Whether you agree with street art or not, there is no denying that the movement is creating waves with visually stimulating adornment of our concrete and brick cities. Even more importantly, freedom of speech has found a contemporary niche; encourages a broader audience to question the reality of our fishbowl urbanization through art.

For some artist whom have been elevated to an iconic status amongst art critics and collectors –such as London’s own Banksy– the streets have become a platform to raise awareness of social and political issues.  A contemporary hybrid of graffiti, it finds its origins in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and Urban Gangs to mark territories or broadcast social and political views.  Historical cave drawings throughout the world suggest an inherent desire to communicate through art as far back as up to 35,000 years.

While there is no question that illegal street art is vandalism, according modern artist Bansky “You live in the city and all the time there are signs telling you what to do and billboards trying to sell you something. I always felt that it was all right to answer back a little bit, I suppose. That the city shouldn’t just be a one-way conversation. ”

What do you think? And although it might upset Banksy, you can brief your other commercial artwork requirements now!

Paper Boat Creative

Amidst London’s maze of unconventional warehouse style accommodation, a new talent is emerging from the underground art scene with a force to be reckoned with.

Eugene Wood’s studio, a large classroom in an old run down school building distinctly smells of wet oil paints and is cluttered by random curios, such as the stuffed fox that greets you at the entrance.  The large canvasses that fill the room entice and hypnotise; transporting you into a dark and mysterious world.

‘Illuminating the Void’ couldn’t be a more befitting title for this body of work which is currently being exhibited at Art Work Space, London,  till the 4th of March 2012.   Wood, a graduate of the prestigious Institut Supérieur de Peinture Van der Kelen-Logelain (Brussels), combines classic ninteenth century art methods with contemporary surrealism to explore a balanced fusion of colour, form, composition and technique.

With the distortion of patterns inspired by isolating objects and surfaces–which within context could go unnoticed–Wood draws the viewer into a new perception of reality.  A subtle sense of tension and fear is coupled by the duality of soothing, fluid beauty, evoking emotions buried deep within one’s subconscious.

Paper Boat Creative

For lovers of history, artifacts, sculptures, coins, and various others forms of art, the Long Night of Museums is full of golden opportunities. This amazing art event spans for about 400 sq kilometers. The strip of artistic exhibitions is between the Waterplant Friedrichshagen museum and the Local History Reinickendorf. About 100 different museums will offer free visits to visitors. The museums are offering visitor access to their unique museum collections and featured exhibitions. This unforgettable event is hosted twice a year in the capital city of Berlin, Germany. The next event takes place during the months of January/February 2012. This amazing night of art not only features a variety of exhibitions, but it also features recitals, performances by well known celebrities, theatrical performances, and much more. This event is a highly anticipated night of enjoyment for local people and visitors from all over the world.

© PhotographerPaul Prescott

Where and When:

The Long Night of Museums is a biannual event that will be held in Berlin on January 28, 2012. The participating museums will remain open from 6 in the evening until 2 in the morning for visitors. All visitors will receive a significant discount since the tickets will be priced at an equivalent to that of a single visit. Tickets, directions, and bus routes are available online. The tours through these museums offer an excellent ethical and artistic evening of enjoyment to visitors. Though the time span for the complete tour is 8 hours, you will probably want far more time than that in order to enjoy each museum’s exhibition to your heart’s content. There are many collections and exhibitions to see, so choose wisely. Each museum has an enthralling display and its own unique permanent collection.

An Occasion for Art Enthusiasts

There is nothing more frustrating for an art enthusiast than to be surrounded by inspiration and not have the chance to take it all in.  Each visitor can get the best out of this event by learning about each and every museum exhibition and making a list of the ones they want to visit.  Visitors can also chalk out a suitable route that will allow them enjoy each of the museums on the list. The museums in Berlin are based on various themes and topics. Some of the museums depict a particular culture, while others may depict a particular period in history. The museums that deserve special mention include the Natural Museum of History, the New Synagogue at the Jewish Center, and the National Gallery. The Long Night of Museums is held in remembrance of the demolition of the Berlin wall. This amazing evening signifies artistic unity.

