Famous Paintings Updated With 21st-Century Gadgets

Swiping, scrolling, instagrammin’, catching a regular selfie… It all seems so familiar these days. But what if we had this technology decades ago? That’s exactly what the “Art x Smart” project, by Korean illustrator Kim Dong-Kyu, explores. By injecting 21st century gadgets into famous historical artworks, he takes us to a utopian reality where ancient and modern times meet.

The author of this project, Kim Dong-Kyu, doesn’t seem to be short on humor. For example, he took a classic like van Gogh’s “The Room” and turned it into a hipsterish studio apartment with a neon city bike and miles of charger wires. Apart from being absurdly funny, these works also draw attention to our relationship with new technologies and their influence on modern society. By comparing the originals and their remakes, you can experience an uprising feeling of loneliness, alienation and shallowness in those where the subjects are tethered to modern technologies.

Website: artxsmart.tumblr.com

After “The Room” by Vincent van Gogh

After “The Dream” by Pablo Picasso

After “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat

After “The Card Players” by Paul Cézanne

After “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich

After “The Ancient of Days” by William Blake

After “L’absinthe” by Edgar Degas

After “The Balcony” by Edouard Manet

After “Portrait de Marie Therese Walter” by Pablo Picasso

After “Rokeby Venus” by Diego Velázquez

After “Over the Town” by Marc Chagall

After “Alphonsine Fournaise” by Auguste Renoir

After “The Luncheon On the Grass” by Edouard Manet

After “L’homme Au Balcon” by Gustave Caillebotte

After “In the Conservatory” by Edouard Manet

After “The Death Of Marat” by Jacques-Louis David

After “Old Man In Sorrow” by Vincent van Gogh

After “The Scream” by Edvard Munch

Famous Paintings Updated With 21st-Century Gadgets originally appeared on Bored Panda

http://www.modernism.ro/2013/11/10/famous-paintings-updated-with-21st-century-gadgets/

Henrique Oliveira plays with Palais de Tokyo’s architecture

Creating a spectacular and invasive Gordian Knot, Henrique Oliveira plays with Palais de Tokyo’s architecture, allowing a work that combines the vegetal and the organic to emerge. The building itself becomes the womb that produces this volume of “tapumes” wood, a material used in Brazilian towns to construct the wooden palisades that surround construction sites.

In the form of paintings, sculptures or installations, the hybrid art of Henrique Oliveira (b. 1973, lives and works in São Paulo) evokes both the urban and the vegetable, the organic and the structural, as well as art and science, through compositions in which the unexpected generates a universe tinted with the fantastic.

Graduating from the University of São Paulo in 1997, the artist explores fluidity, the combination and color of materials, which endows his installations with a certain pictorial quality. Oliveira often borrows materials from the Brazilian urban landscape, notably tapumes, wood taken from fences surrounding and blocking access to construction sites. By using these materials, Oliveira highlights the endemic and parasitic nature of these constructions; evoking wooden tumors, his installations function as a metaphor for the favelas’ organic growth, thus revealing the dynamic decay of São Paulo’s urban fabric. In the artistic lineage of Lydia Clark or Hélio Oiticica, he uses the very context of this sprawling city as a raw material. The way in which it is treated, as well as its unexpected apparition, destabilizes the visitor’s perception of space.

Through a kind of architectural anthropomorphism, Henrique Oliveira reveals the building’s structure. At Palais de Tokyo, he plays on the space’s existing and structuring features, prolonging and multiplying pillars in order to endow them with a vegetable and organic dimension, as though the building were coming alive. The artist draws inspiration from medical textbooks, amongst others, and particularly from studies of physical pathologies such as tumors. Through a formal analogy, these outgrowths evoke the outermost layers of the bark of a common tree. The texture of this wooden tapumes installation inevitably calls to mind certain tree essences from Amazonian, humid tropical forests: the rivulets and other nodes constitute uncontrollable networks, in a logic that Man can no longer suppress.

CURATOR
Marc Bembekoff is currently a curator of the Palais de Tokyo (where he organized Damir Očko and Dewar & Gicquel’s solo exhibitions, amongst others), as well as an independent curator (“The Mystery Spot,” at the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard in Paris, 2012; “Du monde clos à l’univers infini” at the Quartier in Quimper, 2012) and a co-founder of the collective Le Bureau/. He has contributed to several monographic publications (Bettina Samson, Nicolas Boulard, etc.) and exhibition catalogues (musée Rodin, Freud Museum, etc.).

The installation will be in view through September 9th, 2013. Photos by André Morin. (via dark silence in suburbia)

http://www.modernism.ro/2013/07/23/henrique-oliveira-plays-with-palais-de-tokyos-architecture/

Henrique Oliveira plays with Palais de Tokyo’s architecture

Creating a spectacular and invasive Gordian Knot, Henrique Oliveira plays with Palais de Tokyo’s architecture, allowing a work that combines the vegetal and the organic to emerge. The building itself becomes the womb that produces this volume of “tapumes” wood, a material used in Brazilian towns to construct the wooden palisades that surround construction sites.

