Devastatingly real – Steve McCurry’s monsoon photos from Asia
Steve McCurry is no stranger to success having built a name for himself as one of the world’s most respected photographers. He has won numerous international awards as well as acclaim for his consistent and impactful repertoire and has sold books in the millions across the world. In particular, some of his most talked about works are his Monsoon photographs.
Glamorous and worrying: Steve McCurry’s magic India moments
Steve McCurry – Holu, a festival that welcomes spring, is celebrated with public spraying of colorful powders. Rajasthan, India, 1996
Photographer Steve McCurry has been traveling to various parts of the globe photographing and capturing different subjects and people. His photography has led him down hidden pathways and streets searching for what he calls the magic moment, which is when color, light, and emotion work together in perfect harmony to create a beautiful picture. His search is usually long and could take him weeks. However, of all the places in the world that McCurry has traveled to and resided in, none fascinates him more than India. According to the artist, India has supplied him with more opportunities and magic moments than he has ever experienced in any part of the globe.
Homelessness and the sense of having a home
I-Hsuen Chen – Still Life Analysis II – The Island, Taipei, Taiwan
I-Hsuen Chen is a photographer, artist, and filmmaker that was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan but is now based in Brooklyn, New York. As a photographer, Chen is well known for surveying and photographing foreign objects such as garbage as the main subjects of his photographs. In Still Life Analysis II: The Island, I-Hsuen Chen continues his survey of garbage and unfamiliar objects, which started in his first exhibition titled The Still Life Analysis. In both series, Chen concentrates on collections of typical household objects that a homeless person would have beneath the Civic Boulevard.
Zhang Huan in suit made from raw meat (video)
Zhang Huan – My New York, 2002, Whitney Biennial, New York
Zhang Huan (张洹) is one of China’s best known conceptual and performance artists. In his sculptures and paintings he references the history of his home country. As such, his pieces contain components of political, religious and intellectual messages as well as anonymous portraits and landscapes scenes. Most of his works have mainly been used to promote Chinese culture and to spread a message with the intention of sanitizing the city. In particular, the issue of toilets is very dear to him and it has helped him create one of his most famous performance pieces.
Yeesookyung’s Korean vases: Imperfection gives way to stunning results
Translated Vase Thousand, 2012. Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24K gold leaf. Dimensions variable, Korea Artist Prize, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
Yeesookyung is a South Korean artist living in Seoul. She is known for her complex and enchanting ceramic designs and sculptures. The Translated series series, like many of her works, is made up of shards and fragments of broken ceramic pieces that are carefully pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle. Yeesookyung created her Translated Vase back in 2002 after she observed discarded trash from the ceramic master Lim Hang Taek glimmering in the sunlight. The reflection of light from the shards and the organic forms of the cracks inspired her craft.
To create the Translated Vase, Yeesookyung uses epoxy resin to glue together the different fragments of the broken pots. To make the fissures and the cracks more prominent, Yeesookyung uses 24-carat gold leaf for glazing. The gold acts as the perfect addition to complement the beautifully misshapen fractures of the re-constructed vase.
The biomorphic form of the vessel helps to capture the eye immediately as the repurposed pottery created manages to surpass the original beauty of the vase. The Translated Vase combines the delicate fragility of ceramic pottery with the fortified strength of the glue and the gold, the end result of which is something truly magnificent. Yeesookyung covers the cracks in gold because the Korean word for crack and gold is similar. The use of products that share the same name also helps to add an element of humor to the work.
Yeesookyung’s technique in pottery, as stunning as it may be is not new. For years, artists in Korea have been reconstructing and rebuilding discarded ceramic pieces that would typically be considered trash in other parts of the world. The waste is sometimes restored to create new Korean ceramics while others like Yeesookyung’s are used as art. This art form, known as Kinstukuroi also uses metals such as platinum and silver for the repairing process.
