Nel, an art gallery based in Cape Town, always does a great job at introducing the audience to subversive themes and challenging their perspective through art. This September, the gallery will hold a new solo exhibition by the established South African artist Hentie van der Merwe. This will be the second exhibition of Van der Merwe’s work at Nel, following his “Shooting Selves” in 2020.
Tag Archives: Art
Have you ever wondered why artists choose to work with certain materials? For Claudio Parentela, an established artist from Italy, this choice is very much driven by symbolism. A chaotic clash of influences, ideas, and feelings, his mixed-media art represents a constant search for strong emotions and creative outlets.
The story of one of the most outrageous art-related crimes that have happened in recent years goes back to 2022. In February last year, the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) announced its new exhibit of never-before-seen works by Basquiat. Several months later, federal agents raided the museum right in the middle of the ongoing “Heroes & Monsters” exhibition and confiscated the displayed paintings.
Many artists experience something called art block, a state when one cannot bring themselves to create or ends up hating everything they make. Have you found yourself stuck in a cycle of disappointment in your work, or are you simply bored? These art challenges can help you uncover your full potential and introduce you to new sides of your creativity.
The punk community has always attracted those who do not fit in with the restrictive social norms. The rebellious spirit of this movement is particularly appealing to many LGBTQ+ people who seek the freedom of expression that punk provides. We cannot talk about the history of punk art without mentioning the work of Fernando Carpaneda, a Brazilian artist who has been creating sculptures and paintings centering on queerness and punk since the 80s.
Creative like-minded people have always been drawn toward each other and even lived together under the same roof for many different reasons. It does not matter if it is a group of over a dozen artists or a duo, there is a common denominator that all artist collectives share making this type of creative synergy so popular. But what exactly is it that appeals to artists about collaborative work?
The most expensive painting in the world, Salvator Mundi was sold for over $450m at Christie’s New York. Today, ElmonX and Bridgeman Images are planning to sell it yet again. The companies already have the experience of turning other legendary masterpieces into NFTs, including another one of Leonardo da Vinci’s pieces, Mona Lisa.
One of the ways that contemporary societies cope with grief and desperation is by creating. Art helps process fears and highlight the terrifying truth of the war. These four works of anti-war art all deal with this painful subject in different ways, but each of them makes a clear statement and leaves no place for tolerance toward injustice and violence.