Jeff Koons cuteness

A lot of people said in the comments that most of my posts (and contemporary art in general) are kinda creepy. Well, I thought to bring you some cute stuff by American artist Jeff Koons. Here's a giant colored puppy, it's totally made of flowers oh my god so cute. It is part of the permanent collection of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao (the one with that cool structure designed by Gehry).

Those are actually real flowers. It's some kind of living sculpture.
More cuteness by Koons on the next page

Jeff Koons | Guggenheim Koon's page

Jaume Plensa at YSP

If you live near Wakefield , Yorkshire (UK) you may want to go visit the Yorskhire Sculpture Park which presents some works by Spanish artist Jaume Plena. The exhibition includes a 50-metre curtain of poetry made of suspended steel letters, large illuminated sculptures in the landscape, and engraved gongs that visitors can strike to fill the gallery with sound. OK, the sculptures and all are really cool, but you can even play a damn gong!! I'd go just for that. You'll be able to visit it until 22.01.12. Click read more to see the other works (gongs included) and a video of the installation process.

Jaume Plensa | Yorkshire Scupture Park

Art, legal issues and trials (and errors)

October 21, 1926. Marcel Duchamp is on a ship heading for the USA. Along with Messieur Duchamp there are 20 sculptures made by Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi. At the time import/export laws declared that ordinary merchandise was subject to duty at 40 per cent, while art was not. When the sculptures came to customs check the custom official said: “This is not art, this is some kind of industrial item. You’ll pay the full cost.”

Bird In Space - Brancusi
“That’s not even a bird. Has no wings nor beak”

The whole thing grew up on press and media turning soon into a big, and still today famous, US court case which asked: when is a sculpture not a sculpture? The two contestants were the US government and the sculptor, Constantin Brancusi. Among the expert witnesses were Jacob Epstein and the great photographer Edward Steichen, while also drawn into the dispute were Marcel Duchamp (of course), Ezra Pound, and Henri-Pierre Roché, author of Jules et Jim. The point of the legal issue soon became the eternal question: “what is art?” Well, the trial itself lasted about two years, but in the end the court sentence was: “Yes, it’s a bird”. Marcel Duchamp received his money back.  Today Constantin Brancusi is considered one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century.

Next time you see a contemporary work of art, think twice before saying: “meh, it’s just a gimmicky”.

Brancusi | Telegraph article

Ron Mueck - Hyperrealism

 Mask II (2001-2)

Hyperrealism is one of the most innovative and interesting contemporary movements. It is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high-resolution photograph. Hyperrealism is considered an advancement of Photorealism by the methods used to create the resulting paintings or sculptures. The term is primarily applied to an independent art movement and art style in the United States and Europe that has developed since the early 2000s. Ron Mueck is an Australian born and London based sculptor who reached popularity in mid 90's and he's considered one of the movement's most representative artists. You can see some photos of his sculture's making process here