Johnson Tsang

Johnson Tsang

Everyone is all familiar with that feeling when you are somewhere on a very delicately thin line between envy and jealousy.Well, if after seeing Johnson Tsang's works, you feel the same, then welcome to the club! 

Tsang is a Hong Kong born artist obsessed with clay and he brings it into life in the most unexpected and out of the ordinary way. Though some of the work seem so cute at first, after a deeper contemplation and digestion, you realize his message is no chocolate-box. His surrealist imagination leaves the viewer in a miscellaneous state of wondering whether;

'Oh, this is so adorable (?)',

'Oh, this is so depressive(?),

'Oh, this is so polished (?), etc...

                                                                   "Kiss of Eternity"

The splashing ceramics are one of a kind knockout white objects all with a novel style.

"Storm in my Bowl"

Tsang is an avant-garde artist maturing his own technique with every exhibition, not to mention his reverent stardom both at home and abroad showcased with a profusion of awards.

                                                                      "Open Mind"

For me the most attracting part is that he has that child-like playfulness and a very sleek design at the same time. I would definitely love to own one of his masterpieces . Or maybe two of them.. Perhaps three or more...

I want them all.

                                                                 "Talking to Me"

If you couldn't get enough of of his work, then scroll through his blog images.

Bask in you guys!

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth

"When the soul is without a definite aim, she gets lost; for, as they say; if you are everywhere, you are nowhere."                                                                                                       Michel de Montaigne

                                                                                                             

Bugun gunlerden Andrew Wyeth... Now wait! This used to be a blog in English once upon a time (exactically a year ago). There goes a bit of self-criticism for abandoning my fellow readers for quite a very, very, very, very long time.. Anyhow, doesn't it feel good to be a blog-backster! ( Oh, yes! It does.) 

Andrew Wyeth was an American realist painter (1917-2009) by whom I was intrigued while going through loads of works by loads of artists, trying to choose the most awe inspiring one to write my paper on, back in 'the graduate' days of mine... And the moment I saw his work, I was literally spellbound!

 In a career spinning throughout a seventy-year period, he painted landscape, objects and inhabitants of his own neighborhood.

His most famous painting; Christina's World (1948) has become an essential part of American popular culture. Set in a barren landscape, it was an everyday image that inspired Wyeth deeply and resulted in the depiction of young woman who had unfortunately been robbed of the use of her legs. Here she is: 

Perhaps it is the colors, or the fact that she is leaning towards home, or that pink dress she has on... I don't know what, but for me it always is a sublime comfort to get lost in this painting. 

Take a look at some more of his work as I am pinning my hopes on the possibility of you guys sharing the euphoria with me: 

As for the reason why I quoted Monsieur Montaigne at the top is; we all feel a bit lost, futile, unavailing, etc. sometimes for, life gets in the way. But there is actually no reason for that, because we are all the opposite of this pessimistic perspective.

Here is a little gift for y'all. I dedicate this post, this song and a very fragile piece of my heart to my alluringly naive friend whom I know is still smiling from high above the clouds.

Now press play and feel fruitful. Cheers..

Kim ki O

Kim ki O

Is music the answer? Yes, most of the time. Hoping it be one of those times for you guys;

Über-proud to introduce you with: ' Kim ki O'  ( who is that anyway? ) my Turkish gals who happen to become quite a reserved success. 

The Turkish duo started out back in 2006 and still continue with a brand new album " Grounds" which they describe on their website as: ' is about finding yourself as well as finding grounds with life.' 

Not just the music, but the cleverly- crafted lyrics make a lot of sense.

And the synthesizer, ohh the synthesizer..!

Press play if you feel like experiencing a work of great merit. 

https://soundcloud.com/kim-ki-o/02-insan-insan

Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Long time, no posts, right...

Why not listen to some music whilst reading? Now please, press play and read..

Today's all about fifties & sixties for me; an era full of cult figures I would love to be friends with: my one and only Andy Warhol, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, The Velvet Underground and many more. However, as most of my beloved readers are familiar with most of them ( ? ), I decided to dedicate this post to;

Allen Ginsberg born in New Jersey, 1926 was an American poet. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of the 'Beat Generation' : all about an alternative way of life, defying standard norms, experimenting with drugs and sex/uality.

With his friends; some listed above, he created an ideal setting for a bohemian society. The photographs of his renowned friends, you are about to enjoy, were taken by Ginsberg himself (with little notes underneath in his own handwriting) and I discovered  them in a beautiful book called  'Beats and Pieces'.

Ginsberg's unconventional views and style : resisting materialism, upholding an anti-war stance, opposing standard sexual relations and fighting for gay rights, were all reflected in his poetry.

He is the one that coined the word flower power as he believed love and peace could be the answer.

His most acclaimed poem brought about much controversy but was mainly praised as ' a howl against everything in our mechanistic civilazation that kills the spirit.' 

Here is an extarct from Howl ( Part II ) which to me still sounds very time-appropriate. Read and  please think..

Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping in the parks!

Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men!

Moloch the incomprehensible prison! Moloch the crossbone soulless jailhouse and Congress of sorrows! Moloch whose buildings are judgement! Moloch the vast stone of war! Moloch the stunned governments!

Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!

Moloch whose eyes are a thousand blind windows! Moloch whose skyscrapers stand in the long streets like endless Jehovas! Moloch whose factories dream and choke in the fog! Moloch whose smokestacks and antennae crown the cities! (...)

