Xiong Wenyun

In taking this course, I have learned about the site We-make-money-not-art, which has become one of my favorite websites. On their homepage the image on the left immediately struck me. Taken by artist Xiong Wenyun in China, this photograph illuminates the aesthetic value of an otherwise normal cabin for the viewer. The bold red door adds a hint of color to a monotonous color scheme on the route from Beijing to Tibet.




This next picture I chose to display is from the same collection, titled "Moving Rainbow." The title originated from the collection's use of color, as well as, the Tibetan culture which views "rainbows as God's ladders that bridge the Earthly sphere with the celestial." The reason I chose to include it on the blog is because, although it wasn't as initially visually stimulating to me as the first picture, I enjoyed reading about the artist's message. Like Xiong, I too value the relationship between people and the Earth.

While exploring we-make-money-not-art, I decided to check out Art in Seoul, seeing as I have no idea where Seoul is. I found a rather witty project created by Damian Ontiveros Ramirez, titled Adam Smith: a million of good reasons to become a millionaire. The reason I believe that this piece interests me so much is because I love when I hear about things I have learned in school that I never thought I would hear about again, such as Adam Smith, a man I studied in Economics two years ago. Ramirez requested the help of some college students in recreating economist Adam Smith and plans to draw 1,000,000 portrayals of the famous economist making money by performing different actions i.e. hula hooping, as seen below. I really appreciate the humor in the piece, which is another reason why I wrote about it. It is humorous to me that the author would depict a cartoon version of an 18th century philospher/economist doing all different outlandish activities in order to make money, especially the hula hoop!

Banksy

Banksy is a semi-anonymous British artist who is famous for his street art as seen above. My favorite characteristic of Banksy's work is that it is done anonymously. He doesn't do it for the fame or the credit, he does it to express himself. Also, I admire his sense of humor and his ability to transform his political opinions and cultural influences into satirical works of graffiti art. I came across Banksy searching for graffiti artists on we-make-art-not-money.com. 

The three examples I have selected are my favorite of Banky's work. The first work I like because of the pop culture reference to Pulp Fiction, which is one of my favorite movies. The second work is a comical piece which I enjoy because of its wit and originality. The third is a satirical statement made by the artist, which I found appropriate being that we just turned in an assignment on satires and irony. 

My Very First Blog Entry: Richard Woods

For my first blog entry I chose to write about Richard Woods, more specifically his solo exhibition which has currently overtaken the Perry Rubenstein Gallery. "The Nature Show" covered the gallery from floor to ceiling with Woods' own designs including paintings and different vivid colors. The artist also introduces "Song Thrush," which Woods describes as "reversed repeat tiles."

I discovered "The Nature Show" through the website We Make Money Not Art and was immediately attracted to his work. After researching about Woods, I learned he is an installation artist from London. This intrigued me even more, because I have a strong interest in interior decorating. In his display, Richard Woods uses painted plywood to cover the entire room and then incorporates additional paintings into the room through using leftover plywood and other materials. I love bright colors and from the pictures I have seen from the gallery it seems there is a strong 70's influence, which is another aspect of the art that I enjoy. The entire room is filled with interesting patterns, juxtaposed against one another adding contrast [as you can see from the image on the left]. This giant melting pot of textures and color would be my absolute dream home.