Enjoy the Night Out

There are also venues that show movies, hold concerts, and present dancing shows. There will be buses carrying passengers between the museums. Your ticket gives you free access to local transportation. So whether your passion is of sculptures, history, artifacts, coins, or other forms of art, be sure to take advantage of this amazing night of art. For more information visit Berlin’s site dedicated to the event.

This is the first blog post from one of our new bloggers, Kathleen Delaney. Kathleen had her first literary work published in 1990. Since then, she has been published in various publications and blogs. Delaney won a Georgia writing contest for 3 years in a row, between the years of 2001-2003. After 2.5 years of study, she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in 2003. Delaney is finishing a Science Fiction novel for young adults, and she is writing and illustrating several children’s books. She writes fiction and non-fiction on a regular basis, and she stays busy with creative projects through her freelance business, Mimosa Creations.

Currently showing at the Tate Britain is an exhibition of John Martin’s work with the blunt name of Apocalypse. Martin was a melodramatic Victorian painter with engineering aspirations best known for his epic depictions of God wreaking havoc in the mortal world. This is one of his most famous paintings: The Great Day of His Wrath from 1851.

It shows the actual end of the world, and very scary it is too. There’s an unnaturally powerful gravity at work here, and it’s actually sucking the landscape and all the people into that abyss at the bottom of the painting. The abyss is the visual centre here, all the lines of the picture draw the eye towards it, and crucially it’s in complete darkness. We don’t know what’s in there or how it’s pulling everything in, and I think you’ll agree that that’s disturbing.

This depiction of forces beyond the scope of human experience forms part of ‘sublime’ painting. The word ‘sublime’ is frequently bandied about, but it’s actually a fairly complex philosophical idea. The first thing you have to know is that anything that’s so big you can’t see the beginning or the end of it is inherently frightening. That’s because when we can’t see the boundaries of something, our eye imagines that it’s infinite. If parts of this big object are hidden by strong light or deep darkness, then it’s even more frightening because it makes it even harder to imagine the boundaries. In the same way, very powerful forces are horrifying because they’re just so much bigger than us. Extreme forces and dimensions like this can be called sublime, and they’re generally only found in the natural world.

The idea is that when we see something with these sublime characteristics we’re frightened which sets off our feelings of self-preservation. As you probably know, the self-preservation instinct is the strongest we have, and when we realise that this terrifying thing we’re looking at is not actually directly threatening us, we feel a kind of delight at being safe, and this delight is also the sublime.

It might surprise you to learn that when people saw this painting in the 19^th century their sublime feelings were so strong that they actually fainted, and had panic attacks and were carried out with smelling salts. I don’t imagine that’s happened to any of you, and that’s because you’ve seen far more realistic images than these in cinemas. The Tate exhibition draws links between Martin’s fantastical apocalyptic images and the taste for destruction we see in modern cinema. Apparently, Martin deeply influenced the video games, science fiction and special effects we take for granted today. So, the Tate’s showing disaster movies like The Towering Inferno and The Day after Tomorrow in conjunction with the exhibition.

Interestingly, we wouldn’t consider those two films as great examples of the art of filmmaking. Similarly, Victorian critics dismissed Martin’s paintings as populist and overly dramatic. They were promoted in much the same way as today’s blockbusters, with hysterical advertising, gaslight showings and discounted tickets. Perhaps today’s trashy movies are tomorrow’s artworks. And if you care to ruminate on your own mortality with an apocalyptic piece of art, brief the Exchange!

Art has long supplied us poor mortals with a way to consider taboos. Think about Victorian death photos, Van Gogh’s Skull of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette and Holbein’s skewed skull in his portrait of The Ambassadors. Damien Hirst’s infamous works of animals suspended in formaldehyde shows that death in art continues to repel and fascinate observers.

By contrast, artists have historically shied away from depicting birth. The topic’s just as taboo as death – it’s mysterious, it happens to everyone, you don’t know how it feels. Perhaps because birth is gendered, while death is not. Either way, this week the artist Marni Kotak set out to give birth as a form of performance art, in a work entitled ‘The Birth of Baby X.’

