Barnaby Hosting work at Charles Bank Gallery

All the galleries of art that I visited in the Lower East Side Gallery were fantastic to me. But the one art work that I really liked was one of Barnaby Hosting work in Charles Bank Gallery. It’s the color that he uses that attracts me. I’ve found them unique with the darkness, and I like the reflection that give the Butterflies.

He has created work that transcends the normal boundaries between art and objects by playing with surfaces, space, and light as well as their absence.

Hosking explores the importance of darkness, as both a visual and a psychological stimulus. For Dark Matters, he presents two pieces, both functioning in combination and as individual works: new configurations of Black Flood  and Thought.

   He said: ”with Thoughts, butterflies serve as a symbol of our inner wondering”. The luminous and dark surfaces of the individual butterfly wings project both the positive and the negative through elementary strategies of reflection and shadow”.

It makes me think while being there : it gives us peace while being there with the imagination and the recall of memories, hoping to live with our thoughts.

 

 

 

By Haichatou

A magical kingdom of happiness…

       Paul Kasmin art gallery, located in 293 10th Avenue  in Chelsea, is where an artist Walton Ford has some of his most recent works. Having gone to see these pieces of art in the Paul Kasmin gallery was quite the experience since they looked so realistic and colorful which brightened the darkness of the gallery. I actually felt like I was at the jungle with those animals in the paintings. I felt like I could just reach forward and touch those details in the painting. There were only 9 paintings in the gallery but surely they are were worth the trip.

Walton Ford,2011

The painting that captivated me the most was His Supremacy a painting of a monkey capturing and strangling a parrot. It was so entreating since the the bottom half of the monkey had cheetah spots with a cats tail. Also the way its standing on top of a wall of roses, that are growing out and some blossoming. Also how the other two parrots are snaring at the monkey to get the  parrot back. I can’t help but notice how he included the background to look so beautiful and peaceful, which was quite ironic because of the main theme of the monkey harming the bird.

"His Supremacy" is the third painting on the right side corner.

The painting was inspired by an unsettling passage from one John James Audubon’s memoirs. Audubon writes: “…My mother had several beautiful parrots and some monkeys; one of the latter was a full-grown male of a very large species. One morning, while the servants were engaged in arranging the room I was in, ‘Pretty Polly’ was asking for her breakfast as usual, ‘Du pain au lait pour le perroquet Mignonne,’ the man of the woods probably thought the bird presuming upon his rights in the scale of nature; be this as it may, he certainly showed his supremacy in strength over the denizen of the air, for, walking deliberately and uprightly toward the poor bird, he at once killed it, with unnatural composure. The sensations of my infant heart at this cruel sight were agony to me. I prayed the servant to beat the monkey, but he, who for some reason preferred the monkey to the parrot, refused. I uttered long and piercing cries, my mother rushed into the room, I was tranquillized, the monkey was forever afterward chained, and Mignonne buried with all the pomp of a cherished lost one. This made, as I have said, a very deep impression on my youthful mind.” Having said so I have to say that this painting did include those emotions and dynamic thoughts John James Audubon had when he experienced this.

Walton Ford was born in Larchmont, New York in 1960 but currently is living in Great Barrington, MA. Walton Ford left the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island in 1982 with a BFA degree. Mr Ford’s paintings are somewhat complex narratives that critique the history of colonialism, industrialism, politics, natural science, and humanity’s effect on the environment. He’s inspired by the descriptive style of 19th-century naturalists and artists, John James Audubon, Karl Bodmer, George Catlin.

This link below is the Art gallery’s website where you are able to see the other paintings.

http://www.paulkasmingallery.com/exhibitions/2011-11-03_walton-ford/selected-works/

By:  Michelle Bello

Who would’ve thought art is scribble?

As many of you know in New York City you can go just about anywhere to find any type of art that is to your appeal. Last Saturday I so happened to have the chance to visit some of the many galleries located in the lower east side. This particular gallery had stood out to me the Charles bank gallery located in 196 Bowery New York, NY 10012. It did include many artist auctioning off their pieces of art but the paintings that captivated me the most was from this Swedish artist Pär Strömberg. Born in 1972 in Örebro, Sweden and is currently teaching painting at Örebro College of Art, Sweden.

