Tiane Doan Na Champassak Photo Series ‘Spleen And Ideal’ Can Be Seen @ Copper House Gallery, Dublin From 29th May

moray mair | Photography | 46 mins ago

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Body

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Conscientious

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Ideal

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Kneel

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Lie

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Pussy

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Spleen

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Untitled

Photographs By Tiane Doan Na Champassak From Spleen And Ideal Called Woman

Tiane Doan na Champassak‘s photograph series ‘Spleen And Ideal’ can be seen at The Copper House Gallery, Dublin from 30th May – 11th June. It’s another wonderful photo exhibition from the curators of the Copper house Gallery, the last one being ‘Anthropocene by Irish artist David Thomas Smith.

Champassak began his career as a photo jounalist investigating issues around gender identity and over the years this has led him into a more artistic realm in which he uses various techniques, materials and formats to emphasise his subject matter.

In ‘Spleen and Ideal’ Chanpassak looks at the blurring of boundaries between male and female and transgressive sexual encounters, the pictures capturing what seem to be the same person on instant film and contextualised by images of the buildings in which they were taken in Thailand.

36 total views, 36 today

Todd Gross’ Street Photography Is A Funny And Smart Look At Daily Life In New York

moray mair | Photography | 3 hours ago

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Beach

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Lawn

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Old

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Rubbish

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Sexy

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Shadow

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Subway

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Taxi

Street Photography By Todd Gross Called Water

What can one say about Todd Gross‘ street photography? Words aren’t needed. His pictures say everything about him; humorous, sharp, alert with a unique take on the daily grind, life on the streets of New York. It’s clear from his pictures that Gross has a close affinity with the city; it’s people, habits, rituals, light. His blog is full of images that make communities what are, full of the quirks and idiosyncrasies that make us all unique.

I found a great interview with him on a street photography site called erikkimphotography.com so I thought I’d post it up. It’s inspiring stuff and pure American.

54 total views, 54 today

Mariana Abasolo Drawings Are Strange And Surreal Pictures

moray mair | Art and design | 5 hours ago

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Bird

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Building

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Computer

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Fox

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Room

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Sitting

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Sphinx

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Untitled

Drawings By Mariana Abasolo Called Wall

I know nothing about Mariana Abasolo and can only say something about her odd and strangely naive colour pencil drawings. The drawings are all over the internet yet she remains a cypher, a Brazilian artist who is happy to post up her drawings, doodles and collages online at a ferocious rate yet remains anonymous. I for one love these pictures. I’m not sure why. On initial viewing they remind me of teenage drawings done with a ruler, compass and basic colouring pencils.

40 total views, 40 today

Daniel Pitin’s Paintings Are A Bleak Look At History

moray mair | Art and design | 7 hours ago

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Blue Angel

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Broken

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Building

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Hand

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Loge

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Ogres

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Play

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Scholars

Paintings By Daniel Pitin Called Shadow

Daniel Pitin’s paintings are thematically similar to many young artists coming out of Eastern Europe, the work bleak, almost apocalyptic, a sense that the tide of historical determinism that shaped that part of the World for the most part of the 20th Century has been ruptured, destroyed, and in its wake a void is waiting to be filled, a possibility waiting to be awoken.

While Pitins dilapidated buildings and run down interiors exude a sense of disillusionment and helplessness there is nevertheless a sense that what once was has now gone and what remains is the possibility of change, of opportunity, of freedom to create a new space of social and economic freedom. Freedoms denied to generations before him.

Blending layers of imagery informed by film stills, found photographs downloaded from the Internet with actual observed scenes and vague memories Pitín renders his theatrical scenes in dark, muted colours, creating an oppressive atmosphere that gives weight to the narrative that unfolds in each composition.

38 total views, 38 today

A Hipster Bar In Paris Does Irony Beautifully

emer | Life in a cultural petri dish | May 18, 2013

mary celeste is a french hipster bar

marie celeste is hipster bar in Pais

When I read about a bar in the cool Marais district of Paris, I decided it was a venue my husband and I definitely had to check out on a fleeting visit there last week. ‘Le Mary Celeste’, named after the famous ghost ship, was described in The Guardian as ‘the’ place for hipster Parisians. This piqued my interest as I’ve recently written a piece about Irish ‘Hipsters’ and while I can spot an Irish hipster at ten paces I was willing to bet the Parisian version would take it to a whole other level.

