The Art Inquirer

Blick Art Materials $25 Gift Certificate Giveway

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:04:00 +0000

The Art Inquirer has the purpose to provide its readers with interesting and relevant content, permiting them to be acquainted with what is happening the art world.
News about workshops and competitions give artists to have the chance of getting their art known, while the interviews with artists give the readers the opportunity to get to know those who make art one of the most important aspects of their lifes.
Through their opinions, readers (many of them artists) play an important role in the development of this blog.
With the sponsorship of Blick Art Materials, a gift certificate in the value of $25 and a catalogue, will be offered to one of the readers of The Art Inquirer.
The participation in this event is quite simple. Readers will receive a token for each of the following connections that they have with this art blog (the more connections the better chances they have of winning) : Followers - 1 token; Facebook Fans - 1 token; Newsletter Subscribers (Feedblitz) - 2 tokens; Writing an article about this with a link to this article - 3 tokens.
If you are one of the readers who will write an article on your website or blog about this event, please leave a comment on this article with a link to your post.
Links are not permitted for other comments, unless requested.
The winner will be announced on December 20th, 2009.
If you have any doubts, you may post them here or contact me via e-mail.
Thank for for being a reader of The Art Inquirer.
Good Luck and Merry Christmas !

Korda - Conhecido Desconhecido

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:35:00 +0000

After Havana and Madrid, the collaboration between the House of Latin America (Casa da América Latina) and Lisbon's City Hall (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa), brings to Portugal the exhibition "Korda - Conhecido Desconhecido".
Comprising 200 photos selected from personal archives of friends and colaborators, many of them unpublished and not even printed by the author himself, the exhibition takes place at the East Turret Gallery in the National Rope-factory museum (Galeria Torreão Nascente – Edifício da Cordoaria Nacional), in Lisbon (Portugal). Guided visits will be carried out in the days of December 2nd, 2009 and January 5th ,2010 at 3pm, to which you can attend by calling first at (351) 218170600.
Open to the public from December 2nd through January 31st, 2010 and with free admitance, this is a singular opportunity to know more about the work of the cuban photographer Alberto Korda (Alberto Diaz Gutiérrez), famous for the photo "Che Guevara - Guerillero Heroico" (Heroic Guerrilla Fighter).The taste of Korda for fashion photography and beauty has brought this characteristic to the photographs that he took during the revolutionary cuban times.

Photo by Ricardo Malta

"The Passenger" by Chris Jones

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:29:00 +0000

Result of an amazing dedication and creativity, together with the right portion of humour, "The Passenger" is a short film animation completly created by the australian artist Chris Jones.
This project developed through the course of six years and completed in 2006 has received the
Best Animation - 2006 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (premiere) and the
Best Australian Film - 2008 Melbourne International Animation Festival awards.
Its screenplay has a quality that can be compared to ones that we are used to see from Tim Burton, grabbing the viewer from the beginning to the very end of the film.

BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year Award 2010

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:37:00 +0000

In 2009, BBC Wildlife introduced a competition for natural history artists.

With more than 700 entries, featuring artworks of high standards, this initiative proved to be a success.

Neil Allen was the overall winner with his painting "Bee Orchid" and will be present at the 2010 Festival of Wildlife in Brazil, taking place at the region of Pantanal.

Now it's time for the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year Award 2010.

With 13 categories to choose from, the winners from each one will have their work displayed at the Marwell International Wildlife Art Society annual exhibition, 2010.

The overall winner will exhibit at the Society of Wildlife Artists between 21 September and 2 October 2010,at the Mall Galleries, London, alongside with some of the finest wildlife artists and will have the chance to participate in the 8th Annual Festival of Wildlife in Baja California, Mexico, in search of whales and other marine life, which will take place in 2011.

The winners of each category will have their work published in the August 2010 issue of BBC Wildlife magazine (on sale 8 July).

All entries must be received by February 28th, 2010.

Technorati Claim Code YKP7GSGFG2VK

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:47:00 +0000

This is a temporary post for the Technorati crawler.
YKP7GSGFG2VK

Fernand Pelez at the Petit Palais

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:08:00 +0000

The artworks of Fernand Pelez can be seen at the Petit Palais (Paris) until January 17.
Entitled "Fernand Pelez, la parade des humbles", this unprecedented exhibition brings to the public the drawings and paintings from the artist, including street sellers, jugglers and famine people who made the streets of Montmartre their home.

On December 22nd, visitors will have the chance to attend a free interactive concert by the National Orchestra of France.

Arte Lisboa 2009 - Contemporary Art Fair

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:22:00 +0000

The 9th edition of the contemporary art fair Arte Lisboa 2009 opened to the general public this Thursday, November 19th (the preview and vernissage took place on the 18th).

Occupying FIL's pavilion 4 at Parque das Nações, Arte Lisboa 2009 hosts 67 galleries (33 from portugal, 31 from spain, 1 from cuba, 1 from hungary and 1 from Korea).

Visitors will have the opportunity to attend panel discussions during the exhibition.

November 23rd is the closing date (finissage).

Interview with British Artist Paul Coventry-Brown

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Originaly from Liverpool (UK), Paul Coventry-Brown is a mostly self-taught full-time artist.

Having spent seventeen years in Japan, he now resides in the South West of France.

TAI - You use belgian linen. What characteristics make you want to work on it ?

Do you use a certain weave according to the subject ?

Paul - I use hardboard/masonite a lot because of the smoothness of the surface.
As for the linen panels, I use Claessens #13 which is their finest weave. It is still quite a rough weave compared to a fine detail cotton canvas but the first coat/layer fills most of it in and by the second coat the paint goes on very smoothly and very fine unbroken lines are possible.
It come the nearest to being able to replicate some of the techniques and feel that I have observed in the old masters.
The reason I like it so much is the way the paint goes onto the surface, it's very hard to explain, it is just a joy to paint on and I would recommend it to everyone to give it a try.

After the first coat it becomes very smooth but still has a slight texture and the paint does not 'sink in' (become dull) like it seems to do on normal acrylic primed cotton (this is usually because they don't put enough coats of gesso on to save money).

TAI - Do you prepare your owns canvases with primer ?

If so, do you prefer the acrylic or the oil one ?

Do you use hide glue or PVA resin/glue, if prepared with an oil primer ?

Paul - On hardboard I use about four coats of acrylic gesso (usually lightly sanding the last coat).
If I ever use cotton canvas I always give that two extra coats of gesso too.
I never need to prime a canvas as I never buy any that have not first been primed.

The Belgian linen needs no extra gesso at all:
Starting with the finest unprimed surface, the canvas is inspected, smoothed with a pumice, cleaned, and sized. It is then oil-primed with linseed oil and zinc white and allowed to dry for 3 days in a dry air oven before the final coat of titanium white is applied.

TAI - Which brushes do you prefer, taking into account : shape of the brush, quality/kind and subject being painted ?

Paul - use a mix of brushes, long/short handled and mostly synthetic ones, very rarely do I use bristle brushes.
I use the same brushes for all subjects, still life or portrait.
Winsor & Newton - Cotman watercolour brushes
Robert Simmons - White Sable
Siverwhite

I use only flats and brights (the round 'pointy' ones).

TAI - Differences between student/beginner quality paints and artist quality ones ?

Namely in terms of final results i.e. the aspect of the painting.

Paul - would always advise everyone to use artist quality paints, even for beginners as they are loaded with more pigment and some of the student ones have too much oil in them so they are a bit thin and don't cover well.

I know that some artists use cheap oils because they put them on very thick so there's no worry about covering power. But for my kind of work I found the artist quality to be better suited ... I don't know about vibrancy as you can probably get the same effect with the student ones but you would need more coats and more paint. When you put a lighter colour on top of a darker one, it's harder to cover if the light colour is thinner on pigment.

TAI - What acccessories do you find essential ?

Paul - A sheet of glass with white paper underneath for my palette, it's so easy to clean each night.

Winsor & Newton Liquin Original medium. I have tried every type of medium (including lead based ones) and always come back to this.

I always paint using an 85W, 5,600K daylight, energy saving bulb, this duplicates the light of the sun at midday and seems to give the best results when the paintings are moved to different lighting conditions when they are finished.

A 'mahl stick'. This is a 1cm diameter, round piece of dowel that is one meter long. This is to rest my hand on as I paint.
I rest one end on the top of my easel and the other end I hold in my left hand (I never rest it on the painting itself).

