Month: December 2017

Edward B. Gordon

Edward B. Gordon, “Sieben Kunstfreunde”, From the Series ‘Paintings of a City’, Oil on Canvas

An observer, a chronicler of moments, Edward B. Gordon is a passionate portraitist of modern daily life who splits his time between London and Berlin. His large-format oil paintings seek to capture unique moments. They are discreet in nature, echoing our daily perceptions, and yet the scenes are full of poetry and density. Painted to be realistic, his images are like the photographs captured on city streets, yet they also contain an additional atmospheric quality.

Light is the source of inspiration for Gordon. On his forays through the city he is inspired by normal, everyday moments. For many years an author of a blog presenting an oil painting every day, Gordon still mixes his colours himself. What others do with the camera and the simple operation of the shutter, Gordon does with the brush and the naked eye. Whether focusing on small, fleeting strokes, or impressive, full-screen depictions, his style is unmistakeable.

Eye of Horus on His Abdomen

Photographer Unknown, (Eye of Horus on His Abdomen)

“May you cross the sky united in the dark,
May you rise in Iightland, the place in which you shine!
Horus, go proclaim to the powers of the east
And their spirits:
This Unas comes, a spirit indestructible,
Whom he wishes to live will live,
Whom he wishes to die will die!

UNAS PYRAMID TEXTS
Utterance 217
Sarcophagus Chamber, South Wall

Doug Aitken

Doug Aitken, “Mirage”’, Desert X Art Festival, 2017, Coachella, California

“Mirage” by Doug Aitken is one of 16 artworks scattered around the Coachella Valley as part of the inaugural Desert X, a contemporary-art festival organized by curator Neville Wakefield. It takes the form of a single-story ranch house in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains that is wrapped inside and out in mirrored surfaces. From certain angles it disappears almost completely into the landscape it endlessly reflects.

The piece is located in a high-end residential subdivision that is among the last major undeveloped parcels of hillside land in the valley. Aitken describes “Mirage” as a study of the relationship between the architecture of the typical suburban ranch house (and its forebears, including residential designs by Frank Lloyd Wright and others) and the natural landscape that it both relies upon and threatens to destroy.

Michael Goro

Michael Goro, “La Belle Fenetre”, Etching / Engraving, Date Unknown

“Looking for subject matter I find simple things that we see every day, things that become symbolic once they are taken out of context. I experiment with the juxtaposition of places, faces, and architectural designs that reflect my diverse personal experiences. My story is a vivid illustration of the end of the last century – a time of deconstruction, discontinuity, and dislocation. I find that black-and-white prints convey contradictory images better than any other medium by reducing them to the most basic color contrast. My work provides the full spectrum of techniques ranging from renaissance engraving to digital photogravure.” – Michael Goro

Holding His Breath

Photographer Unknown, (Holding His Breath)

“Breathing easily and fully is one of the basic pleasures of being alive. The pleasure is clearly experienced at the end of expiration when the descending wave fills the pelvis with a delicious sensation. In adults this sensation has a sexual quality, though it does not induce any genital feeling. The slight backward and forward movements of the pelvis, similar to the sexual movements, add to the pleasure. Though the rhythm of breathing is pronounced in the pelvic area, it is at the same time experienced by the total body as a feeling of fluidity, softness, lightness and excitement.”

― Alexander Lowen, The Voice of the Body