Month: May 2015

Javier Marin

Sculptures by Javier Marin

Javier Marín was born in Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico in 1962. He studied at San Carlos, the National Academy of Art, in Mexico City and has exhibited widely throughout Mexico with solo exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, MARCO in Monterrey, and the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Marin has been featured in over thirty solo exhibitions and participated in more that one hundred domestic and international exhibitions including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

Working quickly, primarily in clay, Javier Marín does not refer to a model but instead relies on his remarkable knowledge of the human form gathered from years of drawing directly from the figure. Process is one of the artist’s most obvious passions, spikes of bronze are often left exposed to show the paths of molten metal flowing into the cast figure. During the creation of a work, words might be quickly inscribed onto the raw clay, holes gouged and support structures left exposed.

Carl Milles

Carl Milles, Poseidon Fountain in Gothenburg, Sweden

Carl Milles was a Swedish sculptor born in 1875 in Lagga outside Uppsala, Sweden. He moved to Paris and studied art, working in Auguste Rodin’s studio, gaining recognition as a sculptor. Milles sculpted the Poseidon statue in Gothenburg, the Gustaf Vasa statue at the Stockholm Nordic Museum, the Orpheus group outside the Stockholm Concert Hall and the Fountain of Faith in Falls Church, Virginia.

In Gothenburg’s main square, Götaplatsen, the imposing  twenty-three foot figure of Poseidon stands proudly atop the fountain. Completed in 1931 by Carl Milles, it has become an icon for Gothenburg.

Poseidon is a fitting figure to watch over the maritime city of Gothenburg. As the Greek god of the sea, he hears sailors’ prayers for calm waters and safe returns. As if to reiterate his position as the master of the waters, Milles sculpted him proudly lifting a large fish and shell toward the heavens.

Relaxing on the Carpet

Photographer Unknown, (Relaxing on the Carpet)

“But the best, in my opinion, was the home life in the little flat–the ardent, voluble chats after the day’s study; the cozy dinners and fresh, light breakfasts; the interchange of ambitions–ambitions interwoven each with the other’s or else inconsiderable–the mutual help and inspiration; and–overlook my artlessness–stuffed olives and cheese sandwiches at 11 p.m.”

― O. Henry, The Four Million

An Array of Tricks

Photographer Unknown, (An Array of Tricks)

Otters seem to do extremely well when domesticated and they are simple enough to care for. People love to see the Otters and their playful activities. It helps to bring them to life instead of just being something they see on TV or read about in books. Domesticated Otters give you a chance to carefully watch them and to observe their behaviors.

You will find the Otters can perform for you an array of tricks. They haven’t learned them from humans though as the same tricks are performed by them in the wild.

Jane Lindskold: “The Subtle Strategies”

Photographer Unknown, (Curious Tools)

“Wolves regularly attacked their rivals in power, so the idea of killing to gain position was neither alien nor repulsive to her. The use of assassins she had filed as yet another of the curious tools – like swords and bows — that humans created to make up for their lack of personal armament. What she still had to puzzle through was the subtle strategies involved in killing those who were expected to inherit power rather than those who held the power itself.”

-Jane Lindskold, Through Wolf’s Eyes