TAI - How important to you find draughtsmanship ?

Paul - It is not so important to me as I work from photos to set up the composition and lighting and then mostly 'square them up'. That is, I make small squares on the photo and the same number of bigger squares on the canvas (like a grid) and then just copy; it's been done for hundreds of years, why change it ;-)
With the less complicated compositions I just go straight onto the canvas with a brush and draw the outlines very freely with a very thin burnt umber. I much prefer this to pencil of charcoal. Even beginners can do this, as I proved at a class I taught in the Spring (see the May posting on my blog).

TAI - Do you find that a good knowledge of colour plays an important role in your paintings and in art visual arts in general ?

Paul - This is something I am not sure about. Colour theory can be taught and it can also be instinctive. My theory is very weak and I just work from a subconscious level.
A basic understanding of mixing colours is valuable and so is experimentation.

TAI - Share with us a little about your technique for painting core and cast shadows.

Paul - Sometimes I paint cast shadows as near to the colour and darkness I need and other times I paint them lighter and then glaze them darker, I use both just as much.
I will always make sure to paint the shadow and the surface it is cast onto at the same time so I can blend the edges into each other, I don't want hard edges shadows.
I usually work from dark to light.

TAI - Are the techniques that you use to paint a certain theme, influenced by those that you use on others ? i.e. when you are painting a portrait, do you feel that sometimes you are applying the techniques that you use on still lifes and vice-versa, even if sometimes without noticing ?

If so, what are the pros and cons ?

Paul - always apply the same technique to whatever I am painting and this is generally dark to light. That is to say, I put the darker areas in first, then the middle tones and then the lights, with the highlights at the very end.

TAI - Why trompe l'oeil ?

Paul - don't always paint 'trompes' but I do love the challenge of making something look as though it is 3D and fooling people into thinking that a flat surface of a panel has real depth. This is easier to achieve on hardboard rather than canvas.

TAI - Tell us about your comissions for Winsor & Newton and Blick Art Materials.

Paul - Well, Winsor & Newton picked me up as a featured artist on their UK web site and, apparently, the office staff there liked my work, so when they were looking for a painting to feature on the label of their new range of fine detail canvas the office staff recommended me to the marketing division. Of course, I was delighted and so surprised when I received a phone call from them. I haven't seen the design yet but I will put it up on the blog once I get a copy (if it isn't a total disappointment that is ;-). The canvas should be going out in December I think.

The work for Blick will go out on the cover of their Winter flyer and apparently goes out to 350,000 people! Again, I don't have a sample yet but keep your eye on the blog.

TAI - What marketing strategies do you think work best into getting customers ?

Paul - My secret weapon is my sister in law, Sheila, in Bermuda who worked really hard to help get me started and has built up an amazing client base for me out there. I don't really know of a surefire strategy, but a blog is essential I think.

I have been lucky in that many people have seen my paintings that other people have bought and then bought some themselves.

I don't have any gallery representation but I would like to try that one day.

TAI - To which countries do you sell more ?

Paul - Mostly the USA and Bermuda with the UK next.

TAI - Is there's a social level that is more interested in your works, namely according to subject ?

Paul - No, I don't think so. My work seems to appeal to a broad spectrum of ages and social levels.

TAI - Do you have future exhibitions happening soon ?

When and where ?

Paul - I don't exhibit. No one has asked me to and I don't have any unsold work to show.
I have a regular client base and, luckily for me, most of the paintings are sold by my mailing list and sometimes through my blog.
Sometimes I sell some on eBay that I don't manage to sell privately, but only a few.

TAI - What about your projects for the future ?

Paul - Just to get better and better. Like most artists I never feel that I have done well enough and that I should be better; I find fault in everything I do and want to move on and try and learn from my mistakes.

I would love to do some really good original 'trompes' but they take so long to do as you have to be a lot more careful.

TAI - Thank you for the interview to The Art Inquirer, would you like to add anything else ?

Paul - If anyone has any questions at all about painting (beginners or advanced) or my work I will be delighted to reply to any queries. We should pass on what we learn to help each other.

You can see the paintings of Paul Coventry-Brown and contact him at his website.

