Photo By Gail
The Astronaut Barbie released by Mattel in 1985 was part of the brand’s long-running effort to inspire young girls to dream big. This particular doll was notable for her futuristic Pink Metallic Space Suit, complete with silver accents, a bubble-style helmet, and Pink Boots.
Continue reading Pink Thing of The Day: Astronaut Barbie In Pink Metallic Spacesuit Circa 1985
Photo By Gail
In 1985, John Baldassari began using dots to obscure faces, which became one of his most recognizable devices. By removing the distinguishable features, Baldassari turns the figure into an archetype. In Buildings, Guns, People: Desire, Knowledge, and Hope (with Smog) includes dot-covered faces in generic photographs from political and social functions, turned on their sides.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: John Baldessari, Buildings=Guns=People…
Photo By Gail
In 1980, Jane Dickson (b. 1952)and her husband, artist Charlie Ahearn (b. 1951), moved into a loft near New York’s then seedy, but glittering Times Square where, two years earlier, she’d found work programming the first Spectacolor billboard. Attracted to the neighborhood’s brilliant nighttime signage, she began working with oil stick against deep-black backgrounds to evoke the gleam of the nocturnal scenes she witnessed. Traveling to Florida in the mid-1980s, Dickson happened one night upon a carnival filled with amusement rides. She eventually created Big Oval (1985) from pictures and sketches, painting the roller coaster’s arc of blazing lights stretching up into the night.
Photographed in The Museum of Modern Art in New York City
Photo By Gail
For this installation, entitled Super Mario Clouds (2002), Cory Arcangel hacked into and modified a cartridge of a Super Mario Bros, the blockbuster Nintendo videogame released in the United States in 1985. By tweaking the game’s code, the artist erased all of the audio and visual elements except for the iconic, fluffy white clouds that scroll endlessly across the bright blue sky.
Continue reading Super Mario Clouds By Cory Arcangel
Image Courtesy of Dennis Dunaway (Circa 1985, Click Photo to Enlarge)
How happy does Nikki Sixx look in the picture above, where he is book-ended by Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper) and Kub Coda (Brownsville Station) on the left and Neal Smith (Alice Cooper) and Joe Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult) on the right? Nikki’s arms appear to be virtually un-inked and I’ve never seen Neal and Dennis with shorter hair, so you can tell this photo is from another era entirely. Still, it’s a fun blast from the past. Motley Crue Bassist and Renaissance Man Nikki Sixx was born on this day, December 11th, in 1958. Happy Birthday, Nikki!