In the form of paintings, sculptures or installations, the hybrid art of Henrique Oliveira (b. 1973, lives and works in São Paulo) evokes both the urban and the vegetable, the organic and the structural, as well as art and science, through compositions in which the unexpected generates a universe tinted with the fantastic.

Graduating from the University of São Paulo in 1997, the artist explores fluidity, the combination and color of materials, which endows his installations with a certain pictorial quality. Oliveira often borrows materials from the Brazilian urban landscape, notably tapumes, wood taken from fences surrounding and blocking access to construction sites. By using these materials, Oliveira highlights the endemic and parasitic nature of these constructions; evoking wooden tumors, his installations function as a metaphor for the favelas’ organic growth, thus revealing the dynamic decay of São Paulo’s urban fabric. In the artistic lineage of Lydia Clark or Hélio Oiticica, he uses the very context of this sprawling city as a raw material. The way in which it is treated, as well as its unexpected apparition, destabilizes the visitor’s perception of space.

Through a kind of architectural anthropomorphism, Henrique Oliveira reveals the building’s structure. At Palais de Tokyo, he plays on the space’s existing and structuring features, prolonging and multiplying pillars in order to endow them with a vegetable and organic dimension, as though the building were coming alive. The artist draws inspiration from medical textbooks, amongst others, and particularly from studies of physical pathologies such as tumors. Through a formal analogy, these outgrowths evoke the outermost layers of the bark of a common tree. The texture of this wooden tapumes installation inevitably calls to mind certain tree essences from Amazonian, humid tropical forests: the rivulets and other nodes constitute uncontrollable networks, in a logic that Man can no longer suppress.

CURATOR
Marc Bembekoff is currently a curator of the Palais de Tokyo (where he organized Damir Očko and Dewar & Gicquel’s solo exhibitions, amongst others), as well as an independent curator (“The Mystery Spot,” at the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard in Paris, 2012; “Du monde clos à l’univers infini” at the Quartier in Quimper, 2012) and a co-founder of the collective Le Bureau/. He has contributed to several monographic publications (Bettina Samson, Nicolas Boulard, etc.) and exhibition catalogues (musée Rodin, Freud Museum, etc.).

The installation will be in view through September 9th, 2013. Photos by André Morin. (via dark silence in suburbia)

http://www.modernism.ro/2013/07/23/henrique-oliveira-plays-with-palais-de-tokyos-architecture/

What If World Leaders Were Artists?

Powerful political leaders, be they pragmatic, heroic statesmen or abominable villains, have left permanent marks on the history of mankind. The demands of their roles leave little time for leisure, much less for focused, creative endeavors. But what happens when these leaders take a break from painting human history to paint on a canvas?

Below are some of the most prominent politicians in the world who took the time out of everything going on around them to put paint to canvas. They aren’t the only ones, but they are perhaps the most recognizable. Love them or hate them, but looking at their art offers as an interesting window into the minds of men who changed the course of history. They may not be the most skilled painters, but in most of their cases, it is impressive that they found the time and focus to take up painting in the first place.

What do you see in their works?

Vladimir Putin

Source: forbes.ru

Source: rferl.org

Russia’s macho-man president painted this piece as part of an auction held for charity in Saint Petersburg. Vladimir Putin’s painting fetched a hefty sum at 37 million rubles, or just over 1.1 million dollars. Critics have puzzled over the piece, which to some seems at once sophisticated and simple. Rumors abound that Putin had the help of a professional artist, who may have been Nadezhda Anfalova.

“Natalya Kurnikova, the Moscow gallery owner who bought the artwork, said she had done so because it could be the first and last painting of its kind.” - The Guardian about Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

George W. Bush

George W. Bush oil painting hobby was revealed to the public after a hacker going by “Guccifer” hacked the Bush family’s emails and posted photographs of the paintings online. Since then, more have been posted online. The president began by painting primarily dogs, but has since expanded to landscapes as well with the encouragement of his wife and of Bonnie Flood, the artist helping him improve his work. Of special interest to most critics are his self-portraits in the bath tub and shower, which seem to speak on a deeper and more psychological level than his landscapes and dog portraits.

“Fortunately, I haven’t seen those reviews. Look, the signature is more valuable than the painting.” – George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States

Adolf Hitler

Before he became one of the most iconic historical icons of evil, Hitler aspired to become an artist. In his youth, he made a modest living by painting watercolors and printing and selling them as postcards. His application to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was rejected twice because he didn’t measure up. A professor suggested that he study architecture, but Hitler did not have the academic credentials necessary to do so. It is unclear if his rejection from art school played a role in his later actions, but Hitler has said that Vienna was the catalyst for his antisemitism. Many historians love to consider how history would have turned out differently had Hitler been accepted into art school.

“I am an artist and not a politician. Once the Polish question is settled, I want to end my life as an artist.” - Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Nazi Germany

Winston Churchill

On the rare occasion that Winston Churchill, Britain’s legendary WWII statesman, was able to find time for himself, he often liked to spend it in front of a canvas. Despite his many accomplishments in Britain’s name, he was also a man of the arts, painting numerous paintings and writing several books. He was a disciplined and largely self-taught painter who occasionally met with successful contemporary artists to listen to their advice. He had said that painting helped him cope with his memories of war.

