I never know what to expect when I browse through the keywords that people use to find Art News Blog. They range from the funny, to the disgusting, to just stupid.

• Tit hanging – To be hung by your tits? Sounds painful.
• Do art galleries make money – Probably not at the moment.
• Designer vagina – That rhymes.
• Spam Funny – It can be.
• Shit art – That’s a matter of opinion.
• Propaganda advertising – It is.
• Jussst Porn – Wrong blog.
• Bare bums – Cold bare bums in this case.
• Sexy free – Many good things are free.
• Sleep artists – Masters of sleeping?
• Penis artists – I think there’s just one of them.
• Strange artists – Aren’t we all?
• Rich artists – They’re a rare breed but they do exist.
• Art collegia delenda est – That’s your term Donald.

Here’s some earlier search terms from 2006, 2007 and some stupid Banksy searches.

Hope is difficult for me to draw or paint. It is even more difficult to write about.

Hope is always in me. I take it for granted, usually, unless things get bad. But things have to get really bad before all I have left is hope.

I think this is due to hope being an emotional state rather than an optimistic point of view reached by conscious logical thought. Hope happens when reason is gone. When life feels so overwhelmingly bad, all I have left is hope… for something better.

Although, I can’t deny when life feels positively good, I feel an undercurrent of hope for stability. “I hope that nothing bad happens!” Hope can work against change when things are good and comfortable. Maybe that reflects the arbitrary nature of emotion.

Each of the drawings and paintings below are reflections of hope. The artworks are approximately 9″x12″ on card stock paper, created with markers, pens, watercolors, paint pens, and acrylic paint. The first piece of art is a Face of Hope at its time of overwhelming need. The second artwork is a Ray of Hope, shining through the darkest hour; a time it’s most clearly visible. And the third drawing is a nod to the American Democratic political party which connected popular culture’s idea of hope to a campaign, in the Smiling Eyes of Hope.

Special Thanks to Martha Marshall for contributing the idea for this 4th Art Challenge! And check out Vikki North’s blog (the originator of these art challenges!) to see her interpretation of HOPE!

~Michael

Related posts:

1. Abstract Drawings and Paintings of Black and White Faces These are drawings and paintings of abstract faces. The 9″x12″…
2. Abstract Art Faces | Drawings and Paintings of Heads This is a series of abstract impressionistic art faces that…
3. Sad and Depressed Face | Abstract Acrylic Painting There is a beautiful painting of a face under there….

21st century advances in technology have opened new windows to the world around us that have enabled artists to dive deeper into the heart of matter than ever before. Whether it’s through the use of microscopes to see cells and molecules, or telescopes to see distant planets and galaxies, or in this case, through the use of advanced drilling techniques to reach precious stones, gems, minerals, and core-sample cross sections of Earth, artists are there to explore. And bio artist Sydney Strahan has emerged with fascinating works of art that reflect the nuances and intimate spaces of the layered world that sustains us. Her art is at the same time capable because of this moment of technological advance, yet transcends the millenia of time from whence its inspiration and the art itself was born.

Sydney has created amazingly vibrant paintings from core-sample cross sections of microscopically thin layers of Earth. By working with expert Geologists, a variety of interesting rocks and stones offered a visual point of departure for her art work.

From her artist biography:

Sydney Strahan is a graduate of Texas Christian University with a double major in Painting and Printmaking, as well as a life-long explorer of the arts in creativity, movement, and spirituality.

Coinciding with a current movement in art known as Bio-Art; art inspired by biological mechanisms, Sydney’s work specifically relates to the exploration of life sciences that examine a human connection to living systems.

Additionally, view her beautiful Gemstone Paintings Gallery for more examples of lush art that is reminiscent of worlds within worlds, once hidden deep within the Earth and now available for all too see.

Related posts:

1. Interview with artist Michael D. Edens Interview with artist Michael D. Edens by Kelly Jones, Jamie…
2. Kinetic Scuplture Artist One of the most original and innovative artists I have…
3. Google Logo Artist Dennis Hwang has been called “the most famous unknown artist…

Orphan Works: Connect the Dots     

9.30.08                                                                                     

1. Web firms quietly win copyright victory in Congress

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) Sept 29 — As the media turned its attention last weekend to battles on Capitol Hill over the fate of the proposed Wall Street bailout bill, Internet companies including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. quietly walked away with a legislative victory that could facilitate their use of copyrighted material.

The Senate on Friday passed the Orphan Works Act of 2008, legislation that weakens copyright protection for works whose owners cannot be located. The legislation has now been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

The legislation requires only that a company make a “reasonably diligent” search to locate a copyright owner before using their work in media including the Internet, and limits compensation required for the use of an infringed work.

Orphan Works: Connect the Dots     

9.30.08                                                                                     

1. Web firms quietly win copyright victory in Congress

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) Sept 29 — As the media turned its attention last weekend to battles on Capitol Hill over the fate of the proposed Wall Street bailout bill, Internet companies including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. quietly walked away with a legislative victory that could facilitate their use of copyrighted material.

