SELF-PORTRAIT BY JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

“The 27 Club is a term used to refer to popular performers who have died at the age of 27, often as a result of drug and alcohol abuse.” That’s the first sentence of the Wikipedia page on “27 club”. People like Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain all died at the age of 27. There’s also a certain painter that died at that age and he came to be one of the most famous painter of modern time. Born in 1960 Jean-Michel Basquiat he ran away from home at the age of 15. He lived on the streets of NY, hating the current exploiting of artist and the way that art at that time was just some status symbol.  This has later has contributed to his fame, since people now consider him rebellious. He died from an overdose and it wasn’t until after his death that his paintings became extremely attractive. You might have heard of Metallicas drummer, Lars Ulrich, who sold two paintings for a total of 18.5 million dollars. Or maybe you have heard Jay-Z or Kanye in “Watch the Throne” or maybe Rick Ross in song “John”, they all refer to Basquiat.

Here’s a piece called “Self-Portrait” which came up on the 15th of November, in New York. Its estimate price is somewhere between 2.5 to 3.5 million dollars.

Victor Gomez art take Miami

Victor Gomez, Untitled, Images Courtesy of the Artist

This weekend from January 17th to 19th, 2014 at Miami Spaces  Miami-based artist Victor Gomez will be exhibiting three of his pieces at Collectors Fair, the Art Fair for Collectors by Collectors in Wynwood.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Gomez, 71, is an award-winning printmaker and painter who has received more than a dozen international awards including the 1998 Tama Art University Museum Award during the Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial along with other recognitions from Tosayamada Museum of Art in Kochi, and the Special Organizer's Award at the International Triennial Competition of Print in Osaka.

Gomez's passion for his work is strongly evidenced in his dedication to continually produce his exquisite monotype pieces in a prolific manner even during this past New Year's eve. 

"I wanted to receive the new year working despite the many invitations to celebrate it among friends, and such idea became real as to emphasize the significance of the moment producing my own work," said Gomez to WUM.

Gomez says that his pieces are always a work-in-progress constantly evolving as it progresses along the way and adding small changes when necessary.

"I believe more in work than in inspiration, just as Hemingway used to say, 'If inspiration truly exists, let it show up while I'm working,'" added Gomez.

Gomez produces so much work that he says it's hard for him to put titles so he works better creating numbered editions instead of naming each piece.

On Friday's Opening Reception the pop-up space located at 23rd street and North Miami Avenue will be open from 6PM to 11PM; on Saturday and Sunday from 12-8PM and 12-5PM, respectively.

The Art Fair for Collectors by Collectors will feature affordable art for those starting their collection as well as established collectors wanting to sell or upgrade their own.  

Some of the artists to be featured include Sharron Lang, Waldo Balart, Federico Brandt, Carlos Quintana, Luis Torres, Arturo Rodriguez, Santy Santos,Ana Carballosa, NKO, MRKA, Willy Arguelles, Chris Radtke, Humberto Castro, Jorge Luis Santos, Chenco, Daniel Garcia, Mijares, Cundo Bermudez, Max Leiva, among others.

Miami Spaces is located at 2301 North Miami Avenue, Wynwood, 33127.

JAY Z LETS FAN RAP ON STAGE W/ HIM (“CLIQUE”)

Well this might be one of the coolest moments ever for a young man named Justin. He was holding up a sign at Jay Z’s NC show that read “Can I Rap For You?”. So Jay Z invited him on stage and did exactly that. He rapped a verse from “Clique” and absolutely killed it. Check out the footage below.

Dream Exhibition: The Body Deformed

Today I am going to compose my dream exhibition, meaning the works that would out together if I had endless amounts of money and connections at my disposal. The theme of the pseudo exhibition is The Body Deformed. 

The first artist that came to mind when I thought of this theme was Winston Chmielinski. He is a modern artist based in New York that mostly works in acrylic. In Winston Chmielinski’s Man Woman Bird there is the smooth surface’s of renaissance art, the distortion of illusion and reality in Baroque art, a depiction of modern day life, and the ambiguity of abstract art, which is even seen in the title. His art reveals and censors the human form, exposing the connection between mind, skin, paint, and brush.

Winston Chmielinski, Man Woman Bird

Winston Chmielinski, Soft 7

The next artist that I truly admire and believe that fits into the theme is Egon Schiele. Even his self-portraits are naked and exposed, creating a vulnerability that often times doesn’t exist in art.

