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Monday, June 29th
To Walk Where Rembrandt Walked
 As photographer of details of architecture, I am conditioned to observe my surroundings carefully. I notice buildings, but I hone in on the line of a corner; the angle of a gable; a fashioned decorative vine on a wrought iron gate and the stone carvings on a façade. Fine tuning a bit more, I visually thrive on the textures used for building: grainy granite, polished marble, satiny wood, rough brick, smooth cold iron. These elements create an environment that promotes creativity for me. And above all the light that permeates the scene sets the tone of my photography. Rembrandt 's art and the light of his world are the reasons that I recently went to Amsterdam. To know and to understand an artist 's work on an intimate level, it is essential to see the light with which the artist worked. I believe that the light of Amsterdam defined Rembrandt 's paintings, drawings, etchings. The way that the master saw his subjects, gave him the framework for the art he created.
Ellen Fisch on 06.29.09 @ 04:43 PM EST [more..] [No Comments]
Monday, June 22nd
(LOUISVILLE) - It’s really a no brainer.
 Combine air, space, track lighting, concrete, glass, metal, a cool king-size bed to rest your sleepy head and you’re totally there.
You’ve got what may or may not be your typical hip hotel. However, as I write these oh so urbane words, I’m not in your run of the mill sleek abode. I’m taking up pricy space in this totally hip place.
21C.
My trip here actually began a couple of years ago when I first heard about it. “When I finally decide to visit Louisville for another art trip, I going to stay there,” I thought to myself.
But of course, time and expenses or lack thereof intervened and my arrival was much delayed … but here I am slumping over the keyboard in a thick groove as Marvin Gaye croons, “What’s Goin’ On” through the speakers piped in overhead.
Michael Corbin on 06.22.09 @ 11:16 AM EST [more..] [8 Comments]
Friday, June 19th
Last post from the UAE …
 This will be my last post from the UAE. In fact by the time you read this I will already be on my way back to gorgeous grey clouds of the average UK summertime. The last two years of living first in Dubai and then in Sharjah, have been a decidedly mixed experience but I have learned a lot and really enjoyed the exposure to the diverse international art I have seen here. What is perhaps most bizarre is that it took me several months to find an actual Emirati artist but now they seem to be everywhere. It has been very interesting to see how phenomenally the cultural sector has grown just in the last two years and how arts development can become a kind of nationalism in the absence of any other type of overt political statement! I actually arrived in Dubai in May 2007 in the final week of the 8th Sharjah Biennale so I didn’t get to see very much of it. However, 2007 seems to have been the key year. Dubai held its first international Art Fair and fringe in March and not to be outdone, Abu Dhabi followed suit with Art Paris-Abu Dhabi in November. Galleries started to proliferate and three very distinct art areas emerged in Dubai which now has plans for a Museum of Modern Middle Eastern Art, an opera house and various other museums and arts dedicated areas. Meanwhile Abu Dhabi is getting a ‘starchitect’ designed Guggenheim, Louvre, Maritime museum and performing arts centre.
Valerie Grove on 06.19.09 @ 11:27 AM EST [more..] [3 Comments]
Monday, June 15th
Is art?
Is art exactly this or something else?
Is it revealed or created?
Is it contained or merely channeled?
Is art natural like the sweat dripping down my back on a hot day?
Is art artificial like a phoney smile from a hypocrit person?
Is art deliberately superficial like arching an arrow to a distant target?
Is it casual yet intentful as the autumn fall?
Is it innocent yet provoking like a nude baby?
Is it bright yet temporary like falling inlove?
Is it straight-forward emotional yet deceiving as a Heroin addict?
findigart on 06.15.09 @ 11:10 AM EST [more..] [15 Comments]
Thursday, June 11th
Great view, great energy savings Sliding glass windows a plus for environmentally conscious modular home
 It began with a story in Sunset Magazine on a new style of modular home that is compact, energy efficient and eco-friendly.
