Mid Eastern Abstract Calligraphy

Not so song ago I had a watershed experience when I discovered a trove of Italian artists who were into (abstract) calligraphy, one way or another. It was quite an experience to see all the experimenting and creativity by those nationals. When the word calligraphy is used we usually picture wedding invitations or oriental characters. We forget that this type of activity and creativity is universal.
And so it was quite a treat the other afternoon to accidentally come across a trove of middle eastern calligraphers and view this art from their point of view. Some works are meant to be readable; others, not so much. There's definitely a lot of abstraction going on here; a lot of play with the fluid, gestural movements of the brush. There are undertones of culture and politics and religion going on here which give even more meaning the the art works. I like encountering these works from that standpoint. There's so much more meat for the mind.
The above work is by Mohammad Ehsai, an Iranian born in 1939. The image is from elitechoice.org. What few images you'll find, when you Google him, are all about gestural beauty, but the titles let you know that it's about religion too.

What started this whole adventure was stumbling across Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Arab & Iranian Art Sale on Oct.24, 2007. You really must check out their site. In order to explore it, you must register. It's free and just takes a moment or two. But it's well worth your while and quite an education in itself. In pursuing those artists from that one particular auction, I ended up far afield and now have quite a bit of material to sort through and digest.

Desert Auctions

On Wednesday, April 30, Christie's Dubai will hold an Art Auction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At first glance I thought - What a strange little auction. But then I remembered that with any sizable offering there's more than a small amount of ugly art to wade through to find the good stuff. What struck me was the amount of works that incorporated calligraphy; a lot of which was playful.
The work on your right is by our friend, Charles Hossein Zenderoudi.

The image is from Artnet's Upcoming Auction Results for
Christie's Dubai
International Modern and Contemporary Art
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

We'd expect calligraphy in an Asian Auction. It was a little surprising to see it here; but it shouldn't be, it's very much a part of their culture.

Giampaolo Di Cocco

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Minimal & Abstract Photography

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Photography is something I dabbled in for a while in my early 20's. Had several cameras, the developing equipment and even took a course or two. Actually, since I had figured out that I wasn't gonna be no Picasso with my painting, it seemed like an easy alternate route to being an artist. But I digress.

Gil Mares is a great photographer who has discovered that the hulls of ships make for beautiful and intriguing subject matter and definitely shows his skill as an artist. Although this particular image gives itself away, you'll be amazed and intrigued by the beauty he presents to us in images that are not so easily recognized. By zooming in he presents us with colorful, bold abstracts that are so simple and yet make us think.

This image is from his page at the Kidder Smith Gallery, where you'll find 14 examples of his work and an Artist's Statement that explains it all.

And you'll especially want to go to his website to see all the wonderful works he has there. Isn't it fantastic how an artist can show us something that's familiar and make it so fresh and compelling ?


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Night At The Auctions

It's Sunday, so that means there's no Art News on the Internet. And art-wise, the blogisphere is pretty much shut down. So howz a person to get an art fix ?

Go to Artnet, choose Auctions from the toolbar; then you can chose Upcoming Auctions or Recent Auction Results.

I usually stick with the big auction houses. Didn't see anything interesting in the Upcoming, so I checked out Sotheby's New York, Contemporary Art Wednesday, April 2, 2008. This is a cool adventure for several reasons. After several years of doing this, I'm just blown away by the realization of all the art that's out there; all the art that's been made. You see many artists that you've never heard of and then when you Google them you come across even more. Then there's the not so famous works by well know artists. So it can really be an art education. And what's very fascinating are the prices being paid. I'd be hard pressed to pay $300 for a painting, so it's interesting to see what people will spend $38,000 for, or even hundreds of thousands or millions. And after a while you see trends and reasons; things start to make a little sense.

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The above image is "Untitled" 1991, oil and photograph by Gerhard Richter which sold for $21,250 (includes premium) , from Artnet.com.

I don't know if this is a bit of appropriation on Gerhard's part, but this simple piece really caught my eye and at first seems a bit unusual for Mr Richter. But after some thinking I realized that this fits right in with his oeuvre.

Contemporary Collage

Collage. What possesses certain artists to want to cut and paste ? And once they do, like all artists, they find a niche; a particular train of thought to pursue.
Trained as a print maker and starting his career by making fragile sculptures,
Lance Letscher has a fascinating oeuvre with lots of depth. Some say he makes his collages like quilts, others point you to telltale signs of printmaking. Either way, you'll find a comprehensive and enlightening article about him here and then a shorter one that comes from a different angle, here. These will give you plenty of insight into his career and technique.

I have a weakness for writing in paintings, so when I spotted some words, I was hooked. That's what draws me in; I want to read what's being said. The orbs of color bring the top work into the realm of painting and the bottom work just has so much atmosphere and lightness to it. The way he does this piece is so unexpected for a collage.

Both images are from the Steven Wolf Fine Arts. They have 16 images of his work in widely varying styles.

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Top image - "I Can Jump" collage on Masonite, 15 x 17 in.

Bottom image - "TBS" Collage on Masonite, 2005, 8.75 x 11.75 in.

( you can get an extreme closeup of this work)

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Kikuo Saito

If you love Cy Twombly; if you love Larry Poons' later works, you'll love Kikuo Saito. Although there are elements in his paintings that remind you of these greats, Kikuo is definitely his own man.
Born in Tokyo in 1939, he moved to NYCity when he was 27 (1966); studied with Larry Poons and was an assistant to Poons and Kenneth Noland. What a beginning !

There are two distinctive things about Kikuo's work that attract me. In some of his paintings you have a grid - sometimes apparent, sometimes not - with random Roman Letters scattered here and there. For some reason the placement of those letters seem important enough to make me search for words or an answer. They add a very sophisticated and serious look to the paintings. Some of these can be very serious, as in the work titled Copper Wall, or especially the very dark and yet ethereal, Via Luca.
The other characteristic that attracts me is his puttering style of painting. It looks like he's just puttering around applying color here and there as the whim hits him. The bottom painting, "Avocado Road" 1999, Oil on Canvas 39 1/2 x 89 1/2 inches, is a prime example. You have a background that's as solid as it is vacuous, and he just seems to hang passages of painting here and there; just tinkering around and probably even muttering to himself all the while.




The top image is "Orange Dust", 2004. Both images are from Gallery Camino Real, where they have 14 examples of his work that enlarge, twice.

An excellent read is an essay by Karen Wilkin, accompanied by images. (caution - PDF)

You'll also want to check out the 4 images at the Robert Kidd Gallery.

And you absolutely must check out the work on paper they have at Artnet.
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