Checked out this terrific art exhibit on Wonder Woman in Portland.
Wonder Woman Day is a charity event observed in Fleming, New Jersey and Portland, Oregon, in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Proceeds of the art auction go to local domestic violence shelters and programs.
The exhibit Amazing Amazon will be at Lara Sydney Framing Gallery in the Pearl District until Oct. 25, 2009. That's the night of the live auction, which will include many more Wonder Woman art items.
The gallery owner's mother Cynthia told me the opening was packed. It's a relatively small gallery, so plan on being crammed for the live auction. But you can bid through the silent auction up until the 24th.
There are numerous first-rate comics artists involved, and the caliber overall was impressive. I'd like to namedrop, but there are just too many. Scroll down on this page for names.
My furtively snapped cell phone pictures of course don't do these pieces justice, but here were a few of my faves.
Wonder Woman art fights domestic violence
science vs. art
Thought for the day, via the astonishingly excellent radio program Radio Lab from WNYC:
The job of science is to show us how insignificant we are.
One could belabor the points and semantics phrasing this idea (the job? why, the job is something else, and even their relation to these points are not necessarily fulfillment of their jobs, etc.), but the idea itself is one neat axis to adjust perspective around. What rushes to mind are examples of art celebrating a specific element - a photo of a daffodil, when there are countless such photos of countless daffodils possible; a song of a lover's yearning, when there are countless such songs of this common experience; etc., as well as examples of science illustrating the commonalities of individual elements - the laws of physics, organizing the dynamics of every movement on earth; molecular modeling, placing all matter and energy into the same building structure; etc. Now, I am sure that with even a little bit of thought, one could conjure examples of art illustrating insignificance (divisionism, perhaps; and the study of mutation, and there are surely arguments to be had within various theories behind both art and science applications) and science illustrating singularity So while it is possible to think away from the idea, it is certainly easy to think within it and entertain it, and in doing so, obtain value from it.
So: Is this what drives some personalities toward either art or science, and others away? Is one's perspective on the issue of one's own specialness vs. insignificance one of the basic keys to one's paradigm for world view, for life, for all things great and small, from which one's character and personality spring? If so, does this address the issue of a person changing, whether a person does actually change in character through his lifetime; in other words, if one's perspective on his significance changes, does this set off a fundamental change of himself? Perhaps psychology considers this issue in theories of development through the ego and id. If so, this would lend credence to the basic idea.
It is an interesting exercise to examine the history of one's personal development through the art vs. science filter...
Julian Beever's Batman and Robin
Julian Beever is an English artist who's famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. Beever gives to his drawings an amazing 3D illusion. His stuff is mindblowing. This isn't even the best example, but I had to post it for obvious batty reasons.
Julian's official site
Our Mermaid
Story by yours truly Kat Ricker, illustrated by the talented Kate Ramunno-Finney. Also at mightykat.net
As soon as we pulled that mermaid up, I knew I was in for it. The kids started in, "Oh, can we keep it? I'll take care of it." I knew damn well I'd be the one feeding it and cleaning up after it in about two weeks. It was just a young one, so we tried giving it milk, it didn't want that, bought some of that formula for kittens, it didn't want that. They finally found some kind of fish food it would eat. I said give it a chance. It'll eat anything when it gets hungry enough.
The kids had a lot of fun with it at bathtime. They'd all jump in there, with bubbles and straws to breathe with, and flippers and toys. It kept them busy for a while, anyway. We took some pictures. They were real cute. Ma would put a shirt on it, and that mermaid would just tear it off. She didn't like anything, you know, binding her in or whatever. As long as it was little, I didn't see any harm.
Then when the kids started going to school, sure enough, it was me looking after her. And they get big. The bigger she got, the messier the tub was. This real stubborn scum that was just a pain to scrub off. And I could never get in the bathroom before work. And we sure were going through money on the shampoo and conditioners.
So, I had to let it go. I took it down to the shore near where we caught it and turned it loose. It just sat there for a moment, then it hit the water and whoo! You should've seen that thing swim.
We've got a cat now. I still end up feeding it most of the time, but at least it goes outside.
evocative images of Maxfield Parrish
One way of relating to these gorgeous images by Golden Age of Illustration master Maxwell Parrish is through lifting: in Ecstasy, the girl in blue just executed a perfect snatch or clean, and in the second, she has finished an epic work out. Satiated, empowered, exhausted and happy, she lets her lover dote on her in her private reverie in Daybreak.
Our Lady by Alma Lopez
Isn't this beautiful?
From Alma Lopez's interesting website:
The "Our Lady" print was in an exhibition titled CyberArte: Tradition Meets Technology curated by Tey Marianna Nunn at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Soon after the opening reception on February 25, 2001, protests against the print began. CyberArte closed as originally scheduled that same year on October 28.
Bikini-clad Madonna can stay - BBC
A controversial portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe wearing a floral bikini will remain on show after a US court refused to order a gallery to take it down. Protesters had said the digital image of Mexico's national representation of the Virgin Mary was offensive and insensitive after it went on show in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in February. But a judge has decided that the city's Museum of International Folk Art can keep the picture, by Mexican-born Alma Lopez, on its walls because of a legal technicality. ... Ms Lopez defended her work, saying she intended Our Lady to show a strong and beautiful woman.
A bit from Alma's bio on her site:
Alma Lopez is an artist, activist and visual storyteller working in painting, photo based digital prints, and video. She is internationally recognized for her innovative digital images, which recontextualize cultural icons bringing issues of race, gender and sexuality into relationship with transnationalist myths.
...She has several other interesting projects on her site, including art of a Mary figure intimate with a mermaid, and a video on women wearing butch haircuts, called Boi Hair.
Scientists 'crack' secret of Mona Lisa's smile
I've never been impressed with the Mona Lisa, frankly, and I suspect its actual appeal is significanly less than hyped and assumed, but I do enjoy analysis...
Ananova - Scientists say they have finally cracked a 500-year-old mystery - the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile. The enigmatic expression on Leonardo da Vinci's most famous work was analysed by computer software, reports the New Scientist. And the conclusion was that it conveyed 83% happiness, 9% disgust, 6% fear and 2% anger. The conclusion was made after the painting, on view in The Louvre in Paris, was analysed at the University of Amsterdam.
