You May Know Her as Jessa on GIRLS, But Jemima Kirke Is Also A Talented Artist.

above: Jemima stands in front of two of her works (image cropped, courtesy of Warholian)

London-born actress Jemima Kirke, who you may know as the selfish, self-destructive but likeable Jessa on the HBO series GIRLS, also happens to be a fine artist. The 27 year old, who was born hip with a drummer as a father and a mother who owns a vintage boutique, received a BFA in painting from the reputable RISD in 2008 and considers being a fine artist as her real work.

Heroines by Deborah Oropallo At Melissa Morgan Fine Art

above: Deborah Oropallo, Where am I?, 2012, 50 1/2 x 38 1/2 inches, acrylic on paper

Melissa Morgan Fine Art just received artist Deborah Oropallo's newest paintings and works on paper from her latest series “Heroine.” in their Palm Desert Gallery.

Oropallo says of the Heroine series, which was begun in 2012, “The ‘struggle,’ I think, becomes a kind of metaphor for how women in the media have been portrayed, or wished to be portrayed…pre- or post-feminist, depending on the decade. Since the beginning of the comic-book industry in the 1940s, super-heroines have searched for identity on a broader scale. The super-hero fights for justice, but the super-heroine must also fight for equality. These eroticized and deified female characters, conformed as they are to the comics medium’s traditional visual tropes, thus carry out their struggle in a realm of ironic dichotomies—empowered and exploited, funny and tragic, masked and exposed.”

Don't Believe Me?
2012
Acrylic on Canvas, 64 x 49


This is just the beginning.
2012
80 x 60 inches, acrylic on canvas


What have you done?
2012
49 x 64 inches, acrylic on canvas


There's not enough time!
2012
50 1/2 x 38 1/2 inches, acrylic on paper


How can this be possible?
2012
80 x 60 inches, acrylic on canvas


Not even you!
2012
38 1/2 x 50 1/2 inches, acrylic on paper


This can't be happening!
2012
38 1/2 x 50 1/2 inches, acrylic on paper


From Magolia Editions:

"Deborah Oropallo continues her exploration of the iconography of power and costume in a new series of mixed-media works depicting abstracted female forms clad in superhero costumes. Oropallo’s inspiration for these prints was a troupe of female performers in Los Angeles, whose thriving web-based business venture involves dressing up in superhero costumes and enacting live-action comic books. The artist’s digital manipulation of these figures and their outfits zeroes in on ambiguous moments of dressing and undressing, where a metamorphosis, a kind of becoming or un-becoming, seems to be taking place. This ambiguity is heightened by the artist’s removal of nearly any trace of human flesh or faces from each figure, a signature move that destabilizes the work, creating a tension between figuration and abstraction: because so much information has been removed from each image, the fragments and gestures that remain assume both an air of mystery and a critical significance."

In a 2009 essay on Oropallo’s work, Nick Stone writes: “We know that we are decoding these images not because we are sure of what they mean but precisely because we are unsure; from a semiotic point of view, the works’ indeterminacy is what makes them tick. Because the code is not immediately legible, we become aware of its presence, and are confronted by a system which we may not have even been aware that we were using. This tendency to mask and unmask via layers and distortion is a consistent theme for Oropallo: in a 2004 interview she noted, ‘I’m always trying to soften the definition, [to] dissolve the images a little more.’ Beginning with the Feign series and continuing through the works collected here, Oropallo’s work has increasingly honed in on this theme; she has committed herself to a singular exploration of this indeterminacy, the process of blurring, distorting, and erasing information so as to scramble the viewer’s radar. In Feign, the digitally painted figures are recognizable as such, and their gender roles and costumes are fairly clear; it is the surface code, the medium, the code of line and color on a ground, which is being interrupted and jammed. As the figures in Guise become more indistinct and the boundaries of each figure and his or her costume – the boundaries of his or her very his-ness or her-ness – suddenly the codes of gender and power begin to break down and dissolve into one another. And in Wild Wild West, the figures have disappeared completely, as if acid has eaten away at the underlying medium by which these codes are transmitted. In this series it is as if Oropallo is paring each image down in search of the barest minimum of information necessary for our eyes to read into line and shape a link to some conceptual referent. By feeding our internal codecs ever fuzzier and more ambiguous data, she dares us to be sure of the meaning we take from each image.”

Visit the Melissa Morgan Fine Art gallery to see these wonderful works. They are located at 73-040 El Paseo in Palm Desert, CA.

The Mercury Project: Dancers Painted Silver Form Ballet Imagery for the West Australian Ballet's 2014 Program.

To celebrate its Season 2014 launch and Artistic Director Aurelien Scannella's first year of programming, West Australian Ballet collaborated with Artist and Photographer Emma Hack to create a series of striking images for its 2014 program.



WAB commissioned the well-known body illustrator and artist who painted the dancers' g-string clad bodies in silver and then positioned them so that they created human sculptures to represent next years' performances.

