Modern Art is Rubbish

Naughty Petr

Want to learn more about Petr you can check out our artists in danger podcast here.

Easter Island Accident?

J Seward Johnson

The post Naughty video & Toppled Heritage MAIR53 appeared first on .

We profile the fun, controversial, trailblazing and Influential Italian Artist!

Brief Biog

Piero Manzoni was born in 1933 into an aristocratic family. His full name was Count Meroni Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo. He is an artist that inspired many famous artists such as Gavin Turk, Marina Abramovich and Damien Hirst. He was a pioneering and fun humorous artist. He died in 1963 aged just 29.

Acromes

His earliest important works were called Acromes. They were works about the material, and surface of the work, they were objects in themselves. They had little to do with the artist creating a narrative through the work.. One technique he created was dipping canvas into a liquid white china clay, it was then left to dry to create a wrinkled surface. This would mean that he had very little influence over the final outcome. He created over works using materials such as cotton, felt, fibreglass and polystyrene.

Art and Balloons

Corpo D’aria 1959 – 1960

From 1959 – 1960 Manzoni produced a series of works called Corpo d’aria (“Body of Air”). They consisted of a mouthpiece, a tripod, a box and a deflated balloon 45 copies were made and sold at 30,000 lire each. If the purchaser wanted to get Manzoni to inflate the balloon for them they were charged by him an extra 200 lire per litre of air.

Fiato d’artista 1960 (Artist’s breath)

Also Manzoni produced several works called the artist’s breath in which a balloon was filled with his breath. Attached to the balloon was a piece of string and 2 lead seals. The works were very ephemeral. “When I blow up a balloon, I am breathing my soul into an object that becomes eternal,” Manzoni said in 1960.

Film Star?

Manzoni was very good at self promoting and made humorous films to be shown before the main movie in cinemas. One showed him, producing a balloon portrait of a live model. Simply by blowing up a balloon.

Line works 1959

Manzoni printed a line on a long sheet of paper, this was then coiled up and placed inside a sealed container. A label on the outside guaranteed the date, the length and author of the work. There were many of these produced with different line lengths. They were sold under the condition they would never be opened. What was different about this work was that the artwork was no longer about the object, but instead about the idea and concept.

“Linea lunga 7.200 metri” Line 7200 Meters Long 1960

He also produced the longest line in the world as an art piece, it was on paper and was 7,200 meteres long. It was enclosed in a lead cylindrical container. He intended for a number of these to be placed in cities around the world, the total length of these works would stretch around the circumference of the Earth. Manzoni did state once that he had created a line of infinite length, but that it’s container must be kept closed, as soon as it was opened the line would disappear.

Merde d’artiste 1961 (Artist’s Sh**)

Wanting to create a work that was personal to the artist. Manzoni produced approximately 90 cans that stated on the label they contained his own excrement. The label “in Italian” read. Artist’s Sh**/ Contents 30gr net/ Freshly preserved/ Produced and tinned/ May 1961. In 1962 he sold one of his cans in exchange for 30 grams of 18 carat gold. To give his poo an equivalent value. Continuing in a tradition started by Duchamp, being like an Alchemist changing the valueless into something valuable

People and the world as art

To transform people into art Manzoni signed models and declared them to be art, and issued them with a certificate of authenticity.

Socle du monde (Base of the World), 1961

This work was an upside down plinth which made the whole world a piece of art.

Extras

7 Artist’s talk about Piero Manzoni

To learn more about Manzoni we recommend you check out the Manzoni Archive

The post Piero Manzoni MAIR52 appeared first on .

In today’s podcast, we talk about the great artist Rembrandt. He was a modernist painter before his time skilled in landscape, portraits, history painter, a great draughtsman and printmaker. A teacher whose pupils became famous in their own right. He was an artist who inspired greats like Picasso, Goya and Van Goch

Self portrait with a gold chain 1631

A self portrait Painted of himself in his trademark beret Painted around aged 25, with a Gold Chain. This painting shows that he feels he has already arrived as an artist, and paints himself as if he is already wealthy and successful when just starting out in his career.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolas Tulp 1632

This painting was one of his first big commissions and one that greatly grew his reputation. The work was commissioned by the guild of surgeons. It shows several medical professionals all standing around a body. Dr Nicolas Tulp is holding forceps that grasp the tendons of the cadaver forearm. Each of the people in the painting would have paid to appear in the painting Dr Tulp would have paid the most....

The Night Watch 1642

The whole rebuilt Rijksmuseum is centred around this painting. It is such a central piece of Dutch history, that people lined the streets to witness it’s return to the museum after a major rebuild was completed. This is a painting of a Militia group from Amsterdam. It is a huge painting measuring 12 feet by 14 feet. It was commissioned by the Officers and Other Civic Guardsmen of District II of Amsterdam. However rather show them as they were at the time, Rembrandt painted a more historical romantic notion of them as they would have been dressed several decades ago when they were the heroes and defenders of Amsterdam protecting it from enemies such as the Spanish.

