Tag: art

American Folk Art Museum

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Henry Darger. At Jenny Richee. 1950-1970.
Carl Klewicke. Quilt. 1907.
Henry Darger. The Story of the Vivian Girls.
Slaves, Morton Plantation, Kentucky. Whig Rose and Swag Border Quilt. c. 1850.
Jessie B. Telfair. Freedom Quilt. 1983.
Unknown, probably Baltimore, Maryland. Reiter Family Album Quilt. 1848-1850.
Paula Nadelstern, Bronx, New York. Kaleidoscopic XVI: More is More. 1996.
Marcus Charles Illions, Brooklyn, New York. Carousel Lion. 1910.

Some photos I took at the American Folk Art Museum by Lincoln Center last weekend. It’s a small place. It takes about 30 minutes to look at everything inside, but admission is free so it’s still worth the trip. There are donation boxes located near the entrance so we gave 5 bucks. I think the best items in the museum are the quilts. I was surprised. It wasn’t what I expected to be the most impressed by. The drawings of anime-style kids threw me off a bit too, since the large mural-style drawing was created between 1950-1970.

Kenmare Street Graffiti

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Kenmare Street
Kenmare Street

We were walking across Kenmare Street yesterday to get to the 4/5/6 train and we saw quite a bit of graffiti. I took pictures of the two that really stood out to me. I really miss the warm weather, when it’s possible to just walk around New York taking photos. Of course, I miss having the time to just walk around and take in the scenery too. It seems like I’m counting minutes these days. Hopefully this summer I can take a break by getting a part time job and just worrying about bills and having fun for a bit, instead of constant deadlines and research. Two more semesters after this, or maybe two and a summer class, and then I’ll be done with my BA and MA. College is fun, but every now and then I need a break from fun.

Anyway, the featured image above is by a guy that has a pretty simple landing page at BradleyTheodore.com which redirects to an Instagram account. Check it out. He’s got some other cool stuff on there.

IMG_3753

We also walked past this collection of graffiti. I think I like the lizard hand and the “You go girl” message better than the bottom graffiti, because it has more attitude.

The Brooklyn Museum Photo Gallery

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I never would have guessed there was another big museum out in Brooklyn on the north end of Prospect Park, but some friends of ours asked us if we wanted to meet up out there and take a look around there and the Botanic Gardens. It turned out to be a really good trip.

The museum is bizarrely light on displayed items, considering how much the Met has sitting in storage, collecting dust. You’d think they’d share their inventory and more effectively utilize the space available in the Brooklyn Museum, but what they do have there is definitely worth the time it takes to have a look around, especially if you don’t want to deal with the crowds that are usually shuffling through the Met. My only other complaint is the big glass monstrosity (aka the new lobby) that was attached to the front of the building. It destroyed the beauty of the original architecture.

My favorite photos of stuff from the museum’s incredibly diverse collection:

Something sexual about that statue and the extra leg and butt.
A mosaic from a 4th (6th?) century synagogue.
Old doll house.
Inside a Schenck house
A Schenck house, rebuilt inside the museum.
Inside a Schenck house.
Despair
Garbage collected in NYC, sorted by month.
Garbage collected in NYC, sorted by month.
Garbage collected in NYC, sorted by month.
The Death Wagon

Rite Aid Hired Professional Graffiti Artists to Redecorate Exterior for Grand Re-Opening

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Just up the road from us there’s a Rite Aid. The place looked pretty sleazy when we first moved in, but over the last few weeks they really fixed the place up. It looks modern and new and doesn’t have that cramped, dirty feel to it anymore. In addition to fixing up the outside of the store, the management decided to turn the dingy, yellowing paint on the exterior of the building into something fresh and new.

We walked up on these guys spray painting the outside of the building in the evening. It seems as though they were given a lot of freedom in their choices, but they did have to redo a portion of their mural which contained a space ship. Apparently, that wasn’t what the Rite Aid management was aiming for.

This bee replaced the spaceship they had originally painted.
This bee is missing its pupils.

The finished product is pretty cool. I wonder if people are doing this outside of New York City now, and especially down south? I don’t remember graffiti being recognized as art or encouraged down there. Not that anyone in Georgia was painting murals like this, or anything on par with most of the graffiti in New York City, anyway.

The Lovely Lady Jeepney

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Lovely Lady Jeepney

Another example of artwork on the side of the popular Philippines mode of transportation, the jeepney.  This one is called the Lovely Lady.  It’s also worth noting that the running board has the phrase “To God be the Glory” painted onto it.  The Philippines is the most Catholic country in the world, with around 60 million active practitioners last I read.  It’s very common to find religious references everywhere you go.

The Fantasy Ladies Jeepney

Bradley Farless4 Comments
Fantasy Ladies Jeepney
Fantasy Ladies Jeepney

Jeepneys are a popular form of transportation in the Philippines and most owners customize them to suit their tastes and to attract passengers.  This Jeepney has a Fantasy Ladies theme that reminds me of Japanese RPG video games.  Maybe the characters actually are from a video game?

