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Tuesday Inspiration
16 April 2013 by
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Patti Smith
09 April 2013 by
"You do your work because you have to, it's your calling. One does their work for the people, the more people you can touch the more wonderful it is. You want everyone to be transported, you want everyone to be inspired." - Patti Smith
We couldn't agree more.
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Q&A With Kenny Scharf!
05 April 2013 by
Kenny Scharf opened his exhibition 'Kolors' last night at Paul Kasmin Gallery. It was a colorful affair complete with a particularly delicious collaboration between Scharf and The Doughnut Plant. Known for his colorful paintings, murals, and close friendships with artists Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat during the East Village art scene of the 1980s, Scharf was one of the first artists to inject street culture into mainstream contemporary art. He continues to incorporate imagery from cartoons and pop culture into his exuberant painting and sculptures. Scharf took some time out of his day to answer a few questions about his work and new exhibition.
Let's start from the beginning. How did you get your start making art?
My earliest memory was finger painting in nursery school. I can remember vividly the excitement I felt and the visuals like it was yesterday.
You're from LA - do you think being from there influences your work?
Growing up in LA definitely influenced my art. I was constantly being bombarded with imagery that spoke of the space age in cars, architecture, and media. The colors and imagery are still fresh in my mind.
Then you came to New York and became friends with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. What drew you to each other?
Fate - they were some of my first friends I made immediately upon arrival.
With Keith you made blacklight installations called 'cosmic closets,' which eventually caught the interest of the Whitney, who then asked you to recreate it for their Biennial. How did that come about and what was that like?
Keith and I lived in a decrepit townhouse near Bryant Park - I converted an old large closet into an installation after I came upon a blacklight and began to put items from the street garbage into the room and painted them florescent. It began to grow and became the "closet," and then the "cosmic cavern." It became the site of a lot of fun parties!
A lot of your work prominently features cartoons characters and pop iconography. What about that interests you?
That I own these icons because they are personal to me, yet they are also shared by millions!
You have a series of doughnut paintings. What about doughnuts interests you?
They look good, taste good, yet are bad for you. They have a hole in the middle and resemble the universe. Some scientists think the universe is shaped like a doughnut. They are the ultimate good-to-look-at, bad-for-you consumer object. They're fun to paint.
Through your work you have developed a fully formed world with characters. You've translated this into animation in the past - will you be making more in the future?
I would very much love to make more animation.
You've made a few sculptures: one for your show at Honor Fraser and your sculpture at the Standard Hotel. What is it like seeing your characters move from the 2D realm to 3D?
Ive actually made many sculptures over the past 30 years, but these new ones are different and I think more successful in their bright, colorful, shiny boldness. It is natural for me considering all the paintings incorporate imagery that has a "3D" look.
You often refer to yourself as a customizer and have transformed objects ranging from household appliances to Cadillacs. What about that interests you?
Taking everyday usable objects and turning them into art is a great way of incorporating the everyday task and transforming it into a magical art experience, thereby uplifting the banal into beauty and experience.
Tell me about your collaboration with Kiehl's - what was it like to make over a product as iconic as the Crème de Corps? How was that process?
It was great to work with Kiehl's as they have such a good graphics team - they made it super easy for me!
What are some of your new inspirations and what are you looking forward to?
I am very exited about the present and future. Besides my show opening next week, I am about to make another mural in NYC on Hudson and 14th Street, I'm showing in a "futures" exhibit in the museum in Mobile Alabama in May as well as painting a mural there, and I am also customizing a 70s Pontiac in a new and very exiting way as well as some other fun stuff that I can't mention yet!
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RxArt 12th Annual PARTY!
15 November 2012 by
At RxArt had our 12th Anniversary PARTY this Monday and Milk Studio. The event honored artist Dan Colen for his ongoing work with RxArt and his upcoming permanent installation at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. Colen described the pieces he plans to install in the children’s ward, “It’s these drawings I’m doing with M&Ms, and these sculptures I’m making out of rocks that I paint to look like M&Ms, so I just thought the kids could make some fun relationship to it."
It was an incredible evening, which included fantastic art by Terry Richardson, Aurel Schmidt, Jose Parla and many others, a live auction and a surprise performance by Kilo Kush. Thank you to the friends, artists, and guests who came! See photos below:
Man of the hour, Dan Colen!
Olivia Kim, Lazaro Hernandez, Jen Brill
See below for more photos!
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Free Pickwick & Weller T-Shirt for PARTY ticket purchasers!
07 November 2012 by
Our friends at Pickwick & Weller have generously offered to give a free t-shirt to anyone who purchases a ticket to the RxArt PARTY between now and November 9th!
Check out their line at pickwickweller.com - RxArt loves their great designs, amazing quality and perfect fit, and we are thrilled to have their support!
Contact support@pickwickweller.com with your ticket confirmation, and purchase your PARTY tickets HERE!
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RxArt visits Debra Hampton
07 November 2012 by
RxArt Visits Debra Hampton from RxArt on Vimeo.
Artist Talk is a series in which RxArt visits our favorite artists and collaborators to talk about their work and inspirations.
In this installment of Artist Talk, RxArt went to Brooklyn to visit Debra Hampton at her studio. We spoke about her process, inspirations, and the impact of modern media in her work.
Click below for more photos
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Spots and Dots: Kusama at The Whitney
10 July 2012 by
World-renowned artist Yayoi Kusama is bringing her spotted world to The Whitney Museum for her retrospective. Known for her use of patterns, polka dots, nets, and large-scale, immersive installations, Kusama works in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, film and performance. Born in Japan in 1929, she came to the United States in 1957 and quickly found herself at the epicenter of the New York Avant-Garde. The retrospective explores the full range of work throughout her career.
After seeing the exhibition, bring Kusama's spotted world home with you with the RxArt x Kusama puzzle! Available at the Whitney Museum Store and RxArt's online store.
Yayoi Kusama is showing at The Whitney from July 12th - September 30th.
Fireflies on the Water, a work in the Whitney’s collection, is being shown in conjunction with her retrospective. -
SNAPS: Ian Bradley and Ryan McGinley at The Hole
30 May 2012 by
WHO: Ian Bradley and Ryan McGinley
WHAT: Hanging outside the opening for iO Tillett Wright
WHERE: The Hole
When: May 30 -
Holton Rower at The Hole
15 May 2012 by
Holton Rower's first solo exhibition in New York opened at The Hole on April 28th. A stark contrast to the bare white walls, Holton's psychedelic pour paintings erupt from the walls in a wild array of colors. Rower creates these paintings by pouring doctored paint onto plywood. Though the process seems simplistic, it yields beautiful and unexpected results: paintings that look like coral, geodes, petrified wood, surfaces of distant planets, marble, the Aurora Borealis and more. See photos below!
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James Welling at Emory University Hospital
14 May 2012 by
Last December, we held a fundraiser to help us complete an installation at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. Thanks to the enormous response and outpouring of contributions from our supporters, we were able to install fourteen beautiful photographs by James Welling in the hospital's Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences in April 2012.
The photographs are from Welling's Glass House series, featuring Philip Johnson's eponymous house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In each of the vibrant images, the single architectural site is transformed by nature and colored lenses. The photographs completely transform the space, turning the once sterile environment into a landscape of dreamy colors and images.
Thank you to all our supporters for making this project possible! See more photos below.
Read More....
Blog
Categories
Associated Press
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