She turned the miniscule Microscope Gallery in Brooklyn into an exuberant birthing room. She painted the walls a soothing blue, with images of the ocean. She included a two metre high trophy to commemorate Baby X’s arrival. Cushions printed with baby photos were observed. The room’s focal point, though, was the big blue birthing pool. Kotak opened the display on October 8, talking to visitors about motherhood and art. She took the contact information of interested visitors, with the promise to let them know she went into labour so they could rush over and see the entire show. The birth was just the beginning of a planned 18 year project called ‘Raising Baby X,’ which will detail her baby’s growth and development of autonomy.

On October 8, Kotak went into labour and after 24 hours she delivered a baby boy in front of about 20 spectators. She and her husband named him Ajax and he weighed in at just over 9 pounds. Araceli Cruz of the Village Voice described the scene upon her arrival: “Kotak calmly eating a banana, the placenta in a bowl and the baby’s father, Jason, holding his son who was wrapped in a blue towel. The beautiful baby boy was wide-eyed, and as quiet as could be, staring blankly into the camera and video lenses that hovered above him.”

In an interview before the birth, Kotak explained her motives: “I am driven to hold onto an authentic personal experience in a world that has essentially become consumed by an unreal hyper-reality.” So, she presents her life as art and has acted out her grandfather’s funeral, her own birth and losing her virginity in the back seat of a car. It’s easy to draw connections between this oversharing of her intimate experiences and the extreme connectivity of sites like Facebook and Twitter. But she has a “deep-seated disdain” for Facebook, preferring to focus on her own authentic experiences.

But now Kotak may be suffering from displayer’s regret. With no apparent sense of irony, a message on the gallery’s website reads “We ask that you respect the privacy of mother and child at this time.” Reportedly, her husband told the Daily Mail that Kotak was now “totally afraid,” and unable to deal with the media attention generated by her performance whilst looking after a newborn. A ‘friend’ said Kotak “feels there is a bounty on the first picture of her child.” The artist is reportedly in hiding – perhaps from her in-laws who she hadn’t informed when she went into labour.

Frankly, we at Blur are not sure what to make of Kotak’s performance. It makes us queasy. Yet we can’t help admiring her dedication to her art. And if you’d like a piece of art to truly blow your observers’ minds, then brief the Exchange.

With 173 galleries from 33 different countries, last weekend’s Frieze Art Fair was full of surprises. Here are our five favourite pieces.

Tara Donovan’s Untitled (Mylar)

This sculpture doesn’t seem to obey normal rules of space and mass, giving it a sort of otherworldly look. The spheres are constructed from cones of Mylar, a kind of plastic sheeting. Paradoxically, the reflections inside the empty cones give the spheres a solid appearance, creating a compelling optical illusion of sorts. The mass of the sculpture is also intriguing. Because it’s metallic, we imagine it must be rather heavy but it’s constructed out of plastic and air more than anything else. It looks heavy and weightless at the same time.

Cornelia Parker’s 30 Pieces of Silver (With Reflection)

A mesmerizing installation. Parker suspended pairs of ornate silver objects a few inches above the floor, one flattened and one whole. The objects were commonplace enough – candlesticks, jugs and teapots, but were beautifully abstracted in their flattened form. They looked like reflections or shadows of the three dimensional versions.

Wolfgang Tillman’s Freischwimmer 190

This big Wolfgang Tillmans print was mysterious in its execution and deeply soothing in its effects. To my frustration, I haven’t the slightest idea what this is. It sort of looks like hair, but also like water. The title means “one swimming towards freedom.” Although I can’t talk about the print in any meaningful way, I could quite happily look at it all day.

Puran Jinchi

I’m always on the lookout for innovative uses of the Arabic script, and Puran Jinchi’s pieces did just that. At first peer, I didn’t even recognize the cramped spirals as Arabic at all. The script is layered over itself again and again until it becomes illegible, built up to an abstract form spiralling up and down the Perspex cylinders. The overall effect is rhythmic and calming. I thought the text might be from the Koran, but it’s actually a declaration of human rights charter.

Aristarkh Chernyshev and Alexei Shulgin’s Invisible Messages

Trust the Frieze to give us an augmented reality sculpture. A sign told users to ‘point your digital camera directly at the artwork’ to see the ‘invisible messages.’ As it turned out, there were tiny infrared light bulbs underneath the deep red glass. The human eye can’t perceive infrared, but a camera lens can. So, you pointed your device at the wall and looked at the screen to see words moving along the curves. They were difficult to read but a gallery rep explained they were error messages, ‘signal failure,’ ‘system breakdown,’ and so on. I was also intrigued by how it changed the relationship between the camera and art. Normally, it’s difficult to fully capture an artwork on camera, and it’s frustrating to try, but this piece required a camera to be appreciated.

