Orchids for 30 Days

Strange Art I

Since ancient times, the romans and other civilizations have collected their precious tears, and with artists the collection of bodily fluids has not stopped with mere tears. There is a strange attraction to the bizarre for several artists, and famous artists are known to have used feces, urine, blood and other bodily fluids in creating art. For instance, Andy Warhol is said to have invited people to urinate on a canvas in order to oxidize the metallic pigments in the paint. His Oxidation Series was created by utilizing the chemical properties and chemical reactions between the paints and the acidity of the urine. 

Oxidation Series by Warhol

An Italian friend of mine that works in the restoration of churches, old buildings and works of art had once told me of an Italian artist collecting feces and calling it art. I later discovered that what she had said was actually true and that in 1961, artist Piero Manzoni from Italy filled tin cans with excrement and labeled it as Artist's Shit.  It is believed that this artwork was created for the purpose of  mocking the art establishment. One of these satirical tin cans of "merda" is recorded as being sold for an incredible amount of 124K euros in 2007. 

Artist's Shit by Manzoni

In my own personal experience, the most peculiar exhibition of art that I have ever visited was two decades ago when a friend of mine, an artist, invited me to an unusual display of art.  We visited an exhibition where the artist used her menstrual blood to create paintings on paper, and another exhibited artist collected her used tampons and utilized them in sculptural types of art. It appears that currently there are many other female artists emulating this trend.  Human blood is a common medium for the art world. In more recent times, Marc Quinn, who is well known for his solid gold statute of Kate Moss, 

has used his own blood, about 4.5 liters, to create a sculpture of himself that must be kept frozen. This process is continued and a new self of MarcQuin is created evey 5 years.

Self by Marc Quinn

Not only the artist, but also the spectator is simultaneously awed and appalled by the use of human corporeal liquids and wastes in these works nominated as art. There are many works that incorporate this method in order to shock and perplex the public. Is it really art? Who is to decide if it truly is or not?

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

Art  Portfolio

Art Facebook Page

Grotesque Portraits

Art is not only the depiction of beauty but also the depiction of the grotesque. Many viewers prefer the beauty of Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earing, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and Rogier Van Der Weyden's Portrait of a Lady. Some might say that the following paintings that will be discussed are not true works of art due to their nature of gross and malformed portraits but the opposite is quite true.

Portrait of a Lady by R. Van der Weyden

Girl with a Pearl Earing by Vermeer

Soutine, a Russian Jew born in 1893, was an artist in which all his portraits were painted in a deformed manner. His admirers believed that he painted what could not be seen with the eyes, and he portrayed the inner aspect of each of his sitters. It is true that he failed the drawing entrance exam on his first try, to the School of Fine Arts in Vilna, but he later was accepted in Vilna and also attended the École des Beaux-Arts  of Paris in 1913. His unique works attracted many collectors who could see a miserableness and a deepness within in each of his paintings.

Woman in Red by Soutine

Woman Knitting by Soutine

The Ugly Duchess by Quentin Matsys is a great example of a grotesque portrait. The woman is portrayed in such a hideous manner, with saggy and wrinkled breasts and a large ogre like face that one can only imagine after dreaming of a terrible succubus.  Art history claims that this portrait made fun of those wealthy older women that attempted to behave like young and beautiful maidens. It is now believed that this was the true appearance of the sitter and that she had suffered from a rare disease, Paget's disease. The important question is why had Quentin Matsys painted such a beautifully and ardently detailed painting of The Ugly Duchess.

The Ugly Duchess by Matsys

Another well known painting by the very talented artist Goya is Saturn Devouring His Son. It is a nightmarish painting invoked from greek mythology. He painted this and other paintings onto the walls of his home, it was later put onto canvas after his death. The civil problems in Spain and his own close call to death due to illnesses are believed to have influenced these paintings. A painting of  a mad cannibalistic figure devouring and tearing the flesh of  his own young, only Goya truly knew of his true intentions of painting such a chilling portrait and its true eerie significance. 

Saturn Devouring His Son by Goya

One of my favorite artists, Francis Bacon's truly grotesque portraits are haunting and show the terrifying fears deep inside the human psyche and at times such raw emotions  can only be shown through such form of art. The screaming pope and the study of a self portrait are able to cause shivers down one's spine.

