Photo By Gail
Canoe Lake (1997–98) is based on a still photograph that artist Peter Doig took from the 1980 horror film Friday the 13th, and he has made several paintings referencing this film. Always using photographic images as a compositional starting point, Doig’s paintings often have a strong sense of atmosphere or hidden presence. There is a tension between the potential for sublime beauty and the horror of death, decay and obliteration.
Photographed in the Tate Modern in London
All Photos By Gail
Babel (2000), a tower of radios playing at once, addresses ideas of information overload and failed communication. Artist Cildo Meireles refers to Babel as “a tower of comprehension.” Comprising hundreds of radios, each tuned to a different station, the sculpture relates to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, a tower tall enough to reach the heavens.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Cildo Meireles, Tower of Babel
Photo By Gail
American artist Laura Owens’ Untitled (2012) is part of her Pavement Karaoke series. In her process, Owens wrote giant letters from these words across seven canvases, then filled them in with silkscreen prints, derived from classified advertisements.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Laura Owens, Untitled (From the Pavement Karaoke Series)
Photo By Gail
Swiss artist Miriam Cahn’s enigmatic painting The Beautiful Blue (Das Schone Blau, 2008 – 17) depicts two figures sinking underwater. The figures are painted loosely, blending with the tones of the water and evoking the vulnerability of the body.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Miriam Cahn, The Beautiful Blue
Photo By Gail
The abstract paintings of artist Albert Gleizes (1881 – 1953) often keep strong links with subject matter that inspired them. In Tableau  (1921) the image may be based on a female head, possibly that of his wife. Gleizes was a pacifist, but was conscripted into the French army in the First World War. Deeply affected by this experience, he became gravely concerned with the future of society. He thought that artists could help create a better world, not just by making beautiful things, but by offering new ways of seeing.
Photographed in the Tape Modern Museum in London.