Can’t live without an infrared Mylar piece about human rights? Brief the Exchange!

With the Chinese Communist Party celebrating their birthday earlier this year you may have already come across the art of Mu Pan.

Born in Taiwan and now living in America Mu Pan works predominantly in watercolour and oils, with origami work featuring as well. But though he now lives abroad Pan’s artistic eye is focussed on the far east. His work is oriental in style, and though the topics vary perhaps the most famous is the China Myth Series. This portrays modern Chinese history in the style of ancient Chinese myths, giant blue god-kings wearing  the symbols of the Chinese Nationalist Party impale communist soldiers on parasols.

Mu Pan’s China Myth – Havoc In Heaven 2-2. watercolor on paper, 38″ x 50“. 2011.

Pan’s art is evocative, calling up the sense and scale of history involved, his depictions of individuals and the scope of his art presenting the juxtaposition between a persons history and that of a country. It is too easy to forget how recently some history occurred. Pan’s wide sprawling style, with many areas of interest and such incredible detail, is well suited to the stories he wants to tell.

Unfortunately the effect is lost on the internet though, with the viewer having to click through to Pan’s blog to see the detail. One can only imagine how much more impressive it is in person. By combining the mythical past of China with it’s brutal modern history Pan re-contextualises this history and presents it to us to consider afresh.  In wake of the Beijing Olympics, and the increasing power that China can bring to bear upon international situations, such perspectives are valuable.

Mu Pan’s China Myth-Monkey King The Counter Revolutionist 2011。water color on paper, 24″ x 24″

Mu Pan’s China Myth-Dinner Party. 2011。water color on paper, 24″ x 16″.

Mu Pan is currently exhibiting at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery in California.

From Grace Jones’ maternity dress to freaky furniture, there was a lot of attention-grabbing design on display at the Victoria and Albert’s Postmodernism: Style and Subversion exhibition. But amongst the flashing Vegas lights and blaring Boy George, this reserved etching caught my attention.

It’s Aleksandr Brodksy and Ilya Utkin’s Columbarium Habitabile, a kind of mausoleum, for houses instead of people. The text below explains that owners of small houses which face demolition to make way for grand buildings will be able to move their houses into this enormous concrete grid. There they will live, safe from demolition but painfully abstracted from their neighbours and the communities from which they came. If the isolation becomes unbearable, they can always move out of the house, at which point the wrecking ball suspended from the ceiling will obliterate it.

Brodksy and Utkin were part of a loose Moscow collective known as the Paper Architects. In 1957, Kruschev had dismantled the Academy of Architecture and discouraged architecture with ‘ideanost’ – original ideas. He favoured prefabricated and mass produced architecture, creating the recognizable grim and faceless look of much of the former Soviet Union. This policy, along with a formidable bureaucracy as well as a lack of funds and skilled designers meant that until recently, innovative buildings just couldn’t be realized in Russia. Urban planning was disastrous, with the government destroying significant old buildings and replacing them with another drab block of offices or apartments. This problem continues, with just a few crusaders fighting the bureaucrats to preserve Russia’s heritage.

In response to all these obstacles, the Paper Architects designed flights of fancy, unbuildable structures that critiqued the state of architecture in Russia – and the government behind it. Here, family buildings are swallowed up in a state apparatus, mirroring the crushing force of the Soviet government. It’s also a critique of urban planning. Although these houses will be preserved, the community ecosystem is destroyed to make way for the “large modern city” referred to in the title.

The image also addresses postmodern themes – hence its inclusion in the exhibition. Postmodernism is complicated, and resists summation, but it deals with the demise of modernist ideals of a perfect future. We see a lot of dystopic visions and fragmentation of fixed boundaries, things like gender and time period. So along with the physical isolation of the buildings, the fragmentation of the urban environment and the juxtaposition of a modern grid with old-fashioned houses renders this a textbook case of postmodern anxiety.

