Graffiti Girl By Catherine Keszei
Posted by Catherine Keszei
Here were my thoughts about this piece:
A mixed media fusion between classical illustration and elemental graphical visual echos, this piece acts as an on-the-spot commentary for a world where fashion and beauty is, in itself, a class of visual graffiti.
…….to learn more about Catherine Keszei’s work log on to www.catherinekeszei.com…….
Mashed Up
Posted by Chantal van Duppen
……We started Mashed Up simply because we love to create worlds and bring stories to life. Life would be too boring if we did not have the chance to paint the colors more intense and bright. We are currently teaming up with a photographer, make up artist and an editor to realize our upcoming projects. We see ourselves as story tellers that direct photo shoots. Our ultimate goal is to be art directors for advertising, fashion, lifestyle and music clients. We also have our own view on life that we want to bring forward in our free work.
An image tells an unfinished story. It is up to the viewer to ask himself, what has happened and how the story finishes, because in the end the image will always belong to the viewer, and truth lies within the experience of it. We say that “we design the experience”, and “everyone has their own experience, we design yours”.
Photos by Eric Soenens
In life, we are inspired by contradictions, history, the human ego, sex, violence, instincts, urges and spirituality. In our free work we find the human flaws the most interesting and beautiful subjects to investigate. Faces, attitudes, and postures make us wonder what is hidden beyond the surface. We believe in a system of life which connects people and events tp each other. As different forms of art can be connected to each other, we came up with the name, Mashed Up, which is derived from the term “mash up” (song or composition created by blending two or more songs by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another).
Duo
As a duo, our interests and backgrounds are interrelated. While Iris has a passion for poetry, narrative literature and dance, Chantal loves photography, film, art and graphic design. This combination makes us work well together. Furthermore, having a commercial background in marketing we have both learned to merge into a business driven environment as well.
Iris And Chantal
www.MashedUp.nl
…..to be continued….
Elizabeth Cunningham
…..In an ongoing effort to support student art, it is with great pleasure that the studio introduces you to the photographs of Elizabeth Cunningham. Elizabeth is studying photography at the University of Pennsylvania.
Series: The Misrepresentation of Identity
While trying to find the common thread running through my work, my initial thought was that it is an exercise in finding the beauty in the grotesque. While this is partially true, I think my unconscious intentions went further than that, to instead question the idea of identity and misrepresentation. How much does the body play a part in the two?
We live in a society where we are perpetually focused on our bodies and how they define us. It is impossible to avoid exposure to the advertising industry that exists to reminds us our skin is the most important tool in representing ourselves to others. But what if our bodies actually said nothing about who we are? What if that false connection between body and identity was broken?
In my work I explore how one can manipulate and distort the structural elements of our bodies to create grotesque figures that can still be profoundly beautiful. Piecing together new forms, these bodies say nothing about one’s identity.
I decided to focus on images to the extreme end of the spectrum of identity: the hyper-sexualized images of the pornography industry. These subjects are defined by their attempt to be seen as single-faceted, sexual beings, ritualistically obsessed with what their bodies can do. Viewers remain in a state of suspended belief, choosing to think of these men and women as the sex objects their actions are hinting at, rather than a unique person with a complex person. A belief that this is not a job for them, this is who they are. I removed the figures from their erotic context, and intentionally distorted them. These new disturbing and grotesque figures would be unlikely to be found in the pornographic world, and yet I ultimately wanted to create images that were still undeniably beautiful. Most importantly, these images emphasize that once again, the body is a shell; a beautiful and complex one that can be distorted and changed to represent a multitude of things, but one that says almost nothing of what is held inside.
Elizabeth
Love Meter
Posted by John Gialuco
Lou-pop had been drawing cartoon characters for a few years and once in a while he would mention Bettie Page, a model and dancer during the 40’s and 50’s. When Lou showed me his latest scantily dressed Betty Boop drawings, he would have this sheepishly looking smile on his craggy face. I could see that he wanted approval for this risque moment. Some weeks later I brought him a group of nude photos I printed from Betty Page and Marlyn Monroe magazine spreads. He quickly stuck them under his 1940s something coffee table in his living room. Lou-pop had a lot of beautiful living room furniture form those earlier years.
I had peaked his desire to enter the soft porn artistic realm and he became more free spirited with his drawings. He eventually migrated to hard core porn in the months that followed. Louie’s favorite subject was Betty Boop, who for her time, was a sexually titillating cartoon character. Betty made her first appearance on August 9, 1930 in the cartoon, Dizzy Dishes.
