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The Venetian (Beach) School
Before Arnold Schwarzenegger made it to Sacramento, or even to Hollywood, he could be found lifting weights at Muscle Beach in Venice. Very much like its Italian namesake, Venice Beach in Los Angeles is home to the artistic and the creative. But unlike the artists from the original Venice, those of the Los Angeles beach town paint beyond the canvas, and onto the streets. Amongst the street art found along the walls is Homage to Starry Night. The large mural replicating Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, occasionally the ‘tagged’ over, is found on the side of an apartment building, behind a ‘No Parking’ street sign. The treatment and placement…
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No Room in Hollywood
There is no doubt that Hollywood dominates the global film industry. Occasionally, popular films from other countries gain international notoriety like the French film Amélie or the Swedish film Let the Right One In, but those are rare instances. While the United States dominates the film industry, the rest of the world, mainly Europe, dominates in art. The U.S. does have renowned artists but not as renowned as Europe. Even as an American, I find it difficult to name fellow artistic countrymen, but I can easily rattle off several European artists. Edward Hopper, painter of the Nighthawks, is a celebrated American painter, but his international repute is an iota of…
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ALWAYS Win the War
Now, I’m not one to try and court controversy, but it has occurred to me that the act of war is just good business (for the winners anyway). Let’s take war crimes, death tolls, injuries, post-traumatic stress, and dubious reasons for inciting wars out of the equation for a moment. Instead, look at the opening up of jobs in the military forces. This means that unemployment figures go down, levels of education go up (excellent military and civilian training is provided in all manner of subjects), nationwide happiness is on the up (again, primarily for the winning side), and if we stick to the “to the victor the spoils” philosophy…
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Buddhismus zwischen Trend und Tradition
„Wenn der Eisenvogel fliegt und die Reitpferde auf Rädern rollen, wird der Mann aus dem Schneeland seine Heimat verlassen müssen und die buddhistische Lehre wird die Länder des rotwangigen Mannes erreichen.” Mit dieser verblüffend realitätsnahen Prophezeiung sagte einer der Begründer des Buddhismus, der Mönch Padmasambhava, bereits vor über 1200 Jahren den Erfolgskurs des buddhistischen Glaubens in Richtung Westen voraus. Ob er damals bereits ahnte, in welcher Form die spirituellen Weisheiten hierorts praktiziert werden würden, ist jedoch fraglich. Eines ist jedenfalls sicher: Der Buddhismus liegt bei uns mittlerweile voll im Trend. Die einen dekorieren mithilfe von exotischem Massivholz-Interieur und diversen Accessoires aus dem Asiashop die eigenen vier Wände zum privaten Shangri-La…
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Thank You Hiram Bingham
The life of Marc Chagall was not an easy one. Nor was it uneventful. It was however, filled with enough drama to delight even the most seasoned and skeptical of Hollywood producers. He perceived the events of World War 1 from afar, saw the hopes and disappointments of the Russian Revolution, barely escaped the onslaught of World War 2, was revered for his artistic prowess, admired by Picasso, and left behind a rich artistic legacy. In effect, Chagall’s life and success was the result of many fortuitous encounters… the first one primarily being the encounter with art at school, which led to his illustrious career path. A meeting later in…
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The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships
It was Christopher Marlowe who coined the infamous line regarding Helen of Troy; ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’. I have to say, I do feel sorry for Helen! Put in a position where she was, effectively, responsible for a ten-year war, loss of lives, and the sacking of a city. I ask: was it even her choice to leave Menelaus? Sure, the story goes that she and Paris fell in love and escaped Sparta and her husband by fleeing to Troy. But, really, what if this wasn’t the true story? What if she was actually in love with Menelaus, and was just kidnapped by Paris? Admittedly, if Paris…
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“Death and Taxes”
Death: one of life’s greatest mysteries, and therefore one of people’s greatest fears. Whilst many peoples and civilisations turn to religion and faith to answer the question of the meaning of life, and the purpose of death, and whether or not life after death exists, the prospect of the actual process of dying causes fear and trepidation. Although we cannot know for sure what the exact experience of death holds for us, many people do take comfort in the knowledge that heaven, or an afterlife, awaits them. Why, therefore, is the prospect of death such a scary one? Perhaps it is the fear of leaving the known, of leaving people…
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Warhol, peintre démocrate ?
Andy Warhol est sans doute le peintre qui symbolise le plus l’art américain aux yeux des Européens. Aujourd’hui Barack Obama est devenu le symbole de l’Amérique contemporaine. Comment s’empêcher de leur trouver des points communs ? Obama, président démocrate tout juste réélu, proche du peuple et issu des minorités sociales. Warhol, fils d’émigrés d’Europe de l’est, maladif et isolé par la société étant enfant. Leurs origines sociales ne leur promettaient pas forcément un bel avenir, mais tous deux sont parvenus à incarner le rêve américain. Warhol possède deux facettes qui auraient sans doute fait de lui le « peintre officiel » de la victoire d’Obama. Avec ses boîtes de soupe pas chère, ses…
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We’re all living in America, America is wunderbar…
Amerika galt lange Zeit als das Land,in dem Träume wahr werden. Doch ist das heute noch genauso? Wofür stehen die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika heute? Was verbinden wir mit Amerika? „We’re all living in America, Coca-Cola, Wonderbra, We’re all living in America“ lautet der Refrain des von der deutschen Rockband Rammstein 2004 herausgebrachtenSongs Amerika. An anderer Stelle wird der Refrain durch „Coca-Cola, sometimes WAR, We’re all living in America, America is wunderbar“ variiert. Im Songtext heißt es dann: „Lasst euch ein wenig kontrollieren, […] Musik kommt aus dem Weißen Haus, […], und wer nicht tanzen will am Schluss, weiß noch nicht, dass er tanzen muss!“. Es sind sowohl die banalen…
This is an interactive art blog in multi languages, you will find new articles on artists, art history, exhibitions, etc. Contributions welcome.
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