The Senate on Friday passed the Orphan Works Act of 2008, legislation that weakens copyright protection for works whose owners cannot be located. The legislation has now been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

The legislation requires only that a company make a “reasonably diligent” search to locate a copyright owner before using their work in media including the Internet, and limits compensation required for the use of an infringed work.  

-By John Letzing, MarketWatch Sept. 29, 2008
www.marketwatch.com/news/story/web-firms-quietly-win-copyright/story.aspx?guid={E21206C0-98F5-459B-9506-8133CBD82859}&dist=hpts

2. Google Acknowledges Copyright Infringement Claims Could Harm Business

ILLUSTRATORS PARTNERSHIP Sept 30 — In March 2007, Google filed a mandatory 10-Q Filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In it, they acknowledged: “copyright claims filed against us [by copyright owners] alleging that features of certain of our products and services, including Google Web Search, Google News, Google Video, Google Image Search, Google Book Search and YouTube, infringe their rights.”

Google admitted that “[a]dverse results in these lawsuits may include awards of substantial monetary damages, costly royalty or licensing agreements or orders preventing us from offering certain functionalities, and may also result in a change in our business practices, which could result in a loss of revenue for us or otherwise harm our business.” (Italics added.)

–Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, Illustrators Partnership
investor.google.com/documents/20070331_10-Q.html

3. Google Sees Value in Orphan Works

ILLUSTRATORS PARTNERSHIP March 8, 2006 — At the Copyright Office’s Orphan Works Roundtables, July 26-27, 2005, Alexander MacGilivray of Google stated:

 ”The thing that I would encourage the Copyright Office to consider is not just the very, very small scale -the one user who wants to make use of the [orphan] work – but also the very, very large scale – and talking in the millions of works. – page 21

 ”Google strongly believes that these orphan works are both worthwhile, useful, and extremely valuable.” – page 119

“We expect that our use of these orphan works will likely be in the 1 million works range…” (Italics added.) – page 166

“[W]e know that many of them  [orphan works] will be in the public domain, that most of their authors won’t care. But there are a few [authors] that really will care and they will come forward [to claim authorship] and it will be extremely inefficient for us.” (Italics added.) -page 166
(Page numbers are from Copyright Office transcripts.)

Orphan Works Roundtables were held by the US Copyright Office July 26-7, 2005 in Washington DC
www.copyright.gov/orphan/transcript/0726LOC.PDF

4. Google Donates $3 Million to U.S. Library of Congress

Australian IT Nov 23, 2005 — The U.S. Library of Congress is kicking off a campaign to work with other nation’s libraries to build a World Digital Library, starting with a $US3 million donation from Google.

-Eric Auchard in San Francisco | November 23, 2005
australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,173391455E5E15306-15322,00.html

TAKE ACTION: EMAIL CONGRESS NOW
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11980321

Please post or forward this message immediately to any interested party.
_

For news and information:
Illustrators’ Partnership Orphan Works Blog: ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/

Over 75 organizations oppose this bill, representing over half a million creators. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses.

U.S. Creators and the image-making public can email Congress through the Capwiz site: capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/ 2 minutes is all it takes to tell the U.S. Congress to uphold copyright protection for the world’s artists.

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS please fax these 4 U.S. State Agencies and appeal to your home representatives for intervention. www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00267

CALL CONGRESS: 1-800-828-0498.  Tell the U.S. Capitol Switchboard Operator “I would like to leave a message for Congressperson  that I oppose the Orphan Works Act.”  The switchboard operator will patch you through to the lawmaker’s office and often take a message which also gets passed on to the lawmaker. Once you’re put through tell your Representative the message again.

If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com Place “Add Name” in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

STOP THE ORPHAN WORKS ACT NOW.

Created by Walter King On 10/06/08 At 11:43 AM

Before I came to the UAE I knew there were at least 10 Emirati artists. I had their names and images in a book published in 1982 by the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States. However, on arrival in Dubai I faced a major problem – there was no National Museum or Art Gallery so no obvious place to find them. It actually took me six months to find a local artist but it is amazing that just over a year later, I am now aware of more than 200 and have actually seen the work of well over 50.

This is largely thanks to independent arts organisations and the fact that my search coincided with a national identity crisis in the UAE. Concern about losing a sense of national self is particularly acute in Dubai, where nationals are at highest estimates only 10 per cent of the population. This resulted in 2008 being designated the ‘year of national identity’ by the UAE government making it a good time to propose projects focussing on local culture and local creative output.

The first real result of this is an unprecedented government sponsored exhibition featuring over 100 works by 22 local artists, which opened last week in Dubai. The artists range from veteran painters to a new generation of photographers and graphic designers. There are also literally second-generation artists such as the son and daughter of the UAEs most well known artist Abdul Qader Al Rais.