Intrigued? Here’re more images of Brodsky and Utkin’s work, and you can buy their complete works here. As the V&A said, “We are all postmodern now.” So if you’re hankering after your very own postmodern art, brief the exchange today.

Some of the most famous living artists have made a name for themselves not because of their art, but because they’ve solidified a public-facing image that allows their fans to identify with a unique brand.  These artists are known as spokespeople for their brand messaging, and act more as a slick PR campaign than an alternative artist.  With the advent of a post-digital era for art, it is no longer necessary for artists to complete the work themselves; instead, they can contract the work out and remain as the central image for the company.

Damien Hirst is in a elite group of entrepreneurs who’ve paved the way for an art machine built on efficient manufacturing and a team of associates.  He may also be one of the strongest living artist brands.  The Damien Hirst ‘brand’ is backed up by an entourage of associates and assistant artists who work collaboratively to complete his art. Other notable brands are Jeff Koons and, of course, Andy Warhol. This art process is no longer deemed vulgar, it is just an effective marketing campaign.

Artists need a marketing campaign like any other business.  Where do you start?  First, create a brand and stick to it.  Here are the top 5 tips artists can follow to build their brand image.

1. Develop your brand’s ‘tagline’
What is your brand image?  Who are you trying to target with your art?  What key messages are coming across through your art?  Some artists choose a pseudonym and stick to their core messaging for all public-facing activities, and others adhere to an overall messaging with their art.  Develop an common message – which could be a logo, image or tagline – and include this concept throughout all of your promotions.

2.  Social media marketing for artists
Unlike Damien Hirst, most artists don’t have an entourage of assistants to support their work.  However, they can still self-promote through social media.  Joining social media platforms is not enough though, artists have to engage with their audience in order to transfer views in to sales (or exhibition visits).  How do artists generate relevant traffic?  The best way to drive site visits is through frequent content updates on their website and blog and cross-promotion on social media.

3. Write, write, write
You don’t have to hire a PR agency to promote your work, but you do have to let the public know of your latest exhibitions, recent artworks and news announcements.  Build up a list of contacts and send out a newsletter.  Mailchimp is an easy-to-use tool and provides hands-on training.  Are you having a sale of your artwork?  Will you be exhibiting in the next few weeks?  Include these updates in your mailings.

4. Blogging
While most artists have a website to showcase their artwork, a necessary addition is a personal blog.  Cross-post your blog on artists community sites and through social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  Some companies, such as b-uncut, invite guest bloggers to talk about their work or latest trends in the art market.

5. Social media promotions
Do you want to get more people to come to your latest exhibition?  Are you trying to get more followers on Facebook?  Social media promotions can be effective in driving traffic to your website and grabbing the attention of potential buyers.  Instead of broadcasting that you’ve launched a new Facebook account, why not promote a giveaway of an artwork to a visitor on your Facebook page?

If you’re an artist and would like to talk about your unique brand image, send an email to kelly@blurgroup.com.

Need to get started on building your brand?  Submit a brief and get started today!

Joanna Mialkowska is a Dublin-based painter and architect who explores the complexity of human nature through her emotional and colour rich paintings.  Originally from the university town of Wroclaw, Poland, Mialkowska’s work delves into the intricacy of Irish culture with a pan-European perspective. Joanna’s artwork is currently exhibited in ‘Connolly Bookshop’ and ‘New theatre’, Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland. Mialkowska is a member of b-uncut and this week’s featured artist in the b-uncut “Special Exhibition” gallery.

b-uncut: What was your very first artwork?

JM: I cannot really recall my first artwork ever. I think it happened when I was about 3 years old. I have painted some scrumblings with crayons on the wall and my father went mental changing wallpaper in my room every so often. Then I started to use paper sheets.  I’ve drawn since I can remember. In fact I started to paint when I was teenager. I found it difficult and boring at the start, but the real passion for painting and art began in Primary School during my after-classes art course. Painting looked so easy when my teacher was doing it. I shortly realised that is was one of the most difficult and challenging things I have came across with in my life. My first painting was a landscape and it was a complete failure. I got truly discouraged by this event and left oils behind. It took me long time to convince myself to take  up oils again,which ended up creating my very first painting called  ”Rembrandt’s Joke”.

b-uncut: What are the methods you use when creating your paintings?

