This week at HuffPost Arts we remixed some classics, imagined a world without logos and saw a garden overtaken by the pink-painted lead singer of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. Needless to say, it was a good week.
Claude Monet passed by the idyllic village of Giverny, France, on a train ride one day, and quickly decided to set up shop. The Impressionist artist lived there from 1883 until his death in 1926, painting dreamy renditions of the ponds, bridges and epic waterlilies on site. In a curious twist to Giverny's history, photographer E.V. day invited performance artist Kembra Pfahler to join her in reproducing the gardens immortalized in Monet's paintings. This monumental project is now on view at The Hole Gallery in New York, which is transformed into an emerald garden, filled with wildlife both real and fake. Whether you find it beautiful or ugly, challenging or frightening, you will certainly not be bored. Because we were curious about the making of the project, we asked Day and Pfahler about their work.
Andrew Miller is going where no man has gone before: imagining a world without brands. For 100 days Miller is painting various objects white, which will, in his words "reduc[e] the object to its purest form." From Tabasco sauce to dollar bills, these everyday objects are erased of all meaning before our eyes.
Sometimes even the craziest new technologies don't measure up to the power and intrigue of Mother Nature's original materials. Julie Bender revives the ancient craft of woodburning to create mesmerizing portraits of wild animals. Bender describes the phenomenon on her website: "As I ‘paint with heat,’ I feel a certain parallel between the wild and natural spirits that embody my subjects and the organic and distinctively unforgiving nature of my medium."
Israeli photographer Tamir Sher decided to use his old record player to remix the classics. Except instead of taking an old Zeppelin LP for a spin, he took a Van Eyck painting. Sher spun reproductions of classic paintings at different speeds and then took photographs of the masterpieces in motion. Depending on the speeds, recognizable classics range from slightly blurry to hallucinatory.
Timotheus Tomicek is a young photographer from Vienna whose striking images explore the tension between motion and stillness. In the words of Jenkins Johnson Gallery: "At first glance his works seem inactive, vaguely familiar, or referential; however, as the viewer becomes engaged, the complexity of the works exposes delicate movements and moments of uncertainty."
What art stood out to you this week? Let us know in the comments section. Happy weekending, everyone!