Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Anthony Lister the 33 year old Australian painter and Installation artist, notable within the Lowbrow art movement, whose work is influences from a number of areas and genres, including street art, expressionism, pop art, and contemporary youth culture, has been featured by Nicholas Forrest in an Blouin Artinfo article titled ‘Aussie Street Art Star Anthony Lister’s Grimacing Graffiti Faces Go Global’. Forrest states “…Lister has been taking the urban art world by storm over the past few years with his painterly interpretations of grunge imagery. In well-reviewed exhibitions both at home and abroad, and frequent appearances in leading street-art publications, in 2011 he was also named one of the 50 most collectable artists by Australian Art Collector magazine… So what’s made him so successful transitioning his work from outdoors to indoors? One reason might be the confluence of subversive street aesthetic with high-art draughtsmanship in his work, making his images seem equally relevant and accessible in an up-market gallery as they do on the gritty walls of alleys. Lister is also proficient across a wide variety of mediums, as at home working with pens, stickers and aerosol as he is au-fait with different surfaces. And the subjects of his mainly figurative compositions are just as varied as his materials: sci-fi superheroes, clown-like characters, and licentious ladies appear as often as images of quite ordinary looking people. But the shared characteristics of his work, a signature blend of irony and decadence, are what make them stand out from the crowd; fed from his single-minded work approach. “The first rule of painting is to take everyone else out of the equation. I am the viewer, so I don’t underestimate my viewers,” he explains. “I can’t paint for anyone else.” Later, “it’s all about having the courage to say this is finished… It’s like being a soldier because I have to be hard as fuck to fall in love with these things and let them go.”

Inspired by Nicholas Forrest, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/hnLUY Image source Steve Gray ow.ly/hnMfX

Daniel Connell the Australian visual artist who draws heavily on India for inspiration has had a large charcoal mural defaced at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale – India’s first biennale based out of Kerala. The mural was attacked by unknown vandals rubbing it with a burnt coconut husk and water. Nicholas Forrest in a Boulin Artinfo article states “Titled LOOKHERE, Connell’s project consists of two 6.5 by 6.5-foot portraits as well as a series of paste-ups with images of local residents. The damaged work is a portrait of a man named Achu, who is a local tea vendor.   “It seems that it was premeditated to a certain extent in that a tool was sourced rather than just using the hand,” Connell says. “The charcoal was simply smudged and wiped. If they had been really angry they could easily have removed the whitewash with little effort.” The reasons for the defacement are unclear, although Connell has run through multiple possibilities. His first suspicion was that it was a faith-based act – Achu, the vendor, is Muslim, and the biennale is also being held near the site of India’s first mosque – but locals were quick to dismiss this. Instead, Connell now suspects that it might be the work of local artistic intelligentia, angered at having been excluded from the event. Also possible culprits are extreme leftist groups active in the area, who, opposed to Western influence, have launched poster campaigns accusing the Biennale of corruption and elitism. The defacement might also be an act of jealousy from local business rivals of Achu’s tea shop, envious of his success.”

Inspired by Nicholas Forrest ow.ly/gwAIm image source Blogspot ow.ly/gwAE8

Andy Goldsworthy the 56 year old British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings has been commissioned by an Australian State government to create a sculpture that is designed to disappear into the environment over time, located in the remote Australian wilderness. Nicholas Forrest in a Blouin Artinfo article states “After a one hour hike along a track accessible only with a four wheel drive vehicle, hikers, tourists and art lovers will be confronted by a striking 12-feet-tall granite sculpture described as a “not-to-be-missed attraction” …Constructed in picturesque Conondale National Park, Goldsworthy’s sculpture, titled “Strangler Cairn,” consists of hundreds of blocks of hand-cut granite sourced from a local quarry and tightly packed into a “dry wall” system. Carved into stone at the top of the sculpture is a small dish in which a rainforest strangler fig sapling has been planted. It is the artist’s intention that over time the fig’s roots will grow to eventually cover and “strangle” the sculpture, essentially causing it to dissolve into its environment. According to the Queensland Government department that commissioned the project, “During his initial visit in 2009, Andy Goldsworthy found inspiration in a natural clearing in the rainforest of Conondale National Park where a large strangler fig had fallen.” …Noted for his sensitive response to the environment, which made him a perfect choice for working in the national park, Goldsworthy is renowned for his temporary works of art that make use of natural materials readily available in the remote locations he visits such as twigs, leaves, stones, snow, ice, reeds, and thorns.”

Inspired by Nicholas Forrest ow.ly/dP8Uj image source Twitter ow.ly/dP9za

Process is very difficult and he was a trooper (May 27th 2012)

Emma Hack the Australian visual artist who combines canvas and body painting with studio based photography, renowned for her recent work with Australian musician Gotye on the video “Somebody I Used to Know” which also features New Zealand singer Kimbra, has been interviewed by Nicholas Forrest for Artinfo. In the interview Hack states “Natasha Pincus, the director/producer, wanted to create a blend of the bodies into a background to make them appear as if they are in a relationship whilst blended. Then Kimbra leaves the relationship as the paint disappears from her back. …The process is very difficult and he was a trooper — never complained even though in pain. In all, it took 23 hours to create the work on them both. He loves and understands the process, which makes it easy to work with him.  …It differs greatly from the art I create, which is what I want to do, creating in a calm environment with my regular models. The Gotye project is similar to a commercial gig, where I’m working for the good of the client and their needs — but it is a lot more demanding emotionally on me.

Inspired by Artinfo ow.ly/aYig3 image source adelaidenow ow.ly/aYi6u