Divine Nature :: Holly Wilmeth
March 7, 2014 § Leave a comment
From a recent trip to the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico, Blend contributor Holly Willmeth’s Divine Nature was born. Embracing serendipity and the spiritual connection between humans and animals, Wilmeth brings to life hauntingly beautiful images of connections, transformations, spirit and love.
“This project is a series of images that represents the crossroad where woman meets the divine spirit of nature in the form of animals, and where she embraces it. There’s a long history in shamanic traditions and ancient cultures where humans have imbued themselves with the special qualities that animals have and their relationship to the world. Eating a part of the animal, or wearing a part of the animal, or using the animal as a totem deeply permeates us with their special powers. We want to come back to that state of grace where we are aligned with nature as animals are in the right relationship with their environment.”—Holly Wilmeth
Read the full article on this fantastic project featuring Wilmeth on NationalGeographic.com.
View more of Holly Willmeth’s work on her website or see her commercial work here.
New Music | Cheatahs
March 7, 2014 § Leave a comment
Pitchfork had a field day with a somewhat devastating review of the Cheatahs new and much anticipated self-titled full length. It was a clever rebuke to this style of music that once existed between say 1990 and 1994. If you came of age then or just preferred new sounds in music then you probably know the main players in this genre: My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride and Swervedriver. This then being the genre called “Shoegaze” supposedly coined from the multiple guitarists tendency to stare at their many guitar effects pedals while playing live.
“Common musical elements of shoegazing consist of distortion, droning riffs and a “wall of sound” from noisy guitars. Typically, two distorted rhythm guitars are played together to give an amorphous quality to the sound. Vocals are typically subdued in volume and tone, but a strong sense of melody generally exists underneath the layers of guitars. However, lyrics are not emphasized, nor are vocals. While the genres that influenced shoegazing often used drum machines, shoegazing more often features live drumming.”
There is no new ground being broken here just a very talented example of a well established genre. No doubt there are plenty of 20-somethings who are unaware of the history of Shoegaze, who no doubt think this is the newest shit. And so it goes…
Metropolis II
March 7, 2014 § Leave a comment
A memorable vid showing off conceptual artist Chris Burden’s massive piece entitled Metropolis II. The installation has been on view since 2011 at the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Via the museum:
“Chris Burden’s Metropolis II is an intense kinetic sculpture, modeled after a fast paced, frenetic modern city. Steel beams form an eclectic grid interwoven with an elaborate system of 18 roadways, including one six lane freeway, and HO scale train tracks. Miniature cars speed through the city at 240 scale miles per hour; every hour, the equivalent of approximately 100,000 cars circulate through the dense network of buildings. According to Burden, “The noise, the continuous flow of the trains, and the speeding toy cars produce in the viewer the stress of living in a dynamic, active and bustling 21st century city.”
Janita Peperkamp
March 6, 2014 § Leave a comment
Carrying on in a long line of extraordinary Dutch masters Janita Peperkamp creates memorable and compelling portraits that not only show off the beauty of her subjects but creates in the viewer a true sense of the nature of each model.
Peperkamp works with acrylic paint, adding layer after layer of transparent layers to create depth and detail.
“In my paintings, the final result is largely determined by the energy created between artist and model, in which the artist acts as observer and registrar. The choice of a model is determined by the extent to which I recognize myself in this person. I consider all my paintings and portraits.”
Sons of the Pioneers
March 6, 2014 § Leave a comment
Painter Robin F. Williams new exhibition at New York’s P.P.O.W. Gallery is entitled “Sons of the Pioneers.” Her stated purpose with these paintings is to subvert the male gaze so prevalent in 18th and 19th Century paintings, where young women were shown as idle specimens idealized and available for display. This “Manifest Destiny” period in American history is updated to our Post-Empire era, showing men in repose, rather than in the typical pose of dominating nature.
“Sons of the Pioneers” is on view through March 15. Take a look at some images from the show below.
Aliza Razell
March 5, 2014 § Leave a comment
Aliza Razell combines self-portraits with water colors ( a process she does in Photoshop). Her first series is entitled Anesidora, which involves the story of Pandora’s box as well as the Finnish word ikävä: the absence of something or someone.
Bruno Walpoth
March 5, 2014 § Leave a comment
Bruno Walpoth comes from a long line of woodcarvers, learning the craft handed down from his grandfather. This sort of carved wooden sculpture has made a resurgence of late, not that this sort of skill has ever gone out of fashion. So much of official sculpture of say, generals, statesmen, etc come off as monolithic and expressionless. Walpoth is not only incredibly skilled he also manages to give his subjects a sense of pathos and intensity.
Blend Images
Jasmine Hartsook
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