All posts tagged: artist

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Sarah Poyet

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I traveled to Mexico with two friends and a Panasonic home camera. I had no idea what I was doing. We found ourselves in a Zapatista compound celebrating New Year’s Eve, and I came back to New York and made a film about it. We rode buses from Mexico City to Oaxaca City to San Cristóbal de las Casas. Waking up in a sleeping bag… feeling cold morning mountain air in my lungs and on my body… having warm clothes to put on…running for the train with my belongings on my back… life simplified itself so quickly and I never felt as free and uncluttered, rising with my companions in San Cristóbal one buena mañana. It’s hard to live simply in New York! That unfolding feeling I discovered while drinking the scenes into my camera, I’m still seeking through a deeper commitment to my work. It’s a matter of discipline – which contrasts so much to the freedom of traveling. I fiercely resisted at first, holding on to my free spirit – but now I …

#Artlife: Dan Flavin’s “Corners, Barriers, and Corridors”

Published by Khadijat Oseni

Fluorescent lighting isn’t exactly the sexiest invention known to man but somehow Dan Flavin mastered transforming this mundane and sometimes annoyingly buzzing source of light into magical works of art. A minimalist who referred to himself as a “Maximalist”, Flavin was able to create transcendent, futuristic teleports through fluorescent light tubes and bend reality in ways that were so delicate yet strikingly alluring at the same time. Last month, I was glad to have been able to actively explore perceptions of space through the beautifully curated, “Corners, Barriers, and Corridors,” a collection of some of Flavin’s noted works from the 1960s and 70s at David Zwirner Gallery in New York City. Though the exhibit has since ended, Dan Flavin’s pieces still conjure up many thoughts on duality which have helped expand my definitions on style and aesthetics. While at the gallery, I unknowingly started to play with binary oppositions like femininity vs. masculinity, anonymity vs. recognition through the masking silhouettes, tones and shadows formed from the different color gradations of each piece. Here are some …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ TTK

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I’m blessed to have a lot of ‘Juicy’ moments. I’m a pupil of Hip Hop and every time I come across individuals who’ve helped shape the culture and influence me, it’s a ‘Juicy’ moment. If I had to pick one (there are so many), I’d have to go with the time I was backstage at BB Kings on 42nd Street, and Raekwon signed a portrait I painted of him. He said to me, ‘You have a God-given talent. Don’t ever stop.’ That meant a lot to me.” – TTK // @gottkgo   082/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Jules Julien

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“The first thing impacting me when I arrive in a new country are people…how they look, how they speak, how they are dressed, how they live together. I go generally to cities. The countryside bores me. I can still be moved by a landscape, but one day is enough for me. About a city and its livings, when I like it, I can stay watching it as long as possible… Tokyo is my favorite place. After my first visit I have returned 6 times the following years and I will go back again. I love its places, its people, its fashion and lifestyles. The first time in Tokyo, I was shooting everything. I wanted to bring back with me to Paris as many memories as possible…people in streets, subways, bars, parks… During my second trip in Tokyo, I was contacted by email by a Japanese guy, just a coincidence, he didn’t know I was in Tokyo. He was the director of the Diesel Art Gallery and he proposed I have a solo show at his space. The …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Teff

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I suppose I always seek out nuances of Orange. Or anything in the citrus family…greens, yellows, soft pink, etcetera. The burnt Orange dirt roads, my family home is the softest peach colour and white. The vibrant, vivid hues of yellow, Orange ridden all through the Sunrises and Sunsets. I haven’t seen the Sun rise nor set quite like it does in Africa. Nigeria in this case… This particular photo was taken in the Wuse II neighbourhood of Abuja, Nigeria. My dad, older brother, and myself had been out for most of the day, in the heat, running errands. We didn’t have much breakfast, so we stopped to get some bananas and roasted groundnuts. This woman was out there with her daughter and young son. In all her hustle, her daughter – not any older than 12 – had assumed the role of caretaker. The image reminded me of how some roles may be imposed on us. But the true measure of character and strength is riddled in the management of said roles. Her daughter reflected …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Shannon Hemmett

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“After flying overnight from Vancouver to NYC, I found myself at the Museum of Modern Art standing in front of Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon… I was having a creative drought at the time and was eager to experience paintings that I’d only encountered in my books…I’d always been interested in Picasso’s attraction to masks and they play a central role in this piece. The brush strokes are confident from afar, but they are not clean on close inspection and one of the mask-like faces on the right hand side has been aggressively reworked in comparison to the rest of the painting… Yes, I realized that even Picasso reworked his canvases! It was important to see the potency of the imperfections, it was a pep talk about letting go and keeping an open mind in my own art practice…” – Shannon Hemmett // @shannonhemmett   018/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Mike Schultz

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“When I am traveling, drawing helps me to see what is right in front of me. Not only is drawing a grounding, peaceful activity for me, but it truly helps me digest what is happening wherever I am. It slows me down, makes me really look, and connects me to the situation at hand. Living in South East Asia, drawing has helped me work through my culture shock many times. Also, because I am an art teacher, drawing has proved to be an incredible mode of communication between myself and my Burmese students, even when there is a language barrier…”   – Mike Schultz AKA @mike_schultz_studio   016/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project

Confessions Of A Jetsetter w/ Tim Okamura

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I think being a painter does facilitate seeing the world through a different lens than normal. I often find aesthetic appeal in places others might consider dilapidated, unremarkable, or even ugly. In the urban environment in particular, I’ve always been attracted to aging buildings, cracked walls, and empty lots. I love the effects of rust, faded paint, layers of graffiti, signage, posters, and patchwork attempts to repair broken façades. All of these things combine to create what I consider a kind of poignant organic beauty that I think is both viscerally appealing and a pure visual record of the conflicting forces of man-made constructions and nature. This viewpoint often leads me to stumbling across inspiring motifs when I least expect it, and incorporating them into my paintings by direct, detailed documentation, or more suggestively in abstract form. I hope that through my painting I can point to ways for others to see the world differently, to view their environment in a positive way, and perhaps discover a sense of previously unacknowledged beauty in their own …