Art Calendar Self-Portrait Cover Contest 2010

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:15:00 +0000

The readers of the Art Calendar have the opportunity to participate on the Self-Portrait Cover Contest 2010 and win gift certificates to Blick Art Materials, with the winner being feature on the cover of the March issue.
Submissions must be sent electronically and the deadline will be 23:59 on December 11th, 2009, Eastern Standard Time.
The winner will be notified on December 15th, 2009.

Johannes Vermeer's The Milkmaid at the Met

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:53:00 +0000

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is running a special exhibition from the Duch Golden Age through November 29th, 2009.

Making part of this exhibition is the famous work The Milkmaid from Johannes Vermeer, loaned by the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam to commemorate the connection between New York and the Netherlands on the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage up the river that would bear his name.

Financed by the Dutch East India Company, his explorations led to the rise of the city New Amsterdam, later renamed New York.

The Milkmaid is regarded as one of the last works of Vermeer's early period, during which he adopted the style and subjects, namely domestic life, that were so common between the painters of that dutch period.

Artworks from famous painters such as Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch and Nicolaes Maes, part of the Metropolitan's collection, are also included in this exhibition.

NanoArt 2009 - 4th Edition

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:10:00 +0000

Open to all artists and scientists worldwide, the 4th Edition of NanoArt International Online Competition will will open for public on January 20th, 2010.

The artist and scientist Cris Orfescu, founder of NanoArt21, will provide 3 high resolution monochromatic electron scans of nanosculptures, which will have to be altered by the participants in order to create their own artworks.

The artists and scientists are encouraged to enter artworks (up to five) based upon their own images of micro or nanostructures.

All the submitted works will be will be exhibited on the NanoArt21.org website until March 31, 2010, together with artist's name, website and a description of the artistic process.

The top 10 artists, chosen by a jury, will have their art exhibited at the NanoArt21.org website for one full year and will be invited to exhibit at the 3rd edition of The International Festival of NanoArt (the 2008 edition took place in Stuttgart, Germany).

The deadline to enter this competition is January 15th, 2010.

Open Day at Sotheby's Institute of Art New York

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:55:00 +0000

With academic centers in London, New York and Singapore, the Sotheby's Institute of Art provides graduate programs for students seeking a career in the art world.

Featuring an object-based approach to teaching, students have the opportunity to learn through hands-on examination of works of art in museums, galleries and private collections.

The range of disciplines covers art valuation, curatorship , galleries and auction houses working methods, passing through the basics of copyright and tax laws.

Lectures are given by specialists on a regular basis, including artists, art critics, gallery directors, art lawyers and Sotheby's auction house experts.

The Sotheby's Institute of Art also offers intensive programs and short courses, focusing on the art market and Summer studies during June and July, both in New York.

On November 10th, between 6pm and 8pm, the Institute in New York will hold an Open Day event, covering the fields of Contemporary Art, American Fine & Decorative Art and Art Business, where prospective students will have the chance to learn about the graduate programs and ask questions.

CultureInside Halloween Contest 2009

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:15:00 +0000

The artistic community CultureInside is running a free contest for its registered members.
Adressed to artists and photographers and having the Halloween as its theme, the call starts on Monday October 26th and ends on Friday October 31st.
Selected by the CultureInside team and its community, the winners will have their works exhibited in a permanent online exhibition

Art Enclosures - Call for Artists Venice 2009 - 2010

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:53:00 +0000

Sponsored by the Fondazione di Venezia, together with Polymnia Srl (fully participate of Fondazione di Venezia) and Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, the three year residential program , now on its second phase, aims to provide emerging young artists from Africa, Caribbean and Pacific area, an opportunity of visibility and intercultural exchange.

During the three-year span, twelve young artists will be hosted and their artwork will be showcased in periodic exhibitions and pubished in a catalogue.

The forthcoming residency program will take place in Venice from January 20th through April 20th, 2010 and is destined to four artists from the african continent.

The project will cover travel expenses and lodging in the Palazzo Carminati, provided by the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa.

Artists will receive grant in the value of €700 (pre-taxes) for living costs while in Venice.

The ateliers of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa and the necessary materials will be available to the artists for the completion of the artworks during the three months period, during which they will have the opportunity to get involved in public meetings, conferences and other cultural activities organized by the Fondazione di Venezia and the Fondazione Bevilacqua Masa.

The residential artists will also be given the chance to visit some of the museums and exhibitions in the area free of charge.

