Art

7 Fascinating Works of Art Created on the iPad

Even if you aren’t turned on by iPad art, it’s impossible to deny its power as an equalizer. When you consider the breadth of iPad art’s success — Paper, the most popular iPad app around, is also one of the top-grossing productivity apps ever — it can be overwhelming to think about how many different kinds of artists, famous and otherwise, have started to engage the medium seriously. … Read More

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Why Annie Leibovitz Is Wrong About the State of Photography

A reporter at the Cannes Lions Festival, surely seeking a quotable moment, asked Annie Leibovitz yesterday to describe the state of her profession. The resulting video is actually low on zingers, but even if you acknowledge her accomplishments and reputation (and set aside those stories about how, despite her reputation, she’s actually had a difficult time selling her work), there’s still ample reason to believe that Ms. Leibovitz no longer knows what she’s talking about. … Read More

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Word Portraits of Fourth-Grade Students Around the World

Do you remember what you were like in fourth grade, what you hoped for? Perhaps this collection of photographs by Judy Gelles (via Faith is Torment) will refresh your memory. Gelles asked fourth-grade students in the United States, India, and China three questions: With whom do you live? What do you wish for? What do you worry about? The students’ answers vary greatly, shedding light on their geographic and economic differences, but the underlying similarity among all the children is staggeringly present. After the jump, take a look at Gelles’ images and learn about how these kids view the world by reading their own words.  … Read More

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Beautiful, Pensive Photos of Dogs

Art that anthropomorphizes animals is nothing new, but British photographer Martin Usborne puts an interesting spin on the idea, using photographs of animals to explore very human emotions. Flavorwire featured Usborne’s photos of dogs in cars back in 2010, and his new project I’m Fine explores similar territory — as per the artist’s own statement, “canines are used … to reflect that unspoken, instinctive side of our nature. In my own experience it is dogs… that have the ability to communicate certain feelings most directly even though they have no words.” Check out a selection of images from I’m Fine after the jump, and see more of Usborne’s work at his website. … Read More

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Beyond James Turrell: 10 More Great Artists Who Use Light as a Medium

I don’t remember the last time I was as excited by a museum show as I am about James Turrell’s, which opens in at the Guggenheim Museum in New York next week. At least as an art appreciator, Turrell has been like a grandfather to me. Before I encountered his work for the first time, I didn’t really know what installation art was, and even though I admired the way some artists negotiated the phenomenon of light, it had not occurred to me that light art — more specifically, art that buttressed and captured light, often for its own sake, in a grandly hypnotizing way — could be someone’s life’s work. … Read More

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‘Vice’ Removes Controversial Female Writer Suicide Spread: Is the Sophomoric Publication Finally Growing Up?

An editorial fashion spread tells a story using images, not words. It’s the photographer’s job to tell that story: what she intended, what she hoped to convey. In Vice’s latest spread, female writers like Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Dorothy Parker stare down their own pending demise at their own hands. The story is pretty clear: the editors of Vice were more interested in getting attention at any cost than paying respectful tribute to women writers who committed suicide, and editorial taste came second to the lazy grab for page views. Following an overwhelmingly negative response across the Internet, the editors of Vice removed the feature. … Read More

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Street Art Lovers, Relax: It’s Time to Let Go of 5 Pointz

You might be crying about 5 Pointz, the most prominent center for graffiti in New York, which owner David Wolkoff intends to demolish before the end of the year. I’m not, because I’m not a crier.

In fact, reasonable people might actually feel pretty sorry for Wolkoff, who could have done more to hedge against the avalanche of bad PR he has suffered for the past 12 months. On one hand, when he began allowing a warehouse he owned in Long Island City to be used as an immense canvas for sanctioned street artists, Wolkoff knew that the commissioned “aerosol art” would attract attention, and over the years, people would start to get attached to the building. That’s common sense. … Read More

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What Happens When ‘Doctor Who’ Travels Into Disney’s Fairy Tale World

The Doctor has traveled all over the universe and across time, and it’s not unusual for him to interact with some famous historical figures from time to time. But why stop with Charles Dickens? Illustrator Karen Hallion envisions the Time Lord’s meetings with famous fairy tale figures (particularly those in the Disney canon) in her series Fairy Tale Who (via this isn’t happiness). What happens when the likes of Snow White and Cinderella step into the TARDIS? Well, you’ll have to come up with your own answers, but click through this gallery and let Hallion’s images inspire your own Doctor Who / Disney fan fiction. … Read More

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Sculptors in Liberia Make Art from Guns

It can be hard to open up a gallery or artist’s workshop when you live in a former war zone,… Read More

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