One day I received a complete nude drawing of Marilyn Monroe in the mail from Lou, later to be followed by other nudes and a Betty Boop drawing in a sexual situation. Lou-pop was hitting home runs with his money shots. When my wife and I visited him, he would respectfully wait until Amy left the room, and then he would quickly pull out his latest naughty drawings and wait for my response, in which I was always encouraging him to do more of. He had a lot of fun with these heroines of his youth and was finally able to express his sexual love and desires for this much repressed era.
Our child within always needs acknowledgment throughout our lives. In time we would get a holiday card of Betty Boop or some other voluptuous blond in various tantric like positions from Louie. They always had a fun context and I found them to be very innocent as lovemaking usually is. Lou and Uncle Gus are examples of how we can age gracefully in our modern time. They used their expression of sexual desire as a way of adornment and compliments to women’s bodies. In our society’s schizoid integration of sex and morality, it seems that we must wait until our senior years to reveal our natural desire of affection for each other.
He started drawing around the age of 85, first interpreting TV Guide images, cartoons, ads and later progressing to the Smithsonian and other more refined magazines. Lou-pop had no art training during his life. Only the desire to express life as best as he could. I would call him an Outside artist. Louis Dominic Colagreco died on September 22, 2009 at the age of 93. RIP
Mr. John
Two Brunettes
Louie Porn
Nude Boop
Lou-Pop Porn
Sexometer
Lou-Pop
Melissa Norbeck
Posted by Melissa Norbeck
I just don’t get it! You think things are going pretty well with a guy, and you think it may actually have the potential to turn into something, but no, he just stops calling. What makes a guy decide not to call or come around anymore? What turns men off? Is it a girl who gets too drunk, a girl who does drugs, a girl who has kids, a girl who talks about an ex, or maybe a girl who’s too clingy? Really, I’d like to know.
I consider myself pretty picky when it comes to men. However, I’m not saying I always make the right choices; I definitely picked some bad ones. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever picked the right one. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I’m single. Getting married was never really high on my priority list (obviously, since I’m still not married, and I’m 33). Going to college, receiving a degree, and starting a career were important goals I set for myself. Now that I have earned two degrees and began my career, I am focused on buying my own house. I feel like the relationship and marriage thing will fall into place when the time is right. Society looks at those who are single like there’s something wrong with them. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Why are you single?” or “You’re pretty. How come you don’t have a boyfriend?” It kills me because many of the people who ask those kinds of questions or who are in relationships shouldn’t even be in the relationships they’re in. Besides, what’s wrong with being single?
But anyway, except for the few long term boyfriends I’ve had, the times I start talking to guys and actually like them (which is rare), it just ends. I’m curious what makes certain guys stay with certain girls and what make other guys want to move on so quickly. There are many people who are in relationships and many guys willing to be in relationships, but I always seem to find the ones who don’t want relationships. Maybe I am too picky. Maybe I let the good ones get away. Maybe I give off the vibe that I don’t want a relationship. Oh, and I’ve heard I’m unapproachable. That’s a good one. The guys who are interested in me, I’m not interested in them. I mean it’s not hard to find a boyfriend; it’s just hard to find a good one. Also, I think many guys are mostly looking to just get laid. If a girl gives it up the first night, the guy usually doesn’t call since he already got what he wanted. But if a girl doesn’t give up enough, the guy doesn’t call anyway because why does he want to bother with a girl who won’t have sex with him. And guys say we’re hard to understand.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my life, and I enjoy being single (most of the time). I just want to know what the deal is!! So – all you men out there – what turns you off?
Camden, New Jersey 2010
Posted By John Gialuco
Well Happy New Year everyone! Good news! On the last week of 2009 the Camden Courier Post announced that the murder rate in Camden was down 40%. This is wonderful news.
However on January 2, 2010, I received a phone call from Shorty at 5 am that someone broke into High Voltage Al’s house and tried to beat him up. Well Voltage, who is 73 years young, was forced to defend himself, in his own home, by beating up the perpetrator, who I will call Puffer, with a channel lock pliers.
Mr. John’s tip #1 for the New Year is that you don’t need to have a a gun in your house but a well prepared tool box… a 14 inch pipe wrench (preferably made of aluminum which is lighter for the ladies to swing), a 12 ounce claw hammer, a couple of long screw drivers (12 inches for children and 20 inches for adults) for those challenging dueling moments, a small first aid kit and a power stapler which should be plugged in at all times in your dining room. It’s a very accurate tool for those sprinters who are circling around the dining room table. Not to mention clipping the childrens drawings from school around the house. You might also want to get a small tape recorder or mp3 player. And just to keep the police on their toes, an oven timer so as to show the cops, if and when they arrive, that they took a little to long coming to your rescue.
