagers
+ Dreaming of Revenge
+ Until We Felt Red
+ Legs to Make Us Longer
Ninja July 28th, 2009
No Photoshop here! Beijing-based artist, Liu Bolin, covers his subjects from head to toe with paint so that they blend into their surroundings. This camouflage collection is an exploration of human nature and animal instincts.
Most animals live in harmony with their environment, creating habitats and protecting themselves through concealment and adaptation. Humans conversely seek to manipulate and destroy natural environments to best suit our needs, or the remove ourselves as far as possible from our base form. Through presenting humans camouflaged in artificial surroundings, Bolin questions whether we ourselves are natural, or artificial? We seek to elevate ourselves outside of the natural world, but this in turn alienates us and upsets the balance from which we came.
Artist’s education
In in 1995, Liu Bolin graduated from the Art Department of Shandong Arts Institute with a bachelor’s degree. In 2001, he Received a master’s degree from the Sculpture Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.
Via Telegraph
Related postsNinja July 21st, 2009
Wohoo, I’m done!
Detail
Thanks for giving me much love as I continue to do my art! The past few weeks have been spent burning the midnight oil to prepare for this show (it’s my first group show). I’m so excited, and I would love to see you there.
Where
The Littlefield
622 Degraw Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue in the Gowanus
Brooklyn, New York 11217 (map)
718) 855-3388
When
Friday, August 7, 2009
One night only!
Doors open at 7:00 PM
Cost
Free admission
It’s been such an honor to collaborate with one of my heroes, the talented musician, Kaki King! She invited me and 15 other artists to create visual representations of her music from some busted guitars. Here’s a glimpse into some of the artists’ creative processes:
Ahuvati
Night After Sidewalk by China Morobosa
Open Mouth
Pull Me Out Alive by Andrea Arceneaux
Sad American by Reni Papananias
So Much for So Little by Katherine Guillen
I can’t wait to see them all in person!
Also that night, Kaki will perform a special rendition of Pink Noise with paint on her fingers. Her resulting performance painting piece will then be auctioned off for charity.
Magic Hat Brewery is sponsoring the event so there will be plenty of free swill for those of you inclined.
Big smiles,
Ninja
PS Much thanks and love to my wonderful friend, Tony Bologna Yang, for shooting the finished piece and to my lovely model, Tanya Dakin.
Related links
+ To see more, become a fan of Kaki King Guitar Art on Facebook
+ Kaki King SPIN interview
Album purchasing links
+Mexican Teenagers
+ Dreaming of Revenge
+ Until We Felt Red
+ Legs to Make Us Longer
Ninja July 17th, 2009
Apologies for the long absence! I’m sad to say that my laptop still hasn’t been fixed. T_____T Some of my more techy friends will take a look at it over the weekend, and hopefully I’ll be up and running soon (and posting more regularly). Much thanks for your continued patience and love!
As promised, here’s my latest step in my Kaki King guitar project process. I lost a lot of process photos when my hard drive died, but imagine if you will layers and layers of paint built up into an awful mess, uneven eyebrows, and off-center lips. The (gasp) puffy cheeks and washed out skin tone stage can be seen below.
I have the bad habit of overthinking/overworking a painting, hating it, sanding it all off, and starting fresh. It’s a crazy and nerve-wrecking part that has insidiously crept into my process.
After a bit of sanding and sighing, it became this (above). The guitar is so close to being finished. Just a few more sleepless nights of tweaks and installing hanging hardware, and it’ll be show-ready.
As always, thanks for stopping by and checking in!
Much love and happy painting,
Ninja
Ninja July 8th, 2009
Hallo again! Thanks for popping in. ^____^
First, let me start off with a small apology. I won’t be able to post as regularly on the interwebs because my Powerbook is ill once more. While trying to shut down, it made 3 piercing screams while the pinwheel of death spun wildly. And today, it just wasn’t having it at all. I turned it on and nothing. Penguin suspects that it may have suffered a head crash.
But my lack of technological comforts has made for some good painting progress. Oh dear, it took me 6 hours to get from here:
to there:
I added more warm tones (to make the shadows richer) and fly-away strands of hair (hair that is too perfect looks fake).
Her lips are looking a little too done up, so I will revert to a paler shade in the next round.
detail
Oh, happy painting,
Ninja
Ninja July 6th, 2009
Yawn & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful weekend. And for those of you in the States, a lovely Independence Day.
I did a lot of painting of my weekend—yay! Here’s where I left off on my Kaki King guitar project.
Previously, her neck was too thick. There was more neck on the left than on the right, so I extended her hair to cover that part up.
I have the tendency to obsess and overwork when I paint—apply paint, hate it, sand off, repaint.
Later, I took a break and sketched this giraffe-icorn for Penguin, too.
Happy painting,
Ninja
Ninja July 2nd, 2009
Hallo, hallo you lovely folks! Thank you so much for all your encouragement and little love notes as I nervously go through prepping for this show. You have no idea how much it means to me.
For her hair, I layered burnt siena, raw siena, and raw umber acrylic paint around thin strips of ochre underpainting.
Here’s where I left off at 3 AM. Seemed like a good stopping point. Stay tuned for more obsessively detailed hair painting. ~__^
Much love back atcha,
Ninja
Limited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