Portrait of Jan Six 1647 (etching)

This is an etching of Rembrandt’s friend and patron, looks almost like an informal snapshot taken on a camera

The Jewish Bride 1665 – 1669

A couple commissioned Rembrandt to paint a portrait of them, but wanted to be portrayed as the biblical figures of Isaac and Rebecca. This picture shows them in a stolen moment being lover and tender. The painting is infused with a love and longing that Rembrandt could never possess. This is a painting that Van Gogh liked so much he wrote to his brother Theo, declaring “that he would gladly have given ten years of his life to have been able to sit for fourteen days in front of The Jewish Bride with barely a crust of dry bread to eat”.

Self-Portrait with Two Circles 1665 and 1669

In the portrait, Rembrandt is holding his brushes palette, and mahl stick. . The painting shows a confident Rembrandt aware of masterful abilities. So confident he does not even need to fully paint his hand holding his brushes in detail but just an impression of them.

The post Rembrandt Rembrandt MAIR50 appeared first on .

In Part2, we pick more of our highlights from the last almost 2 years of Modern art is Rubbish.

Fluxus Board Game Fun!

In this clip episode, we talked about the board games that were created by the fun and playful Fluxus group of artists, including Vegetable chess.
Hungry for more Fluxus check out this link!

Blood Head

As part of our spooky Halloween special, we talked about Marc Quinn’s Blood Head. You can hear the whole episode on the link here.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

The Installation artists use a lot of materials to create work their site-specific works. There works range from wrapping an iconic building or coastline in fabric to building a giant sculpture out of oil barrels. In this clip Tom imagines that they would be very popular with their suppliers as they would have to purchase a lot of materials. You can hear the full episode here.

Jules Olitski

Many artist’s, of course, have jobs before they become artists. In this clip we talk about the time Olitski decides to try his hand working at a cinema. You can hear more about this late great titan of American art on here

Q and A of the World Van Gogh’s Ear

In this clip, we tackle the questions that people on google has been asking about, Van Gogh’s Ear! You can listen to the full episode on Van Gogh here.

The post Best of Bits Part2 MAIR43 appeared first on .

In this we episode talk about the Neo Expressionist and Titan of Painting Basquiat.

Early years

Born 1960 his dad was Haitian and an accountant and mother Puerto Rican. He loved drawing, his mother encouraged his drawing and his mother took him often took him to visit museums

In 1968 Basquiat was hit by a car and was hospitalised for a month, his mother gave him a copy of Grays Anatomy to read in hospital.

His parents split and he went to live with his father in Puerto Rican. His father was tough and Basquiat and his father would clash, Basquiat did not like to be disciplined or told what to do

Basquiat ran away a few times. In 1978 he left home, his father gave him some money in the hope he would make a success of his life.

He had a romantic view of fame in some he loved stars like Jimi Hendrix Janis Joplin. He himself wanted to be famous

To make ends meet he would sell postcards collages and drawings using xerox photocopies. This was the first time he met Andy Warhol, he saw him in a restaurant and Warhol bought some

Samo

Around May 1978. Basquiat and a friend Al Diaz started writing soundbites and humorous phrases around New York. Many of them challenged the Art establishment. They signed the works with the signature SAMO ©. SAMO stood for the “Same old Sh*t”

Examples included: “Origin of Cotton” or “SAMO as an end to playing art.

Samo became the talk of the new york art scene. Basquiat always wanting to be famous, 6 months later announced that he was Samo in the Village Voice, which was a New York creative arts magazine. After this announcement, the words “Samo is dead” appeared around New York.

Becoming Famous

In 1979 he and friends form a band called grey an experimental band making noise music.

You can hear the music of Gray below

In 1980 Basquiat work was shown as part of a group show called the “Times Square Show”, his work was very popular.

Early in 1981, Basquiat was given the opportunity to take part in a majorly important show at the PS1 gallery Called New York/New Wave. This launched his career. He was offered and did many one-man shows from then on.

Warhol

In 1982 Basquiat was introduced to his idol, Andy Warhol. This deep friendship was often criticised by outsiders, Basquiat was accused of trying to latch onto Warhol’s fame and Andy Warhol (now less in favour) of trying to latch onto Basquiat’s street credibility. They went on to have a show together, the critics panned it. Disappointed Basquiat drifted apart from Warhol. In 1987 Warhol died during an operation in hospital

The End

Throughout his adult life, Basquiat had used drugs, in particular, Heroin. Devastated at the death of his estranged friend, his usage increased. On the 12th of August 1988, Basquiat died aged 27 from an accidental Heroin overdose.

1985 Basquiat Interview Basquiat Works we talk about

Ten Punching Bags (Last Supper)- 1985-1986 – Andy Warhol & Jean-Michael Basquiat

Click for larger image

Horn Players – 1983 – acrylic and oil stick on canvas

Click for larger image

Detail showing “King Zulu”

Leonardo da Vinci’s Greatest Hits – 1982

Click for a larger image

The post Basquiat Art Rockstar MAIR37 appeared first on .