The application deadline is November 7th, 2009, you can download the prospect here.

Sand Animation by Kseniya Simonova 2009

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Winner of Ukraine's Got Talent 2009, Kseniya Simonova (Ксения Симонова) performed amazing sand animation that portrayed life during former USSR's Great Patriotic War against the Third Reich in World War II (animation on top).

2009 Artistic Infusion Program - Call for Artists

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:47:00 +0000

Created by the Congress in 1972, the United States Mint is a self-funded agency with the primary mission of producing an adequate volume of circulating coinage for the nation to conduct its trade and commerce.

The United States Mint program is seeeking up to 6 artists to participate in the creation of designs for coins. The selected artists will join the current designers under contract with the program and will be paid the established fees.

Please read the application carefully.

Fingerprint on Vellum Portrait may Belong to Leonardo da Vinci

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:15:00 +0000

What can be a major discovery in the last one hundred years of a work by Leonardo da Vinci, has been recently announced to the public.
Sold at Christie's New York as " Young Girl in Profile in Renaissance Dress" and catalogued as "German, early 19th cantury" for $19,000 to art dealer Kate Ganz who kept it for 12 years before selling it on for a similar price in 2007 to a swiss art collector, the 13in by 9in (33cm x 24cm) chalk, pen and ink on vellum portrait, mounted on an oak board, may have been painted by da Vinci.
A fingerprint was found at the top left by the forensic art expert Peter Paul Biro and compared to one found on "St. Jerome", a Leonardo's work kept at the Vatican, when the artist is not known to have assitants.
A palm-print on the neck is also consistent with da Vinci's use of his hands to create shading and texture.
The claim made by Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor of History of Art at Oxford University, is backed by tests done with a "multispectral" camera from Lumière Technology of Paris and by the carbon-14 analysis of the vellum, carried out by the Institute for Particle Physics, in Zurich, which resulted in a date range between 1440 and 1650.
Infrared analysis also reveals that drawing and hatching were made by a left-handed artist.
Professor Kemp believes that the sitter is Bianca Sforza, daughter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (1452-1508) and his mistress Bernardina Corradis. He suggests that the portrait may be dated from around 1496, when aged 13 or 14 she married Galeazzo Sanseverino, the Duke's army captain and a Leonardo's patron.
No other artwork on vellum by Leonardo da Vinci is known, however the artist had inquired the french artist Jean Perréal about techniques using coloured chalk on vellum.
Should these tests be proved reliable, the artwork that was previously sold for $19,000 is now valued at £100 million, according to London dealer Simon Dickinson.

The portrait is due to go on display at the Eriksbergshallen, Gothenburg, included in the exhibition called "And There Was Light: The Masters of the Renaissance Seen in a New Light".

Earlier this year, a portrait thought to be of Leonardo da Vinci was found by Nicola Barbatelli in a private collection of an aristocratic familiy from Acerenza, a town near Potenza in Basilicata.

A research commissioned by the owner's agent is available for reading.

National Portfolio and Graduate Portfolio Days

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:54:00 +0000

Art students who are looking for an opportunity to get their portfolios examined by experts, can be attended by art colleges and art schools that participate in the Portfolio Day events.

Taking place in several parts of the country and dates, there are two kinds of events : the National Portfolio Day, specifically for students of visual arts and design interested in undergraduate programs like BFA, BS and BA degrees, and the Graduate Portfolio Days for students that already have a Bachelor’s degree and are interested in MFA, MArch, and MA degrees.

The Graduate Portfolio Days is managed under the National Portfolio Day Association and in both websites, students can consult the 2009/2010 schedule for graduate and undergraduate programs.

If you have any questions, there is a FAQs page available.

Terry Ludwig Confetti Pastels

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:12:00 +0000

Known by their exquisite colours, including some successful dark tones, Terry Ludwig has recently introduced the "Confetti" line of soft pastels.
With the characteristic square shape that Terry has made us familiarized with, these new pastel sticks feature multiple pigments of different hues, enabling the artist to achieve interesting effects and details, such as sparks on water and shadows, or to deliver more interest to porcelain elements on a painting.
Terry Ludwig developed this new interesting line of Confetti soft pastels, now it's up to the artists to use their creativity and give the best use to it.