Since 1996 Pär Strömberg was inspired to paint about Sweden’s landscape as to relive its inner beauty from all types of perspectives. Something that caught my attention in his bio page was when he mentioned what painting meant to him: “Painting is not only storytelling. It is working with and executing specific ideas and emotions into layers of imagery, ” Strömberg. To the best of my understanding this is quite true when it comes to many other artists point of view while painting, I can also understand and see in this painting what he meant.

Pär Strömberg, Wormwood Waters, 2011

       One of Pär Strömberg paintings Wormwood was to be called my favorite in his collection since it was so beautiful. I felt I just wanted to be there sitting in the snow and watching it fall slowly into the now frozen lake. I was amazed by how extraordinary  the landscape was portrayed in this painting, surprisingly enough he only added few colors which made it seem more realistic. I also noticed the emotions placed into painting showed peace, relaxation, calm, refreshing. The amount of detail placed into this painting show effort which is something another artist did little of.

Allen Grubesic,Retrospect,2011

However as it turns out there always is that one artist whom takes it upon themselves to make art look differently then from what it actually is expected. Allen Grubesic  another Swedish artist born in Uppsala, Sweden,1974; who’s art work was quite amusing although it wasn’t at all that appealing to me, since it just had words and sayings. I felt like anyone is more than capable to write on a canvas while also painting the background and actually considering it “art”. In my opinion it shouldn’t even be considered art but just like Mahatma Ghandi once said: “True art takes note not merely of form but also of what lies behind”.  I Later found myself interested in what was the actual meaning of the words to his painting and was rather surprised  by the outcome.

Allen Grubesic,Retrospect,2011

He had wanted to send a message by telling people that there lies much more than just words and trying to piece everything together by just seeing it for the first time. Being judgmental causes one to not realize what the artist is really trying to tell us. “In a sense we mythologize everything around us by going beyond the explicit concepts, ideas, messages and forms in order to create a mode of communication existing outside conventional language,” says Grubesic. He couldn’t have said it any better himself but I  believe that is quite true to a certain extent, I had felt bad that I was so harsh on his paintings but I still don’t take it so seriously because art to me means having put effort and emotion into it.  But I guess I did learn a lesson that I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but by it actually means inside.

 

By:Michelle Bello

Colorful World Of Graffiti by Indie

   Indie is a graffiti artist from Washington Heights, Manhattan.

Growing up in Washington Heights I remember seeing Indie’s work everywhere I went , but the reason why I am so interested in Indie’s art work is because she doesn’t like getting paid, interviewed or anything to get her to be known worldwide. She does it to show people that anyone could do what they want if they try. Indie does not do all her art work by herself,  a lot of the people that color her outlines on walls are little kids. Indie is really focused on just being a good role model, and that’s what really inspires me.

I met her one day when I was with my older sister. I didn’t know who she was because I had never seen her before. My big sister had said “Look Christy, that’s her! That’s Indie!”. The first question I asked her was “Why do you like to paint so much?” and she replied “Because I know that everyone around here needs inspiration, and I want to be that one to give everyone all the hope they need to become something bigger than what they could ever imagine.”

Indie’s art work reflects a lot on her personality, she is very retro and just loves to be random and outrageous. Most of her art work is not even planned. She looks for places big enough where she can make a mural, after than her imagination just opens up. Another big reason why I love Indie’s graffiti art is because not only does she do it on walls, but on floors, trucks, ceilings, anywhere she thinks its unique. Its very interesting to walk, and then suddenly see a splash of color on the sidewalk, it makes anyone feel like their in another place other than the streets.

After that day I knew I wanted to bejust like Indie, her art work is not only in Washington Heights, but all around Manhattan. Her colorful pieces of are meant to stand out apart from all the gray sides of New York. To show everyone that not everything has to be so serious. Indie represents all kinds of cultures, from Hispanics, to African-Americans, to Caucasians.

Now Indie has moved to California, where she is still doing her art work but focusing more on starting a family.