Anime style decoration on a Philippines tricycle.
Anime style decoration on a Philippines tricycle.

I also saw this tricycle today and thought the art on the back was pretty neat.  We know someone whose nickname is Weng.  We’re going to send her a copy of this photo too.

Filipino tricycle driver.
Filipino tricycle driver.

The driver of the tricycle was really excited that I was taking a photo of his vehicle.  Well, maybe his friends were the ones that were more excited.  They insisted that he pose for a photo of him and the tricycle together.

I really enjoy how creative people get with the designs on the public transportation here.  Hopefully I can get a few more good photos of examples before I leave.

Horimouja: Japanese Inspired Tattoo Artist

Bradley Farless2 Comments
Horimouja
Horimouja

While searching around on various download sites for some new wallpaper backgrounds, I stumbled across a file titled “Horimouja”.  I was curious, so I downloaded it and discovered that it was book scans from a Japanese inspired tattoo artist named Jack Mosher, who uses Horimouja as a nickname.

Jack Mosher is an American artist, born in Florida and raised in Michigan, who took an interest in art and Japan in general at a young age.  His father taught Karate and Judo in a university and one of his dad’s friends gave him an art book by Frank Frazzeta, which he says was his primary inspiration.  Later, in the Marines, he started getting interested in tattoos and got his first one after boot camp.  After he finished his military obligation he started working in high-end security jobs, but did tattoo drawing on the side for a local business.  He eventually decided he wanted to set up his own shop and set out to learn more about tattooing from established artists.

What he wound up with is a distinct style that builds on, but isn’t exactly, traditional Japanese imagery.  He said, in an interview, that he wanted to create a blend of the old and new, to create a unique style that he felt people in areas outside of Japan could appreciate more.  He said that most people don’t quite get the simple style of most Japanese imagery.

I’m not an expert on Japanese art by any means, but I think he’s done a pretty good job.  I got my first tattoo when I was in training for the Army and I’ve always thought about getting more.  This is inspiration to finally get some work done.

Here are a few samples of his work from his MySpace page.

Tattoo by Horimouja
Tattoo by Horimouja
Tattoo by Horimouja
Tattoo by Horimouja
Tattoo by Horimouja
Tattoo by Horimouja
Tattoo by Horimouja
Tattoo by Horimouja

If you’re interested in buying the sketchbooks he’s made, they’re available on Amazon.

Graffiti At the Somerset MRT Skate-Park

Bradley Farless5 Comments

The most used entrance and exit for the Somerset MRT station is the one that opens into the new 313 @ Somerset mall.  Even before that mall was there, that entrance was still the most used since it opened onto Orchard Road, which is the main shopping strip in Singapore.  I actually never even knew there was another entrance and exit until I was directed to go back into that area to find an iPhone armband for jogging at the SingTel store.

The area that surrounds that MRT entrance is very green, with tall trees and lots of grass. There’s also a skate park there.  It has half-pipes, rails and ramps, at least that I noticed.  It looked like a good place for people to hang out.  The idea of skateboarding there wasn’t what caught my attention though; it was the graffiti.

Graffiti isn’t something you see in Singapore all that much to start with, and you definitely don’t see graffiti of the quality that’s on display in this skate park.  As we passed by I snapped a few shots.

I don’t have a problem with graffiti.  I think it’s pretty cool, as long as it’s tastefully done on public areas, rather than people’s businesses or personal property.  It’s a great method of self expression and goes a long way towards cultivating artistic talents.

Night Sky Scenes by Spray Paint

Bradley Farless1 Comment

Tonight while my wife and I were by the Tampines MRT station I saw this sign and since I have a blog on Blogspot I stopped to check it out.

I spoke to him briefly and he said he had recently returned from a trip to New Zealand and was getting back into painting.  He does his artwork in public to gain free publicity.  He makes paintings using stencils, frisbees, spray paint and a few other odds and ends.  I saw him use a sponge brush and a little scraper looking tool that I don’t know the name of.

The guy’s stuff is pretty good.  I like the designs he chooses to make.  In a way each one is unique, since it’s done by hand.  When I visited his site though, I saw that he makes more than one copy of each and sells it, so if you buy from him your copy won’t be the only one in circulation.  That’s kind of a buzz kill.  Part of the thrill of buying a piece of art is knowing that you have something that’s one of a kind.  On the other hand, the prices are fairly reasonable considering they’re each done by hand.

If you’re interested, here’s a handy link to his site: NightSkyPaintings.

Also, you can watch the video embedded below to watch him create one of his pieces.  It’s not the whole process obviously, but you get to see him lay out the basic parts of the painting and then start on the detail work.  It’s really quite interesting to watch how he does it and the piece he was working on is very nice too.