High and Low: Enduring Influence of Japanese Anime in Contemporary Art
Anime can be traced as far back as 1917 with the first generation of animators such as Seitaro Kitayama, Ōten Shimokawa, and Jun’ichi Kōuchi as the “fathers of anime.” But it wouldn’t be until the 1980s that anime would become mainstream in Japan – a boom that can be credited to the likes of Dragon […]
Restitution of Nazi Looted Art and Artifacts
Unforgettable plundering of private families and national museums for their great art collections by the Nazi’s occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, otherwise known as the Third Reich. The most famous pieces of art that were stolen when the Hitler’s army went on their rampage of destroying and stealing valuable European […]
Jeff Koons and Louis Vuitton Bags
When you think of Jeff Koons, his towering sculptures inspired by balloon animals or works from his Banality series probably come to mind. Consistently on the list of one of the “most expensive living artists,” Jeff Koons work isn’t exactly accessible to the everyday art collector with one of his pieces auctioned at the […]
Art of Cai Guo-Qiang: Gunpowder and Explosives
The most common media of art include oil paints, watercolors, ink, or marble, bronze, and clay. Cai Guo-Qiang’s medium? Gunpowder and explosives. “Throughout Chinese art history, some artists have been pursuing their own artistic language and how to use this language to convey and connect,” Cai Guo-Qiang explains. And the language that Cai has chosen […]
Swiss Freeports for Art Treasures & Tax Evasion
In 2015, in the wake of the news on the revised law on freeports, the global art market was shaken by the chronicles of Geneva’s bonded warehouses, a storage facility for the super-rich collectors at the center of tax evasion controversy. Thierry Ehrmann, the president of art market information specialist Artprice, said that Geneva’s freeport […]
Old Masters: Most Undervalued Art
There was a time when artwork by the Old Masters – those artists who were academically trained and worked in Europe before about 1800 – were the most coveted by collectors. However, with the explosive rise and popularity of Contemporary Art, can the Old Masters remain relevant in the art world? According to the 2016 […]
Artificial Neural Networks and Paintings: What is Neural Art?
Inspired by the way biological nervous systems work, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) will be one of the most important information processing paradigm since the invention of the computer. ANN is a method of computing that imitates the functions of a human brain. Neural units are connected to each other allowing the network to learn and […]
Art Financing for Artists
With the rising costs of art production, particularly for the large scale sculpture and installation projects, artists and gallerists can now turn to specialized fine art financing firms to pay for the show and share a portion of proceeds. Fine Art Partnership: Project Park Avenue Paper Chase The Aycock NYC installation of 2014 brings attention […]
World’s First Computer Programmer: Lord Byron’s Daughter Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace on the Nature of the Imagination and Its Three Core Faculties – In her writing of 1843, the first paper on Computer Science and algorithm, intended to be carried out by a machine, and changing the course of the world of technology we live in today. “What is Imagination? We talk much of […]
Rising African Art: What’s the Driving Force?
In May 2017, Arthouse Contemporary, one of Africa’s leading art auction house located in Lagos, Nigeria, held their annual modern and contemporary art auction where a record price for the work for a Nigerian artist was set. Iconic modern artist, Ben Enwonwu’s 1962 Anyanwu sculpture sold for a record price of NGN 54,050,000 (around $148K), […]
Love or Hate: Art Made by Robots
By definition, art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture. But what if a piece of artwork was made by a robot operated by a human? Is it still “art” then? And while many are prepared for robots to make life […]
Not So Young Anymore: YBA Follow Up
Known for their “shock tactics” and an attitude described as “both oppositional and entrepreneurial,” the Young British Artists dominated British art in the 90s. In 1988, the YBAs, led by Damien Hirst, began to exhibit together in London. It all started with Freeze, their art exhibition that took place in an empty London Port Authority […]