Walls

More and more people want to be photographed in front of graph, yet it is still illegal in many places. Lame...
I see thousands of these pics on line, but for some reason this stood out. Not for any reason; in fact, this is a perfect example of how normal and revolutionary it is to write on a wall.

Gone and forgotten

Do you remember the Krusty Burgerlar? He was brutally attacked by Homer Simpson and left for dead. Three men had to pull the enraged Simpson off his limp body. Witnesses to the attack (mostly children ranging from ages 3-11) describe it as the bloodiest, cruelest, inhumane display of violence they've ever seen. Mind you the children were forced to clap after the incident. Most of the kids are now in serious therapy.
Simpson was not even prosecuted for a crime he would have easliy been convicted for. All attempts to contact Simpson or Krusty (and or his people) have been unsuccessful. Simpson seems to show no remorse for his actions and has gone about his life as if he never murdered anyone.
Springfield has been gripped with fear and outrage ever since. Police Chief Wiggums was not available for comment, nor the Mayor.
Homer has been seen fraternizing at Krusty Burger weekly ever since the incident. He seemed to be in good spirits.

Swiss "I can do anything" Beats

So not only has he made some of the best beats in music without formal training, but then he has the nerve to start painting. And not just painting, painting well. And then there is the whole Alicia Keys thing...

It actually makes perfect sense to me.

See the interview for details, but the V represents victory. Swiss 1, haters 0.

Peanuts Gallery

Charles Schultz will never be forgotten. This year a national publication chose Franklin as a symbol for a Calendar noting Black History Month. As insignificant as some of you may find that factoid; you have to acknowledge the Peanuts Gang foot print on pop culture when the idiosyncratic traits from your characters are used as archetypes for smash sit coms.
Satire is a form flattery and a sign of success. Or some form of acknowledgement at the very least.

Face it, you've been tagged...

The tagging is out of control. It is a perfect example of how subcultures arise. Even though there are over tones against it. People post photos of cartoons, celebs, historical figures and all kinds of unauthorized images as their avatars on social networks.
Hence it did not surprise me when the tagging option introduced; people deliberately mis-tagged their associates. Now it has evolved into secret codes and pop culture name games and it is only going to expand. This only goes to show that human nature is to extrapolate every option in any format until a whole new meaning comes from it.

I love Mexican!

And a round of applause for Joe Bravo. I can appreciate any artist trying to create outside of the conventional canvas. This is extraordinary though. Simply amaizing.

The Art of Dog Food

Due to high rise in costs of oil, some painters have looked at other mediums; such as Kibble.
I don't want to think about this anymore. It makes cat people seem normal. When Alpo is turned to art, you know it's a dog eat dog world.

Green Cars

The hybrid race has gotten grass roots.

Digesting Art

Here is some art you can sink your teeth into. I know it's lame, but I had to say it. The first one is chocolte syrup. The Mona Lisa is Peanut Butter and Jelly. Delicious!

Basket Art

Basket Ball is an art believe it or not. The game itself has been likened to a ballet. The jerseys are art, and thou art in store for a classic series.
Stephen Holland painted the portrait of the Black Mamba on the main page. It is a testament to the greatness of Bryant that his image is constantly reproduced and rendered. I really wanted to find out what Kobe has on his walls, but the search engines have not been friendly.

These black and white paintings of Jelly Bean Junior are from WK, the Wooster Collective. They are intense. I wanted to show some equally powerful images of the Green Team, but none of them are as saturated in pop culture as Bryant. Is it because they have no rings? Is it the newness of Boston or the flair of L.A. itself? I thought for sure Ray Allen would have some Jesus paintings, but no one seemed to upload that connection. I saw a painting of Paul Pierce, but it had him in the back and Carmello Anthony in the fore ground. As if... That's the problem with art though, it's too subjective when it comes to sports.
I saved the Chi-Town export for last. I thought I'd find some drawings of Kevin Garnett by 6 year old kids in Mini-pop-
Instead I found exactly what I was hoping to find: Kevin Garnett assisting children in painting a mural in the house gymnasium. (Back when he was a Timber Wolf.) Now that is a real testament to character. Ofcourse, being a good guy and decent painter is not going to get you any chips. Most artists die unrecognized...Better win. I think Garnett would rather cut his ear off than lose to Kobe. Kobe wants to be painted in his new Jersey too, for sure. Did you get that? I'm subtle with it...

