London 2012 Hit By Tornado – Anthony McCall’s ‘Column’

// March 4th, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

Art these days is a real mixed bag of styles and techniques – none are quite as different as this piece though…

I don’t know if you’ve heard about it – shockingly I hadn’t until very recently – but there is an event going on called the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Actually, it’s been going on for over four years – I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it.

The aim of the event is, and I quote: ‘to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people’. Sounds like a noble cause to me – I’m sold!

So what exactly have they got in store? Well how about this for a focal point - A large spinning column of cloud, higher than Blackpool Tower, called…‘Column’. The piece, created by artist Anthony McCall, will appear over the Wirral estuary on the Mersey, opposite Liverpool’s World Heritage Site at the Pier Head.

Apparently, on clear days the art work will be visible from an amazing 60 miles away. There surely aren’t many pieces of art that could lay claim to such a far reaching appeal, but for a whopping £500,000, you would be entitled to expect something special.

McCall’s column of corkscrewing steam, which was commissioned by Arts Council England, will be generated by using recycled heat. The first sight of ‘Column’ will be on New Year’s Eve 2011 and it will continue to be on show throughout 2012.

All lovely stuff, but am I the only person thinking it just looks like a giant twister? Has no one else seen that film? I would be moving faster than a Japanese bullet train if I saw that thing in the sky, it surely can’t be considered art? I appreciate the scale of the piece, but it’s essentially just a massive bit of steam in the sky – I’m afraid this another piece of modern art I just don’t get.

What do you think of ‘Column’? Is it all a bit too Wizard of Oz, or can you see past the fact it looks like it could rip the roof off of your house? Share your thoughts…

How much is a Photo Worth?

// March 3rd, 2011 // View Comments // b-street

Supposedly a picture’s worth a thousand words, but how many cups of tea can you buy with that? If you’ve managed to papp an elusive celebrity it might be worth a small fortune and these days it’s easy to sell your paparazzi pics. There’s even an iPhone app where you can load your pictures straight onto the market and sell them to highest bidder within minutes. The inexorable march of technology has spread all over photographic world. From your phone to the latest high tech professional kit; cameras are coming with features and settings making it simpler for people to take high quality photographs. You can now pick up an SD card which will hold thousands of photos for less than a tenner. The resources for sharing photos are becoming more prolific as well, Flickr reached the 5 billionth picture mark in September 2010 on it and it’s users alone upload around 3,000 images per minute.

With so many photos around how do you possibly keep track of everything? Well you can’t obviously. I barely even keep up with my friends’ photos. It’s quite common for them to go off for the weekend and come back with 500 pictures, most of which will be rubbish.

But does this proliferation of photos raise the bar? Do you have to take truly exceptional photos to stand out from the crowd? Is there any room for mediocre any more? Well this is definitely something that is true in the professional world. There are hundreds of photography courses churning out thousands of photographers each year and the industry is steadily becoming more competitive. Today’s professional photographer has to be multi-skilled number crunching marketer as well capable of taking fantastic photos to stand a chance of surviving.

But can you say the same of the amateur? It would be nice to say that the bar has been raised across the board but the truly great photos do tend to get lost in the sheer quantity that get uploaded every day. Things such as Flickr’s Last Seven Days and Tumblr’s Explore features do make it easier to see people’s favourite photos. But these are far from perfect due to the quantity of photos and the variety of people’s tastes, although Tumblr’s Explore feature is a personal favourite.

There are so many photos in all aspects of our life, when was the last time that you actually appreciated one? Next time you see a photo that catches your eye, don’t just think oh how nice and move on, stop and stare. Look and see what the photographer is trying to say, even if it’s just for a moment.

Carlos Slim And His Amazing Art Museum – The Soumaya

// March 2nd, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

Forget Le Louvre or The Tate, if billionaire Carlos Slim has his way, the Soumaya museum will be top of the art tree…

I won’t lie to you guys, I have heard of Carlos Slim but I never really knew what he did. As it turns out, he is – amongst other things - a telecommunications mogul and the worlds richest man. Richer than Bill Gates, or the bloke that owns Ikea – now that is rich.

