Travis Louie’s Zakarna poster for Safewalls

As they have been doing each month, Safewalls (the Cirque Du Soleil art project) has teamed up with 3 different artists in June to create a poster for  Zakarna. The show is described as “an acrobatic rock opera that blends circus arts with the surreal to create a world where physical virtuosity rubs shoulders with the strange.” The first poster to be revealed is the one by artist Travis Louie, who is a really nice fit since his art is inspired by German expressionist movies, film noir, magic and idiosyncrasies. Not to mention the eerie mood in his black and white acrylics and the peculiar characters that inhabit them. His poster captures beautifully the strange and surreal feel of Zakarna.
The two other posters yet to be revealed are by Ron English and Tara McPherson, I’m really curious to see what the came up with.

Lebanese commemorative stamps

Following an initiative taken by the ministry of telecommunications, 10 commemorative stamps celebrating Lebanon’s cultural heritage were issued on the 28th of June. The stamps celebrate Lebanese artists who each innovated and had tremendous success in their own field, and participated in the development of the country’s artistic and cultural scene. Also, two stamps were dedicated to the Arabic Postal Comity and to the birth of the alphabet, given that the earliest known Phoenician inscriptions were found in Byblos, Jbeil.
The stamps, designed by Hiba Mikdashi, honor: our great singer Fairuz, sculptors the Basbous brothers, comedian Hassan Alaa Eddine (aka, Chouchou), poet Saïd Akl, singer and performer Sabah, dance troop Caracalla, actor Nabih Abou El-Hossn and actor singer/songwriter Phd Wadih El Safi. I really like the treatment of the photographs on the stamps as well as the color variations, and I feel that anything honoring these great artists should always be highly appreciated.

Kathie Olivas, Sweet and Sorrow

New print by painter and toy designer Kathie Olivas promoting her upcoming show in Stranger Factory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The title of the show itself, as well as the poster, sets the tone for the exhibition.
Her work features the cutest kid-like creatures, sometimes holding candy, other times with mutated limbs, but always in their own weird environment. And despite their obvious cuteness, they seem a bit menacing, as if they would be ready to defend their worlds.

“Their mutated limbs, empowered sidekicks, or improvised armor present a satirical look at how fear affects our sense of reality.”

Some of her toys and paintings below

Fashion meets art in Christian Louboutin’s f/w 2011 lookbook

Art Info has an article here on the new lookbook of Louboutin shoes that recreates, almost exactly in some cases, classic paintings. You’ll find Whistler’s mother holding a studded boot, while Nattier’s Marquise d’Antin sports a leopard-print bag on her shoulder.
Photographer Peter Lippmann was in charge of recreating the masterpieces, and his photographs turn out to be pieces of art as well. His talent and technique shine through as he perfectly recreates the lighting and the shadows on the models and settings. The photographs could easily be mistaken for actual paintings. A release from Louboutin states that the “historic models depicted within the gallery embody the spirit of the Christian Louboutin woman”. While I don’t really agree with that, I think that the campaign is witty and the photographs are simply stunning.

Patrick Winfield’s composite images

Artist Patrick Winfield combines polaroids on a large scale grid to create whole new images. There is a beautiful surreal quality to his pieces, composites and collages alike, and they have a very nice natural flow to them in spite of the obvious obstacle of working with a big grid of photographs. His latest work entitled She (via Wooster Collective) is as interesting as the rest of his works, and it shows the extent of his talent. I also really like his collages, you can check out his work on his site or follow him on his blog.

She

Lioness (disappear)

You appearing

Full regalia 2

Creepy crawlies

Embroidered portraits by Daniel Kornrumpf

Daniel Kornrumpf makes stunning portraits on linen with the threads catching every little detail, as if they actually were paintings.

” ‘The very fact of the portrait’s allusion to an individual human being, actually existing outside the work, defines the function of the art work in the world and constitutes the cause of its coming into being. This vital relationship between the portrait and its object of representation directly reflects the social dimension of human life as a field of action among persons, with its own repertoire of signals and messages.’
-Richard Brilliant”

(via Cakehead Loves Evil)

Invader 1000

Invader, the French urban artist who made a name for himself with works inspired by the space invaders game, is celebrating his 1000th space invader in France with a big exhibition in “La Générale” Paris. Apparently, his Rubik Cubism works hold a prominent place in the show, with many on display, each made of 225 Rubik cubes and representing famous figures like The Doors, Patti Smith and the Ramones.
More photos on this flickr set

Bonus space invader, the 1001th one, is the discreet red one on black above the wall