Beneath the Shell by Michael Reeder (@reederone) was created for the 2016 iteration of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
The St. Pete Arts Alliance website has more information on the artist and this work.
Oct 262022
Oct 192022
The Blue Hour by Cecilia Lueza was created for the 2018 iteration of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
From the St. Pete Arts Alliance website about the work-
A rich, dusky blue with vivid rainbow swirls and the blue-tinted profile of a woman lit by moonlight is the focal point of 100 1st Avenue North. The mural is on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and 1st Street North, across the street from The James Museum.
Cecilia Lueza calls this piece, The Blue Hour. She explains, “It’s inspired by that magical time between daylight and darkness. It explores the visual effects of color, and movement, while evoking wonder and contemplation.”
The mural feels intimate, two sides of a corner angled inward. The left-hand side, facing east, is 17 feet high, 18 feet long. The right-hand side, facing south, is 17 feet high and 22 feet long.
The background is a rich, deep blue, the color of the sky moments after the sun sets. On the right half, facing Central Avenue, a calm and lovely woman’s face looks toward the right. Her face is in profile, from the neck up, so large that the top of her head is cut off by the mural’s edge. She’s painted a range of dark and lighter blues – and very realistic – like an idealized black and white photograph that’s been tinted blue.
Her expression is thoughtful, as if she’s been watching the sun set and is looking at the quickly fading colors as the stars and Moon begin to glow around her.
Her profile shows a graceful neck, high cheekbones and a smooth forehead, one dark eyebrow in a curve, and long dark lashes. The right edge of her face is outlined in light, as if she’s facing a full Moon. Her eye, her cheek, the edge of her nose, her lips, her neck and throat, are highlighted by moonlight. The rest of her face, and her neck, are dark indigo.
Instead of the long dark hair we expect, thick swirls of blue and green – and swirls of red, pink, orange and gold – flow behind her head and across the left half of the mural, the half that’s facing 1st Street.
A swirl of blue, in stripes from dark to light, touches the back of her head, falling in an undulating band from the top of the mural to the ground, as if this ribbon of color continues past the edges of the mural. Another end of this long band curves down and sprawls across the left half before arcing up and away.
A band of color striped from yellow and green to blue, twines across the left half of the mural before it swoops around the other blue band like a crochet stitch.
Behind the swirling blues and greens is a wave striped in pink, red, rose, watermelon and peach. It twists behind the blues and ducks under another wave, with stripes that run from red to gold. The blue-green swirls and the red-pink-gold swirls dive and tangle, full of motion.
The mural is a lovely combination of the calm and thoughtful blue-toned woman gazing out as light falls on her face – caught in thick waves of color.
Cecilia Lueza was born in Argentina and is now based in St. Pete. She’s known for vibrant public art pieces in a range of media. She explains that this mural has a sense of identity, and an element of discovery.
Her goal with this corner space “was to create an uplifting, evocative, and colorful focal piece that could be viewed and enjoyed from every angle.”
Lueza’s website is linked above, but more of her work can also be found on her Instagram.
Oct 132022
This is the last weekend to see Jason Hackenwerth’s exhibition DARKMATTER at Creative Pinellas in Largo, Florida. It includes the two giant balloon sculptures shown above, as well as several of the artist’s paintings and drawings.
To hear the artist discuss his work, and see more views of the sculptures and artwork in the gallery, check out this video.
This weekend is also Third Saturday at Pinewood (Creative Pinellas, Florida Botanical Gardens, and Heritage Village). For this event Hackenworth will be leading a family arts workshop where he will be teaching visitors how to create sculptures from balloons.
DARKMATTER closes on Sunday, 10/16/22.
Oct 082022
Sep 242022
Artist Kenny Scharf has painted around 260 cars for his Karbombz! project. In 2020 he even led a parade of them in Hollywood and West Hollywood.
This one was spotted on the streets of Los Angeles in 2015.
Sep 182022
Unity, was created by Hank Willis Thomas in 2019 as part of the Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program. The 22.5 foot sculpture is a replica of NBA player Joel Embiid’s right arm.
From the artist on the work (via Downtown Brooklyn)-
“The sculpture is an homage to and celebration of the unique and multi-faceted character of the borough of Brooklyn. The spirit of Brooklyn has always been about upward mobility and connection to roots. The large-scale sculpture of a bronze arm pointing toward the sky is intended to convey to a wide audience a myriad of ideas about individual and collective identity, ambition, and perseverance”.
