What started out a decade ago as a ragtag bunch of 25 artists in rural North Carolina is now one of the hottest group exhibitions in the Chelsea gallery district. This spring, Joshua Liner Gallery has tapped the global Barnstormers collective to bring its dizzying brand of murals — or “motion paintings” — to the largest show the venue has ever organized. With their numbers swelling to 35 (including appearances by Swoon, Doze Green, ROSTARR, Ryan McGinness, and founder David Ellis), the Barnstormers use image, sound, materials, and technology to connect with contemporary culture.
View an exclusive slideshow of works from the exhibition>>
Mattel announced today a new release in the realm of “collectible” Barbies, four miniature versions of AMC stars Don Draper, his wife Betty, Roger Sterling, and Joan Holloway. (Read: dolls for adults who never take them out of the package. What 7-year-old watches Mad Men, anyway?). Retailing for $75 a pop and launching this summer to coincide with the fourth season of Mad Men, the dolls are fairly accurate, costume-wise, but seem to be missing a few key accessories. After the jump, we envision a few extras for Don and crew.
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Starting out with a loose rendition of The Last Supper (in which Matisse seems to have painted a sky above Leonardo’s iconic fresco), French-American band Hold Your Horses takes viewers on a head trip through art history in their new video for the track “70 Million.” Janson’s this is not; instead we see members of the band playing instruments in reconstructed paintings from the operating table to the boudoir. Watch the video after the jump and then follow along on the world’s most entertaining art history lesson.
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Monday evening, a former meat market on the Lower East Side was pumped full of ’80s tracks and smoky incense, moodily lit to the rafters and punctuated only by rectangles of light centered on the goods for sale. This was no boutique opening or perfume launch, however. Instead, the goods were sixteen mixed media canvases by up-and-coming artist Nicolas Pol, who describes his motif as “emotionally moving music for a silent film.” Combining elements of street art, abstraction, and sketch cartooning, and with a visual energy akin to that of Basquiat, Pol is being promoted as the next big thing on the contemporary art scene. Follow along as we break down what it takes to orchestrate the buzz.
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