List Your Art Workshops For Free

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:19:00 +0000

If you are looking for a website where you can list your art workshop for free, Artist Workshop is one of the options.
Recently developed by Peggy and Robert Stermer-Cox, the website permits registered users to list their workshops for free, including online ones.
In the future we will see further development as the Artist Workshop is a new website and will continue to improve its service, namely based upon users' feedback.

Alive Gallery (Seoul, South Korea)

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:43:00 +0000

Located in Seoul, South Korea, the Alive Gallery uses advanced IT technology to enhance the visitor's experience.
This enables the interaction between visitors and the characters from famous western paintings, such as The Last Supper and The Arnolfini Portrait.
It's possible that you may not need to travel far to enjoy the experience, since there's the possibility of exporting this technology to other galleries and museums, or even being developed in your own country.

Social Networking for Artists

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:39:00 +0000

Over the last couple of years we have seen a constant appearing of social networking websites, permiting users to make themselves noticeable to connect with people sharing similar interests.

However one sometimes thinks to what extent people are finding a right balance between the time that they pass using those websites and the time shared in person with other people.

What The Art Inquirer wants to suggest is to use those social networks to bring people together, namely artists.

Instead of using those websites to only communicate, you can use them to arrange meetings with other artists and develop your artistic skills.

You can look for artists who share similar interests, or different ones if you want to learn new subjects or media, find them by using geographical options (if the network has that option) and so on.

This can work especially well for "plein air" painters or potential ones who have the desire to go paint outside but still didn't find the guts to or someone to go with.Of course that is advisable to have some information about the people that one is going to meet with and going with someone already known is advisable. One should also choose a non isolated spot, unless of course one already knows the person or group.

Working with other artists will enlight your artistic perceptions and develop your skills, besides the positive fact of doing new friendships.

Usually it's not permited to post links on comments, but if you have any ideas about this, are thinking about joining or forming a plein air painting group, or are already part of one, you are welcomed to leave a link.

image found at webtreatsmysitemyway

Museum of Chinese in America

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:19:00 +0000

Design by the artist and arquitect Maya Lyn (known for creating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC), the new building of the Museum of Chinese in America was inaugurated this September 22nd.

Occupying a once machine shop at the 215 of Centre Street, the building features a sky-lit courtyard that opens onto exhibition galleries, a research center, an auditorium and a space for public programmes.

An historical look upon the chinese immigrant culture in the US and the museum's first exhibition of contemporary work by artists of chinese descent living in New York, "Here & Now: Chinese Artists in New York", are included in the inaugural show.

Organized into three parts, with the first one running until November 2nd and featuring the artists Cui Fei, Lin Yan, Xu Bing and Yun-Fei Ji.

The other two will open on November 19th and January 10th.

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:23:00 +0000

The museum dedicated to the portuguese artist Paula Rego was inaugurated on August 18th with an exhibition dedicated to the work of the artist between 1987 and 2008, including paintings loaned by the Marlborough Gallery.
Featured are also other artworks such as "Life Painting" (1954), created when studying at the Slade School of Fine Art (London).
Many of those paintings depict the female model Lila Nunes, Paula Rego's favourite model since 1988 and who also was Victor Willing's nurse.
Design by the portuguese arquitect Eduardo Souto Moura, the Casa das Histórias de Paula Rego museum has 750sq. meters, featuring an auditorium with a capacity for 200 people, a library, bookstore and spaces for permanent and temporary exhibitions.
The artist has loaned several paintings to the museum, including 15 by her later husband Victor Willing (1928-1988). for a renewable period of 10 years.
Among the several works of art, including 257 etchings and 278 drawings, the visitor may see a large tapestry based upon the work "Alcácer Quibir".
With free admitance between 10am and 10pm, the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego museum will present two temporary exhibitions per year (Spring and Autumn).

Stop-Motion Animation by Eleanor Stewart

netjosenet@hotmail.com (José) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:55:00 +0000

Hoedown from Rodeo from Eleanor Stewart on Vimeo.

Graduated by the Visual Communication at the Glasgow School of Art, Eleanor Stewart has created this cutout stop-motion animation inspired by Westerns.
The musical score is called "Hoedown", from the Rodeo Suite by Aaron Copland.
Eleanor did this work for her final year degree.