Sports art is becoming more and more valuable and NBA players are collecting more art in general. It's a beautiful thing; like a ring around your finger, that points out you are the world champion at this game. It's like the game finally says "I do."
There is no divorcing a title. Maybe Kevin can still win Most Valuable Painter; because I see the Lakers taking it in game six.
Let me paint a picture for you.
Lakers Game 1, Boston Game 2, Lakers Game 3 & 4, Boston Game 5, Lakers Game 6- Then Kobe will go on to win a gold medal in China. Ya dig?
The Sparks are gonna take it too. And maybe the Dodgers will make it to October. Who knows...anything can happen in 08. (Kobe's old number.)
Let's not forget the Galaxy either. L.A. sports are going to have a golden year.

Prince of Rock: Guitar Art

The purple rocker uses art and music in unison like no other. Besides his immense skill on the ax, his guitars are art. Even the Smithsonian houses one of his pieces. The guitars have gotten a little of controversy. I actually worked with someone filing a suit against him for not ponying up the fee for his commision. I met the designer of the guitar at Columbia College in 95. Since then Prince has quelled all the legal attacks and is back on top.

Art Defined:

Since I can't really tell you what art is, I decided to consult my goat to guy.
Webster defines art as such:

1. skill acquired by experience or study: KNACK 2. a branch of learning; esp: one of the humanities 3: systematic use of knowledge or skill in making or doing things 4. the use of skill and imagination in the production of things of beauty; also : works so produced 5: ARTFULNESS

Well that explains it! Thanks Webster!

I swear to God, I'm Athiest...

They said Jesus would come back with a sword, but why would the son of God bring a knife to a gun fight?
Did you know that religion is the number one source of all war? "Don't mess with the Jesus."

Barry Nice

More Obama art continues to flood the art world. It is like an Electoral Art Collage. If he does not win the election, what will happen to all this art? Will it increase in value as the dollar drops like Flop Sanders? Or will this be the year, like L.A. in sports?

Oh! Brother where ART thou!

Even moor inspired art...
And this aint the half of 'em. Barry, Baby! He is the new Muse of 08. People really like this guy in general. I thought I'd only see this in movies, but Barrack's message of change is so ideal for these times. Many artists seem inspired. I love art and avoid politics if I can. I try to mix the two, but this is bigger than me. I hope Barrack is not pulling the wool over my eyes. At least he has inspired some decent art. That is already more than we can say for Baby Bush. He is the butt of my jokes...get it? got it? Good! Joans out-

Art on the Offense

When is art too much?

Can art be too offensive?

What is Pop Art? 

These questions usually lead to one of the oldest questions in the Art Book; What is art?

This question is Pandora's Box of some philosphers. I don't think you can have one answer for that question because art is many things to many people. 

The painting above was intended to inspire some reverse sentiment towards Klu Klux Klan and similar groups, but many people find it offensive to even paint a Klan member. Strangley enough, Tanner Veatch, Columbia College Chicago student, the current owner of the piece claims after he bought it he was targeted as a racist on the C.T.A while trying to get the art home. He claimed it was an anti-klan creation, but the riders were agressive and inquired to the racial orientation of the artist.

The message of this piece is to begin offending the Klu Klux Klan and other White Supremist Groups.

The Black Panthers are compared to the Klan often for no apparent reason, but I have never seen Klan members hunted in cold blood on their own ground on false pretenses. I have never known of any Klu-Klux-Klan members to initiate a non for profit program in order to give out free lunches to needy children. Nor have I never seen Black Panthers setting crosses ablaze or killing innocent white children or hanging innocent white men for fun.

The painting is fictional. I have never seen a Klan member get a hole blown through their back, and I doubt you have either. For some odd reason, the idea is what offends people. Either they do not want to think about it, or they are scared to think of it.

I would love to think I would paint the same no matter what race I was. I would love to think I would listen to the same music and dress in the same clothes as well. Considering my geneology as fodder for the basis of my aesthetics is almost as constricting as trying to gage how offensive a piece of art is. 

If an artist is not offended, should the viewer be?

 Try to put yourself in an artist's shoes. If you are not allowed to push the envelope, than how can society as a whole break boundaries? I've noticed some parts of society are afraid to grow or change. Fear seems to dictate the lives and juristictions of most people. When an artist is thinking outside of the box, they usually are fearless. Many artist's are really looking for a truth in themselves or trying to expose a truth in others. For many of the people who claim that they are the victims of being exposed to offensive art, they should try to understand what kind of pain the artist has been through themselves. One constant of art is that it communicates. One constant message in life is: the truth hurts.