Laura Kurgan comes to NU!

Don't miss well-known designer Laura Kurgan's guest lecture tonight at 6 p.m. The lecture, which will be held at 105 Shillman Hall is sure to be filled to capacity so get your seats early. The event is free and all are welcome to the discussion.

The following is a link to her design website.
http://www.l00k.org/

This link provides more background about Kurgan's career.
http://www.arch.columbia.edu/start.php?pageData=8882/23/4/1853/

Artist's block

An art block recently opened in the South End last week allowing for artists to reside within the same building. Although it is not big enough to house all of the South End's talents, it will offer affordable rates for some struggling artists. In addition, the close proximity to other artists will be sure to get you noticed around the art community.

The following is an article published by the Metro.

http://boston.metro.us/metro/local/article/ArtBlock_opens_in_South_End/7062.html

Guerilla Girls on Tour

The Guerrilla Girls are coming to Northeastern University on Wednesday, February 21st at 7 p.m. in AfterHours in the Curry Student Center. They will be doing a performance called, "Feminists are Funny". There is a link to there website for more information.

www.guerrillagirlsontour.com.

Max Beckmann's Birthday

German artist Max Beckmann was born on February 12, 1884. Coincidentally, this was the same year that another famous German artist Franz Marc was born. While Beckmann lived most of his life in Germany, he moved to the United States in 1947. He began teaching art at the School of Fine Arts at Washington University in Saint Louis. His also taught briefly at other art schools like the University of Colorado in Boulder, and the Brookline Museum Art School. Beckmann died two days after Christmas in 1950.

Here is a link for more information about Beckmann's life.

http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_15.html

Franz Marc's Birthday

Franz Marc, a German artist, was born on February 8, 1880. This artist is very original and seems a bit ahead of his time. Although his life was short lived, dying in battle in World War II, he encompasses the cubism movement. He is known mainly for his paintings of animals and his vivid use of color. His artwork becomes more abstract as time goes by. Although he is not widely known in the United States, he is an influential artist in Germany of his time period.

Here is a good link to learn more about Marc's life and to see more examples of his artwork.

http://hs.riverdale.k12.or.us/~dthompso/art/marc/

Stella Johnson

Stella Johnson, a photographer who gave a lecture last Tuesday at Northeastern University, had a lot of great advice for inspiring artists and photographers. The lecture focused on the photographs that will be featured in her upcoming book, Dancing with Turkeys. Johnson enlightened the audience with her tales from exotic locations like Mexico, and Nicaragua.

While she was in these remote locations, Johnson photographed the living conditions of impoverished people as a way of creating a historical marker. She agreed that photographing these people is like photographing a species that is coming close to extinction. The culture in these areas is also beginning to change as more people travel to the areas. These tourist bring new technological advances that these primitive villages have yet to see.

One of the most interesting aspects of the lecture was Johnson's advice to think of a picture in layers. Many artists are concerned with aspects like background space, lighting, and depth. These aspects are also fundamental to photography. A good photographer will be concerned with the rhythm of natural light as well as the layers in the photo. According to Johnson, layers in pictures create depth which is one of the most powerful elements in a composition.

The other important advice Johnson told the audience is to always persevere even if an artist has been rejected multiple times. Johnson was able to travel to these exotic locations via Federal grants. She said she continued to write the grants, and her third attempt was finally accepted. Similarly, Johnson's idea for her book almost never made it off the ground. She pitched the book to all the major publishing companies in America with no luck. Johnson was planning to fund the publication of the book herself until a friend became interested in the idea, and freed up some funds.

Johnson said that representing people's daily lives will never stop being exotic. The experience will never become regular to her. Johnson has her eyes set on the next location for her photography. Some of her interests lay in places like Ecuador, Peru, and Greece. Don't miss her new book, Dancing with Turkeys! Publication should begin as soon as next month!!

Here is a link to her official website.
http://www.stellajohnson.com/

Stella Johnson speaks @ NU

Just a quick reminder for all of you interested in art, photography, and journalism. Stella Johnson will be delivering a guest lecture at Northeastern University tomorrow on behalf of the Art department. Johnson is a photographer and graduate of journalism at Boston University's College of Communication. The lecture will being at 6:00 PM on February 6, 2007 at 105 Shillman Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. Below is a link for more information about Johnson and the event.

http://www.art.neu.edu/events/?eid=12

Happy Birthday Rockwell

Norman Rockwell's birthday was on February 3rd, 1894. Although a New York City native, Rockwell moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the early 1950's. Rockwell first began his art career creating Christmas cards as a teenager and gradually moved up to designing magazine covers in his twenties. He also is widely known for his "Four Freedoms" paintings which were featured in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943. Rockwell created a museum from his studio in Massachusetts known as the Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge.

Here is a link to the official museum website that includes information, pictures, directions, and anything else you could ever want to know about Rockwell.

http://www.nrm.org/

Guerrilla Girls

This is a really cool site created by the group called the Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls create art work that exposes the gender gap and stereotypes that women still face in today's society. These pieces are really clever, creative, and they expose the honest truth of gender inequality in the United States. Furthermore, they use these stereotypes to make larger statements about feminism and art. Some of the pieces are really funny, and other make you really think about the world that we live in.

http://www.guerrillagirls.com/

Dani S