Thomas will be speaking with UCLA professor and author Robin D.G. Kelley today (9/18/22) at 2pm The Broad Museum about his art practice, his activism, and his piece in the museum’s current exhibition, This is Not America’s Flag.
The program will be live-streamed on The Broad’s website and their Facebook page.
Sep 162022
Started above a Detroit record store in 1969, CREEM magazine would go on to cover the music scene until 1989. Now, 33 years later, it’s back. The first new issue of “America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine” is now in print and online- with a cover by artist Raymond Pettibon.
CREEM magazine gained a loyal following for both its unique writing and format. It also covered the punk, new wave, and heavy metal scenes in a time still dominated primarily by pop and rock music. Lester Bangs, who became more widely known after his portrayal by Philip Seymour Hoffman in Almost Famous, was editor of the magazine for five years. Cameron Crowe, who wrote and directed that film, also contributed articles for CREEM.
The premiere issue of the magazine has something for every music fan, while keeping the feel of the original. Special Interest, Mac DeMarco, Amyl and the Sniffers, Warthog, and KeiyaA are among the current artists covered. There’s an article on an album by The Osmonds and an excerpt from an unreleased book on The Who. Features from the original magazine like “Stars Cars” and their letters section also make a return.
This Wednesday (9/21/22) at The Grammy Museum, there will be a screening of the 2020 documentary CREEM: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine. The film will be followed by a conversation with JJ Kramer (CREEM Chairman and son of CREEM founder Barry Kramer), Jaan Uhelszki (Editor at the original CREEM and Editor Emeritus today), and Dave Carnie (CREEM Editorial Director), moderated by journalist Scott Sterling.
CREEM also just released a special David Bowie edition of the magazine. It includes articles from past issues, as well as an interview with Brett Morgen, director of Moonage Daydream, the new Bowie documentary which opens in theaters today, 9/16/22.
There are digital and print subscription options for the quarterly magazine and all subscriptions give you access to the digital archives- all 224 of the past issues.
Sep 152022
Above are scenes from Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film, Breathless, starring Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
The first two pictures are from a press conference scene where Seberg’s character asks an author (played by influential director Jean-Pierre Melville) for his “greatest ambition in life” He replies- “To become immortal, and then die”.
Although it was sad to hear of Godard’s passing, he has certainly achieved immortality through his beautiful work.
Sep 112022
Ofer Wolberger’s photo of Spencer Finch’s installation Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on that September Morning, 2014, located at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
From the museum’s webpage about the work-
At the heart of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s mission is the promise to commemorate the 2,983 killed as a result of the 9/11 and February 26, 1993 attacks. The Memorial and the Museum fulfills this sacred responsibility in many ways—through memorialization, through education and, in some cases, through artistic expression.
One of the Museum’s most recognizable installations is a piece by artist Spencer Finch titled “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning.” This work runs prominently through Memorial Hall, or the space that connects the two main exhibitions at bedrock in the Museum. This larger-than-life installation is part of the Memorial Museum’s permanent collection and was commissioned in 2014 before the Museum opened its doors to the public.
The piece is comprised of 2,983 individual watercolor squares—each representing a victim of the 2001 and 1993 attacks—and symbolizes the idea of memory. Many remember the beauty of the clear blue sky on the morning of 9/11. But, our own perception of the color blue might not be the same as that of another person. However, just like our perception of color, our memories share a common point of reference.
Within the larger art installation is the quote “No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time” from Book IX of The Aeneid by Roman poet Virgil. Each letter was forged from recovered World Trade Center steel by New Mexico artist Tom Joyce. This quote suggests the transformative potential of remembrance and succinctly reinforces the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s mission. Today, while the Memorial and the Museum are temporarily closed, these words remain as true as ever.
The image of the work shown above was included in Mint Museum’s 2021 exhibition, W|ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine.
Sep 022022
John Baeder has had, and continues to have, an interesting artistic career. He is most well known for his realistic paintings of diners, but he has also photographed and painted other points of interest on his travels across America.
His oil painting, pictured above, Col. Poole’s Pig Hill of Fame, 1995, is part of Morris Museum of Art’s permanent collection. The museum is the oldest in the country dedicated to the art and artists of the American South. The subject of the painting, Poole’s Bar-B-Q, is located in Ellijay, Georgia. When you visit Poole’s you can purchase a wooden pig that they will paint your name on to add to the hill seen in the painting.
Baeder has created several books of his work including Sign Language, which focuses on his photos of handmade signs he’s found on his travels. One of his Instagram accounts, is focused on these signs, and another on vintage postcards from his collection.