The Translated Vase represents the struggle that all individuals face in life. The cracks on the vase represent the wounds that are formed from the struggle while the gold represents the beauty and maturity that people experience when they overcome suffering. Aside from denoting the suffering, Yeesookyung’s attention to detail helped to break the ceramic tradition that insists on perfection.
Rather than discard a perfect piece, like a master potter would, Yeesookyung chose to create new forms from the useless pieces to emphasize that imperfection can also give way to stunning beauty. It is safe to say that the Translated Vase succeeded in channeling the imperfections and irregularities that exist in nature.
Translated Vase, 2009, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24K gold leaf. Dimensions variable”
Translated Vase (Detail), 2009, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24K gold leaf. Dimensions variable
Translated Vase, 2011, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24k gold leaf, 33 × 32 × 32 cm”
Translated Vase, 2010, Ceramic trash, epoxy, 24 k gold leaf, 34 cm diameter
Translated Vase, 2014, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24-carat gold leaf 44 x 44 x 44 cm
Translated Vase, 2010, Ceramic trash, epoxy, 24 k gold leaf, 61 x 47 x 52 cm
Translated Vase, 2010, Ceramic trash, epoxy, 24 k gold leaf, 44 x 50 x 44 cm
Translated Vase, 2010, Ceramic trash, epoxy, 24 k gold leaf, 37 x 31 x 34 cm
Translated Vase, 2007, Ceramic trash, aluminum bar, epoxy, 24K gold leaf, 43 x 45 x 49cm
Translated Vase, 2008, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24k gold leaf, 89 × 52 × 49 cm
Translated Vase, 2009, Ceramic Shards, Epoxy, 24k Gold Leaf, 160 x 92 x 95 cm
Translated Vase, 2010, ceramic trash, epoxy, 24 karat gold leaf, 135 x 85 x 85 cm”
Translated Vase, 2010, ceramic trash, epoxy, 24 karat gold leaf, 158 x 90 x 90 cm
Translated Vase, 2016, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24K gold leaf, 174 x 128 x 120cm
Translated Vase, 2011, Ceramic trash, epoxy, 24K gold leaf, 66 x 64 x 97cm
Translated Vase, 2009, Ceramic shards, aluminum bars, epoxy resin, 24K gold leaf, 122 x 84 x 81 cm
Translated Vase, 2014, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24K gold leaf, 220 x 110 x 100 cm”
Translated Vase, 2007, Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24K gold leaf, 120 x 210 x 95cm, Collection of National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Installation View of Translated Vase, 2009, Ceramic trash, aluminum bar, epoxy, 24K gold leaf, 85 x 170 x 80cm
Installation View of Translated Vase, 2009, Ceramic trash, aluminum bar, epoxy, 24K gold leaf, 85 x 170 x 80cm
Banned from the Guggenheim Museum: Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s video
Sun Yuan and Peng Yu – Dogs Which Cannot Touch Each Other, 2003, 8 Bull Terriers, 8 Running Machines Without Drive
The video work titled Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other has only recently been removed from Guggenheim Museum’s exhibition series known as Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World. The video series has been met with disapproval and disparagement not only by some art critics but animal lovers and welfare organizations as well. Critics claim that the exhibition would have featured a series of various distinct video presentations depicting instances of unmistakable and unacceptable animal cruelty in the name of art.
Pumpkins & Tulips – Yayoi Kusama’s most outstanding public sculptures
Yayoi Kusama – Pumpkin, 1994, Benesse Art Site, Naoshima, Japan
Celebrating her 90th birthday in 2019, Yayoi Kusama is a leading Japanese artist and legend as far as art is concerned. While she deliberately makes unique pieces that can withstand the wear and tear of the outdoors, she is renowned for reproducing her art in monumental scale when need be. Her career spans over 6 decades and during this time her works have managed to enter the collection of museums such as the New York MoMA, LACMA, Tate Modern and others.
Independent non-profit arts organization established in 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. Projects in 1/3 of the world's countries.
