Artist To Check Out - Banksy Flower Girl Up For Auction

If you are not familiar with Banksy, I suggest you Google him.  The graffiti artist known only as "Banksy" is a pioneer in the guerrilla art movement and with the new genre of art comes a new market for art.  Building owners are excavating the graffiti paintings from exterior building walls and auctioning the paintings for huge profits.  Banksy has allegedly encouraged buyers not to buy his works of public graffiti proclaiming the works are meant for the public.  What do you think?  If a person claims the right to paint on someone else's building, do they then have the right to deny someone else from selling their painting?  Watch an L.A. gas station owner do just that as they salvage a Banksy painting, 'Flower Girl', for auction at Julien's. 

Artist Of Optical Illusion

Stand just a foot or degree off and you will miss it.  Swiss artist Felice Varini has been creating optical illusions for over thirty years.  Through the process of anamorphosis a puzzle of lines and shapes come to together in geometric perfection creating what seems to look like a super imposed design.  On further inspection, the truth is revealed.  I cannot imagine what is involved in creating one of these installations (a lot of math).  Absolutely mind blowing work Felice.  Keep scrambling our brains.

Via Inthralld

The Heidelberg Project: Rebuiding A Community Through Art

Twenty five years ago, a young man armed with a paintbrush and a broom set out to change his community. Little did he or his supporters know that his actions would set Detroit on the path of an artistic explosion! Today Tyree Guyton, the founder and artist of the Heidelberg Project, is recognized around the world. His artscape and the community work inspire thousands of people who visit, volunteer and participate in our programs. The Heidelberg Project is a demonstration of the power of art as a catalyst for change.

Artists To Check Out : Viral Internet Art Of BENJAMEME

Check out Benjameme and his meme art of hilarious viral internet characters. What is a meme?

A meme (/ˈmiːm/; meem)[1] is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. via Wikipedia

When the term is used pertaining to the internet, it is referring to a photo, video, or practice that has gone viral and has become a meme.  See if you recognize any of Benjameme's viral characters.

From the top : Antoine Dodson, Grumpy Cat, Ermahgerd, IKEA Monkey, Jessica's Daily Affirmation, Trouble Goat, and Prancercise via BENJAMEME

Artists To Check Out: Dillon Marsh - Invasive Species

Photographer Dillon Marsh Invasive Species image series follows the South African movement of disquising cell phone towers as living trees.  In 1996, apparently over night, a palm tree appeared in Cape Town.  Marsh has followed the the tower trees ever since.  Check him out.

via Dillon Marsh

American Chronicles The ART Of Norman Rockwell

I am looking forward to seeing the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Crystal Bridges Museum Of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. 

"One of the most popular American artists of the past century, Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was a keen observer of human nature and a gifted storyteller. This traveling exhibition features 50 original paintings and 323 Saturday Evening Post covers that document Rockwell's engagement in American life in all its glory and tragedy over five decades. The exhibition also includes materials from the Museum's archives demonstrating how Rockwell worked: proceeding from preliminary sketches, photographs, color studies, and detailed drawings to the finished painting. Timed, reserved tickets will be required to view this exhibition." via Crystal Bridges 

Admission sponsored for youth ages18 and younger. General Admission $12 per person. March 9 - May 27, 2013  Travel Directions v

Hot Guys In Art

A Young Man with a Knight’s Helmet” by Saida Afonina; “Study of a Young Man” by John Singer Sargent

 

Portrait of Count Wilhelm von Nassau-Dillenburg; Self-portrait of Karl Begas the Elder

Detail from “An Afternoon on the Porch” by Corcos; Tsar Nicholas II by Earnest Lipgart

Emile Friant, self-portrait; Alfred, Son of Asher Wertheimer, by John Singer Sargent.

Olimpio by John Singer Sergant; “Portrait of a Young Man” by Ann-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson

via woworwonder

Unbelieveable Drawings: Not Photographs

If you were to see these images without any information to the contrary you would believe you were seeing photographs.  Yet, these are the amazing hyper realistic drawings of artist Dirk Dzimirsky.  The artist layers his drawings focusing on every detail to achieve unbelievable realistic results.  Dzimirsky says you can't see a non-photoshopped image in magazines these days, so Dirk draws exactly what he sees as he sees it.  Drawing every imperfection, with beautiful results, check out his drawings.

via My Modern Metropolis