Tossed and Turned

On first impression this was my favorite piece.
Hanging alone on it's high perch separate from the rest of
the pieces...  Something about it was so stunning.  It
was the smallest piece, but still the most memorable. 

A new favorite artist of mine was found during the 2013 Biennale in Venice was Thierry De

Cordier.  Albeit this post is quite late, it could not be ignored any longer.  De Cordier's work is prominently dark, not just in subject matter, but in tone as well.  He uses blue ink, charcoal and other dark hued paints in order to get these deep portraits of thrashing bodies of water.  His work has been described as "both somber and hostile, at times making him the target of impromptu censorship".
He recreates these waves, icy peaks and skies in frigid, overcast tones, as if sympathetic to their coldness and severity.  I was fortunate enough to see the collection in person, and was utterly taken aback when I walked into the room.  

The space was free of other artists.  Simply devoted to De Cordier's work.
And I was extremely grateful for that.

I need him to make more pieces.

That's me, wearing God-knows-what, completely mesmerized by the artworks.

I took these close-ups to try to show the texture of the paintings, but it doesn't do it any justice.

Stretch & Expand

"London-based artist Michael James Talbot creates beautiful sculptures of elongated women inspired by Greek mythology and Venetian masquerades."  

These statues are actually quite tall, some even taller than 6 feet!  I would love to see them in person, to really sense their weight and presence in the room.  The length combined with the slender frame of the structure adds an interesting contrast between delicacy and balance.  I also love the color and the murkiness of the pieces, making them seem antique, fragile and ancient.  

"Talbot creates his captivating pieces by molding clay and casting each sculpture in bronze. He then proceeds to finish with chemical patination, adding a new sense of character to the already expressive figures. The artist says, "The human form gives me an endless source of inspiration. The subtlest of movements and expressions can be captured in the sculpture to portray a myriad of emotions and convey tension, drama, fluidity and grace. No other subject has this richness of emotional and spiritual content or the capacity to convey such a broad and interesting narrative.""

via MyModernMet 

It's not as it seems.

Awareness campaign created by Duval Guillaume Modem 

and produced by monodot in support of STOP THE TRAFFIK. 

Visit http://www.stopthetraffik.org/ to get involved.  

Le Corbeau

Another part of the Manet exhibition was the original illustrations (lithographs) for the French translation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"


Le Corbeau was first translated from English to French by Charles Baudelaire and later was re-written in 1875 by Stéphane Mallarmé.  Mallarmé felt that the true graveness and aura of Poe's poems could not be completely translated into French, so he hired Manet to provide his writings with illustrations.

There are five illustrations all together, but I could not find copies online and I was unable to photograph them in the museum.  Definitely worth tracking them down and seeing them at least once in your life.  If you know the poem at all, these illustrations will definitely pull at your creative heartstrings.  The link above has all three versions of the poem. (Poe, Baudelaire and Mallarmé)

In one room.

If you pop by Venice, Italy right now and head on over towards the Palazzo Ducale you may be able to catch the end of the Manet. Return to Venice exhibition.

And by God is it worth it.

"It will include about 80 paintings, drawings and prints, and has been planned with the special collaboration of the Musée D’Orsay in Paris, which possesses the largest number of masterpieces by this extraordinary painter."

http://www.mostramanet.it/

This exhibition opened in April and was meant to close in July but has been extended till September 1st.  And if that isn't proof as to how amazing it is, check this out.

I witnessed Manet's Olympia and Titan's Venus of Urbino side by side.

The exhibition includes some of his earlier sketches as well as his most famous paintings.

Best "stumble upon" exhibition of my Eurotrip 2013.

World Cup 2010

 
With the World Cup 2014 qualifiers, Euro Cup 2012, and the Olympic games coming up, football has become the sport of this summer.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon BBC3's
World Cup 2010 Most Shocking Moments

These presenters are hilarious.
If you have time I definitely recommend watching the entire 50 moments.
But these are my personal "favorites"
The most unfair moments of the World Cup 2010

#5 Luis Fabiano Handball

Such an obvious handball, and yet they still got the point.

#4 Kaka Red Card

Barely a tap.

#3 Lampard's Ghost Goal

Obvious goal, unfair call.

#2 USA Disallowed Goal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2sQsXdxsfI&feature=plcp

(Embedding has also been disallowed.)

#1 Suarez Handball

I remember watching this and being LIVID. Ghana deserved this win.

And just for fun -- The Vuvuzela Situation...

Hate. This. Instrument.

Donata Benker

Donata Benker is from Nuremberg; a city in the German state of Bavaria.

I was fortunate to see her works in person at SCOPE Basel 2011.

 Some of these photos were taken by me, so please excuse the quality.

As you can see from the close-up above, she has this watery sense of style, making the art very delicate and soft.  There's something seriously soothing about her paintings.

Still.

Russian Dancers

Speaking of Dancers in Russia (my Folk Dance Blogpost) here are some photos by

vitaly sokolovsky 

He photographed Russian dancers across the city.

Fun, light and exciting.

(also amazing dancers...)

Fashion

 Mario Testino's exhibition Todo o Nada opened in Rome at the Fondazione Memmo in the historic Palazzo Ruspoli on July 8 and will run through November 23, 2011. The exhibition, first shown in Madrid, brings together 54 photographs that reveal the two opposing concepts found in Testino’s work, fashion and the nude. These subjects are to be discovered both in his well-known published oeuvre as a fashion photographer as well as in his personal work, and the show includes a number of photographs specially taken for this exhibition and seen here for the first time, ranging from Nicole Kidman in dramatic Givenchy haute couture to a full-length shot of Demi Moore not wearing a stitch of anything, couture or otherwise.

Alp Galleries

 Alex Guofeng Cao

 Amazing photographs made out of photographs!  

Chromogenic Print with Dibond Plexiglass

Very very large works, bigger than me.

Galerie Frank Pages: Crans-Montana/Baden-Baden

The first artist who I loved at this gallery was Devrim Erbil.

Such precise details and yet it seemed so fresh!

http://www.devrimerbil.com/en_main.html

The next artist was Igor Oleinikov.

Checking out his site is a MUST.  He has so many other works that are amazing.
Unfortunately, this was the only one on display at Scope.  It doesn't look like much in a photo,

but in person it's absolutely brilliant.  The way he uses the paint, and the intricate design of

the roots of the trees were unbelievable up close.

(Disclaimer: the colors are dulled in the photo.  Imagine a VIBRANT piece of work.)

http://www.igor-oleinikov.com/de/