In Egon Schiele’s Self Portrait (1910) he shows himself in a nude pose that is extremely distorted and abstract. The artist frequently depicted himself over the course of his short career, suggesting an obsession with self on par with Pablo Picasso. In most of the self portraits that he completed, they are extremely revealing and eroticized. These types of male nude portraits were virtually unparalleled in Western art at this time. In this particular portrait, Schiele creates a frightening view of himself where he is emaciated with glowing red eyes and decapitated feet. His body is entirely exposed, but ironically with the face partially hidden, possibly suggesting a sense of shame. The deformed shape of his body owes itself to the extreme influence of modern dance in relation to art at this time. Characteristic of the Expressionist mode, Schiele expresses his anxiety through line and contour, and flesh that appears abraded and subjected to the elements. Schiele rebells from conventional ideals of beauty with his embrace of figural distortion. His portraits and self portraits were explorations of the sitters psyches and sexuality. Schiele is famous not only for his erotically charged artwork, but also for his lifestyle, marked by scandal and a tragically early death. He harnessed emotional and sexual directness to reestablish the vitality of portraits and self portraits. They are devoid of  secondary attributes, which were often used in the genre of portraiture. Gustav Klimt had the most effect on Schiele’s career, serving as Schiele’s mentor and friend. Schiele took on Klimt’s focus on eroticism in the female form, the emotionally intense, and the investigation of the sitter’s inner life and emotional states. Klimt preferred, however, a more brilliant palette and patterned surfaces. Schiele was instrumental in forming the Expressionist ideals in the early 20th century, characterized by the use of irregular contours, dark symbolism, and sombre palettes. Schiele’s work influenced other Expressionists like Oskar Kokoschka, as well as his Neo-Expressionist successors like Francis Bacon and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait (1910)

Egon, Schiele, Seated Male Nude with Right Arm Outstretched

The next artist that I decided to include in the collection is Gustav Klimt, who I mentioned inspired Schiele. The largest of his paintings on canvas sticks out in my memory,  The Three Ages of Women. It shows three different ages of women, symbolizing the life cycle. The youngest women, with her boyish features and the the flowers in her hair, is an allegory for Spring and therefore life.

Gustav Klimt, Three Ages of Woman

The last artist that I will include is Janine Antoni, a feminist artist. Her Lick and Lather series is truly transformative. They are busts done in the classical style out of soap and chocolate and “re-sculpted”. The pieces are about desire, and oddly enough people have succumb to their desires and tried to eat the busts before. She knew when making the molds that they obviously wouldn’t last long and would inevitably self-destruct.

-Kindell Renee Hardin

Damien Hirst’s ‘Mickey’ Painting To Be Auctioned in Aid of Kids Company

Damien Hirst‘s Mickey – a painting done at the behest of Disney — is set to be auctioned off to raise money for Kids Company. Hirst has long been a supporter and advocate for the charity, which provides emotional and educational support for children through art therapy, and hosted a day-event with the charity in 2012. Mickey depicts the titular character in Hirst’s signature spot style and was first unveiled in 2012. No word on a reserve price or estimate for a final price, but the piece will be available at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on February 13 in London.

When style overlooks Swag

NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Presents "The Movement: Bob Adelman and Civil Rights Era Photography"

On Saturday, January 18th, 2014 from 5PM to 8PM, the NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale will inaugurate an exhibition in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,  featuring the imagery of renowned photographer, Miami Beach-based Bob Adelman.

"The Movement: Bob Adelman and Civil Rights Era Photography," presented by AutoNation, will be on view throughMay 17, 2014.  Press Preview will be held at 4PM and remarks by Isaac Newton Farris, Jr. nephew of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr will be mentioned at 5PM.

Adelman’s unique vantage point at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement led him to produce some of that era’s most iconic images.

Featuring 100 black-and-white and color photographs, the exhibition will provide a context in which viewers can revisit these years of struggle and consider how and why certain images have become emblematic of the era.

Between 1963 and 1968, Bob Adelman was a photographer for the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and other civil rights organizations.

His work granted him unique access to the movement’s most important events and figures, and he forged close ties with such civil rights leaders as Martin Luther King, Jr. , Malcolm X, John Lewis, and James Baldwin.  

Events documented in the exhibition include: the Freedom Rides; the 1963 Birmingham demonstrations during which demonstrators were hosed and attacked by police dogs; the 1963 March on Washington, which culminated in Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech; voter registration drives; the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March; and Martin Luther King, Jr funeral.

A number of the photographs on view in the exhibition have never before been published.

Adelman has photographed cover stories for many magazines including Esquire, Time, Life, New York, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and Paris Match, and has photographed or written more than a dozen books and produced many others, including King: The Photobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Abrams, 2004).

He has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEA grant, and several Art Directors Club Awards. His photographs have been exhibited the Smithsonian, the American Federation of Arts, and other institutions, and are included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Additional support for this exhibition is provided by Simkins Hollis Law Group, PC, in  loving memory of Dr. Anna Atkins Simkins, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee, Inc, the Community Foundation of Broward  and W Fort Lauderdale.

This event is free and open to the the public. RSVP required moareservations@moafl.org 

NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale is located at One East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33301.