“Painting came to my rescue in a most trying time. I had long hours of unwonted leisure, in which to contemplate the frightful unfolding of War; and then the Muse of Painting came to me and said, ‘Are these toys any good to you? They amuse some people’.” - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower, America’s warrior-president, was inspired to take up painting when he observed Tomas E. Stephens paint a portrait of Eisenhower’s wife, Mamie. He was fairly prolific during the last 20 years of his life, but his work remained fairly conservative. He painted landscapes and patriotic portraits, and was not a fan of modern art. The president was extraordinarily humble regarding his work, and its main purpose for him was relaxation. He also once complained that he had found more time to paint as president than after his term because his time in the presidency had been far more structured.

“Let’s get something straight here, Cohen. They would have burned this [expletive] a long time ago if I weren’t the president of the United States.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States

What If World Leaders Were Artists? originally appeared on Bored Panda

http://www.modernism.ro/2013/09/21/what-if-world-leaders-were-artists/

What If World Leaders Were Artists?

Powerful political leaders, be they pragmatic, heroic statesmen or abominable villains, have left permanent marks on the history of mankind. The demands of their roles leave little time for leisure, much less for focused, creative endeavors. But what happens when these leaders take a break from painting human history to paint on a canvas?

Below are some of the most prominent politicians in the world who took the time out of everything going on around them to put paint to canvas. They aren’t the only ones, but they are perhaps the most recognizable. Love them or hate them, but looking at their art offers as an interesting window into the minds of men who changed the course of history. They may not be the most skilled painters, but in most of their cases, it is impressive that they found the time and focus to take up painting in the first place.

What do you see in their works?

Vladimir Putin

Source: forbes.ru

Source: rferl.org

Russia’s macho-man president painted this piece as part of an auction held for charity in Saint Petersburg. Vladimir Putin’s painting fetched a hefty sum at 37 million rubles, or just over 1.1 million dollars. Critics have puzzled over the piece, which to some seems at once sophisticated and simple. Rumors abound that Putin had the help of a professional artist, who may have been Nadezhda Anfalova.

“Natalya Kurnikova, the Moscow gallery owner who bought the artwork, said she had done so because it could be the first and last painting of its kind.” - The Guardian about Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

George W. Bush

George W. Bush oil painting hobby was revealed to the public after a hacker going by “Guccifer” hacked the Bush family’s emails and posted photographs of the paintings online. Since then, more have been posted online. The president began by painting primarily dogs, but has since expanded to landscapes as well with the encouragement of his wife and of Bonnie Flood, the artist helping him improve his work. Of special interest to most critics are his self-portraits in the bath tub and shower, which seem to speak on a deeper and more psychological level than his landscapes and dog portraits.

“Fortunately, I haven’t seen those reviews. Look, the signature is more valuable than the painting.” – George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States

Adolf Hitler

Before he became one of the most iconic historical icons of evil, Hitler aspired to become an artist. In his youth, he made a modest living by painting watercolors and printing and selling them as postcards. His application to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was rejected twice because he didn’t measure up. A professor suggested that he study architecture, but Hitler did not have the academic credentials necessary to do so. It is unclear if his rejection from art school played a role in his later actions, but Hitler has said that Vienna was the catalyst for his antisemitism. Many historians love to consider how history would have turned out differently had Hitler been accepted into art school.

“I am an artist and not a politician. Once the Polish question is settled, I want to end my life as an artist.” - Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Nazi Germany

Winston Churchill

On the rare occasion that Winston Churchill, Britain’s legendary WWII statesman, was able to find time for himself, he often liked to spend it in front of a canvas. Despite his many accomplishments in Britain’s name, he was also a man of the arts, painting numerous paintings and writing several books. He was a disciplined and largely self-taught painter who occasionally met with successful contemporary artists to listen to their advice. He had said that painting helped him cope with his memories of war.

“Painting came to my rescue in a most trying time. I had long hours of unwonted leisure, in which to contemplate the frightful unfolding of War; and then the Muse of Painting came to me and said, ‘Are these toys any good to you? They amuse some people’.” - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower, America’s warrior-president, was inspired to take up painting when he observed Tomas E. Stephens paint a portrait of Eisenhower’s wife, Mamie. He was fairly prolific during the last 20 years of his life, but his work remained fairly conservative. He painted landscapes and patriotic portraits, and was not a fan of modern art. The president was extraordinarily humble regarding his work, and its main purpose for him was relaxation. He also once complained that he had found more time to paint as president than after his term because his time in the presidency had been far more structured.

“Let’s get something straight here, Cohen. They would have burned this [expletive] a long time ago if I weren’t the president of the United States.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States

What If World Leaders Were Artists? originally appeared on Bored Panda

http://www.modernism.ro/2013/09/21/what-if-world-leaders-were-artists/