Thursday, May 5, 2011

Atropolis in Review


Hi all, sorry my post is late this week. I saw that John put in his 2 cents about Artropolis and since I blogged about it last week, I thought I'd share my feelings on the event this year. Honestly, I wasn't as blown away as I was last year. I felt like there was a lot of art that I didn't care to know much about with only a few memorable gems. But I'll focus on the positive instead of the negative. My favorite gallery by far was Woolff Gallery in London. A lot of their artists use 3D elements to create their pieces, making them somewhat like sculptural paintings. Please be sure to check out the artists they represent at http://www.woolffgallery.co.uk/
I was really intrigued by almost all of the works, from these beautiful porcelain flowers to hundreds of paint strips hanging on wires to huge works made entirely from rubics cubes, but the most intriguing was Zac Freeman's. He uses junk and found objects to create portraits that from a distance, could fool you to thinking they are paintings. In fact, my friend and I were getting so into the piece they had at the show, the gallery owner began to think we could actually afford to buy something. He even asked, in his British accent, "Do you get to London often?" "Oh, not too often..." we replied. And then he started to explain where they are located (on Oxford St), as if we'd have a clue. Ha. Anyway, I really enjoyed Woolff's artists and I hope you do too.

18 comments:

  1. This isn't a painting? He had me fooled for sure. It's crazy how it has the appearance of a paint effect and its actually real objects. Artropolis was crazy, I didn't go last year so I can't compare it to this year but there was some good stuff. But you're right there was also some art that was... interesting.

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  2. can't offer much of a comment here, since I've never been to the show and know nothing about it. However, the picture you provided is definitely cool art. also, like the above post, I also thought at first glance it was a painting.

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  3. The junk and found objects that this artist uses to create portraits is amazing. He definitely fooled me to thinking it was a painting.

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  4. I wish I could've seen what everybody keeps talking about at Artropolis! This is really great. I love art that isn't quite what it seems.

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  5. I wonder how long it took him to make this? Very intriguing!

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  6. I wasn't impressed either. I commented on John's post and I think the last two shows were better. I just felt like the show was dead and not as compelling. I don't speak for all the work of course but for many I felt this way. The Woolffs gallery was cool and there was also a gallery with an artist who painted on stainless steel panels with this fluorescent paint that the gallery owner explained glowed in the dark. I thought that art was cool. The NEXT portion was also lacking and I was upset because it seemed like there was less to see in that section in comparison to the last two years. Hopefully next year will be better.

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  7. Wow. What a beautiful piece! What did he make it out of?

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  8. *sigh*, next year I will have to try and get over there. It sounds cool.

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  9. Maybe I should put this gallery on my summer itinerary. I like your story about meeting him... on the rare occasion someone mistakes me for rich, it's very awkward.

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  10. Seems like a cool show, I should probably make an effort to make it out there.

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  11. I wish I went! But definitely next year! The Woolff gallery work is amazing to me! I too wonder how long each piece took to do and what their process was for it.

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  12. Very neat and quite beautiful when the details are taken into consideration. I really enjoy the whimsical qualities that this work has. I am inspired to create something like this as a side project, seems like it would be a very cost efficient way to create something by just gathering materials like this over time.

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  13. Wow yeah, this is pretty neat. Now i'm disappointed I couldn't go.

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  14. Awesome. I always wondered how one got to designing this and then actually finding the right pieces.

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  15. If this is what Artropolis looks like on an off-year, I can't wait to see it when it really gets it gameface on!

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  16. For it being my first time going to Artropolis this year, I really enjoyed myself. I suppose I have nothing to compare it to. On another note, image you posted in fantastic. Looking at contemporary works really intrigues me, because it gives me a cacophonous yet liberating feeling about art.

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  17. It's funny how I feel like I saw just about everything there, yet managed to miss this one! Really cool.

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  18. I really thought this was a painting when I first took a glance at the picture. Cool example!

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