JM: I do not have any particular recipe for a painting. I believe that good art comes out as an effect of reflection, preparation, curiosity, ambition, patience and spontaneous creation.  Rushing ideas in my mind and desire of learning new things are what drives my artworks into new directions and styles. If I was to analyse the whole process of creating paintings, it would start from imagining pictures of the future painting. I would think about what I wish to say to the people. Painting is my form of communicating with world, therefore, what someone would express in 1,000 words I need to put in one picture. I select one or two ideas and focus on them more. I use to prepare a lot of sketches on the paper before starting the first strokes on the canvas. That moment is always exciting but also a bit overwhelming. It feels like creating a new world from the beginning. Once I started to paint I let my hands and mind flow with their own mood without unnecessary control of my brushwork. I would take short breaks to make some critical opinions and corrections to the results of few hours work. I would normally leave oil to dry for few days and then I would continue working on the paint layers again. I try to focus on one painting at the time and invest my time and attention in it. Shadowing and creating the light reflections I would leave to the end .

b-uncut: Who are your inspirations?

JM: It would be a hypocrisy if would I say that Irish society, as I know it, and general social aspect are the only inspiration for my paintings.   Although the main subject of my paintings contains my message to the society, the personal matters also found own space in them. I began to paint at the start of my unemployment. I have started to notice many other aspects of the reality around me: impact of recession on people’s personal life and psychology, political changes and ethnic differences in particular society. I became more interested and curious of the world and tried to transfer that observation into my artwork.

b-uncut: What did it take to make it to where you are now?

JM: I learned to paint by observing other artists’ artworks. I analysed their techniques and brush work. I have also spent some time watching Youtube courses and online trainings. I also promoted my artwork on Internet a lot.  It helped me to create web of many interesting connections and friendships with other artists.  Although spending time on performing my artwork to wider publicity was quite time consuming, it turned to be rewarding and effective.

b-uncut: You’ve studied Architecture in the past. How has this influenced your paintings?

JM: My architectural experience and education have massive impact on my artistic style. Drawing architectural perspectives, composing drawings and visualisations for many years certainly influenced my artistic work. The main aims of architectural designing are: strong contrasts, symmetry and composition of the picture. I use those basic principles in my artworks as well. I like using strong palette of colours and contrasts created by light /shadow ‘games’ to make my paintings more ‘dramatic ‘ and bit shocking.

b-uncut: If you were to design the ultimate dinner party, what 5 artists (dead or alive) would you include for stimulating conversation?

JM: I would send my invitations to: 1) Tamara Lempicka – female representative of artistic genius, extraordinary and courageous personality, which I would identify myself with- I am sure that she would add some ‘spices’ to the conversation 2) Rembrandt – another genius, creator of game between light and shadow, revolutionary thinker of his times 3) Max Ernst a dreamer and father of the artistic fantasy world -‘da –da- ism’ 4) Ron Mueck …most talentedsculptor, who created the world of gigantic humans 5) Dali – just to irritate Max Ernst with his stories about Gala and fame if I would be allowed to have another guest, it would be 6) Tadao Ando – to reflect on the importance of art in architecture and how the game of light / shadow can affect human perception of the space

b-uncut: Your biggest (albeit endearing) flaw?

JM: I speak my mind quite openly often. I would always find some answer for the topic and have my strong opinion on that. Some people find it fascinating and challenging for further discussion, the others would take it for my arrogance.

b-uncut: Your least favourite interview question?

JM: “Why do you not paint ‘happy’ pictures and use pastel , bright colours more ?”

b-uncut: Where would you most like to exhibit your work?

JM: New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo would be the biggest art markets on the world, therefore I would love to find my artworks exhibited there. I would be quite happy with my exhibition anywhere in UK. I have received a positive responses to my paintings from UK, Los Angeles, Germany, Florida and Belgium.

b-uncut: Where do you see yourself in…

One month?

JM: In Dublin, probably painting, meeting new people and learning more about world.

One year?

JM: In London, Hong Kong or Canada working in Architecture and exhibiting my work in one of leading galleries (which would be great ).

One decade?

JM: … ah .. that is too far ahead…haha.. let’s just wait and see.