Back home (?)

I am back in Germany to celebrate Christmas with my family and New Years with my friends. It feels nice to see all those familiar faces but I still get the feeling of being torn between two completely separate lifes...
The weather is also not that great so I can't go running as much as I want and probably should if I want to run that half marathon next year. Oh well, here's hoping there'll be some beautiful sunny winter days in my near future.

Supernatural Supermarket

A great project by german artist Uli Westphal that critizises food marketing and the illusion of perfection communicated to the consumer:

“The industrialization of agriculture has led to a general detachment of society from the processes of food production.
The supermarket is for many the only remaining intersection with the world of agriculture.
The supernatural-series is giving oversight on how the agricultural system is portrayed within the supermarket: Three dioramas that are made entirely from nature depictions found on food packaging of the largest German supermarket chains Netto, Lidl and Aldi.
By utilizing the same methods as in standard packaging design, the individual landscape elements, animals and plants are isolated, multiplied, mirrored and rearranged into endless, ever repeating, utopian sceneries. The resulting imagery stands in harsh contrast to the actual makeup and workings of our industrialized food system.”

Check out more of his work on his official website: http://uliwestphal.de/overview.html

Simon Birch

No, not the movie (although I kinda like that too). Simon Birch is a British artist who's style of painting must be one of the most energetic I have ever seen. He states himself that he is influenced by abstarct expressionists like Rothko and Richter and the resulting portraits seem to be bursting with life.
Birch works primarily in Hongkong these days where is is currently exhibiting at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Science with his show "Laughing with a Mouth Full of Blood".

He showed some pieces at a group exhibition in New York last year and I hope he'll return to the city soon.
In the meantime, check out his website for more info on upcoming shows: http://www.thebirchfoundation.com/

Monsieur Qui

 I have been a little  MIA as of late, my apologies. Life has been super busy and I had a million things to do leading up to my return to NYC. Now the bags are packed and I have some time to show you one of my favorite fashion illustrators.
The New York Fashion Week is officially over so I might be a little late with the topic but here goes:

French illustrator Monsieur Qui (or Mr. Qui) creates stunning works using watercolor, typography and overlapping drawings of women, flowers and everyday objects. He works primarily on paper but is also a street artist, plastering the walls of Paris with his beautiful pieces.

I just love his style! Beautiful, yet edgy and his discreet use of colors make for awesome effects. 

Just imagine walking by this:

And people call this vandalism? 

Sometimes I find he drifts off into the kitschy but especially in street art that is often a rather good thing and a great attention grabber.

Check out his official website to see more of his illustrations and lots of pictures documenting his work as a street artist:  

http://www.monsieurqui.com/

The Stitch is Lost Until the Thread is Knotted

I love the work of Aya Haidar. Her art is both playful in its use of intricate embroidery but carries meaningful messages of loss, migration and cultural differences.

Her solo exhibit at Bischoff/ Weiss in London opens on September 7th and runs until October 6th 2011.

"My focus on developing inter-cultural dialogues is a vital step in the support of offering alternative ways to see the world, and initiate debate and dialogue about the globalised world we live in. I see my work contributing to dialogues around global cultures, media and questions of identity, both national and personal. I explore whether the durational aspect of craft, more so than other artforms, expresses concepts of time, through the way in which the hand of the artist is inherent within the medium. Alongside this a consideration of whether the voice is inherent within craft and its histories, alluding to feminist narratives by bringing the domestic into a more discursive platform."

The Art of Clean Up - Ursus Wehrli

In case that didn't come through yet, I am German. And I was told that, among other things like beer and sausages (eww), Germans like meticulous order, efficiency and neatness.
While I am not so sure about me fitting into this profile ( especially looking at my desk) I DO like the new book by Swiss artist Ursus Wehrli who rearranges everyday objects and scenes into an eye pleasing order of size, color and shape. Sure, this all seems like Wehrli has a serious problem with OCD but the book entitled "The Art of Clean Up" is simply a pleasure to flip through.

Ursus Wehrli
DIE KUNST, AUFZURÄUMEN
gebunden, 48 Seiten
Format 27,0 x 21,0 cm

ISBN: 978-3-0369-5297-0 

16.90 €, 28.00 CHF

A dream come true - Myeongbeom Kim

I just arrived in Seoul for the weekend. I love it here in Korea, so full of bustling life and I enjoy the feeling of being totally lost in a city where I can not even read the street signs.
To celebrate this beautiful city I want to featue the artist Myeongbeom Kim. He studied Environmental Sculpture at the University of Seoul and later at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
His sculptures and installations are like dreams brought into reality.  Like visions from deep within, beautiful and surreal.
Check out more of his work on his official website.

Organized Chaos by Cherri Wood

Only 20 years old but already a great illustrator with her own style : Cherri Wood from Minnesota, USA.
She combines watercolor, acrylic and graphite in a style of organized chaos into these stunning illustrations that are mesmerizing and beautiful.

Generative Sketching by Sergio Albiacs

Yesterday I stumbled upon a painting series by Sergio Albiac and was immediatly wondering: "What kind of medium is this?

"This portrait painting series explores symbolically the contradictions, conflicting desires, mindset revisions and the permanent crisis of a technological world."

Turns out, these paintings are done using a method called "generative sketching".  They are computer generated images that Albiacs then transforms by using traditional painting methods. To learn more about this process visit Sergio Albiacs website.

Dreams of Steel: Tomohiro Inaba

Speechless at how beautiful these are: Steel sculptures that seem to dissolve into space by Japanesse artist Tomohiro Inaba: