All Photos By Gail
Monsters are usually pictured as scary creatures that represent the unknown. They stoke our deepest fears. Lee Bul’s version, Monster: Black (1998 – 2011) , harnesses sequence, crystals, dried flowers, and glass beads to create a defiant figure of social liberation.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Lee Bul, Monster: Black
Photo By Gail
In 1938, Egyptian-born Surrealist Laurent Marcel Salinas (1913 – 2010) signed the group manifesto Art et Liberté that denounced attempts to bind art to the political demands of the state. The signatories declared art a means to liberate society and the individual from the “artificial restrictions” of nationality, religion, and ethnicity. In Naissance (1944) Salinas’s choice of a disembodied and tentacled eye takes up a subject – the naked eyeball – frequently depicted by Surrealists in other locations as a surrogate for male castration anxieties. By the early 1950s, the Cairo group had begun to disband; following the coup in 1952 led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, Salinas fled to Paris.
Photographed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Photos By Gail
Wonderful and mysterious creatures of the sea have been commemorated in all kinds of imaginative jewelry designs. Many were made as fond memories of beach holidays or an emblem of appreciation for ocean wildlife.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Portuguese Man O’ War Brooch
Hentai-Inspired Art on Box Truck, Bushwick, Brooklyn (Art By MAST, All Photos By Gail)
Having lived in NYC for 30 years, it’s easy to be all jaded and imagine that I’ve seen just about everything. But writing this blog always affords me an opportunity to discover something interesting and fun. Getting to know the works of Japanese artists like Takashi Murakami and Mr. introduced me to Manga, a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels, but I wasn’t really hip to something called Hentai, which is, essentially, Manga porn, until I was invited to a pretty fun party sponsored by Nutaku Dot Net. Nutaku is the world’s largest English gaming platform dedicated to 18+ titles — and Hentai games are their thing. I like to tell myself: It’s not about what you don’t know; it’s about what you don’t know that you don’t know. And I’m always ‘game’ for an enlightening experience!
Continue reading Nutaku Adult Gaming Platform Hosts Hentai Is Art Press Event!
All Photos By Gail
The Octopus Finger (in Pink) was spotted by me at Flying Tiger, a fantastic design and gift store on the Upper East Side! I am only sorry that I did not take a photo with these Pink Tentacles on the tips of my fingers! Continue reading Pink Thing of the Day: Pink Octopus Finger