ghostly white

ARTSBAR@Rissei is an annual large exhibition of student work from art majors around the Osaka and Kyoto area of Japan. It was also an opportunity to have your works seen by future collectors and other art lovers.  It was good to see how much dedication was put into the show by the students, in fact the craftsmanship was quite high in many of the works but that is something I do notice here in Japan. There is great commitment to making...

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Does it still hurt? Should it still hurt?

Walking through a trendy artsy student area one lazy Sunday in Kyoto, I entered this famous bookstore that is a famous landmark in the area. I found many interesting things, graphic zines, rare comics, out of print journals etc. Stacked to the gills with narrow passages in the way many bookstores are here, I came to the children's book section. Glanced down and saw Chibi Kuro Sanbo staring back at me. The title in my limited scope of Japanese can...

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Alice Yard 4 x 4 Anniversary

Alice Yard celebrates it 4th anniversary with a collection of events.  PRESS RELEASE http://aliceyard.blogspot.com/ ALICE YARD FOURTH ANNIVERSAY CELEBRATION EVENTS DATE: FRIDAY 24th September – October 1st September 2010 is Alice Yard’s fourth anniversary as an independent space for creative experiment. This year we mark the occasion with 4x4, a programme of events focusing on Alice Yard’s regional network, and our creative collaborators...

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What to do if you are an artist.

So you're an artist and there are many things they didn't teach you in art school. Many things you have to figure out for yourself. The thing is that if you happen to be living in a world capital this isn't as much a problem as the art world may be bigger and more accessible or at least there is more of it. What if you don't live in an art capital or what if figuring it out is a steep learning curve .... Emma Taylor on accreditedonlinecolleges.com has compiled a stellar list of videos from TED which discuss Art. TEDtalks drew my attention on YouTube...

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Duppy Art: stories in clay

Ah the wonders of social networking. I wanted to find out if there were any persons in or connected to the Caribbean making animations or comics trying to develop some cultural identity through their work. I got a response from one person: Scally Ranks. Clicking the links to his videos was a surprise because if I expected animation, I didn't really expect clay animation. Why, because I associate it mainly with UK's Aardman Studios. 'Wallace and Gromit' and such. When a group becomes associated with a particular material or method, the aesthetics...

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A VOICE AND ITS THOUSAND WORDS: Michael Thompson

Around Facebook and Flickr Michael Thompson's designs, images, politics by beauty drifted into my consciousness. Again the connection emerged with design and beauty being used for political expression. Is this this a new route? Will design effectively replace the political voice of Painting in Jamaica? Is the accessability of Design replacing the often high-browness of Fine Art? I asked Michael a few questions and he gave me his thoughts. Can you...

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The far reach of William Kentridge

Last year I saw this film made by one of the recent graduates of Edna Manley College, Dwayne Scott.I thought immediately that this artist has been influenced by William Kentridge.Its hard not to be I suppose when Kentride's aesthetic and method is ideal for the artist without very much access to hi-tech equipment and lets face it very few media artists working in third world nations have that kind of access. It is also ideal for the artist who is...

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People are still painting (Part 1).

Painting by Yukiyo MiyakeWe travelled way into the quiet suburbs of Kyoto. Found our way into the large concrete buildings which housed the graduation show at Kyoto City University of Arts. Slowly worked our way from the ground floor to the top while peaking into doors to discover what art there was. The first room was found only by the accident of going into the wrong building. In a set of connected...

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Remembering Kumina

Its funny, though I am a visual artist, I cannot remember going to museums or galleries as a child. The dress-up occasion for my family was going to see the new Pantomime in December and attending the National Dance Theatre Company’s (NDTC) Season of Dance. Though I drifted out of touch with it during my high school and college years my memory was renewed in 2008. Now 17 months in Japan, one of the last cultural events I attended in Jamaica was...

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The GO-SEE for ARTISTS

To borrow from America’s Next Top Model, recently I went on gallery 'go-sees' in Kyoto. With my travel-size portfolio in hand and some long-overdue courage, I set out to find a gallery. The courage was needed as this experience was not one I ever really had to do before in Kingston. In Kingston, the art world is interconnected and every one knows or knows of somebody and their work. Gallery owners or curators are not too far away or out of your...

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Sheena Rose's Town

What is Town about and how did it get its name? “Town” is an animation that is about a female figure depicted by myself who decides to go to Bridgetown. She is surrounded by some silhouettes and in them are words, outlining personal problems, thoughts and issues we face in our daily lives. The more I look into the culture of Bridgetown and the behaviour of some Barbadians it could also be said that the words could even represent some forms of gossip....

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