To continue. So someone had called the cops and fortunately for Voltage, who carries a small tape recorder in his pocket, recorded the whole tussle so that when the cops arrived, in a timely fashion, he just played the recording to the police. The police told Voltage that he legally defended his life and home and so the cops proceeded to take the Puffer to jail, where he presently is (now 7 am or so on Saturday). Puffer will have to pay Voltage back all the monies for the damages, a broken window, door damage, lock replacement and some furnishings inside. The funny thing is that Puffer was staying there. You see Voltage doesn’t tolerate anyone using drugs in his home and when Voltage found a crack pipe in Puffer’s room he told Puffer to leave and Voltage changed the front door locks. This subsequently led to the break in and assault upon Voltage. Since I haven’t gone into Camden as of yet I will get a clearer story later on today. BTW thanks to Dizzy, who Amy and I celebrated New Years day with at a wonderful dinner in Chinatown, told me there was a money dispute between Voltage and Puffer brewing in the wind.
I have learned a lesson today and that is that we often get advanced notice of trouble in the air but we tend to dismiss it or not want to get involved, as I chose to do. But it came to me anyway. I didn’t feel it was my business to interfere and rightly or wrongly this event had its repercussions. I might have been able to mitigate Puffer’s anger beforehand, he certainly expressed his anger to me earlier last week…who knows? Puffer, despite his present situation, has shown me that he is a very good mechanic ( he always wanted to learn something he didn’t understand), he can repair almost anything and he always returned anything he borrowed from me. Puffer can be very responsible and direct. We all become very complex as we grow older, a mixed bag for sure. Whatever you take from this story be aware that most people, whatever their station in life, are willing to learn and make up for their wrong decisions. But it can be a tiresome process.
Live long and Prosper in our new year. Mr. John
…….To learn more about the chronicles of a Camden, New Jersey landlord, log on to www.camdenchronicles.com…………..
The Prophecy
Posted By Mikel Elam
“Numbers and letters may fitly be called eyes” Alan Ginsberg
……..I have a kindred spirit in another well known artist by the name of Francesco Clemente. We share in several ideals. Words can be great inspiration for future paintings, as I have always been an avid reader. I’m fascinated with the concepts of hidden messages. In my life numbers, letters and passages have become fodder for my imagination.
In this painting, there is a woman who is in a meditative state of consciousness. A place of relaxation and exploration of her future objectives. Something unexplainable is happening to her. Perhaps it occurs in her subconscious. It’s leading her in a certain direction. She clutches a tool for choosing her fate.
This story is one I created for this painting, yet as important to me is the viewer’s interpretation which can be quite different and equally as valuable.
My work has been a constant exploration of the mind’s eye, intermixed with the conscious world.
In fact eyes are the windows to the soul. It’s the place where breathing leads to meditation and ultimately to transformation.
…….To learn more about Mikel’s work log on to www.mikelelam.com……..
Women And Weapons
When I look at these photographs, I think 2 deadly weapons: women and guns………….
Also, they are 2 things that most men like: women and guns………..
Ready
They are definitely sexual, and in a way, playful……………
Danny Brant
Posted By Danny Brant
I think when growing up, I received a lot of harassment which was beyond my control, for being androgynous. Since first grade, kids would ask me in the school yard if I was a boy or a girl. At that time I had short hair and obviously my mother dressed me in all little boys clothing. When your a child it hurts, and you don’t know why. I went through stages like the time I tried to cut my hair short or wear baggy clothing. It seemed no matter what I tried, I was still the pretty boy in baggy clothes. To me it was all dress up. When I got older, I decided that you can’t fight nature and I was happy when I reached puberty and was able to start experimenting with my look. My confidence isn’t just ego. Its mixed with vulnerability and fear. If I’m not sure who I am then the rest of the world can’t be either. I have no choice but to walk into a room and make sure all eyes are on me and make my presence known. I think confidence is the sexiest thing anyone can have. I’ve never dated a type. But I have dated many men that have had the balls to approach me. Being androgynous is difficult. The whole world wants to figure you out. If they can’t it scares them. People stare at me sometimes because they are fascinated and I love the attention. Straight men are confused that they are attracted to me, and women are envious of my poise and femininity. But I’m just me. I don’t want to live a restricted life anymore because I have no boundaries. Why should I live by the social stereotypes of either sex. Why should anyone? I let people see what they want me to be when they look at me. Everyone has both male and female qualities. I’m strong, protective of my loved ones, sensitive, sensual, aggressive, and I am Danny. Hear me Roar!
