Worm Painting

How to paint with worms.

Though I believe there's another technique, in which you first dip the worms in paint, and then set them loose on a canvas.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 09, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Art

Banana duct-taped to wall

Artist Maurizio Cattelan’s latest piece, consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall, sold recently for $120,000.

Gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin defended the work by saying, “It looks like a joke, but step back and look at it again, and it becomes so much more.”

The new owner will receive a certificate of authenticity. However, they’ll also be expected to periodically replace the banana (and presumably the duct tape also). Which begs the question: what did they actually buy? The idea of a banana duct-taped to a wall, apparently.

I'm curious to know how long the owner will actually bother to replace the banana. Twenty years from now, will they still be replacing it every few days?

More info: artsy.net

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 07, 2019 - Comments (8)
Category: Art, Overpriced Merchandise, Bananas

The (upside down?) art of Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew has been in the news lately, but this post isn't about the various scandals besetting him. Instead, it's about the prince's brief foray into the world of art, when he was a teenager.

At the age of 17, he completed an oil painting which he titled "Canadian Landscape." It was displayed at the Windsor Festival, which was an exhibition that gathered together works related to the Royal Family from Tudor times to the present.

I'm sure his painting must have been in color, but the AP image archive has a photo of it in black-and-white. As seen below.



As I was looking at the picture, I kept thinking that it didn't visually make much sense. Of course, perhaps it was intended to be an abstract work, but out of curiosity I flipped it around, at which point it immediately made a lot more sense. At least, I think so. See below for comparison. So, I'm pretty sure that the AP archive has his picture upside-down — and it's had it that way for years.



What I wonder is if this is just a screw-up by the AP archive, or was his painting actually displayed that way? Does Prince Andrew's painting deserve a place in the WU Gallery of Art Hung Upside-Down?

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 22, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Royalty

Juvenile Offender

Throw the book at her!

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 21, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Crime, Toys, Children, 1930s, Postal Services

Dirty diapers as art

Artist Mary Kelly’s 1976 exhibit at the Insitute of Contemporary Art in London consisted of a framed series of soiled liners from her kid’s diapers. Below the fecal stains, she listed what her kid had eaten in order to produce the marks.

The exhibit provoked outrage. Siona Wilson, in her book Art Labor, Sex Politics: Feminist Effects in 1970s British Art and Performance, notes, "Kelly was forced to go into hiding for a time to avoid the unwanted media attention."

More info: vice.com, MaryKellyArtist.com

The Twin Falls Times-News - Oct 17, 1976

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 11, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Babies, 1970s

Deeply Artificial Trees

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 05, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Aliens, Art, Surrealism, Body Modifications, Psychedelic

Upside-Down Art

For quite some time, because I'm an information packrat, I've been collecting examples of art that was accidentally hung upside-down or sideways. I finally deciced to arrange all the examples together and added them to the site as a Gallery of Art Hung Upside-Down.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 01, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Art

Brain Bats of Venus

Just out is the second volume chronicling the improbable career of one of the chief Weirdo artists of all time, Basil Wolverton. Required reading for all WU-vies--and a great gift idea!

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 31, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Surrealism, Eccentrics, Books, Twentieth Century

Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 24

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 26, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, 1930s, Genitals

Nara’s Doodles

A painting by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara recently sold for $24.9 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. This has had an inflationary effect on the value of all his works, including some doodles that he drew ten years ago, on the spur of the moment, on various walls in the Manhattan bar Niagara, where he happened to be drinking. It’s now figured that the doodles are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. More info: CNN

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 19, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Overpriced Merchandise