Author: ultrawolvesunderthefullmoon

https://www.instagram.com/wolvesofgray This blog is a refugee and a survivor of the Great Tumblr Inquisition of December 17th, 2018. I am gay artist, who received training at the Rhode Island School of Design, and now, a retired high-end fine art framer living in Maryland, USA. My interests and studies in life run a wide gamut from art to history and from the scientific to the esoteric. I have been building this blog of images and texts for the last eight years. My wish is that my posts pique the interest of viewers and encourage them to experience more.

The Marble Boxer

Boxer, Marble, Stadio dei Marmi, Rome, Italy

Located in the Foro Italico, an Italian sports complex that was created under the direction of Benito Mussolini, the Stadio dei Marmi is covered in faux Greco-Roman statues that owe more to fascism than to the classical period.

Construction of the open air stadium was completed in 1928 as a training center for the students of the nearby Academy of Physical Education. The central grass field is ringed by a short stack of cascading stadium seats on the top level of which is a corresponding row of classical athletic statues holding modern sports equipment.

As was the classical style the figures stand naked and posed each one holding an implement of their sport, from a cricket bat, to a soccer ball, to a tennis racket, to the more traditional discus. Fifty-nine figures in all stand around the top of the playing field giving the overall appearance of a contemporary Greek stadium. Up close however, the figures belie the angular features and severe facial characteristics of more traditional brutalist fascist statuary.

Wurlitzer

The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1853 by German immigrant Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company originally imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments from Germany for resale in the U.S. Wurlitzer enjoyed initial success largely due to defense contracts to provide musical instruments to the U.S. military. In 1880 the company began manufacturing pianos. The company quickly expanded to make band organs, orchestrions, nickelodeons and theatre organs which were popular in theatres during the days of silent movies.

Over time, Wurlitzer acquired a number of other companies which made a variety of loosely related products including kitchen appliances, carnival rides, player piano rolls, and radios. Wurlitzer also operated a chain of retail stores where the company’s products were sold.

As technology evolved, Wurlitzer began producing electric pianos, electronic organs, and jukeboxes and eventually became known more for jukeboxes and vending machines, which are still made by Wurlitzer, rather than for actual musical instruments.

Fred Kaemmer

Glasswork by Fred Kaemmer,

Glass artist Fred Kaemmer likes to use the traditional decorative elements of glassblowing–frit, glass cane, metal leaf–in unorthodox ways. He often uses these elements on a piece’s interior surface to create unusual textures or patterns, rather than adding them to the surface or sandwiching them between layers of glass.

Kaemmer’s approach to glassblowing works against the grain of conventional glass decoration. By working on the interior surface, Kaemmer creates unusual vessels that fully engage the viewer, and the results edge the piece away from its utilitarian and traditional foundation toward a more sculptural work of art.

After graduating from college, Fred Kaemmer began working with glass as a distraction from the nagging question of “what now?” He took several summer workshops and eventually enrolled at The University of Wisconsin-River Falls to further explore hot glass. This was over ten years ago, and he now works full-time with hot glass in a studio that he built in St. Paul, MN.

The Afghan Whigs, “Algiers”

The Afghan Whigs, “Algiers”

The Afghan Whigs are an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally active from 1986 to 2001, they have since reformed. The group – with core members Greg Dulli (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar), and John Curley (bass) – rose up around the grunge movement, evolving from a garage band  in the vein of the Replacements to incorporate more R & B and soul influences into their sound and image. After releasing their first album independently in 1988, the band signed to the Seattle-based label Sub Pop. They released their major-label debut and fourth album, “Gentlemen”, in 1993.

A great song that is now stuck in my mind.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Ralph Eggleston

Ralph Eggleston, “For the Birds”

“For the Birds” is a 2000 animated short film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Ralph Eggleston. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2001.

I saw this many years ago and just recently came across it on a journey down the internet rabbit hole. Funny little short film.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Raphael Sadeler II

Raphael Sadeler II , “Saint Michael the Archangel”, Engraving, 1604

The Sadeler family were  the largest, and probably the most successful of the dynasties of Flemish engravers that were dominant in Northern European printmaking in the later 16th and 17th centuries, as both artists and publishers. As with other dynasties such as the Wierixes and Van de Passe family, the style of family members is very similar, and their work often hard to tell apart in the absence of a signature or date, or evidence of location. Altogether at least ten Sadelers worked as engravers, in the Spanish Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Bohemia and Austria.