what the heck is art ?

What a bloody marvellous painting, part 6

2009-11-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

Old Blue Tiled Mosque Outside Of Delhi India

Oil on canvas
31 5/16 x 25 1/2 in. (79.6 x 64.8 cm)
1885
by

Lord Edwin Weeks

Nizamuddin, the area where this monument is, was then outside of the main city of Delhi. The structure is very close to the Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliyaa Dargah in Delhi. It also right next to the magnificent Hamayun's tomb.

The monument is located outside the eastern enclosure wall (of the Hamayun's tomb), which is locally known as Nila Gumbad, due to the blue coloured dome. It is believed to contain the remains of one Fahim Khan, the attendant of Abdur Rahim Khan, who lived during the reign of Jahangir. The attendant died in 1626 A.D.

(image source - Wikipedia)

Varun Shiv Kapur has plenty of pictures of the historical buildings in the surrounding area which is steeped in history.

Art du jour

2009-11-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

"Nude"

Acrylic

90x120 cm

George Kotsonis

Tintin will never be like me!

2009-11-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

I would hate it if my favorite storybook hero Tintin were to grow old, fat and grumpy -like me!

It will never happen, never happen, never happen!

Or is that marriage can make one so, even Tintin?

More interesting stuff at the link.

Artists against windmills

2009-11-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Artists love to be for a cause.

This group has an interesting cause -
They are against windmills!

In their words-

We are a world wide group of artists who share a love of the countryside and all wild places. We fight to save them, and their wildlife, from being turned into Industrial Wind Power Stations.

Now, that's a noble cause.

Art du jour

2009-11-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Blue on blue 1

pastels

Alan Stevens

Anybody thinks that any of our Great Cheese(mahan cheez) can ever do anything that even comes half-way close- even if their lives depended upon it?

M.F.Husain?
Jatin Das?
S.H.Raza?
Ganaeh Haloi?
Arpana Caur?

Anybody?
Anybody at all?(except Sanjay Bhattacharya)

If not, then why are these talentless hacks considered grrrrrreat artists?

Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?

Compare and contrast-

a nude by one of the Great Cheese-

Untitled 01
charcoal drawing on paper

16.5" x 12"
2006

Akbar Padamsee

What amateurish stuff pretending to be 'deep'.

I would like to say -shame, shame!

But it's no use.
The art-elites float in a hubristic ether where human emotions like contrition, honor and shame do not register even as a blip.

But hey, I will do the right thing and say it anyway. Nay, I will shout it out loud-

SHAME, SHAME!

Traffic Light Pigeons- a recent work

2009-11-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

If you have followed my work, you might have noticed that the pigeons are a favorite subject of mine. Here is a recent painting -

Traffic light pigeons

Watercolor and gouache

24 X 34 cm

More on this at -My art and art techniques-the art of gurmeet .

Update-
Oops! Should have posted this detail from the painting -

Political art du jour-Iranian protest poster

2009-11-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

An Iranian opposition protest poster-

chullu bhar pani for M.F.Husain

2009-11-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Feeling kind of down today....so I will just post a Sanjay Bhattacharya painting and stare at it for a while-

(click for a larger image)

Twilight, Kesroli

Oil on canvas

175 X 137 cm

Sanjay Bhattacharya's other marvelous Kesroli work -Morning, Kesroli here.

The great-grandaddy of Indian painting, M.F.Husain should take one good look at one of Bhattacharya's fine paintings and then go find some clean, filtered chullu bhar pani to jump into*.

Compare and contrast-

Lady with Horse

M F Husain
14 x 18 inches

Acrylic on Board

This, the arty-sharty types will assert, is a great work of art. Don't be intimidated by their art-speak mumbo-jumbo.Are you going to believe these charlatans or your lying eyes?

*The colorful Indian language translator-

chullu bhar pani - refers to the colorful Indian expression -'ja, chullu bhar pani mein doob mar' which "which essentially says that the concerned person who has incidentally done something shameful should go drown himself in a handful of water"

Dr.Doom does art

2009-10-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

Dr.Pachauri takes time out from his relentless efforts to turn civilization on it's head and opens an art exhibition-

Image from print editon of the Hindustan Times,Delhi, 31/10/2009

Art du jour -astronauts by Scott Listfield

2009-10-31T05:34:00.000-07:00

Some very interesting - and arresting! -paintings by Scott Listfield who paints "astronauts and, sometimes, dinosaurs"-

Under the Flight Path

Oil On Canvas

His oils have an "acrylicky" look, no? Here's another-

Men's Room

Oil On Canvas

Doo-da in the mail

2009-10-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of gibberish that arrives in the mail. Not all of it is spam or financial investment proposals from Nigeria -some it is a self-consciously pretentious artspeak laden pitch lobbed by an art gallery trying to peddle it's rotten wares. E.g. this arrived a few days ago-

This series (of art works) is an internalized perception of a world that is complex, but on paper becomes the embodiment of transcedentally lucid concentration. While colour is the core around which Manish's work revolves, it is also the environment within which the artist explores texture. His works are born out of propositions of apply and excavate, add and subtract and are aimed at the ultimate search - the creative state that seeks integration with the sublime.