My husband and I excitedly took the metro from the Champs-Élysées the six stops to Rue Commines in Marais and arrived at our destination. We entered the bar and were immediately asked to take a seat at the end of the central bar. The handsome barman shrugged and said ‘It gets busy’ by way of explanation. He wasn’t wrong. The bar seats only 20 people and within ten minutes of our grabbing our stools the place was filling up with unshaven people in skinny jeans. While my husband examined the cocktail menu, I surveyed the scene. The interior is nautically themed with fruit hanging in fishing nets and a garish parrot on the door leading to the bathroom.

To my delight, ‘The Police’ hit, ‘Roxanne’ was playing on a turntable in the corner, when it finished the Prince song ‘Controversy’ started up. There was no way the three good-looking young maestros behind the bar were born before 1985 so the 80s music had to be a conscious choice. Possibly an ironic one as that tends to be a hipster characteristic.

94 total views, 3 today

A Delicious Chicken, Asparagus, Gorgonzola And Spinach Tartlet Recipe

moray mair | Recipes from a mutant kitchen | May 18, 2013

Recipe for Chicken, Asparagus, Gorgonzola And Spinach Tartlet

Right another delicious recipe from our burlesque chef. And another gorgeous way to use your leftovers. This time it’s the turn of a chicken, asparagus, gorgonzola and spinach tartlet. Here’s what our resident food writer has to say:

Whether cooking for two or ten there’s always a little left over roast chicken lurking about the fridge for the next day. But, if you’re like me, you’d probably fancy a change from the previous day. This is a great alternative, a tartlet dish that is packed with flavour and works as a lunch option with salad just as well as a dinner option with roasted new potatoes and vegetables.
This recipe uses small tartlet rings but you can double the recipe for larger portions or just double to have a little extra in the freezer for the next time.

The classic flavour combinations of Gorgonzola, white wine, cream and spinach never fail and their game is upped with the addition of asparagus and chicken. What you’re looking at is the best leftover dish ever.

Shortcrust Pastry
120g Plain white flour
50g Butter (chopped into cubes)
25ml Cold Water
Pinch of Salt
Method:
Place flour, salt and butter in a large bowl and rub with your fingers until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. (Do not overwork as it gets oily)
With a stiff palette knife, mix in the cold water until combined, then wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
When using in tartlets, grease and flour the tartlet rings well, roll pastry to the thickness of two matchsticks to fit ring and ensure the pastry fits well into the corners. Remove remaining pastry, prick bottom of tartlet with a fork a couple of time and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Place parchment paper and baking beans in the cases and bake at 180’c for 5 minutes (baking blind) remove the beans and bake for a further 5.Remove from oven and remove the baking beans and parchment.

Filling:
1 cup of leftover cooked roast chicken
2 spears of asparagus (cooked and chopped into pieces- leaving spear long)
2 tbsp Gorgonzola
2 tbsp white wine
100ml Cream
Handful of sSpinach
1 clove Garlic (crushed and chopped)
½ small Shallot (sliced)
Salt and Pepper
1 tsp butter
2 slices of Prosciutto

Method:
Place the prosciutto on a tray and bake until crisp. Crumble.
Melt butter over a medium heat and sauté shallot and garlic lightly for 5 minutes.
Add the wine and reduce by half, add the cream and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the gorgonzola, asparagus (not spear top) spinach and chicken and simmer for 4 minutes until thickened.
Season well with salt and pepper and place in pre-baked tartlet cases. Add the crumbled Prosciutto, Asparagus spear on top, sprinkle over parmesan and place in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

52 total views, 3 today

Joe Kievitt’s Meticulous Drawings Are Wonderful Geometric Abstractions On Paper

moray mair | Art and design | May 17, 2013

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Carpet

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Box

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Cross

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Explosion

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Geometry

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Pink

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Rug

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Tornado

Drawings By Joe Kievett Called Triangle

These meticulous drawings by Joe Kievitt are not digitally created, printed or remotely machine made. They are done by hand with love and labour. Each one slightly out, ever so asymmetrical, human, fallible.

Kievett’s abstract compositions drawn in black and coloured ink on paper are based around a loose structure or pattern constructed using simple shapes and lines, repeated in different orientations, spacing and widths that often produce an optical or kaleidoscopic effect. Many of his finished pieces appear architectural while others clearly influenced by textiles.

When starting a new drawing Kievitt constructs a number of preliminary line drawings which he uses to refine the scale and composition of the piece. As the process repeats itself Kievett isolates areas with tape and then applies washes of ink with a brush and gives chance the opportunity to go off on its own tangent, riffing off the original concept. The final image never fully revealed until the last piece of tape is removed from the paper.

