By Andrea Long-Chavez
The recognizable figure of a Latino gardener is a common sight for most Southern California locals. But if you happen to see the cardboard painting of a gardener propped up against a chain link fence or hedge, chances are you’ve just seen the public art of Los Angeles-based artist Rarmio Gomez, Jr.
CultureStrike in partnership with Mariposas Sin Fronteras , End Family Detention and 15 artists from across the country, brings you Visions From The Inside, a visual art project inspired by letters penned by detained migrants.
Mending Baghdad is a four-and-a-half-by-six-and-a-half-foot quilt memorializing Baghdad as it looked during the American bombing on the first nights of the Iraq war. The purpose of the project is to bring people together to do something symbolically curative for Iraq. The artist, Clare Wainwright, worked up the image in about two days, but left it deliberately unfinished.
Another incredible artist determined to change the world for animals is Dana Ellyn. This DC-based artist started being a full-time painter in 2002 after leaving a corporate job. Her paintings do not shy away from showing the exploitation of animals, as well as critiquing society in general. Her paintings are meant to start a conversation, and they are certainly doing that as effective advocacy for animals.
"Cruel" is a book written by Sue Coe, an activist illustrator known for her dedication to animal rights. It continues her mission of shedding light on how animals are mistreated in the food industry. The book is filled with striking paintings and drawings that vividly portray both the beauty and suffering of these animals and the workers who handle them.
Beyoncé delivered an intensely, unapologetic celebration of Black and HBCU culture at the Coachella Festival 2 weekends in a row. Not only were her performances some of the best live performances to date but they sent a pretty significant message to the world.
Here are some assessments of this beautiful demonstration of Blackness and Black Girl Magic:
From BBC News:
Nestled on the banks of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, Santa Catarina Palopó is a small town brimming with vibrant colors and stunning natural views. Despite its natural beauty and cultural heritage, the community struggled with economic development and poverty for years until they had the opportunity to harness the power of art and transform the town.
Can’t say she didn’t warn us: As per her Instagram message last week, Cowboy Carter, the Act II sequel to 2022’s Renaissance, is a Beyoncé album, not a country album.
“Works in Progress” highlights artists across a range of disciplines whose work deals with ecological themes. Considering the particular role that artists play in the climate movement, this column shares their voices and provides a glimpse behind the curtain into their creative processes and experiences.
Established in 2015 in the Tennōzu neighborhood of Tokyo, and attracting industry professionals and art enthusiasts from both Japan and abroad, PIGMENT TOKYO has emerged as an art supply store specializing in the materials and tools used in traditional Japanese painting, such as mineral pigments, washi paper, and brushes. However, it’s more than just a store.
At a gallery within a shopping complex in the South Korean capital, a couple saw paint cans and brushes at their reach and use next to what was actually a finished portrait worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thinking the available paint and brushes was a signal to be a part of the art, they ended up technically vandalizing the artists' work.
As the audience enter, Olivier de Sagazan is pacing the stage, deep in thought. A slight, barefooted figure dressed in suit and tie, he circles in and out the shadows, head bowed, sometimes muttering to himself. As the audience settle and hush, his footsteps gradually become more audible (the floor is mic-ed) and begin to pound like a calling drum.
Yu Hong’s Female Writer, a painted and photographic portrait of the writer Zhao Bo 趙波 (b. 1971), recalls courtly images of idealized beauties. Yu, however, deliberately complicates the perspective in her composition: she asked the sitters for her She series to select photographs of themselves that could be paired with her paintings, meaning that the images together convey dual female perspectives, both the artist’s and the subject’s.
During a cold January morning in 2020, Animanaturalis, a nonprofit group focused on ending the suffering of animals across Spain and Latin America gathered to protest the use, production, and sale of fur in Spain. In a blog post on their website, the group discusses the horrid living conditions on fur farms as well as statistics and alternatives related to fur sales (Animanaturalis, n.d.).
A 20ft by 9ft scoreboard that reads "Capitalism Works For Me!" and allows visitors to vote on whether Capitalism works in their lives by pressing a button for True or False.
In June 2002, the Israeli Government decided to construct a physical barrier separating Israel and the West Bank. The declared purpose of this (as yet unfinished) 709 kilometers long barrier—which came to be known as Gader Ha’hafrada (The Separation Wall)—was to prevent the entry of Palestinian terrorists from the occupied territories into Israel in order to protect Israeli citizens.
In a collaboration with fellow artist @vyalone on Instagram, Lucinda Hinojos or La Morena as the artist is known recently completed this mural in Phoenix which showcases the Native American culture of the people indigenous to the area. La Morena said in a post about the project on Facebook, "This mural is about reclaiming space, reclaiming our roots, our identity and finding our truth.
Ah, the unsolicited dick pic. Technology has made it all too tempting for men's penises to pop up on a woman's phone while she's reading on the train or walking home from work. This is a fairly recent invention, because who would've taken their rolls of film to the local drug store to get their dick pics developed?
“OUTRAGE: Artists Respond
to the Election of Donald Trump” an online exhibition of art work by 20 artists
https://sites.google.com/site/outrageartistsrespondtotrump/
Art Hazelwood, Aileen Bassis, Patricia Dahlman, Donna Coleman, Anne Dushanko Dobek,
Google is honoring female artists and their stories this International Women’s Day.
On Thursday, the tech company will feature 12 interactive illustrations or “Google Doodles” on the search platform’s homepage. The artists are from 12 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Pakistan and Mexico.
The Quilt was conceived in November of 1985 by long-time human rights activist, author and lecturer Cleve Jones. Since the 1978 assassinations of gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, Jones had helped organize the annual candlelight march honoring these men. While planning the 1985 march, he learned that over 1,000 San Franciscans had been lost to AIDS.