Wearily I clicked on the link(just don't ask why) and I found this -

some kind of an art work by

Manish Pushkale

and other similar splotches, botches and doo-da.

You may see more of this gentleman's works here.

I failed to see the internalized perception of a complex world, or of anything and I totally missed what must have been really bloody marvelous transcendental lucidity of ..... whatever.

But then that's just me. Here's hoping that -as the artist applies and excavates,adds and subtracts(or is that a math student working part-time on a construction site?)- he will soon integrate himself with the sublime.

Hopefully then he won't need to waste so much precious paper.

The art of Art Scholz

2009-10-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

Some sparkling watercolors by Art Scholz-

Porch

Old Reliable

Three's Company

These three stood out on his page at the Fine Art America.

Here is my own page at that site.

Compare and contrast-

something very silly by Bharati Kher-

Terrain

2006

bindis on painted board diptych

183 x 198 cms

Crow and the water pipe

2009-09-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

A dainty but bold watercolor – by (ta-da!)me.

Click for a larger image

Crow and the water pipe

watercolor on specially prepared paper

21 X 27.3 cms

This was done when I was in an wild, experimental mood. I had to do something different, I had to experiment, to do something, anything that would challenge the bourgeois complacency, question the violence that lurks beneath our consumerist civilization, to…to…

Ok, I was kidding about the bourgeois/consumerist bit -I am not interested in playing that game.That is too easy –one can do anything idiotic and and get somebody to mouth the usual meaningless artspeak, say-

“The phenomena created by him reveal the omnipresent but invisible, strong yet unnoticed, essential yet overlooked. An encounter with his works discloses not just the world surrounding us but also the self within. Often casting himself as the subject and creator, (artist name) allows the viewer to transgress the boundaries between elements, as they connect and converge into one another, questioning the very nature of reality. ” *

Ok, whatever.

Anyway, here are some details:

Deatil 1-

Detail 2-

For more on technique of this painting see the expanded post at My art and art techniques.

* The artspeak is from the promo literature of an exhibition of works by A.Balasubramaniam called (IN)BETWEEN at the Talwar Gallery. Unfortunately there is no direct link to the text – an irritating result of overreliance on javascript popups.

Old City – a study

2009-09-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

A very quick pen and wash I did-

Detail 1-

Detail 2-

(Cross-posted at My art and art techniques )

Turn Right -Pretentious Tedium Ahead

2009-09-16T16:03:00.001-07:00

Peter Whittle reviews Beautiful Losers, an art documentary-

This American documentary about a group of so-called ‘do-it-yourself’ New York artists (is there any other kind?) would be endurable if it had been a spoof, a sort of Spinal Tap for the contemporary art scene. But no, it’s in deadly, stony-faced earnest. Director Aaron Rose has crafted a paen to the mediocre and the talent-less who are all, like, creative, and all, like, make stuff, and who’ve all gone on to, like, world acclaim. Amongst those sharing their banal, brain-deadening thoughts with us about the inspirational qualities in skateboarding, graffiti and hip hop are Jo Jackson, Ed Templeton and Thomas Campbell, As you watch the movie wholeheartedly and uncritically celebrate the group’s ‘non-conformist’ ethos (shouldn’t someone gently break it to them?), you can almost feel the energy being sucked out of you.

Haven't seen nor intend to. The directors own description of the film is enough to put one off-

Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth.

That’s a big “Pretentious Tedium Ahead” billboard.

A view of the Connaught Place by Kashinath Das

2009-09-14T15:37:00.001-07:00

Click for a larger image

A watercolor

Kashinath Das

Old Arabic town

2009-09-14T15:17:00.001-07:00

Some preliminary sketches I did for illustrations for a picture book – the ambience is old/ancient Arabic towns-

Click for a larger image

(Cross-posted at My art and art techniques )

Libertarian political art

2009-08-10T10:20:00.001-07:00

Obamacare-

An unsung pièce de résistance

2009-08-09T17:48:00.001-07:00

An Osama Bin Laden urinal -

Giving the bugger his due.

But shouldn’t it be hailed by arty-sharties as a masterpiece?A great work of art?

Didn’t they select Marcel Duchamp's urinal as the work of art of the 20th century?

Marcel Duchamp's urinal

So, why hasn’t the Osama urinal not been declared the new Mona Lisa, the Duchamp of the 21st century, the David of the war on terror?

Why isn’t every urinal a masterpiece? Why the discrimination, the injustice,the……racism?

Why? Why? Why?

Questions, questions……………

It is because of such criminal neglect by art-authorities that hillbillies like Brad Pitt are encouraged to desecrate such sublime art-

Art du Jour

2009-08-05T15:51:00.001-07:00

Woman on the landing

oil on canvas

120 X 40 cm

Craig Wylie

Looking at the wall

2009-08-05T15:32:00.001-07:00

That looks ravishing-

The painting on the wall, I mean.