Snow White:

A close-up of the apple:


Inspired by the beauty, the fluidity and the smoothness of the element mercury – a metaphor for dance – Emma created a series of images to celebrate Aurélien Scannella’s first curated season. She has also worked with WAB dancer and upcoming choreographer Daniel Roberts on a performance piece which will be unveiled at the company’s launch event on 17 October. Together, Scannella and Hack developed the project to showcase what ballet is capable of.

Radio (that's not a typo) and Juliet:

close-up of lips and chin:


In painting them silver, all dancers merge together as one to create beautiful things. It embraces the traditional elements of ballet by creating silhouettes that are classic looking, paired with something as progressive as body painting and building structures of twisted bodies. It has never been done before.

La Fille Mal Gardée:


Giselle:

detail from above image of Giselle:



Images from behind the scenes, courtesy of The West Australian:





Check out this behind the scenes mini-documentary, the making of 'The Mercury Project':



WAB SEASON 2014


•RADIO AND JULIET: BALLET AT THE QUARRY
7 February > 1 March, Quarry Amphitheatre, City Beach

•GISELLE
9 May > 24 May, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth

•LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
5 September > 20 September, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth
15 October > 18 October, Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra

•SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS
21 November > 14 December, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth

Bookings:
Season Package Subscriptions are available from West Australian Ballet from 10am, 18 October. Call (08) 92140707, go to waballet.com.au, fill in the form inside the Season 2014 Brochure or visit the West Australian Ballet Centre. Individual tickets are available from 18 November.

For Radio and Juliet: Ballet at the Quarry contact Ticketmaster on 136 100, visit waballet.com.au or any Ticketmaster outlet.

For Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardée, and Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, call Ticketek Theatre and Arts Hotline 1300 795 012, visit waballet.com.au or any Ticketek outlet.

See more of Emma Hack's work in these previous posts:

•Emma Hack Takes Body Art To A New Level With Her Latest Collection

•Body Painting Artist Emma Hack Goes "Pop!"

•Some Serious Bodywork. Car Wreck Made Of 17 Painted Bodies by Emma Hack For Anti-Speeding Ad (and A Look Behind the Scenes).

•New Body Art From Emma Hack. Beautiful Women And A Look At Painting Them.

www.emmahackartist.com

New Body Art From Emma Hack. Beautiful Women And A Look At Painting Them.

Body painter Emma Hack recently completed and launched a new series called "Beautiful Women." The "Housewife" and The "Oriental" were both created as a live installation in her Pop-Up Gallery in Adelaide.

"The Housewife" series has been inspired by the stereotypical American housewife depicted in many films of the 50's: her facade is polished and beautiful but, there is a hidden sadness to her posture and a yearning for a life of freedom and happiness.

"The Oriental" series clearly references the work of Vladimir Tretchikoff, in particular his “Chinese Girl” (1953). However in the hands of Hack, the subjects exude an inner strength, through their posture and demeanor. Again, the insertion of birds has been utilized to reference a yearning for freedom.


above: Vladimir Tretchikoff's Chinese Girl served as the inspiration for Emma's Oriental

She painted two canvas backgrounds and two models for these new works and debuted them at her Collectors Dinner last month. As is the case with all her work, Emma paints both the backgrounds and the clothes you see on the models' naked bodies.

The Housewife (3 versions):




The Oriental (4 versions):





Here's a look at the works in progress.

The backdrop for "Housewife" in progress:

The final backdrop for  "Housewife":

Detail:


Painting the "Housewife":





The backdrop for "Oriental" in progress:

The final backdrop for "Oriental":

Detail:


Painting the "Oriental":




The Catherine Asquith Gallery in Melbourne will be showing her Beautiful Women series in from July 9th through July 27th.


all images courtesy of the artist

Don't forget to see these great works by Emma:
•Taking Body Art To A New Level
• Car Wreck Made of 17 Painted Bodies
• POP Art Series


Emma Hack

(Sub) Prime Cuts. Hand Painted Typography Saws by Vault 49

New York graphic design studio Vault 49 added their typography, design and painting skills to some typical old wood handled saws that when mounted on a wall are beautiful and unusual original pieces of art. The results are fabulous, take a look:







Unfortunately, they are not available for purchase.

About Vault 49


Vault49 is an artistic collaboration, a playground, and a creative incubator for innovative design projects. We adapt our approach to each and every brief and bring an open mind to all our projects.

Our broad range of talent attracts clients who want to enjoy the benefits of a highly developed creative relationship but don’t want to be tied down to a particular style or look.

The work we deliver is characterized by a focus on craftsmanship, multi-media and an expressive use of color. In a creative world that is increasingly digital and plagiarized, Vault49’s broad portfolio combines technology with all-important craft and natural ability, giving our work an authenticity that is impossible to replicate.

Underpinning all we do is razor-sharp commercial awareness combined with a healthy commitment to personal creative fulfillment. In short, everyone's happy.