Slim is also a big fan of all things art, as evidenced on Tuesday when he inaugurated a new Mexico City museum, named after his late wife. It was his wife Soumaya, who passed away in 1999, that inspired Slim to collect art and share it with his fellow Mexicans – many of whom are unable to afford foreign travel to international museums.

The launch of the Soumaya museum brought the celebrities out in force, with visitors including veteran US chat show host Larry King and even a Colombian Nobel Literature Laureate, in the shape of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. King was clearly taken aback by the museum, saying it will become “one of the best in the world.”

The Soumaya certainly has the substance to back up that claim – the museum is set to display an incredible 66,000 works, including masters like Rodin, Renoir and Leonardo Da Vinci. The exterior of the museum is equally impressive – featuring a giant curving metal facade, designed by Slim’s architect son-in-law Fernando Romero.

So lots of art, an amazing design and entrance to the Soumaya is still free – sounds an absolute bargain to me.

The museum will open to the public on March 29 and will include a six-story exhibition space, a 350-seat auditorium, a public library, a cafeteria, lounge and warehouses.

From Rocky To Artist – Sly Stallone Picks Up His Brush

// February 28th, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

I love it when a celebrity tries their hand at Art – partly because I’m a bit of a sadist and I like seeing people make fools of themselves, and also because occasionally they’re actually quite good. Well in this case, I hate to diss Rocky, but…

Sly, Mr Stallone, Rocky…whatever you like to call him, he loves a bit of Art. There’s nothing particularly new there, there are plenty of actors come artists, but I just never had Rocky down as an amateur artist. It isn’t just collecting either, Rambo like to paint. Seriously, I have images of him with the red bandana on, splashing the paintbrush about with reckless abandon.

Far from being a mere collector or occasional painter, Stallone’s love for all things Art go much further than enthusiastic fan – Sly has opened his own gallery. This information prompted me to dig a little deeper into Sly’s love of Art, how long has this love affair been going on I wondered? Apparently, Mr Stallone has been into Art for over 30 years now – veteran status.

Rocky has even made a fair old bit of money through Art, he sold one of his pieces last year for a very respectable $50,000. It is only recently though that the Cliffhanger star decided to put his paintings on public display – his abstract art show went on show at Galerie Gmurzynska in St. Moritz earlier this month. The 64 year old has also claimed his love for Art is greater than his affections towards acting and directing – he said: ”If you feel a passion for something, you can move mountains.”

Wow, so is his work any good then? It must be, right? Erm…no sorry, it’s not that great to be honest! I’m not going to be too disrespectful to Rambo/Rocky, mainly because he could literally beat me within an inch of my life, but I think his acting and directing should remain his recognised day job.

Anyway, have a look and tell me what you think? Is Stallone’s Art Rambo good, or Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot bad? I also decided to put a quick clip of Rocky, just because I can…Enjoy!

Music Meets Art Via Jimi Hendrix

// February 25th, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

The link between art and music has always been strong, but never more so than in this piece by Manchester based artist, Ed Chapman…

Jimi Hendrix is one of the most legendary musicians of all time, a man that played up to all the stereotypical excesses of a 60′s Rock and Roll star - and then some. Living fast and dying young, Hendrix has always held a mystique and iconic status that few musicians could ever hope to achieve.

It is not just music that made Hendrix a star, his image is practically its own brand. For a guy that died in 1970, his image is still as vivid and recognisable today as it was back then. It is perfectly logical then that Hendrix be immortalised in art – step forward Ed Chapman.

I love the piece Ed has come up with – a 5,000 piece, Fender guitar spectrum mosaic. This isn’t his first mosaic, Chapman is known for his previous efforts of football legends like Eric Cantona and a huge piece of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made out of coins.

The piece, which took Chapman ‘several days,’ is said to be valued at least £16,000 and will fittingly be unveiled at the legendary Abbey Road Studios for the Sound & Vision music heritage auction. London was an important place in the progression of Hendrix’s career, so there is no better place to exhibit this work than at the most famous studio in London and arguably the world.

What do you think of Chapman’s Jimi Hendrix mosaic? Let us know...

Facebook – The Most Critical Of Art Critics?

// February 23rd, 2011 // View Comments // b-scene

Art is the name of the game at B-uncut, so I don’t like to hear about censorship. It seems the latest culprit of art censorship is Facebook…dislike.

