The symbolic meaning of feathers are often put and read in a spiritual context, like for example feathers in context with the Native Americans.
There feathers deal with ascension and spiritual evolution to a higher plane. Feathers were worn by Native American Chiefs to symbolize their communication with the spirits; furthermore to express their celestial wisdom. In the Native American Indian culture, feathers represented the power of the thunder gods, along with the power of air and wind.

Well Ian Davey is not a Native American, neither he sees absolutely feathers in this context – but I think it gives a whole new reading to his pieces if you put his feathers into a higher, more spiritual context. This 48 old British Contemporary artist draws his paintings on Swan feathers that he collects on the ground.

I admit, it’s a little bit kitsch and repetitive, but so so beautiful and fine. So Yes! I am a FAN!

Each single feather can take up to a week to be painted as it’s quite a delicate work. In my eyes that’s what makes them even more precious, beautiful and I love the fragility of the object in general.

Ian Davey lives in a converted farmhouse in Snowdonia National Park, Wales. His feathers come from a nearby swannery, but Davey underlines that he only uses feathers that naturally felt down on the ground. Afterwards his artistic process starts by cleaning every single feather and by straightening them with tweezers. He prepares sketches of his drawings. Before painting directly on the feathers he applies a primer and works with a special acrylic paint that protects the feather. To nail the most detailed parts, Ian uses a specialized 000-size brush. Waouh! What a meticulous work!

Last glances and I hope you it, as much as I did to share his work with you!

What? Dynamo “A century of light and motion in art, 1913- 2013″
When? 10th of Aprril 2013 to 22nd of July 2013.
Where? At the Grand Palais in Paris

Topic: Space, vision and light. The abstract art of the 20th century with artists such as Ann Veronica Janssens, Anish Kapoor, John Armleder, Carsten Höller, Philippe Decrauzat, Jeppe Hein, Felice Varini and Xavier Veilhan.

“By putting vibration along with the spectator’s perception in the centre of their works, they set up multiple resonances with optical and kinetic art, which first emerged at the Movement exhibition in Denise René’s Paris gallery in 1955, but also, more broadly, with what was later called “perceptual art” at the exhibition The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1965.”

Two of my favorites in there:
Alexander Calder (just love him – and the shadow heart on the wall:)

Timo Naseri

http://www.grandpalais.fr

…soft like a dream, … poetic like the wind…that’s what came up when I checked the work of Katie Hoffman. Based Denver artist, that I discovered by chance. I really like her sensitivity in her work, and I hear her language!

Sometimes the limit of being a little bit kitsch – I Know…but something in her work is really great. Is it the softness, the message or the all? I don’t know…but I like it!

Katie explains about her artwork: “Using paint, I strive to convey inner realities: the push and pull of fleeting thoughts, the longings and ambiguities of things unspoken.”
Visible at the moment here:
http://corenewartspace.com/portfolio/katie-hoffman/

Laurent Grasso, born 1972 works and lives in Paris and NY. This French artist has many arcs on his bow. His diversity and different artworks were already exhibited for example in the Centre George Pompidou, in the Palais de Tokyo.
In 2008 he was reward with the Marcel Duchamp Prize.

From 2009-2011 he exposed his architectural project called “Nomiya” on the rooftop of the Palais de Toyko.
the artist designed “Nomiya”, an architectural project which was situated on the rooftop of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris from 2009 to 2011.

In 2010, his neon “Memories of the Future” was acquired by the Leeum Samsung Museum in Seoul, Korea.

More solo exhibitions came up: at the Bass Museum of Art (Miami Beach, FL, USA), at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris (2012), at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Canada.(2013).

I kept the best for the end as those are really my favorites! Grasso’s artwork is definitely always surprinsg and you will never really know where he will pop up next, on what kind of support and in which manner.
This really blew my mind away! I just love those!!!! Inspired by old and modern art, old techniques, and manners – Grasso interpreted and translated the Middle Age into our contemporary age. Amazing work in my eyes!

After René Magritte, ‘Le Château des Pyrénées’, 1959: check the original:

Last:)

Check for more of his work:
http://laurentgrasso.com

Painting By Jim Thalassoudis

Lita Albuquerque: American installation, environmental artist, painter and sculptor. Especially known for her visual language the factor time, space and human are always present and therefore she is most famous for her ephermal artwork as well as the public sites and landscapes.

THIS IS JUST WOW!
THE STELLAR AXIS PROJECT took my breathe away! & Here I have to say thanks Marion, who showed me these pics recently!

2006: “(…)Artists Lita Albuquerque led an expedition to the farthest reaches of Antarctica near the South Pole to create the first installment of her global work Stellar Axis. The expedition was aided by a grant from the National Science Foundation and was the first and largest ephemeral art work created on the continent. The resulting installation consisited of an array of ninety nine fabricated blue spheres. The placement of each corresponded to the location of one of 99 specific stars in the antarctic sky above., creating an earthly constellation at the earth’s pole. As the planet rotated and followed its orbit the displacement between the original positions of the stars and the spheres drew an invisible spiral of the earths spinning motion(…).”
(Photography by Jean de Pomereu:)

Some other glances on her work:
RED PIGMENT PAINTINGS SERIES (2006-2011)

PARTICLE MEMORY (1995)
Powder pigment and enamel on panel

SOL STAR DRAWINGS (1995)
Concept drawings for Sol Star: Egypt – Gold pen on blue print paper

The spine of earth – video

…in collaboration with Chandler McWilliams and Jon Beasley
Starkeeper, 2012 (Archival pigment print)
Courtesy of the artist and Blythe Projects, Los Angeles.
Work by this artist will be available at ArtPadSF 2013

What a diversity and richness! I think her visual language is simply magnificent! A great artist in my eyes and still there is this red line in her artwork, that makes her work recognizable! Love it!

Check out for more of Lita here:
http://litaalbuquerque.com

“It’s hard to think of contemporary culture without the influence of Pierre et Gilles, from advertising to fashion photography, music video, and film. This is truly global art.”
(Jeff Koons)

Give me flashy Power, a smile, colors of a rainbow, pop, some gay attitude and fun in life. I am fan of them – definitely. They have their proper signature & it’s evident: if you know them once you will always always recognize their artwork:

my all time favorite: the topics about madonna’s:

Oh how I would wish to work on a madonna realization one day with them! Just love love love them!

Who are they?
Pierre et Gilles, Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard. They are Contemporary French artists and a couple:)
Their photography work is marked by being highly stylized. They build up their own photo sets and costumes – so the whole artistic process and creation before the photo is the real crazy work. They treat issues coming from the pop culture, the gay culture as well as pornographic and religious elements and topics.
You can see them as corny and kitsch, I think they are geniuses. It’s about over exaggeration and humor, about not taking yourself serious but in a way take and defend a clear point of view. In general I am fan of Art Duo’s as you have that Synergy that brings forth really interesting collaborations and artworks.

More–> now:)

It’s so of a – much too much – that’s is simply great! …happy to follow their work*
Pierre & Gilles are among the most influential artists of our time and will be:)