-Christy Hernandez

Frank Gehry has done it again

Frank Gehry, the man behind the so many architectural designs, is a well known for having created outstanding buildings such as  the Walt Disney concert hall, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao….so on. Although he has done other projects as the world hockey cup he has had his ups and downs like any other person would. He is ranked as one of the top choices according to Vanity Fair magazine 2010, they polled 52 of the world’s best-known architects and architectural critics, asking them to name the most significant works of architecture of the last 30 years. By an overwhelming margin they had placed Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao at the top of the list.

LAC Building,Frank Gehry,2010

One of his architectural design projects was the IAC building located in 555 West 18th Street, which was by far one of the most outstanding pieces he has created for in a long while. I am lucky enough to live in NYC where mostly everything is located here. I was walking nearby Chelsea piers and  was rather astonished by the architect of the IAC building. Its beautiful curvy windows and design had me cross the street so I could admire it at a better view. I was speechless by how it looked inside and out but later on just considered it another amazing building located in NYC.

I was however still curious to find out whom did the building actually belong to. I was determined that it was another art gallery or studio because of the building design but was surprised that it actually was an internet company with more than 50 websites belonging to them. Although I didn’t have a chance to actually enter the building I did get a chance to see most of what is the interior of the building by their website.

 

By: Michelle Bello

Ian Downing – Keith Haring

Keith Haring's "Growing from Growing from Growing" piece

Keith Haring is an artist who started to become famous in such a queer way; by making chalk drawings in the New York City subway system. As childish as it sounds, it’s not something anyone could do (and not just because you could get arrested for it). Keith Haring just LOVED to draw. He’s loved drawing since he was a kid; back in his native town of Reading, Pennsylvania. And he didn’t go to school to learn how to draw; his dad taught him!

Now you may be wondering: “Why did he just walk up to a subway ad one day and draw on it?” . Well, Haring used to study at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he developed a variety of art exhibitions which he would present in art exhibition sites and performances, at a club called: “Club 57″. So this one day in 1980, Haring was walking down the subways of New York and spotted a few empty ad boards, and saw it as an opportunity to project his art onto a wider audience. So apparently, he must have had some white chalk with him, and decided to start drawing on the black, blank boards. Eventually, he kept drawing and drawing and DRAWING until he covered many ad boards with his art.

His art would be all over the New York City subway system, and people became familiar with it. They would even stop and watch him drawing if they were lucky enough to find him “on-the-job”. The subway was even dubbed his own little “laboratory” (which  doesn’t sound as bad as it seems).

After monopolizing the entire New York City subway system with his art, Haring decided to open art exhibitions; which he did for the next 9 years (1980-1989), in which he achieved international fame for. He’s had art exhibitions in places like the Westbeth Painter’s Space in New York, the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in Soho, and many more. But besides just this, he ended up doing some international-leveled pieces of art. He designed billboards in Times Square, New York; watch designs for the watch company “Swatch”, and even an advertising campaign for “Absolut Vodka”.

But Haring grew a little bored with the big stuff, and on April of 1986, he opened a Pop Art store in Soho selling clothing and other items with his own designs on them. He also decided to give the store his own touch by painting it’s interior in an abstract black and white fashion. People criticized this action, but Haring ignored them. He wanted his art to be available to the world; something which other artists probably did not agree with.

Haring worked on many other projects which had intentions of projecting a social message to the world. Unfortunately, this all ended in 1990 when he died of AIDS. But as a result, his art was donated to organizations to help raise funds for AIDS. The singer Madonna cared so much, that in his memory, she donated all the money made from her “Blonde Ambition Word Tour” to AIDS charities. Some of his art even appears briefly in the song “One” by the band “U2” in a tour which took place during 1997 and 1998.

By: Ian Downing

Show of amazing arts!

By-Nushrat Jahan

There are a lot of galleries in The Lower East Side Gallery. Those art galleries had various kinds of artworks. Some of the of the art galleries were Charles Bank Gallery, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, The Hole Gallery, and LaMama Gallery. All the art galleries contained beautiful artworks but my favorite one was from Charles Bank Gallery because there the arts of the painters were very unique. They displayed the simple nature’s beauty, darkness, abstractions and various kinds of shapes to show the vanishing point easily through our vision.