Danny Brant
I have many sides and interestingly enough it manifests itself in various types of hand writings. A male with all caps, that I use only when my hand is tired. Isn’t that funny that I let the man handwriting handle the hard stuff. I have a soft, flowery, romantic style that is feminine that I use the most. I have a bubble print which is more boyish. And I have a bubbly cursive that is more girlie, when I‘m writing notes to someone and want to be cutesy. I sometimes dot those I’s with hearts. My many sides include the man that opens doors for all my female friends. Who also enjoys buying someone a drink, and lifting heavier weights than big guys. Its my female side that gives bedroom eyes, lips that pout, tosses hair, and eats men for breakfast. I have days that I don’t want to shave. So I wear flats, with a button down, slightly open shirt so that everyone see my toned chest. On those days, I definitely feel more masculine, especially in my mannerisms. Then there are days when I get more dressed up and become more self conscious of certain things, but still have that extra something in my step. No matter what I’m me. Whether at the gym or on the treadmill, I walk with a bounce in my step, in my short shorts, so my pony tail sways from side to side. I walk into the locker room, take off my shirt, flex my abs, and feel a stern look come over my face to make sure everyone knows I’m all man.
For a long time I felt like a living doll when I was modeling, because I couldn’t be flawed. No one wanted to see the real me, they all picked a side. And I was forced to be that side with them, because that is all they wanted to see. And if they saw female, they’d ask why I hadn’t shaved my chest. If they saw male, they’d wonder why I had a purse with me. It was exhausting.
Being Danny Brant
I never knew my body until the past couple of years. I didn’t know how to fully enjoy the act of sex. I couldn’t relax and feel comfortable being in control. Sex was always about the other person being turned on. I rarely craved sex, because It was so one sided. And I was too concerned with looking sexy the whole time. It was once said, that even though Marilyn Monroe was the number 1 sex symbol, she did not know how to use her body during real sexual moments. That statement could have easily described me.
I’m learning to use my sexuality to enjoy myself rather than others. Where I once felt like a doll for the world, I’m beginning to treat men like my dolls. I’ve started to learn to take charge and that its okay to have sex, not just be sexy. I’m also overcoming the idea that casual sex is bad.
Danny With Chains
I recently met two amazing people. They have opened my eyes to a new freedom and sexuality that I haven’t experienced before. To reference the late great Marilyn Monroe, I am reminded of the working threesome she was in with two lavish young gay actors for a brief period. They both find me sexy. And appreciate my femininity, as much as my male body. Sometimes they call me she and sometimes they call me he. And I don’t care either way. I’ve never felt more accepted or sexy to MYSELF. Its easy to be sexy to someone else. Or to act sexy onstage or in a photograph. But when I’m with them I feel completely free of restrictions and boundaries. Which is what being androgynous is all about. One is an artist and photographer, the other is an actor and writer. They are so smart, and they know so much about things I never had the chance to know, because no one ever gave me the chance. I let everyone think that all I was, was pretty. And they believed that all I was, was pretty. Some refuse to stop at the surface. They see the inner beauty, my strength, my capabilities, my talents, my creativity, and they also see my vulnerability and my weaknesses. That is why I feel so different with them. I no longer need to have different roles, just one. Me. With them, I can be unshaven in sweats and hairy or I can be glamorous and in stilettos. When I’m with them, I no longer need to consciously monitor my behavior. I feel uninhibited. After being in a horrible marriage for 3 years, and trying to control every aspect of my life into something specific and trying to cut off parts of myself, this new feeling is amazing, because they already have each other. I don’t have that, all or nothing feeling that you can get when you like someone. I know I’ll never fully have either of them, so it alleviates the pressure of trying. I also know, they expect nothing more of me, than for me to be the way I am, so I don’t feel the need to be anything else. But I know they care about me and want me to be the best I can be and do whatever I want. The best part… is that when I sleep between them, I can turn to either side and be spooned. Isn’t that heaven? I may not have found out how to be a man or a women but I’m finally learning how to be free.
Tease
Selfy
Posted By Alejandra Guerrero
I have this series I’ve been producing for a while called “Dressing Rooms.” Basically, I am trying on clothes and taking photos while doing so, in all sorts of different stores and dressing rooms, in various cities where I travel. The idea came to me in 2004, when I saw this gorgeous Valentino dress at a Filene’s Basement in Chicago. Even though it was a discount store it was still 2000 dollars!
I was carrying my first digital camera, and it occurred to me to take a photo wearing the dress. I showed the picture to a friend who lived close by, a make-up artist with Nars, and I thought about re-doing the shot but a little bit more glamorous. So he did my hair and make up and I returned to the store and told the lady at the dressing room to let me take some photos, so that my boyfriend would see how great it looked, so he would buy it for me.
Some time later my passion for shopping and taking photos blended together as I kept doing the same type of guerrilla shots, of course not telling anyone I was doing so, trying clothes on, being seductive, provocative, funny, ironic or whatever mood I felt and trying of course not to get caught. In my mind I thought if I couldn’t have the clothes, I can at least have a photo of me wearing them. Sometimes I have tried clothes I’d never wear or I would love to wear, ranging from lingerie, trashy, couture and ready to wear fashion.