May20

A BRIEF HISTORY OF JOHN BALDESSARI

BY: Marc Blazel


It’s bound to be magic when you bring two of the coolest dudes from art and music together. This video has been doing the rounds for the past couple of days and quite rightly so. Directed by those guys who did Catfish (you know, the one of indeterminate reality), A Brief History of John Baldessari is well, just that. Covering almost every single aspect of Baldessari’s life and career in 5 minutes is no mean feat but Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman do it with great panache, keeping the video fun and informative, bringing one of the great often overlooked artists of the 20th century to the forefront. Narration by Tom Waits obviously helps, reading the collection of facts and trivia with perfect dynamism. I’d recommend showing this to anyone, art fans or otherwise, as igniting an interest in John Baldessari‘s work is always a good thing.

I’d like to end with his classic painting “Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell” which, for those who haven’t seen it, is fucking genius.

Filed Under: Art, Documentary, Fine Art, Video0 comments

May20

SHOWCASE: SARAH ROSADO

BY: Marc Blazel

Sarah Rosado is an up and coming artist who works using mostly digital mediums. Focusing mostly on drawing ladies and parts of ladies, she uses a variety of styles in her work, ranging from fashion illustration to surrealist pieces. While her portfolio is slightly unfocused there is definite promise there. I’d personally encourage her to pick her favourite style and get really good at it, with a bit of practice she will quickly achieve that. I look forward to watching her career flourish. You can follow her on Twitter.

Sarah submitted her work to us through our email (admin@undercoverrobot.com), do the same and your work could be here too! You can also catch us on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Anatomy, Art, Illustration, Independent, Showcase0 comments

May17

WILL

BY: Vidiot

A beautiful, powerful, and moving piece of animation by Eusong Lee, done as his 2012 Calarts project.

Filed Under: Animation, Art, Calarts, Featured, Short Film, Student Film, Video0 comments

May17

LANDSCAPES: THE WORK OF JEAN-PIERRE ROY

BY: Amon

Landscapes are just as able to contain great amounts of character and narrative as any figure, and a lot of artists forget that. The work of Jean-Pierre Roy helps to remind us. His landscapes are expressive and from them, one can get a powerful feel and character, as if we were looking at a portrait.

They also have a sublime beauty about them. The lighting captures hints of hue that one wouldn’t expect, lighting up the skies and plains of the scenes with imaginative but not completely unrealistic colors that surprise and interest us. Finding these small bursts of interest draws us deeper into the strange and otherworldly structures that generally populate the landscapes until we’re captivated completely.

The artist also takes an interesting approach when it comes to symmetry. Some pieces end up being very dead-on and straight ahead, which is a very bold and antiquated approach to illustration. The symmetry in some pieces like the above is almost perfect which is rare to find nowadays. Whether the symmetry captures our gaze or loses it is up to the viewer, but it’s a bold move nonetheless.

Sometimes we come across an artist who creates landscapes with as much character as a figurative piece, and we are always a little surprised. I think it’s the good kind of surprise.

Filed Under: Art, Fine Art, Illustration, Paint0 comments

May17

ANTONIO SANTIN

BY: Amon

There was a saying during the 60s and 70s when pop art, the beginnings of postmodernism and American Bad Painting were vogue. From the rooftops, it was proclaimed that “painting is dead”. That sentiment lasted for a very long time.

Now, I think there’s been a wave of artists to convince us of the contrary.

Antonio Santin is a Spanish-born artist who lives and works in Berlin. His works are all incredibly detailed and intricate oil paintings, with just a touch of a gestural nature that helps fill the work with life. The most powerful statement I get from his pieces is kind of a macabre look at eroticism. It blurs the light between the sacred “flesh” and simple “meat”, and it makes one think.

He paints portraits of women lying down in unnatural poses, crumpled in heaps or lying at horrible angles. It could perhaps be a statement and subversion on the “male gaze” prevalent in painting; the age old tradition of painting beautiful women in alluring poses for the male artists and viewers of old to admire.

Or it could be a jarring image meant to make us ponder mortality and fragility.

Whatever the case may be, the artist’s skill and brushwork fascinates and entices us. But most importantly of all, it assures us that painting as craft is indeed not dead.

Filed Under: Art, Fine Art, Paint0 comments

May17

EAMES: THE ARCHITECT AND THE PAINTER

BY: Guezadilla

During World War II on a little street in Venice, California a man bought a studio, this man was Charles Eames. Design would change thanks to this man, and a chair he would come to design one day. The documentary “Eames: The Architect and The Painter” goes deep into the influential power couple that was Ray and Charles Eames and their influence on design that is still as powerful as ever. Anyone interested in modern design and aesthetics, whether you’re an illustrator, a graphic designer, a fine artist, or anything else for that matter should watch this. It’s available for purchase on First Run Features as well as on instant streaming with Netflix.

Filed Under: Documentary, Trailer, Video0 comments

May17

SKETCHBOOK FILMS: UNDER THE SEA

BY: Marc Blazel

Under the Sea is the latest charming entry in Danny Gregory and Tommy Kane‘s (both also pretty great artists) series of Sketchbook Films. Stop motion animator Hayley Morris is our protagonist this time round as she shows us her sketchbook and works hard on designs for her newest video, Bounce Bounce (below).

The films focus on drawing and how all different types of artists use it in their work. They are also enjoyable and interesting pieces in their own right, serving as silent portraits of the artists, the genius choices of style and music doing a better job than words ever could. I can imagine they were just as fun to make as they are to watch and can truly recommend all 5. Now I’ll just impatiently wait for number 6!

Filed Under: Animation, Documentary, Drawing, Process, Short Film, Sketches, Video, Watercolor0 comments

May15

BARRY MCGEE AT PRISM

BY: Marc Blazel


Anyone anywhere near L.A. in the next couple of months should totally go check out Barry McGee’s new exhibition at PRISM, a gallery on the world famous Sunset Boulevard. Filled with brand new works, it looks like another big success for the Mission School legend. Juxtapoz were at the opening and took a series of great pictures for us poor sods too far away to see it in person, check them all out here. The show runs until June 30th.

PRISM
8746 W. Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
T 310.289.1301
F 310.289.1302

Tuesday – Saturday: 11-6




via: Juxtapoz

Filed Under: Art, Art Shows, Event, Sculpture, Street0 comments

May15

38-39°C

BY: Marc Blazel


You can literally feel the heat radiating from Kangmin Kim‘s new stop motion short 38-39°C. Using beautifully surreal imagery and a bunch of animation techniques, Kim delves deep into the mind of a son recalling an obviously tempestuous relationship with his father. By having the bath house experience come across so strongly throughout the whole film, coupled with excellent sound design, the director creates a burning intensity which is truly a delight to experience. Sweating with originality, it is no surprise that it was chosen as one Sundance‘s featured shorts this year. Below I have included the making of video and a couple sketchbook pages, allowing us to get a glimpse into how exactly the film was made. A definite talent who will surely be a success, I’m already waiting anxiously to see what he does next.



Filed Under: Independent, Process, Short Film, Video0 comments

May11

SCOTT HOVE’S CAKELAND

BY: Guezadilla

Cake, cake known to many as a delicious desert. You get cake on your birthday with candles and everyone gathers around it as you make your wish.  However, Scott Hove’s sculptures of cake go beyond the normal, no, this man gives cake a defense against cake predators. Alright, so his cake is actually polyurethane sculpting foam and a blend of acrylics and gels to have the consistency of frosting. Hove gives these cakes the real vicious bits with  touches of jaws, teeth, spikes, mirrors, and even horns sometimes. Don’t worry though, there are always sweets such as cherries, raspberries, and oranges to be found, cake always has a sweet side after all.

Hove says he chose cake just to have contrast with the joy and pleasantries cake normally has by celebrating beauty and absurdity. As he makes cakes he pulls decorations out of his “Cabinet of Atrocities”, looking at all  the colors of gums to match the color of paint he’s using. Hove makes his cakes hang off the walls and in his Oakland based studio aptly named “Cakeland” he has a permanent installation using his vicious cakes. Hove recently had his own show at La Luz De Jesus Gallery in LA titled “My Own Private Apocalypse” which can still be seen on their website.

For more of these vicious cakes you can check out his website, you can see his appearance on Foodology in this video.

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Filed Under: Fine Art, Sculpture0 comments

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