Who has the right to censor art? It’s an interesting debate. As I previously wrote a while back, some art can be too crude or graphic to be seen by all – somebody think of the children! But with pictures that are just relatively tame nudes, is it the right of Facebook or any other large company to decide that they aren’t suitable for their site?

This recent argument stems from the social networks decision to target the New York Academy of Art over a picture that they deemed violated their terms and conditions - it was a nude. The clearly evil artist that drew this offensive nude was Steven Assael. How could he do it Facebook?

The funny thing is that the work in question is currently featured in an exhibition curated by the Academy and shown at the Eden Rock Gallery in St Barths. But if it was so bad Facebook couldn’t allow it, how was it deemed acceptable for a gallery? What makes Facebook have to be so whiter than white?

To make matters even worse, after blocking the use of the picture, Facebook then put a block on the Academy uploading any images for a whole seven days – that’s practically a lifetime in social media time. Obviously the Academy had a little something to say, asking “If it begins with Steven Assael, a modern master, who’s next?”

Cue Facebook then removing the works of two more Academy artists – Richard Scott and John Wellington. This is the same Facebook that recently banned a pregnant woman doing a ‘Demi Moore‘ and posing naked, albeit with her modesty covered, for her profile picture. Is it a vendetta against nudity then?

One rather hilarious poster on the art school’s site brought up a good point – how do Facebook even find out about these images and what their criteria for banning a picture?: “Fans of both artists have speculated on the protocol used for determining which images are removed. From ‘algorithmic programming’ to ‘Facebook censor control department’ or even ‘a titty and crotch recognition program and it’s nothing personal’, and finally an inculpable ‘depends on users violations’, the criteria that surrounds how the images are ‘curated’ seems indeterminable.” Very true.

In the end, it seems the Academy got their way as Facebook apologised and re-instated the art. Facebook spokesman Simon Axten even moved to clarify the sites protocol on these issues. It turns out, Facebook bans nude photographs, but in the interests of making everything as simple as possible, has ‘an unwritten policy’ that allows drawings or sculptures of nudes. Well that’s that all cleared up then.

Interestingly Axten also says the company only reviews images following a complaint – and sometimes gets things wrong. So it seems the culprit for the New York Academy of Art’s beef wasn’t Facebook after all – it was simply a case of a random Facebook user being a tad offended by nudity. Maybe the big companies aren’t that bad after all?

Whoever decided to ban the picture, did anyone have a right to do so? What do you think? Let us know…

David Coulter – The Former Radiator Painter Heating Up The Art World

// February 21st, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

From a lifetime of radiator painting to a living as fully fledged artist, David Coulter has made a big step up from white emulsion…

David Coulter is a 63 year old grandfather of three that has made a living painting radiators – hardly the most likely candidate for his own exhibition. But in a story that gives even the most frustrated amateur artist hope, David has done just that - it’s fair to say his 500 or so pictures of his home town have created a bit of buzz.

David said of his new exhibit: ‘Having an exhibition is a dream come true – I never thought it would happen but it’s lovely. I was really surprised when people at the exhibition started asking to buy them and I’d never even thought about prices. I’ve not even decided yet if I want to sell them – it’s a bit like my children leaving home.’ Nice bargaining strategy David.

Coulter is clearly passionate about his home town: ‘Manchester is a fantastic place and I want my pictures to show people what they might have missed as they go past the same places every day. I like to call my style of painting “Manchester impressionistic“. A new movement?!

Davis’s exhibition, entitled ’3/4 Mile’, is on display at The Zion Arts Centre in Hulme until 26th of February, when he will be holding a live ‘paint-in’ at the gallery -a very novel idea! What I like about David’s work is that even though it he an everyday guy, his work is well beyond what you would expect for a former radiator painter. In fact, comparing David to some of the most successful artists out there at the moment, you would be forgiven for thinking that they were the former radiator painter and he was the successful artist.

High praise indeed…Let us know your thoughts on David’s nifty art work and go on see his work if you’re in the area…

And The Oscar Goes To….Banksy?

// February 18th, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

Banksy is becoming a bit of a national treasure in the U.K, and now his cheeky artwork is hitting the streets of L.A  - How will his style go down in the U.S of A?