The story on homes built by Michelle Kaufmann Designs caught the eye of woman I know who lives with her husband in a suburban community in the San Francisco Bay area. For years they have enjoyed spending weekends on the coast of west Sonoma County, an area of sprawling ranches, picturesque towns, and gorgeous beaches on the Pacific coast.
The couple had thought about building a small home there as a retreat from their more urban home in the East Bay. My friend saw it both as an investment and a way to take advantage of the great view.
Early this spring, my wife and I spent a day visiting my friend, who asked not to be named to protect her family's privacy. Early on our only morning there, we awoke to see the fog curling through the valley below us, filling the gaps in the green hills.
Personal values and the ability to get approval from local planning officials both played a part in my friend choosing a Michelle Kaufmann Designs home. She hoped that its small scale and highly energy efficiency would make the home appealing to coastal planning boards trying to limit development in scenic open areas. And the simple design would enable her to present the plans herself, rather than relying on a developer. "You do better as a homeowner going through the process," she said. And their hopes were borne out, her husband told me.
Kaufmann brought the modular home into the 21st century by making energy efficiency and environmental friendliness core principles of the design of these speedily-built homes. (Even with the public's embrace of environmental design, the company couldn't overcome the housing bust and financial meltdown and just days ago announced it is folding. It had built about 40 homes.)
Compared with their conventional counterparts, modular homes have always been cheaper because they are built in factories and simpler to build, avoiding the uncertainties of outdoor construction.
Brian Miller on 06.11.09 @ 03:35 PM EST [more..] [7 Comments]
Monday, June 8th
Brad Everett Kirkman: The Messenger
 Kentucky born and bred artist Brad Everett Kirkman is what some people might call an "outsider artist." He isn't trained, but some might say he's anointed. Looking at his work, you can clearly see that he's not only driven by art, but also a message. He works full-time for a precision manufacturing company, but art is his true calling and message. Incidentally, we had this chat long ago and begin by talking about his old website which has since changed to www.brevki.com and www.BradEverettKirkman.blogspot.com However, his message remains the same.
MICHAEL: Hey Brad. First of all, your website is called, mainrinse.com. Why do you have a website and where did the name come from?
BRAD: I felt I needed a space of my own that I could have complete control. No ads to distract and no restrictions etc. Main Rinse is an anagram of "I'm a sinner." I named it this so I would always be reminded that I am no better than anybody else on this planet. I will always be in need of a Savior that can fill the hole in me that nothing or no one else can fill.
MICHAEL: Do you draw (no pun intended, sorry) any connection between your art and "Main Rinse"?
BRAD: I really can't separate the two. I think of the website as an extension of the art. I can say and do more there to expand on the message I'm trying to relay with my art.
Michael Corbin on 06.08.09 @ 12:00 PM EST [more..] [13 Comments]
Thursday, June 4th
The Opera Rock of Jean-Luc Blanc
Over the last three months, the CAPC contemporary art museum in Bordeaux has played host to the French artist Jean-Luc Blanc, organising a vast retrospective of his work.
Born in 1965 in Nice, Jean-Luc Blanc started his artistic career by drawing, gradually venturing towards painting. This picture-lover takes constant inspiration from the numerous media that our society puts forward, gleaning images from magazines, newspapers, postcards, and films. After a frenzied period of collecting and accumulation, several pictures ‘impose’ themselves to Jean-Luc Blanc, and he selects these to paint. Transferring a small picture to a larger-sized painting allows the artist to give a second life to the image – he says himself that photography is an execution, painting a resuscitation. Giving pictures selected from our everyday life a new purpose, cancelling their first meaning, bringing anonymity to stars, conferring new-found glory on John Does – this is Jean-Luc Blanc’s game. With this somewhat simple and repetitive technique, the artist masterfully allows the spectator to come across a new image, free of its past, and open to interpretation. Discovering Jean-Luc Blanc’s work allows us to come to terms with our own personal way of looking at art.
Alice Cavender on 06.04.09 @ 03:20 PM EST [more..] [13 Comments]
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