I wonder who made it. Anybody in know do let me know.

My art -Landscape in mist

2009-08-04T10:46:00.001-07:00

Landscape in mist

pen and wash on handmade paper

Details -

Obama Joker poster artist found?

2009-08-03T16:09:00.001-07:00

The image that has created a sensation on the web was, it seems, created by a Muslim student, Firas Khateeb, studying in Chicago.

Here’s his profile -

About khateeb88 / Firas Khateeb

← Photostream

I'm a 20 year old college student in Chicago studying engineering. My Kodak C743 can't do much but I still try (usually fruitlessly) to take decent pictures. For all the nice, clean, crisp pictures in my photostream, there are 5 blurry, out of focus, garbage ones that my C743 messed up lol. I really just enjoy playing around with Photoshop more than the actual picture taking.

About the TIME cover photoshop he says-

Obama the Joker

Not necessary indicative of my political views. But I do think hes not all he said he is. You can already sense he's backing off his claims of change.

The image is dated Jan 18,2009.

So far it does not appear that he is responsible for printing and putting up posters. I wonder if he knew that someone would use his image and create such a stir.

Crossposted at Liberty News Central.

Update – This is curious:

User khateeb88 / Firas Khateeb of Flickr is using the same mugshot as the user Yusuf Basrawi is using on his facebook page. Are they one and the same?

Basrawi's Causes -

Close Guantanamo Bay Now!
STOP caLLing MUSLIMS TERRORISTS !
Stop Global Warming
WE NEED KHILAFA

I believe Obama is sympathetic to most of these causes!

Update 2 -

received a mail a few weeks ago purpotedly from Mr. Barsawi. I asked his permission to post it here but received no reply then or since. However, just in case it is from the real Mr.Barsawi, I take the liberty of posting it here for the sake of putting things on record and because I do not wish to leave false impressions about anyone. Here goes-

“Youssef Basrawi

To: what.the.heck.is.art@gmail.com

To whom it may concern (editor/blogger @ "What the heck is art"),
My name is Yusuf Basrawi and I found that I was blogged about on your website (in the story of the Obama-Joker picture). I want to clear up the confusion before it gets me in any trouble, and I hope you are willing to hear me out.
Firas AlKhateeb is a friend of mine from school. If you want to find him on facebook, all you have to do is search him. You will also see I am friends with him. The picture I have on my profile is based off a joke of all of us friends boycotting him since this whole Obama-picture news came out. We, like everyone else did not know he created the picture before this; he himself didn't find out it was circulating until earlier this week.
If you would like to be added to my FB to see the history of all this---us friends making fun of him, and me putting the picture up on boycotting him, i'd be willing to show you. However, I would have to do that with a little bit of skepticism seeing that, not knowing who I was, you have taken bits and pieces of my profile and blogged about it already. Such as my causes/groups that I have joined (just like everyone else on FB who joins every other cause a friend sends them). I hope that isn't a way of spicing up a story that doesn't hold any ground.
So if you can, please take this post down, or at least, get rid of the 2nd part, which is the part referring to me. I would not mind if I had something to do with the Obama-joker picture, however, I don't, and I would hate for this to get me into unnecessary trouble. I'm sure you know what I mean as you blog on the public net, and probably face many challenges that relate to this.
Thank you so much for reading this far into the email, lol..and again, if you have any questions, you can ask me..I just want to be disassociated with this story. If you have any questions regarding the picture, you can try to reach Firas.
-Youssef Basrawi

(email address withheld)”

Mozart of painting?

2009-08-03T14:16:00.001-07:00

A street scene from the paintbrush of a child usually involves triangle-topped boxes for houses. And often an unnaturally large dog.

But Kieron Williamson's attempts are so beautifully rendered that artists ten times his age will be filled with envy.

Experts have said that the six-year-old's atmospheric paintings, which began with harbour scenes and expanded to include rural vistas, animal portraits and landmarks, have perspective, shadow and reflections that demonstrate an ability well beyond his years.

I agree. For a six year old –amazing!

Heck, if only M.F.Husain could paint even half as well …

Let’s see- this kid is way, way better than M.F.Husain , Manjit Bawa, Jitesh Kallat, FN Souza, Tyeb Mehta, Anjolie Ela Menon, Rameshwar Broota, S.H. Raza, Jatin Das, Satish Gujral, Ganesh Haloi, Atul Dodiya, Bhupen Khakhar, Chintan Upadhyay, Bose Krishnamachari, Bharti Kher, Shobha Broota, Manu Parekh……..oh! this is getting endless.

Suddenly one realizes what a wasteland Indian art scene is.

Foreign artists in India -Lucy Willis

2009-08-03T13:49:00.001-07:00

Jaiselmer, India

41 X 59 cms

Lucy Willis