Tuesday, September 22, 2015

West Banksy: Artist's donkey mural gets UK display

Banksy's Donkey Documents was cut away from the wall of a building in Bethlehem with the owner's consent. Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

A Banksy artwork spray-painted onto a section of a wall in Bethlehem will go on public display in the UK today before being shipped to the US, where it is due to sell at auction for up to £380,000.
The mural shows a donkey having its identification papers checked by an armed Israeli soldier, in mockery of the Israeli government's stringent security measures.
The elusive artist created the work, titled Donkey Documents, in 2007 along with a series of other works along the barrier separating the Palestinian West Bank and Israel.
The stone wall piece will be on display at London's Design Centre Chelsea Harbour before being shipped to California for the public sale.
Auctioneers Julien's Auctions hailed the work as "the largest, most significant intact mural from the artist's visit to Israel" and underlined its religious connotations.
Banksy’s location choice, timing, and subject matter draws parallels with the donkey depicted in the Biblical Christmas story who transported Mary into Bethlehem, where she is believed to have given birth to Jesus.
Indeed, just behind Banksy’s mural can be seen the cross and bell tower of the Church of the Nativity, built over the spot where Jesus is said to have been born.
– Julien's Auctions
The mural is expected to sell to a private collector when it goes under the hammer in Beverly Hills on 30 September.
The lot will include an original agreement between Bethlehem building owners and the mural's present owner.

ITV News

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Mark Lambert on Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles


Mark Lambert, Restoration Mechanic, Automotive Historian, and owner of Lambert Auto in Nashville, Tennessee, talks about Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles, an exhibition on view at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts June 14 through September 15, 2013. Sensuous Steel is an exhibition of Art Deco automobiles from some of the most renowned car collections in the United States.

Inspired by the Frist Center's historic Art Deco building, this exhibition features spectacular automobiles and motorcycles from the 1930s and '40s that exemplify the classic elegance, luxurious materials, and iconography of motion that characterizes vehicles influenced by the Art Deco style.

Learn more about the exhibition at www.fristcenter.org/artdecoautos.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Is Art Sexy? Does Art Replace Heaven & Hell As A Metaphor For Immortality

What do you see when you look at Gill Miller's Art?
Why does an artist paint? What drives an artist to put paint down on a canvas? What is the driving force to create? These are not new questions, certainly. For me it is the desire to express myself through beauty, form, color and composition. Do I think my art is sexy? Yes, actually I do. I think sexuality and sexual-ness is expressed in many things, and art is foremost in that method of expression. Ultimately, the sheer joy of creating something that potentially is visually and physically around in the long term, or maybe even permanently in this world, is a strong motivation. Honestly, it is a sense of immortality. Which is pretty good for someone who tried for years, but could never really believe in Heaven & Hell.