The British enigma has been causing typical mischief in sunny LA ahead of the Oscars, with a series of images popping up on walls and billboards. The elusive artist is actually up for an Oscar of his own next weekend, his film ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’ is nominated in the best documentary category.

No one actually knows for sure that it is Banksy in town – mainly due to the fact that his appearance remains a mystery - although the sudden presence of some typical Banksy-like pieces has set alarm bells ringing.

The new pieces - come on, they must be by Banksy! - have been appearing in a variety of LA locations, including a the Sunset Strip, a university building and Beverly Hills.

One of the typically humorous Banksy works was an adaptation of a billboard poster, with a drunken cartoon of Mickey Mouse draped around the original woman, accompanied by a drug-addled Minnie Mouse. Obviously the piece wasn’t too well received - it was removed from the site in Hollywood a few hours later and now remains blank.

Another painting features a child pointing a rather large gun at a no-parking sign – it’s a pain to find a parking space sometimes, but come on.

Back to the action and with the Oscars ceremony next week, it will be interesting to see if we finally get a chance to put a face to the name – Officials insist Banksy can’t conceal his face if he takes to the stage. I will be watching on with interest.

Do you think Banksy will finally bare his face to the world? Let us know…

A Bench, A Naked Bloke And A Flame – Is That Art?

// February 17th, 2011 // View Comments // b-scene

Oh art – What is going on with you lately? When I see a show like Roger Hiorns latest effort, it really does make me wonder…

Without trying to be too offensive to the guy, Mr Hiorns – a Turner Prize nominee no less – has created a piece of art that will make anyone and everyone out there think they too can make it in the art world. This really is art of the lowest quality – a metal bench, a naked bloke and a flame – how genius….or maybe not.

Hiorns has drafted in three art school students to sit nude in the installation on the South Bank. When I see this kind of show it makes me think the world has gone mad, and in this case, makes me want to get a fire extinguisher and end the show early.

As I already mentioned, Hiorns is a Turner Prize nominee – although that prize goes down further in my estimations by the day -  and his ‘piece of art’ will be shown at the British Art Show. The show describes itself as a ‘snapshot of contemporary culture’ and runs every five years, opening at the Hayward Gallery tomorrow.

That element of contemporary culture must have passed me by – thankfully.

Mr Hiorns vaguely described the piece as “a collaboration of choreography and objects“. Now, art is no stranger to naked figures, but generally they make some kind of sense – where is the context in this piece?  I’m sure I won’t be the only person out there that doesn’t get this piece – no matter how ‘profound’ it will be billed as.

I hope art sorts itself out soon – I can’t take many more pieces like this one! What do you think of Mr Hiorns work? Let us know your thoughts…

Francis Bacon And The Big, Big Sale

// February 14th, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

His works are known for putting a metaphorical middle finger up to conformity. It seems Francis Bacons’s painting should also be known for being extremely expensive…

Unfortunately, the only Bacon I own is probably past its sell by date. If I did happen to be the lucky owner of a legitimate Bacon, I could be living like a King this morning. There is a question that is often levelled at the Art world, that with the inflated prices that are driving Art – has Art lost its soul to money? Ironically, it’s the King of non-conformity that may be inadvertently helping to cement that argument.

In another case of Art defying the economy, three Francis Bacon portraits of his friend and fellow controversy munger, Lucian Freud have just sold for a tidy £23million. Following on from a bumper sale of a Picasso for £25.2m, several Bacon pieces were sold, including one 5 by 3.5 inches piece that came to £188,000 per square inch of paint. That’s pretty damn impressive.

In fact, the Bacon pieces were part of a ridiculously huge £93,520,000 sale of 60 paintings owned by an unknown “private collector” - presumably having money problems? Of course, London Art types are simply hopeless at keeping secrets, and it seems the mystery identity may belong to late car and electronics trader George Kostalitz.

As I already said though, it is the elitism and cliquey attitude argument being levelled at the Art world that is the real issue here. So much money changing hands for Art in a time of such hardship doesn’t help a scene that’s PR image has already been tarnished massively by its apparent ‘stuck up’ nature. It is very ironic that it is one of the biggest non-conformists of all that may have helped to push this perception further.

What do you think of Bacon and the crazy prices being paid at the moment? If any one is worth it, is it Francis? Or is it all too much? Let us know your thoughts…