Kievett use of chance and authorship are inspired by the paintings of Bernard Frize and Sol Lewitt as well as a deep love of craft and aesthetics.

41 total views, 2 today

Thomas Devaux Experimental Photographs Are Sumptuous Images Of Timeless Beauty

moray mair | Photography | May 17, 2013

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Blend

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Fashion

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called La France

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Hair

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Portrait

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Queen

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Red

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Twins

Photography By Thomas Devaux Called Woman

Thomas Devaux‘s photographs are sumptuous images of women that blur the line between painting, collage and experimental film and indeed the wonderful filmmaker David Lynch described Devaux’s images as:

His portraits of women seized in fashion then reworked digitally are a timeless elegance with which denounces the transience of beauty. Madonnas to die for eternity.

Devaux has always walked the line between artforms in order to investigate and probe into the sacred and the profane, each picture elegant, cocooned in it’s own classicism, mythology and beauty. These extraordinary photographs leave you questioning the ephemeral character of beauty, it’s fleetingness and ultimately its inevitable death at the hands of time.

42 total views, 1 today

Alex J. Walker’s Illustrations Are Geometric In Design

moray mair | Art and design | May 17, 2013

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Brain

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Fish

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Food Kit

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Jack Of Hearts

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Riso Print

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Rubber Band

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Spray

Illustrations by Alex J Walker called Sunday

Alex J. Walker‘s illustrations are geometric, scientific, angular and have an aesthetic that lies somewhere between 1980′s video games and printmaking. What makes his work stand out is his graphic approach to design. His images are about the transference of information. Nothing is left out yet we understand immediately what he’s articulating.

The fact that his work is clean, precise and communicative has much to do with the fact that he trained as a graphic designer rather than an illustrator. No sketches, loose lines and expressionistic mark making in his work. Rather he is all about form and colour. However it’s not only his training that has had an influence on his work, it’s his interests too; problem solving, good ideas, silly inventions, science, nature and stories.

44 total views, 2 today

Njideka Akunyili’s Mixed Media Paintings Of Post Colonial Life Are Wonderful Figurative Pictures

moray mair | Art and design | May 17, 2013

Paintings By Njideka Akunyili Called Cradle

Paintings By Njideka Akunyili Called Lost

Paintings By Njideka Akunyili Called Love

Paintings By Njideka Akunyili Called Neck

Paintings By Njideka Akunyili Called New Haven

Paintings By Njideka Akunyili Called Refuge

Paintings By Njideka Akunyili Called Thread

Njideka Akunyili‘s paintings on paper are wonderful figurative pictures of domestic scenes, a commingling of Africa and the West. Her use of mixed media to highlight difference, harmony and intense colour and pattern are achieved by the use of everything from acrylic to collage, charcoal to coloured pencil. Most apparent is her use of Xerox transfer which she uses to creates patterns made up of smaller figurative images of black contemporary life; on clothing, bedding and sometimes a person’s skin. This incredible use of a simple transfer creates a strange plane in which the background and foreground merge, become one, as if the figures become part of the interior, as if wallpapered into the picture.

This fluidity of figure in space make for highly decorative compositions that suggest we are as much shaped by the world as shaping it. It is as if Akunyili is breaking down the traditional boundaries between traditional and contemporary, Western and African.

48 total views, 2 today

Benjamin Jay Shand’s Photographs From His ‘Form Follows’ Series Have A Beautiful Modernist Aesthetic

moray mair | Photography | May 16, 2013

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Blue

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Aerial

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Cherry

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Orange

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Pipe

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Square

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Steel

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Sun

Photos by Benjamin Jay Shand from Form Follows called Wall

Benjamin Jay Shand‘s photographs from his ‘Form Follows’ series betrays his love of modernist architecture and design. The clarity, minimal aesthetic, unified colours and sharp lines pay homage to the great architects and designers of the 20th century such as Le Corbusier, Dieter Rams, Mies van der Rohe and Louis Sullivan who popularized the phrase ‘form ever follows function’ from which Shand gets the title of his show.

Sullivan believed that a building’s size, massing, spatial grammar and other characteristics should be driven solely by the function of the building the implication being that if the functional aspects are satisfied, architectural beauty would naturally and necessarily follow. Shand, who studied Architecture and Design, has taken this mantle on and it is from this point that we must start looking at his photographs. Here’s what Shand has said about his work:

‘Form Follows’ doesn’t promote a style of ’shooting’ – rather, this is a display of my way of seeing. By granting the built world an exclusive aesthetic license, paved geometries rise full-frame as magnetizing protagonists – and skies sit unified with their concrete tenants below.

44 total views, 3 today

Maurice Van Es Photographs Are Beautiful Still Lifes Of The Mundane

moray mair | Photography | May 16, 2013

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Colour

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Pipes

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Rubbish

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Sellotape

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Silver

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Sole

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Table

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Water

Photography by Maurice Van Es Called Wood

Maurice Van Es‘ photographs are beautiful still lifes of the mundane, the ordinary object. In many ways his images remind me of another young photographer, South African Nico Krijno, who is also pre-occupied with the re-examination of everyday objects. Both have a painterly and abstract aesthetic but while Krijno’s images can be seen to be imbued with a magic realism, a sexiness and unrestrained vibrancy Van Es is more concerned with the quality of the object, its physicality, it’s relationship to us and how the photographs holds within it memories of a time past.

Van Es’ photographs look closely at the intimate, the personal, the specific. Many of his pictures focus in on textures and everyday activities and all taken with a wonderful sense of composition, form, colour and perspective. It’s really quite incredible the projects he decides to undertake, they seem so banal yet he engenders them with such love and attention; close up pictures of textures found in old family photo albums, piles of clothing left by his mother, stains found in the family home, details of everything he’s worn over the past three years and so on.

87 total views, 7 today

Jordan Clark’s Collages Are Image Deconstructions That Juxtapose Geometric Forms

moray mair | Art and design | May 16, 2013

Collages by Jordan Clark called Boys

Collages by Jordan Clark Called Child

Collages by Jordan Clark Called Girls

Collages by Jordan Clark Called Horse

Collages by Jordan Clark Called Man

Collages by Jordan Clark Called Mountains

Collages by Jordan Clark Called Soldier

Collages by Jordan Clark Called Woman

Jordan Clark‘s collages are on their own riff. His pictures are not so much interested in the juxtaposition of vintage images so much as deconstructing the image and recreating a kaleidoscopic vision of it, as if looking at a picture through a prism. What we see therefore is a series of studies in perspective, an opportunity to look at everyday images in a new way. His delicate cut and paste collages an opportunity for us to re-examine how we look at photographs and how we relate geometric shapes to form and composition.

Like many other collage artists Clark was drawn to the artform because of it’s organic process, it’s potential to tap into the subconscious, to create a surreal reality that mines the everyday and gives us a new insight into aesthetic form. Here’s what he has to say about collage:

I am constantly on the computer looking at images and trying to see if I could play around with it to get something new. When I make paper collages I have no idea what I’m going to find. I can let my mind run wild with images.

46 total views, 3 today

John Cronin’s Paintings @ Green On Red Gallery, Dublin From 30 May – 6th July

moray mair | Art and design | May 16, 2013

Painting by John Cronin called The Nightingale

Painting by John Cronin called Green

Painting by John Cronin called Palinode

paintings by john cronin called blue

paintings by john cronin called augmented reality

paintings by john cronin called circles

paintings by john cronin called red

paintings by john cronin called Untitled

John Cronin has a new exhibition of paintings entitled ‘Standard Deviation’ at the Green On Red Gallery in Dublin opening on 30th May, 2013.

As one of Ireland’s lead abstract painters Cronin’s primary themes revolve around painting in the era of artificial intelligence. His work on aluminium and canvas are richly layered, intensely colourful compositions that question the nature of time, space and materiality his abstractions an investigation into the questions surrounding physical reality and the virtual world, of what is measurable and what is not.

53 total views, 1 today

Katie Mackowick’s Collages Are Of Her Subconscious Fantasies

moray mair | Art and design | May 15, 2013

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Bert

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Affairs

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Day

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Lil Scourge

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Miracle Machine

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Nightmare

Collages by Katie Mackowick called No Mans Land

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Sense

Collages by Katie Mackowick called Supernova

Katie Mackowick‘s collages are an articulation of her subconscious, what goes on in her head. Like all dreams and fantasies her compositions are full cultural icons and archetypes, nature and city, the past and present.

I often think that because collage artists work with found images, from books and magazines, their compositions are reflective of our culture, society, each picture a distorted reality. Mackowick takes this concept on with relish, her images inspired by our relationships with each other as we struggle along in a super saturated visual world.

52 total views, 1 today

Page 1 of 17212 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Last ››

search our blog

check out our skills bank

Check out our bank where we pool all our skills for the benefit of our mutantspace members. It's free to join and registration only takes a minute

submissions to our blog

we're always delighted to publish your work in our blog. So If you want your art seen by thousands of people then go to our submissions page to get more info