Screaming Pope by Francis Bacon

Many people are aware of certain paintings that use the special placement of vivid fruits and vegetables to create images of people and objects. Giuseppe Arcimboldo is greatly known for his quite unusual and gruesome depictions or portraits of people. He places each individual grape or squash in such a manner that a frightful image of a person's face is brought into existence. 

Summer by Arcimboldo

What is the true purpose of such horrid and hideous painted portraits? Is it just an attempt to shock people, or is it honest portrayal of human nature and the horrible truths that are hidden deep within  each individual?

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

Art  Portfolio

Art Facebook Page

Artists Make Terrible Lovers (Long Term)

Artists make terrible long term lovers or companions. For a passionate and steamy short affair, artists are quite fit for the part, but for something more serious you should look elsewhere. I refer to the artist of the male gender as being inadequate for something deeper; the opposite is usually true for the female artist. Yes, it is true that artists are very sensitive individuals and pensive thinkers but this usually applies only to their art and not to their love interests. There are many examples of famous artists proving this. Let me begin with Pablo Picasso, an artist suffering greatly from A Don Juan complex.  

Pablo Picasso - Girl Before a Mirror

Picasso's first long term lover was Fernande Olivier which left her husband to be with him. After 7 years together, he claimed his love for another woman, Marcelle Humbert and had a relationship with her in 1912 for there years.  As Marcel, aka Eva Gouel, was dying of an illness, he had an affair with Gaby Lespinasse. In 1918, he married a ballerina, Olga Khookhlova, and in 1927 while still married with children, he lived with a 17 year old young girl, Marie-Therese, across the street from his wife, Olga. A year after he had a child with Marie-Therese, he fell in love with yet another woman, leaving Marie-Theres devastated and heart broken. These were not his only affairs, he had many more romances throughout his life. Let's move on to yet another artist and latin lover, Diego Rivera. 

Painting of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo

Rivera's gifted artist wife, Frida Kahlo, was an attentive lover and companion, but unfortunately Rivera did not feel the need to reciprocate such devotion. He had been twice married before marrying Frida. Of course he had cheated on each of them and even attacked his second wife with a knife. He performed the most unforgivable act by bedding Frida's younger sister, but with time she had forgiven him.  Many other artists also fit this same scenario. Jackson Pollock betrayed his very devoted artist wife Lee Krasner with his much younger mistress, Ruth Kligman. Sculptors are not exempt from the list, François Auguste René Rodin, while married for several decades,  had an affair with the sculptress Camille Claudel. It is believed that Claudel, deeply in love,  had become pregnant but he refused to leave his wife and that the pregnancy ended in an abortion. There are many more examples of such unfaithfulnees, and the list is quite extensive.

Auguste Rodin

Camille Claudel

Why are so many women enthralled by artists? Is it their false faith in the artist's creativeness and passion, and believing that this greatness will be transferred into their relationship. These women, blindly shot by cupids arrows, are of the hope that the  artist will love them as deeply as they are passionate about their art, how sweet and naive. Perhaps it would have been better that these poor women had fallen in love with anyone, except the self absorbed and false-hearted male artist.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

Art  Portfolio

Art Facebook Page

Why I Hate Damien Hirst

Why I Hate Damien Hirst

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate him as a person, I just don't like his art. Damien Hirst is a very talented artist, but  honestly I am not impressed by his works. For Damien Hirst fans, I am entitled to my opinion. He is very well known in the art world and his art sells for millions of dollars. Some of his works include authentic cow heads covered with flys and maggots encased in a glass box, and a dead great white shark entombed in a glass case. Perhaps it is impressive to those who have lived their entire lives without seeing death or carcasses of animals being devoured by maggots. I"ve already seen this many times and it doesn't impress me. In his defense, one day while visiting an art museum,  my mother was hypnotized by the beauty of Hirt's impressive large stainless steel medicine cabinet with  surgical tools, and my mother is no fan of art, but he was able to impress her, a heathen of art.

Forget about the glorious commentaries from art critics and the fact that he, Damien Hirst, is laughing to the bank after each sale. What do you honestly think of his work? 

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

Art Portfolio

Art Facebook Page