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith

Though today was Ella Fitzgerald's birthday and much as I love her dearly, I have decided to acquaint you; my fellow reader, with Miss Bessie Smith. Guess who?

Bessie Smith, born in Tennessee in 1894 (- 1937), was a gifted Jazz and Blues singer with a top-notch soulful voice.

No wonder she was called 'The Empress of the Blues' as she played a crucial role in setting the tone for jazz and blues along with Louis Armstrong and got to be the highest-paid female artist of her time signing with Columbia Records. 

Still and all, it was her battle with alcohol that lead to her own kind of 'blues' and downfall. To cut a sad story short,

Ahhhh, doesn't she make you feel like lettin' a little spring breeze in whilst you sippin' your liqueur and readin'...

Jean Metzinger

Jean Metzinger

If you had long considered that Cubism was all about Picasso, sadly, you have missed out on a lot of other good stuff! ( With all due respect to Picasso btw..)

Introducing Monsieur Jean Metzinger  (1883-1956) who was a theorist, writer, poet, but above all; a masterly painter from Nantes, France. He majored in painting at the Académie des Beaux-Arts under the influence of a conventional style. 

Seeking a rather modern type, he embarked on his own personal venture through a neo-impressionist style which later developed into Cubism and he is reckoned to be one of the founders along with Albert Gleizes and other artists of Section d'or group. 

One can still come across with debates over whether Metzinger deserved the right to be ranked among genuine Cubists such as Picasso. It is not at all perplexing to tell the difference when you look at the paintings by Mr. Jean and Mr. Pablo. 

Be that as it may, I still love losing myself in his work; all full of killer details and colors.

Now please, stare...

Woodkid

Woodkid

Yoann Lemoine (1983) aka Woodkid is a French film and music video director-turned musician.

He is a young lad who has been out there displaying his heightened sense of creativity for quite a long time now. Granting himself the opportunity to work with Luc Besson, Lana Del Ray, Katy Perry, Rihanna has surely kicked in; 'the multi-talented' Lemoine has recieved awards both at home and abroad. 

He is about to release his debut album " The Golden Age" in March, 2013, consisting of sophisticated tracks such as 'Iron'; his spellbinding single interweaving orchestral beats with the drums accompanied by his melancholia of vocals. The song has been an inspiration to Dior Homme to name the 2013 Fall-Winter collection after the lyrics:  "A soldier on my own" as well as serving in the soundtrack of Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

Here is my belated discovery of the video (2011) and he sure directed it himself casting beautiful Agyness in it, so please; grab those headphones and listen and watch and ...

" A soldier on my own, I don't know the way.

   I'm riding up the heights ... of shame."

Kahlil Gibran

Kahlil Gibran

"Joy and sorrow are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed."

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) a poet, writer and artist, was born into a family in Lebanon and immigrated to the US. 

He completed a degree in art and held his first exhibition of drawings in Boston. Yet, his real passion was writing within a diverse scope of themes ranging from love, politics, friendship to work, religion, marriage and so on.

The solid simplicity and prudence in his philosophical prose and poetry brought about a massive success; making him one of the best-selling writers of all time.

His most acclaimed work 'The Prophet'; a book of poetic essays, has sold millions of copies and been translated into many languages. The excerpts in this post are merely an itsy-bitsy demonstration of how miraculously he has touched my heart which 'I humbly expect touches thine, too..'

"Love one another, but make not a bond of love. 

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls... Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone... Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping... And stand together but not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."

Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson is a sculptor and installation artist from London. An internationally celebrated artist, Wilson is praised for creating cult images.

He is a London College of Printing graduate and was twice nominated for the Turner Prize.   ( though he sadly could not receive one )

He mostly plays with the perceptions of his audience by creating illusionary spaces and tends to shock them with his architectural interventions.

With his most famous installation; '20:50', composed of reflective sump oil, he casts the whole space back at the viewer, creating a mesmerizing virtual space. Only by a close-up walk into the waist-high installation, one can wake up from Wilson's dreamlike reality to realize the effect is merely achieved through recycled engine oil. 

I discovered his gripping work during my routine visits to the Saatchi Gallery in London. There is a good chance for everyone to challenge their own perception with this particular piece which has been on display for two decades and never lost that spell.

Lorenzo Quinn

Lorenzo Quinn is an Italian sculptor. (and the son of actor Anthony Quinn) He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in New York. After the birth of their first child he and his wife decided to leave New York for Spain as he later claimed NYC was 'a place that hardens human values'.

The process of his creation starts off by writing a poem which then develops into the most spectacular pieces of art works. He diligently reflects his emotions with these striking visual presentations. 

His themes; balance, the force of nature, power of the hand ( to him is the toughest and technically most difficult  part of the human body) and home, all relate to the viewer in one way or another; hence, generating a strong communication in between. He clarifies his somewhat obsession with the recurring subject matters as follows;

" It is essential to find a balance in life. Sometimes that balance is achieved with the help of people around us, that keeps us firmly on the ground, without which we would float to perdition."

I feel so privileged to be randomly introduced to his brilliant work. When walking past Park Lane, London, I saw this huge installation called ' Vroom, Vroom' which lead to an extensive research and discovery of this accomplished expert. Here is a video for you to get the buzz: