Gottfried Salzmann

is an Austrian artist, born in Salzburg in 1943. his initial passion was for water colors, a trend among german expressionists in the mid of 20th century. he also took part of a group of artists - "gang of four" who exhibit their works in Salzburg in the 60's. over the years Gottfried began to associate water color techniques with other disciplines as drawing, printmaking, photography and acrylic painting. 

as a skilled photographer he started to shoot pictures that were then integrated in his works. his early themes moved from landscape to cityscape with a special interest in the american city and its skyscrapers, first New York and more recently San Francisco. 

Gottfried a true postmodern artist and his works often include many characteristics of this definition: the prominent use of words, collage, simplification, the use of industrial materials and pop imagery. 

my impression, after seeing his works at the Franklin Bowels Gallery in NYC was that he really succeeds to transmit the essence of the city. 

Olafur Eliasson

Although i have some problems pronouncing the name, Olafur Eliasson is one of the well known contemporary artists at this time. born in 1967 in Denmark, Eliasson studied at The Royal Danish Academy of Art and graduated at 1995. few years later he moved to Berlin where he established his own studio. Eliasson is mostly famous for his big scale installations in which he uses light, water, fog, reflections and projections to redefine space. His work range includes also Design (Light fixtures, Sammlung Boros, Berlin) and Architecture (Harpa Concert Hall facade, Reykjavik, Iceland). For an interesting interview about Art and Architecture click here.

Matias Bechtold

models of architectural projects are kind of problematic. although some of them are made with great talent (or a laser printer...)and few are really representing interesting projects, you mostly will not consider them as art pieces to hang in your living room. except maybe to the conceptual models you built during the study in the university, of which, you were of course, really proud. the reasons are many, they are too specific, not abstracted enough, strange format with a plexiglass cover etc. but there is one artist that gives all the model freaks (like me...) hope - Matias Bechtold.

Matias Bechtold is a german artist who lives and work in Berlin. he usually works with corrugated cardboard and it seems he knows every characteristic of this multi-layered, wavy structure material. By cutting it in extremely various and precise ways, he can realize both very small and very large structures. his utopian-dystopian urban visions are so rich in detail that the viewer can lose himself in them and forget that they are models. one of his works "Kreisstadt" (that i could absolutely hang in my living room...), is shown at the Neochocolate Gallery in Berlin. until 3.11.10

Beyond Architecture

is a book that documents the creative exploration of architecture and urban propositions in the contemporary arts. the projects collected in this book demonstrate how not only architects and designers, but also artists are taking architecture as a starting point for experimentation. they range from performance, installation art and crafted sculptures to architectural models, alternative ideas for living spaces and furniture, as well as illustration, painting, collage and photography. through stunning photography, visuals and complementary texts, these visionary concepts reveal the hidden creative potential for architecture and urban environments in inventive ways. some of the works are really interesting and they had and will have a place of honour in this blog.
in this hard times for architects all over the world, that book shows that there is an alternative. so just dust your old conceptual models and photoshop collages and make art out of it!
Editors: Robert Klanten, Lukas Feireiss
source: Gestalten

Cristobal Leon - Luis

LUIS from diluvio on Vimeo.

Cristobal Leon is an animator-video artist. he was born in Santiago de Chile (1980) where he also studied Design and Art at PUC. He created with two other artists, Niles Atallah and Joaquin Cucina an online exhibition space for their video works - Diluvio Gallery. in Illustartive 2009 in Berlin they show this amazing video work - Luis (it reminds me of some locations in kreuzberg...). other videos in the online gallery.

Cristina's World

i always liked this painting. the bare landscape, the detailed grass, the light and the seemingly young skinny woman lying on the ground looking up toward something that we don't actually know. a mystery...
Cristina's World is a tempera work by US painter Andrew Wyeth, one of the best-known American paintings of the middle 20th century and i just discovered that the story behind it is quite tragic!
the woman of the painting is Christina Olson (1893 - 1968) who had an undiagnosed muscular deterioration that paralyzed her lower body. Wyeth was inspired to create the painting when through a window within the house, he saw her crawling across a field. although the woman in the painting appears young, Olson was 55 at the time Wyeth created the work.
currently on display at the MoMA in New York, as a part of their permanent collection.
thanks Wikipedia!

