Posted by Ruxandra on November 25, 2011 · 1 Comment
Mary Sibande is one of South Africa’s most talented young artists. For several years, her work has nearly exclusively revolved around Sophie, a servant character created from her personal genealogy (her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were maids). Sophie’s dark silky skin and her majestic eye-catching blue Victorian dresses turn her into a queen whose eyes … Continue reading →
Category contemporary art, culture, exhibitions, fashion · Tagged with AAW, and Prosperity, apartheid, Art at Work, artist interview, artist residency, arts, black women, Caught in the rapture, FIFA 2010, Her Majesty Queen Sophie, I decline. I refuse to recline, I'm a lady, Joburg Art City, Johannesburg, limited movement, Lovers in Tango, Mary Sibande, Momo Gallery, post-colonialism, religion, sewing techniques, silent symphony, Soldiers of god, sophie, South Africa, textile, uniform, venice biennale, Victorian dress, vuka uzenzele, Yinka Shonibare, Zionist church
Posted by Ruxandra on May 29, 2011 · 1 Comment
Kaija Poijula’s is one of those artists whose work causes an instantaneous poetical collision. When I bumped into her “Fortuna” one year ago – and later into “Sleeping beauties” at the Helsinki design museum, I really got fascinated by her virtuoso use of airy and frail dandelions trapped in an elaborate glass and polished wooden structure. … Continue reading →
Category conceptual art, contemporary art, culture, design, exhibitions, Finland, Finnish design, Helsinki, Ireland, Scandinavian design, textile art · Tagged with angels' swings, Ateneum, Bethlehem, boats, Celtic folklore, Cheongju International Craft Biennale, christ church cathedral, clear water temple, collaborative art, contemporary art, crowdsourced art, culture, Didrichsen museum, dublin, elegy, Ennis, espoo, fortuna, galleria Johan S, gallery norsu, galway, Harju funeral chapel, herttoniemi church, Hugo Simberg, installation, Ireland, juha leiviskä, kaija poijula, kiyomizu-dera, kulosaari church, kyoto, lahti, little buddha, mikkeli, pagan symbols, Palestinian cultural centre, performance, plenty of time, religious art, saatchi gallery, sea and ocean collection, sempre fideles, suomen mielenterveysseura, textile, textile art, venice biennale, villa lepola
Posted by Ruxandra on March 25, 2011 · 7 Comments
This portrait of Alec Von Bargen (www.alec360.com) consists of a series of edited messages we exchanged on Facebook, by e-mail over the last four months. It was very much an “art on the go” experience as Alec was constantly on the move: traveling to shoot in Asia, traveling to receive an award and inaugurate an … Continue reading →
Category contemporary art, culture, photography · Tagged with Albert Kahn, alec von bargen, artist residency, Center for Fine Art Photography Colorado, economical crisis, Iceland, ILLUMInations, LACDA, MIRA residency, multiculturalism, ONDARTE residency, pictures of asia, soncino biennale, venice biennale
Posted by Ruxandra on February 24, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young woman called Kati Immonen*. She was an incredibly talented artist who, after experiencing different forms of graphical expression, fell in love with watercolours to which she decided to devote all her skills and imagination. Witty and sparkling, Kati did not want to paint the traditional landscapes … Continue reading →
Category contemporary art, environmental art, Finland, interview, Nordic watercolour artists, Uncategorized · Tagged with activism, animal rights, contemporary art, continuation war, environment, environmental protection, Finland, lotta museum, nordic watercolour museum, painting, pyhaniemen kartano, summer festivals, watercolours, winter war
Posted by Ruxandra on February 14, 2011 · 2 Comments
I am meeting with Melek Mazici[i] at the Kiasma café to the occasion of ”Tidelines” [ii], an exhibition consisting of a unique joint installation she elaborated with Raija Malka (graphical work), Kaija Saariaho (music) and Amin Maalouf (texts) on the theme of identities. At times when a fierce identity debate rages in many European countries, … Continue reading →
Category art techniques, contemporary art, exhibitions, Finland, Helsinki, textile art, Turkey, Uncategorized · Tagged with Amin Maalouf, carborundum, contemporary art, embroidery, galleries, grammy award, grammy recording award, image-on, Istanbul, Kaija Saariaho, kiasma, Melek Mazici, painting, polymergravure, Raija Malka, self-made books, silk, textile, tidelines
Posted by Ruxandra on November 10, 2010 · Leave a Comment
If artistry is a process requiring the ability to dig into own life experiences and relentlessly train in own art techniques to reach a deeper level of personal expression, then Elena Schuvaloff-Maijala champions at illustrating this marvelous ability through her genuine, nearly childish, pleasure of painting combined with the discipline of an artisan working on … Continue reading →
Posted by Ruxandra on November 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Elina Aho, an artist and a psychologist, is portraying people or their body parts consistently exploring oil painting textures in an attempt to let a person’s inner story emerge, as her recent exhibition ”Body/images” at Galerie Oljemark demonstrates. We met in her studio in Töölö shortly before the show was to start. – What brought you … Continue reading →
Posted by Ruxandra on October 16, 2010 · 3 Comments
Joanne Grüne-Yanoff’s most recent installations, presented within her exhibition called ”You Walk In My Heart And The beat Goes On” at Gallery Kalhama&Piippo (Helsinki) is a meditation that riffs on previous works of hers. The work continues her conceptual and materials-based explorations, and using those her art has made us familiar with – moss, honey, … Continue reading →
Category conceptual art, contemporary art, Finland, interview · Tagged with art collectors, conceptual art, contemporary art, Damien Hirst, Frieze art festival, joanne grüne-yanoff, Kalhama&Piippo, kiasma, poetry, YBA, you walk in my heart and the beat goes on
Posted by Ruxandra on October 14, 2010 · Leave a Comment
I can say it straight away: I am a French-speaker. Writing this blog in English is thus quite a challenge. Are there alternatives? Not in my opinion: English has become the lingua franca of international communication an I feel that sharing my passion for arts should know no boundaries. If any limit is to be … Continue reading →