The conservative tendency in visual arts has been an association with ‘heritage’ as a means of defining identity, generally meaning falcons, dates, horses and camels. A younger and more global generation is obviously rather less enamoured of this limiting image of the nation and ‘nationality’ in art seems rather antithetical to the contemporary international climate anyway. So it was very interesting to see how much would emerge from this show that was distinctly ‘Emirati’.

The first works you see are by Reem Al Ghaith and are familiar from the Dubai Next show at Art Basel. There is a palpable sense of dislocation in her three huge prints of a solitary figure inside a frame or seemingly reflected in a mirror against a backdrop of various Dubai locations. They also make an impression by sheer virtue of their size despite being obscured by several stone pillars. So the initial impact of this show is clearly Emirati.

The only other works in the courtyard itself are nine small sculptures of animals and figures made out of scrap metal by Mohammed Abdullah. With the exception of one in the shape of a mosque, these could have been done anywhere, as could the abstract paintings of Ahmed Sharif and Mohammad Al Qassab in room one. Four collages by Ali al Adnan were definitively regional featuring historical cultural figures from the Gulf including one Emirati. Accompanying these were Karima Al Shomeily’s very direct photographs of partially obscured female faces which also had a very local flavour.

In the next two rooms, Khalid Al Banna’s work with its contrasting textures and shades of black, white and grey and Alia Al Shamsi’s photographs of modern mannequins and mechanical fortune-tellers addressed aesthetic universalities. However, Khalid Mezaina’s quirky graphics epitomising a fun and funky side of contemporary Dubai were a great example of modern generational sensibilities. Mohammed Al Habtoor also picked up on this feeling but without making a specific visual connection to the locality. His big cartoon faces suggested Disney on acid to me but provoked much discussion, were very popular among the younger generation and have resulted in a solo show when this one is over!

Similarly, Summaya Al Suwaidi’s photographic images contained nothing distinctly local in content but did seem to be staking a claim for some kind of new local genre of their own. UAE gothic perhaps? The unsettling atmosphere in Lateefa Maktoum’s consumate study of perspective could also fit this category.

Farid al Rais, daughter of the UAE’s most famous artist Abdul Qader al Rais had five works in the show – two large acrylics and three smaller pieces traditional in style if not wholly in content. Her brother Musab al Rais also had five large painted works in a different room. Both are influenced by their father’s work to the extent that all I can see is variations on his earlier themes but I guess this makes them second generation practitioners of a pioneering local style!

Of the other work in the show that connected physically to the locale, Alya al Sanad’s faces covered in sand are sensual and intense while her photographs of vague figures taken through a dirty windscreen are like stills from a UAE road movie that hasn’t been made yet. In one of four video works Khalil Abdul Wahid filmed a short journey through his windscreen with visibility so bad at times due to fog or rain, that I’m sure he was risking a serious accident. It was quite a relief when he put the windscreen wipers on!

There are two more rooms and six other artists in this show who I haven’t even mentioned here including several exhibiting for the first time so there is more to be seen and certainly more to be said. The show demonstrates that local artists are creating diverse work bearing little relation to the traditionally favoured images of the past, and are interpreting and revealing a very different present. They are essentially producing what will be the creative ‘heritage’ of the UAE in a few decades time. However, it is unlikely that you will be able to chart these developments by walking into a single public institution any time soon. Considering that you will be able to walk into a Louvre and a Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi and a Berlin State Museum in Dubai, this is a national tragedy.

Another tragedy, or perhaps mystery, is that despite the official support for this show there has been very little publicity and no information is available on the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority website or indeed anywhere else. Hopefully, there will at least be a few reviews before it closes on October 6th but even if gambling were legal here, I wouldn’t put money on it!

Created by Valerie Grove On 10/02/08 At 09:13 AM

These are two acrylic paintings, one of an abstract Ball or Sphere, and one of an abstract Cone. Energetic and expressive swirls of color are chaotically focused on creating a recognizable image. And the darker shadows and horizon lines help to ground the objects.

Simple three dimensional shapes, like cubes, spheres, cones, and cylinders, were some of the first objects I drew when I started my art hobby as a kid. The basic shapes helped simplify the world, and I began to understand how light and dark play against each other to create depth. As a young adult, the more I learn about the nature of the physical world, I understand there is more complexity than can be perceived by senses I’m accustomed to using, like sight and touch. So the paintings are a reminder of invisible depth in unobvious places.

“Out of the Blue” is a 4″x6″ abstract sketch of a house and sunset, drawn with marker, crayon, paint pen, and colored pencil. My attention was focused on the colors more than anything else. I wanted to see what effect a few disjointed gradients and juxtapositions of specific colors would have on each other and the overall artwork. Bright and sunny, with bold red, green, blue, and yellow. Similar frantic style, but a new direction.

Metaphorically speaking, sometimes it’s helpful to draw or paint with one arm tied behind my back. “Adriaaaan!” Slowing down with thoughtful color choices increased my awareness, and it’s refreshing to mix things up in a creative rut.