I saw the artists of that gallery mostly painted about darkness and cold nature. They were very simple paintings and some artists’ paints were about shapes. Some paintings were only painted in black and white color. It could attract the viewers instantly because those arts were very natural but they were from the artists perspective because the artists showed the beauty inside the dark world and glimpse at the light that is there even in the darkness. The name of the artist was Par Stromberg. He showed the holes and trees. The paintings made me feel gloomy and cold. In some works, there was only trees and some huge piece of ice which made me think it may be snowing a lot and that it covered all the trees and big rocks.

Watercolor on paper

Untitled, 55 x 75 cm, watercolor on paper (Akzo Nobel Art Foundation)

The purpose of art is to show some emotions, giving happiness and peace to the viewers. The artist named Ryan James Macfarland took pictures from nature  and showed a lonely young person from their back. He also showed the reverse reflection of a mountain that is covered with green trees. It caught my eye because  it was very beautiful and creative. He didn’t paint but he photographed people. He simply took those pictures. The pictures were not very fancy but were really nice and I liked it a lot. In his photography he showed a drowning person in the sea. He didn’t really show their front but they were from far away. Mostly his pictures of young men were in the water and just wearing short pants without any clothes. One young man is smoking and that picture was very crepuscular and I think Macfarland did it purposely to make it a stunning looking photography.

ALWAYS/NEVER, 2009

YOUNG MAN #2, 2007

Finally the last piece of artwork that was my favorite was the arts of Eske Kath. She painted many shapes and showed the vanishing point or the horizontal line. She painted sun and its scattering light to help us see the vanishing point easily. She painted with many different colors to make it very beautiful. It made me feel she did it with all her feelings. And I can say that her paintings were about happiness and joy in life. Almost all of her paintings were colorful and blissfully messy however they were nice and my favorite.

THE RECTIFIER, 2009

Overall, I’d say that it was a great chance for me to learn about different kinds of art. Everyone has their own perspective to show their own feelings which the artists had done on their artworks. The journey to the art gallery was a very good learning place for me because I have gotten some extra knowledge from different artists and their arts.

A walk in the world of magical painting!

By- Saiyeeda Tahrima

All of the galleries of the lower east side seemed pretty cool and wonderful to me. Some galleries that we saw are  Charles Bank Gallery, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, The Hole Gallery, and LaMama Gallery. From all galleries I liked Charkes Bank gallery the most because of the beautiful and wonderful paintings there. One painting of Par Stromberg seemed really amazing to me because it gives a feeling that it’s inviting us to take a walk in the world of the magical painting. Everything seemed really happy to me in the painting.

I liked the painting “Untitled, 55 x 75 cm, watercolor on paper” by Par Stromberg. It has a very nice scenery of snow falling in a huge quarry of snow and it seems like there is a wooden bridge in the snow. The bridge is lit so the stairs are as well. There are a lot of Christmas trees on the surrounding places past the bridge and the river of snow. It was snowing really hard like raining snow. I am guessing it was Christmas back then when Par Stromberg painted this picture. I think he drew the bridge to show people that they can go from one side of the quarry to the other. The painting has a very cold weather and its a painting of night.

Par Stromberg’s most of the artworks are very beautiful and amazing. Most of them are full with abstract drawings and paintings and my favorite. Most of his paintings are about natural beauty and cold weather. From all his paintings I can see that he is a very peace-loving person. He has drawn a lot painting where he shows darkness and they are black and white. He also drew about nature and natural beauty. For example-blue ocean, a man going to the moon, different types of rocks, trees, lightning, snowing in the city, raining a lot, people on a boat and heavy wind blowing really fast. These are the paintings he made from his point of view and from his likes and tastes.

Overall, I loved that painting and would like to see more of his paintings in the future. From my point of view he is a great artist and his paintings are just wonderful to see. You guys should definitely come and check out some of his paintings. Trust me its really good. My favorite picture of his painting is shown below:

Untitled, 55 x 75 cm, watercolor on paper (Akzo Nobel Art Foundation)

The Art of Words

Not much is known about Kasper Sonne, besides the fact that he’s an artist. An artist, that could infiltrate into your mind and MAKE you feel his art, without using any kind of physical force. He was born in 1974 in Denmark, and currently lives and works in New York. He’s developed quite an interesting collection of art which may not seem like much at first glance; black paintings with nothing but one word in fancy font in each one. But if you look at each painting carefully, then you’ve fallen into his trap.

