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Comparing The Assemblage Works Of Bernard Pras' With The Originals




above: Clint Eastwood movie still from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Photo on the left, Bernard Pras art on the right. Composited by If It's Hip, It's Here.

French Artist Bernard Pras, born in 1952, reinterprets well-known images and icons with his own assemblages of specifically chosen found objects. His inspiration includes other fine art like well-known paintings by masters like Guiseppe Arcimboldo, Edvard Munch, Salvador Dali, and Japanese woodcut artist Hiroshige. Famous photos of personalities such as Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Che Guevara, Mao Zedong and pop culture icons like Porn star Lolo and martial arts master Bruce Lee, also serve as muses for Pras. By recreating these images with specifically chosen various objects, he adds a layer of meaning beyond the initial subjects.

The pieces shown here are a small indication of Pras' large body of work. He creates impressive large installations and sells cibachrome prints in additional to originals of his work at various galleries.


above: Bernard Pras with one of his pieces (photo by Bernard Levy)

The text from the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna accompanying their Arcimboldo exhibit reads:

After an extensive and wide-ranging training, the artist Bernard Pras slowly began to focus on portraiture while experimenting with many different techniques. We were particularly interested in his photographed “composite portraits” of famous, frequently long-dead personalities such as King Louis XIV of France, Salvador Dali, Albert Einstein, Lolo, or Dutronc, for which he selected composite elements that helped explain the sitter’s character or the reason for his or her fame. However, Pras adds an extra dimension of complexity: he distributes the individual elements that constitute his portraits in rooms - frequently locations chosen with great care - that participate in the creation of the composite artworks.

But in the end it requires a camera lens to bring them together in a photograph, and to turn them into recognizable portraits. He makes use of anamorphosis, which is then retracted by the camera’s lens. This is not the place to reflect on the pool of associated components he draws on. However, the resulting images are so powerful that one feels as though someone has fully understood Arcimboldo’s method of composite art and has catapulted it into the present.
In these large-scale compositions, seemingly filling the space of his studio in a chaotic and haphazard way, Pras is able – with the aid of his skill in rendering perspective and his unrivalled photographic eye - to breathe life into his imaginary portraits that document a sense of irony and humour.(source: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)

I thought it would be of interest to you to see the original images that serve as the 'templates' for Bernard's work, which I managed to locate through hours of research and net surfing.


above: Edvard munch's the scream, bernard pras' scream, pras' Lolo and a photo of the late Lolo.

They appear above his pieces as opposed to side by side (as I showed above) so you can see the interpretation, click on them to enlarge them, and by comparison, perhaps appreciate them more.

Edvard Munch's 'The Scream':

B. Pras' 'The Scream':


Giuseppe Arcimboldo's "Summer", 1573:

B. Pras' "Summer":


Portrait of King Louis XIV:

B. Pras' King Louis XIV:


Hiroshige's famous woodcut, the Great Wave:

B. Pras' Great Wave:


Fantomas Poster:

B. Pras' Fantomas:


Salvador Dali's self portrait:

B. Pras' Dali:


Clint Eastwood in the Good, The Bad and The Ugly:

B.Pras' Clint Eastwood:


Famous photo of martial arts expert Bruce Lee:

B. Pras' Bruce Lee:


Photo of Marilyn Monroe:

B. Pras' Marilyn Monroe:

Photo of Che Guevara:

B. Pras' Che Guevara:


Photo of Chairman Mao Zedong:

B. Pras' Chairman Mao Zedong:


Lolo, the late porn star:

B. Pras' Lolo:


Peruvian Man stock photo by Keith Levit:

B.Pras' The Peruvian:


Albert Einstein photo (flipped horizontally from original):

B. Pras' Albert Einstein:


Bernard also creates variations on his own assemblages and gives them a different 'flavor' by choosing different objects with which to composite. Take a look at these four versions of his Cat woman:

above: clockwise from upper left; Cat woman in red, Cat woman, Cat woman-Africa, Cat woman-Caddy

most of the images shown are directly from the artist. Others are courtesy of the VVDM gallery.

Be sure to see more of Bernard Pras work at the various links listed below.
•Official site for Bernard Pras
•Bernard Pras on Wikipedia
•Bernard Pras on artnet
•Bernard Pras on artprice.

The ISA 120 Luxury Yacht Really Floats My Boat




The ISA 120 really is one of a kind. The sophisticated looking and technologically advanced yacht was built in the 45,000 square foot International Shipyard in Ancona, Italy. It is a streamlined, slim design with 3 decks and spacious, well-designed interiors. The ISA 120 has avant-garde propulsion and stabilization systems, and truly exceptional performance in addition to its stunning looks.

Jason Higgins' Hog Shop. Pearls For Swine.


above: Blogworthy cookie cutters, Fetal bites are shaped like embryos.


Hogmalion & Company is the fun and twisted wit of one man, Jason Higgins. Self described as embracing a Trinitarian philosophy, bowing down to Amy Goodman, John Waters, and the late, great Mr. Whipple (1916-2007), his online store has products to match his obviously sick, but sophisticated sense of humor. Playing on politics and pop culture, The Hog Shop offers gifts guaranteed to make cynics smile.

ArchiTech's Future Perfect: Mid-Century Modern Design Drawings



above: Henry P. Glass, Wacker Plaza Lobby - View From Entrance
Pencil on tracing paper, 1955, 16 x 21 inche
s

ArchiTech is a historically comprehensive commercial gallery of architectural art, in Chicago's River North gallery district. Their recent show, Future Perfect: Mid-Century Modern Design Drawings opened January 9 and ends this weekend on May 30, 2009.



