BLACK HISTORY MONTH: JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

One of the leaders during the emergence of the Neo-Expressionism Movement is Jean-Michel Basquiat, a self-taught and very talented artist. He originally started as a graffiti artist around New York City under the name "SAMO". Because of his talent and passion his work was picked up in 1980 and he became loved by the public for his style.

About this time was when the Neo- Expressionist Movement began and in the mid 1980s Basquiat collaborated with Andy Warhol. Basquiat's work often touches upon the relations between the Egyptian slaves and African Americans with his use of text, symbols.
"Like a DJ, Basquiat adeptly reworked Neo-expressionism's cliched language of gesture, freedom, and angst and redirected Pop art's strategy of appropriation to produce a body of work that at times celebrated black culture and history but also revealed its complexity and contradictions" -Lydia Lee

Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Arm and Hammer II, Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 76 x 112 inches, 1985.

During this time, when his work was showcased throughout the world, his life began to be pulled down with drug use leading to his early death at the age of 27. His brief but influential art career brought Latin and African American life into the art world. If he had lived longer his influence and experiences would have only further changed the art world for the better.

References:
http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851#commercial-success
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat#cite_note-Sirmans-3

NEW ARTFORM: GIFS

Are GIFs the new artform?
For those who don't know GIFs are a file format .gif that holds a few frames of a video or stop motion photographs that loop forever. The internet over the past few years has been churning out millions of gifs. From a scene from a movie to a handdrawn mini cartoon. But now there is debate whether gifs can be made into an art form. I mean if you think about it Photography started out for science and then use at home and for children but also an art form...

YoMeryl, Sarah Zucker and Bronwyn Lundberg, has just recently brought gifs to the Brooklyn Musuem as art. The gifs they portray are a play on pop culture and art history having celebrities like Lena Dunham and Lady Gaga mixing with famous art exhibits from Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" to Ai Weiwei's "He Xie."

When interviewed about their gifs they said their gifs show a "hyperreality that shows subjects engaging with art so much so that they enter the art or become part of the art." Which leads to a very popular type of artwork right now: Interactive Art. But not all gif artists are creating these sorts of scenes. Some are taking a more abstract approach to gif art.

Erik Soderberg in 2011 experimented with the animation of gifs and "the relations of geometry, nature and the human being" Each piece being more mesmerizing than the next, Soderberg creates insane illusions that loop forever. These gifs are more generative than YoMeryl's but still use gifs as the main medium.

Erik Soderberg, Vibrating Icosahedron, gif, 2011

Erik Soderberg, Torus, gif, 2011

 What do you think about GIF Art? Is it the new wave of art?

References:
NYMagazine http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/12/are-gifs-art-the-pop-art-pair-yomeryl-discusses.html
Erik Soderberg: http://work.eriksoderberg.se/Fractal-Experience-Part-2

GLITCH ART

Some of you may have heard about Glitch Art, others might not. Most of the time Glitch Art is referring to a part of the digital photographic process where the artist would edit the data/code in certain ways to create certain effects to the pixels of the image. Artists have used Glitch Art in video form and photographs. These forms then have inspired other artists of other mediums to create a similar pattern but with drawing or painting. 

So far this movement is not a major part of Contemporary Art but it has made its way into other movements. Artists like Nam June Paik have experimented with Glitch Art and similar techniques where it is nothing new. For instance in Nam June Paik's Magnet TV he places a magnet on top of an old CRT TV and gets a bend in the data. 

Nam June Paik, MagnetTV, crt tv and magnet, 1965

Currently there are conferences and groups of tech-art aficionados that get together with workshops, lectures, performances, and screenings. One is called GLI.TC/H. 

Andy Denzler is another artist who uses glitching techniques to get their unique look, except this time it's with paint. He has been working with his specific technique since 2004 and has really come a long way since then creating beautiful dreamlike paintings without getting too muddy.

Andy Denzler, Just Antother Day in Paradise III, oil on canvas, 140 x 120 cm, 2014

I know there is a lot of Glitch Art haters out there because it is such a easy process to do to photography in today's world, but there is a specific art form to it. Just like Modern are and Minimalism it has to be done correctly and with the placement and precise end product it can be something magical. But it is a process based art form where you have to experiment. I love it's end product especially when used with painting and drawing, it can become something new and exciting for the art world to move into.