“Happy”, “Envy”, “My Sin”, and “Secret” were among the words on the fairly plain surface of each seemingly meaningless piece. But if you were to actually take the time to observe each piece carefully, you will indeed find something pretty mind-blowing.

"happy"

The above photo is of the one with the word “happy”. Besides the fact that the font fits the feel of the word, look around it. Since the only other thing besides the text on the piece is the black background, take a look at that. What do you see? You may notice that it’s been painted with non other than a paintbrush. But now look at the word “happy”, and look at the black paint. Do you notice how these brush strokes were made in a “happy” manner? This made me literally jump, and I was able to picture how the artist was crafting this while he was happy. It’s like in the latest Sherlock Holmes movie titled “Sherlock Holmes: The Game of Shadows”, in which Holmes and Dr. Watson easily determined someone’s mood by observing a letter the person wrote. This is probably the goal Sonne was trying to project to the viewer; seeing the mood of the word in the painting, or to be more specific, in the background as much as in the font used for each word.

ENVY

Now lets look at “ENVY”. By looking at the word and then at the brush strokes, you can almost feel that this piece has the actual feeling it is projecting to the viewers. To me, this is very interesting. It actually made me myself feel “envious” just by looking at it. It’s like an abstract painting that messes around with your brain and makes you feel that feeling. The same thing goes for all of these pieces as well. At first I walked into the room these were in, and from afar thought they were simply black paintings aligned next to each other on the same wall. I indeed think that this is worth walking into when you have free time, or simply when you are in the SoHo area. Where is it, you ask? You’ll have to look through the other fine galleries in the area to find out!

MY SIN

Secret

By: Ian Downing

A Stunning Look at The Heaven-Like Art Galleries

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Wormwood Waters, 95 x 140 cm, oil on canvas

Echoes II, 30 x 40 cm, oil on canvasWormwood Waters, 95 x 140 cm, oil on canvas

by Alvi Taher

Probably not everyone will think that Par Stromberg’s artworks are  the best, but in my view, I have never seen such stunning artworks before.

There is a neighborhood called The Lower East Side where many beautiful art galleries exist. I liked all of the art galleries and those art galleries contained a lot of different types of artworks. The names of the art galleries were Charles Bank Gallery, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, The Hole Gallery and LaMama Gallery. Amongst the many great art galleries in the Lower East Side, the one that most impressed me was Charles Bank Gallery.

My favorite artist from Charles Art Gallery was Par Stromberg because his artworks were most amazing out of all of the artists’ artworks I have seen. According to the official page of Charles Bank Gallery, “Through his work, Strömberg has embedded  a sense of escapism and yearning for unspoiled nature’, art critic Daniël Bertina explains, “the Swedish landscapes of Strömberg seem to be a homage to the old worlds and gods. Mystic and natural forces unfold in his work and contrast with our daily lives in which speed, technology and consumerism dominate.”

Par Stromberg painted very attractive and amazing artworks of different shades of weathers with different colorful designs. My most favorite artwork contained the dark weather of snow, trees, and ocean. The name of the artwork is Wormwood Waters. It shows beauty of the nature. There is a ocean in between the two sides of snow and actually from my point of view, the artwork looks like a snow land. The artwork is also kind of confusing me because I cannot feel anything except for the beauty of the nature whenever I look at this artwork and try to figure out what is going on there. I also liked another work of Par Stromberg called Echoes II, (30 x 40 cm, oil on canvas). This artwork portrays a girl who is alone and riding on the boat in the ocean. The weather is also dark in this artwork and the trees are surrounded by the ocean. I think, this artwork also gives the sign of being free because the girl is alone, riding the boat by herself and there is no one to bother her and she is capable of finding her own way through out her life.

Overall, the trip to The Lower East Side was amazing. I had a tremendous opportunity to learn more about arts and culture. I learned that Par Stromberg loves to paint the artworks of abstract weather. Even though Par Stromberg painted those artworks for a different purpose and with different ideas, however, I can describe his artworks from my own point of view. My ideas can be totally different than Par Stromberg’s about his artworks, after all everyone has a different perspective and opinion about  everything.