The majority of the works in the exhibition are those of late Chicagoan architect and designer, Henry P. Glass (for which the gallery also serves as the representative of the estate) but the show also includes a few works by Vincent Raney, Bertrand Goldberg and R.G. Martelet.

David Jameson, the gallery owner, describes the exhibit as follows:
Mid 20th Century Modernism's most flamboyant designers. Industrial and architectural drawings from post-war to post-moon landing.

Utopian visions were nothing new to America's architects and designers after World War II. However, triggered by an explosion of affordable real estate and hopeful consumerism, manufacturers of the post-war era followed an entirely different design approach. This new philosophy of sensuous shapes envisioned furniture, lamps and radios as almost living beings that could run out to the buyers' car.

Henry P. Glass was perfectly suited to this new visual language. Freed from his Nazi prison camp, he began his design career in America with drawings that practically walked off the paper and into production.

Television and tourism helped transform the new reality away from wartime into the future and that's where we wanted to live. Bertrand Goldberg created theaters, hospitals and apartment buildings that could have come from colonies on the Moon.

In the era when a man's vehicle could resemble his rocket ship to get there, Ron Martelet drew speedboats that could transform into their own transport trailers. His Jet-Skis of the 60s looked to be straight out of "Goldfinger."

What began as atomic nightmares transformed into space age dreams in "Techni"-colors that were no longer army drab but instead, pink, aqua and hues never before classified. Mid-Century Modernism was something completely different.

Here are some drawings from the gallery exhibit. Please click on the images to enlarge:


above: Henry P. Glass, Kling Studios Lobby
Pencil on tracing paper, 1946, 18 x 23 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, Kling Studios Director's Office
Pencil on tracing paper, 1946, 18 x 23 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, Hotel Flamboyant Typical Cottage,
Graphite on Paper, 1949, 21 x 42 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, Hotel Flamboyant
dimensions unknown


above: Henry P. Glass, Design for Hairpin Chair
Pastel and ink on toned paper, Circa 1940s, 9 1/2 x 15 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, DH1 Laminated Plywood Chair
Prismacolor on paper collage, 1966, 10 1/4 x 12 inches


above: 1958 Chair, Graphite on tracing paper, 1958
11 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, Night Table Lamp
Graphite on tracing paper, Circa 1949, 16 x 13 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, Desk Lamp
Graphite on tracing paper, Circa 1949, 16 x 13 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, Swingline Desk and Armchair
Pastel and colored pencil on tracing paper, 1949, 16 x 13 inches


above: Henry P. Glass, Eastern Knitters Sales Room
Watercolor and collage on toned paper with shaped mat, 1946, 20 1/2 x 30 inches


above: Vincent Raney, Detail of Theatre for Los Banos
Pencil on drafting linen, 1947, 15 x 16 inches


above: R.G. Martelet, Detail of Design B (Boat/Trailer Combination)
Prismacolor and chalk on toned paper, 1961, 16 x 30 inches


above: Bertrand Goldberg, Architect; Henry Gould, Delineator, San Diego Theater, La Jolla Marker on artist's board, 1969, 12 1/2 x 17 1/2 inches

click here to see more of David's notes on the Exhibition:


above: ArchiTech Gallery Owner David Jameson, photo by Jay King

ArchiTech Gallery

730 North Franklin Street
suite 200
Chicago, IL, USA
60654

Making Wit Of Waste And Light Of Weight: Wendy Gold's Art de Toilette




In 2007, I wrote a post about Wendy Gold's witty bathroom scales. As did many a design and trend blogger. Since then, Art de Toilette (which consists of her bathroom seats and covers in addition to scales), has grown and evolved, and the design of the bathroom scales changed as well, so it was time to do an updated post on her products.

Many a mommy blogger has mentioned her scale for pregnant women (shown later in this post) and you may have seen some of her other scales at various boutiques and galleries, but her special custom toilet seats are really worth a look.


In 2001, professional artist and graphic designer, Wendy Gold launched her toilet seat line with a high profile art opening in San Francisco. Since then she's been commissioned by art collectors, hotels, restaurants and businesses worldwide. Gracing art de toilette™ seats are such famous buttocks as Jack Nicholson, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Fred Segal. They make great unique gifts and commemorative items - even celeb Sean Penn has commissioned the seats as gifts for Jude Law and John Travolta.

Wendy's seats are hand made and one of a kind and she'll work with you to come up with the concept and design. Contact her for pricing and more information.

To date Wendy has sold over 200 toilets seats and covers. Here are some examples (courtesy of Wendy):














Wendy expanded her line of bathroom art to include eight custom-designed bathroom scales in 2003. The line now contains ten (three of which have no numbers) and can be found at select boutiques and gyms across the country. The 'Bun In The Oven' scale, designed to put some levity in the sometimes harrowing weight gain of pregnancy, seems to be one of her most popular and is the first scale shown below.

Bun In The Oven:

Affirmation Station:

Bittersweet:

Down For The Carb Count:

The Confessional:

The Moment Of Truth:

Ignorance Is Bliss:

Shrine To Sweet And Salty:

Willpower:

Work It:


Prices for the bathroom scales are $95.00 USD. You can buy them online here.

Some of the other online stores that carry her scales include:
Jennifer Kaufmann
Uncommon Goods

Wendy holds a bachelor of arts from San Francisco State University and runs art de toilette™ from her studio with her dog "slim" as her chief creative consultant. Visit her design site here.

Art de Toilette

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