Edward Hopper

(1882 - 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. most popularly known for his oil paintings. in both his urban and rural scenes, he describes his personal vision of modern American life. he was born in Nyack, north to New York City and he studied art at New York Institute of Art and Design. during the late 20's he travelled few times to Paris where he wanted to study the emerging art scene. however, it seems he was unaffected by the new currents in art, stating that he didn’t remember having heard of Picasso'. unlike many of his contemporaries who imitated the abstract cubist experiments, Hopper was attracted to realist art. he started to paint urban and architectural scenes, many of them in New York and Paris. however, he did some outdoor watercolors on visits to New England. by 1923, Hopper finally received some recognition of his work and he was very productive through the 30's and early 40's, producing some of his most important works. he continued to draw some other major works during the 50's and the 60's despite his health conditions.
Hopper's influence on the art world and pop culture is undeniable. his cinematic compositions and dramatic use of light and dark has made him a favorite among filmmakers. he inspired also musicians as Tom Waits who titled one of his songs Nightawake at the Diner (1975), after the painting. In 1993, Madonna named her world tour 'Girlie Show' after his painting with the same title. he also influenced writers and animators. most of his work are exposed at the Whitney Museum of American Art and MoMA in New York.

Banksy

ignoring the rhetorical comments in the book Banksy Wall and Piece Book, that try to explain his works (hopefully written by the publisher 'political analysts' and not by him), Banksy is a satirical graffiti artist which is considered completely 'invisible', infect there is uncertainty about his identity, his personal life and his biographical details. PEOPLE SAY he was born in Yate neer Bristol in 1974 and he became involved in art during the 80's (the golden years...). his early work was inspired by local artists and became part of the Bristol underground using mainly free-hand graffiti combined with stencil elements. later, around 2000, Banksy turned to use almost only stencils, often with images and slogans, after realizing the time advantages of working with this technique. however except for his outdoor works, he also paints pictures for indoors.
Banksy use a wide range of subjects, from animals (monkeys and the famous Banksy rat) to soldiers, policemen and children. the messages of his work is mostly anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment, culture, and ethics.

Slinkachu

is an artist who works and lives in the UK, that installs tiny figurines around the city and takes the street art into a new scale, discovering an unexpected city landscapes. Slinkachu modifies and paints figurines made for model trains installing them in streets and parks, where he photographs the scene and leaves the characters behind. his work is both street art installations and photography.

Pierre et Gilles

Pierre e Gilles create a unique hand painting photographic portraits of film icons, sailors and princes, saints and sinners, of mythological figures and unknowns alike. kitsch with baroque, indian and popular influences. however, in the recent works the fairytale paradise background (left) changed his place to a trash urban environment (right). a research for aesthetic perfection covered with paillettes and glitters.
CO Berlin until 04.10.09

Neo Rauch

Neo Rauch is a young german artist born in Leipzig. his work is shaped by the experience of growing up in east Germany and it swings between surrealism and popular romantic imagery. his paintings are usually full of historical figures repeating sisyphean tasks in ambiguous landscape. with spots of acidic colors contrasting with deep shadows, Rauch's paintings create an atmosphere of confused nostalgia and failed utopias.
i saw his exhibition 'para' (prefix of paranormal, parallel, paradox and so on) at the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 2007.

Street art

usually, i'm not a great fan of 'trash'. graffiti and meaningless writings on the walls are not 'my cup of tea' and i prefer other forms of expression, but there are some exceptions!
xoooox is the code-name of a street artist in Berlin (on the left), that like others, is anonymous but has a very recognizable signature. he uses usually stencils and posters .his work could be mistaken for an ad or a design label, a kind of ironic attack on the use of street art for commercial proposes.
about the one of the right, i have no info. i just like it but it's already covered with meaningless graffiti. luckily, Berlin is full of good examples of street art. i should post some others soon.

Berlin Art Project

on my way to buy some beautiful souvenirs to my friends in Milan, i ran into a gallery with interesting paintings of some german artists: Sebastian Schrader, a joung artist with a realistic, almost baroque, style of surreal and 'Berlin life' scenes. Tom Fleischhauer who paints crowded scenes of people, streets and nature transformed into abstract images in gray-scale. Joerg Lohse who add some glamour to his painting using a fashion ads composition and brands (from his flashlights collection).

i saw them all at the Berlin Art Project showroom, unter den linden 40. between two souvenir shops.

'VOOM' portraits

'VOOM portraits' is an exhibition created by the iconic artist and theater director Robert Wilson. it is a series of video portraits of celebrities, animals and ordinary people that combine a precise hybrid of still photography and motion picture. a surprising interpretation of the term portrait.

the contrast between the minimal HD video screens and the neo-classical context of the 'plazzo reale' in Milan makes it even more particular.

'VOOM' portraits until october 4th, palazzo reale, Milan, Italy