arttravelbug

John Mellencamp: Life, Death, Love and Freedom ACA Galleries, New York City To June 2, 2018 John Mellencamp named his current art exhibition after his 2008 album In late April, John Mellencamp, the highly-acclaimed musician, took another step forward in his dual career as an artist, with the opening of his second NYC exhibit in 3 years. With Life, Death, Love and Freedom, Mellencamp has taken a new direction, adding mixed-media to his painting style. "Heavily influenced by the German Expressionists, such as Otto Dix and Max Beckmann, whose anguish over human brutality and corruption speaks to his deep feelings about social justice, Mellencamp’s imagery takes its inspiration from the same sources as his music: the oppressive authority and social struggles of the working man and woman. But though that foundation is German, the evolved result is decidedly American, with the brash and snappy visual rhythms of our streets, lives, politics and passions. This can be seen in.....

If you are vacationing in or near Tulum, Mexico, you are in for a bit of a retreat, if you like unusual architecture and art. It's called IK LAB. This new gallery creates a unique backdrop for the works it displays, challenging both artists and visitors.  "The space boasts a truly unique character: its walls are curved, its floors undulate, and its massive glass windows and doors are circular, like new moons. Every surface is covered with saplings and vines, sourced sustainably from local jungles, or swaths of smooth faux-concrete whose texture recalls the interior of a shell; living trees and plant life sprout from walls, the ceiling, and the floor. The experience demands mindfulness—you must be barefoot inside, and if you’re not careful, you could lose balance, or worse, trip over a work of art..." [ read more ]. The space was created by Argentinean designer Jorge Eduardo Neira Sterkel, then turned into a gallery by Santiago Rumney Guggenheim. "In ...

The entrance to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice Wikicommons The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a modern art museum situated on the Grand Canal in Venice. One of Italy's most important museums for European and American art of the first half of the 20th century, works in the collection embrace Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. The collection is housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, and has an unusually low elevation on the Grand Canal. Although sometimes mistaken for a modern building, it is an 18th-century palace designed by the Venetian architect Lorenzo Boschetti. The building was unfinished when Peggy Guggenheim purchased in 1949, and was her home for 30 years. Yes, that's a restaurant on the museum'sroof, with Grand Canal views Creative Commons image pennello on Flickr The Peggy Guggenheim Collection also has an interesting backstory. Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim (August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American ar...

As I pondered what image to feature with my first arttravelbug post, I realized I had a personal travel experience that sets the stage perfectly. For fun, I'll wait to see if anyone can figure out the above clue. Once they do, I'll share my story. Welcome to arttravelbug. That's 'art travel bug' (not 'ant travel bug' - as it currently appears on my template!). For quite some time I have been noodling my blogs, current and past, still feeling like I haven't hit the nail on the head about a blog theme that really speaks to what interests me, and what impels me to write. Correction: explore, research, learn, head down rabbit holes, uncover fascinating themes, discover more twists and stories than I can imagine, and capturing these to share with others. I'm not convinced I've found the final solution (hmmm, that sounds apocalyptic, doesn't it?), but I have been able to identify the underlying themes of what drives me forward. It...