Written by: Renny McFadin Lola Donoghue, a contemporary abstract artist currently living in Galway, Ireland, primarily subjects her paintings to a palette of muted, pastel colors. With this white-on-white atmosphere she creates within her works, the bright, neon colors she uses imbues a modern, energetic feeling that sets an aura of freshness and excitement. Donoghue graduated from the Limerick School of Art and Design with a first class honors degree in Fine Art. Currently, she has not had any exhibition of her art, so she primarily sells online. This fast-selling process allows her to avoid the hassle of exhibits, but also have a thriving, profitable career. Although, Donoghue did say, “I would hope to exhibit in the future once the timing and the fit is right.” The price of Donoghue’s works ranges from about €400 to €5k ($472 to $5,899), and she has sold four paintings to the world famous musician Sia. Donoghue’s paintings are primarily inspired by the outside world and what she observes in everyday life: “My paintings are personal reflections and interpretations, they are always in an emerging process, I like when I discover things by accident and I usually let this dictate the direction of the painting ….” Her works are generally formed through a subtractive process of painting. With a focus on negative space, Donoghue begins her paintings with an underpainting- full of bright and vigorous colors and strokes. From there she adds glazes, and thick layers of paint, all while making sure this underpainting is still visible in some aspect. Her work is a statement on today’s culture and social environment, and seeks to explore and interpret the nuances and popular trends in contemporary society. These works imbue the unseen emotion of the 21st century, without using blatant, kitschy imagery. Donoghue’s ethereal paintings seek to hint at “the unconscious, clashing narratives and the tension and balance that exists therein.”
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Written by: Maya Koehn-Wu and Natalie Kim Banksy Resurfaces Port Talbot, a Welsh Town, which, according to the UK is one of the most polluted and “most deprived” areas received a gift on a resident’s garage. Banksy, a street art superstar, has received much attention recently for his artistic statement in shredding his own work, “Girl with the Balloon.” On December 19th, “An Image of a Child Playing in the Falling Soot” was created. This work is a powerful statement on the industrial ancestry and heritage of the town as well as the massive pollutive industry. Picking up the Rubble After Brazil’s devastating fire in its National Museum in September, in which it lost many many priceless works, several international organizations and governments are coming together to assist the museum’s long road to recovery. Domestically, the Brazilian government has put aside 14.3 million in tax concessions to repair the museum and an additional 640,000 to fund graduate programs. UNESCO generously pledged 1.3 million in loans. The German government has also offered its assistance. In response to all the research lost, The Smithsonian Institute, the Fulbright Commission, the US diplomatic mission in Brazil, and the US Department of State will send 14 researchers of whom lost their research in the fire to the Smithsonian’s research lab for 30 days. Rothko Chapel Closing and Speculation on New Art World Regulation The Rothko chapel is officially closed for reconstruction. This non-denominational chapel will be closed for the majority of 2019 while it undergoes a 30 million dollar revamp over the next three years, beginning with the construction of a new skylight and entryway. The chapel consists of 14 different contemplative panels and attract over 90,000 visitors a year. Furthermore, as the art world has gotten bigger, legislators have looked towards passing some form of legislation regulating commerce. As such, there is concern that the Illicit Art and Antiquities Trafficking Prevention Act will be passed in 2019, which would require artists to report any transactions over $10,000, and those with annual sales over $50,000 to submit their financial records to the government or, in other words, force the anonymity of the art world to go public. Why are Art Museums Being Sued? Artist Robert Cenedella, also known by the name of “Art Bastard”, sued multiple well-known art museums including the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for coordinating the exclusion of Cenedella’s and other artists’ work from being exhibited. He argued that the museums are trying to eliminate competition so very few artists are able to gain fame and notoriety for their work. The judge, however, disagreed and decided that the case was not persuasive enough to warrant the 100 million dollar settlement as the lawyer contradicted himself by saying the art museums don’t follow a specific criteria for choosing artists and works but also saying they select by conspiracy, meaning that they would favor certain criteria elements over others. Even though Cenedella lost the lawsuit, he is still able to revise his argument and refile a complaint against the museums. Is the Oil Industry Controlling Art? Ralf Beil, director of the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg art museum in Germany, was fired from his job after trying to show an exhibit about the oil industry’s role in war and the modern age of machinery and plastic. There is speculation that a wrongful firing has taken place. Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg is funded by the Volkswagen Art Foundation. This fact makes it seem obvious why Beil was fired (the foundation is trying to hide its dirty laundry), but the foundation claims that this was not the reason he was let go. In the past, he has had a few more controversial exhibits such as how the Nazi regime was present in that particular area during World War II and showing a video of the head of Volkswagen admitting to the company’s exhaust fraud. Further controversy surrounds the fact that Beil was told that he would be given free range of the programs in the museum regarding content and what is exhibited. Who is Samantha Fields? Painter Samantha Fields is known for her works that show a distorted perception of reality, painting scenes that appear smokey or through the lens of a camera. Her work is mainly about the disasters in her personal life, the political atmosphere, and the environment. Fields attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and Cranbrook Academy of Art where she met her husband and now is based out of Los Angeles and works as Professor of Art at California State University, Northridge. She creates her work using photographs she took chasing storms across the U.S. and then vividly enhancing the light contrast to make the scenes more intense. Fields is able to mimic the matte texture of photographs by using a Japanese airbrushing technique. If you would like to see more of her work or read more about her, here is her website: http://www.samanthafields.net/ Citations:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/banksys-port-talbot-1424842 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/help-for-brazil-national-museum-1423744 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-industry-news-december-12-2018-1417558 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-bastard-suit-dismissed-1426297 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/we-are-living-in-a-world-with-ever-diminishing-ethic-values-ousted-museum-director-ralf-beil-on-the-urgency-of-artistic-freedom-in-the-face-of-big-sponsorship-1424839 https://www.laweekly.com/arts/meet-an-artist-monday-painter-samantha-fields-10004046 https://www.artsy.net/artist/samantha-fields |
AuthorsNATALIE KIM is a junior at MLWGS and is committed to informing others of history being made in the art world. Archives
April 2019
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