Tag: painting

tetsuya ishida = trapped in the machine!


tetsuya ishida was a japanese painter, born in 1973 in shizuoka. unfortunately for the arts world, he died prematurely in 2005 after a suspected suicide. the recurrent themes in his paintings were based around ordinary japanese life with a surreal twist: the usual main character, a self-portait of ishida, is either trapped inside some sort of machine or he’s part of a production line. perhaps he was making a statement about how mechanized and orderly japanese people behave in their society. his paintings clearly evoke despair and anxiety both through facial expressions and the bizarre settings where he places his characters.


tetsuya graduated from the musashino art university in tokyo. during his lifetime he won several awards and held various solo exhibitions in his home country, but as it usually happens with great artists, his work didn’t gain much attention across the world until after his death, with some of his paintings being sold at auctions for large sums of money.


you can check out most of the artist’s work via his official website, even though it’s in japanese, you should be able to browse around thru the images.

os gêmeos = brothers in arts!

os gêmeos are a pair of twin brothers stemming from são paulo, brazil. otavio & gustavo pandolfo’s specialty is conveying their dreams into wonderful street art pieces that can be found in many cities and galleries across the globe. their singular and recognizable style has been influenced by both traditional hip-hop culture and the brazilian pixaçao movement, which was born in their native city. their main focus, like many other street artists, lies in political and social issues, which they illustrate via simple scenes of daily life and recurring yellow-skinned characters, which often appear in the twins’ dreams.


lately, os gêmeos have been busy not only painting walls across numerous cities (they recently painted a huge wall in lisbon in collaboration with blu), but they have also seen a gradual move towards the gallery and museum setting, with exhibitions at art basel miami, tate modern in london, and deitch gallery in new york. their range of works has also expanded to include painting on canvases, sculptures, various objects, and installations. if there is something that strikes us when looking at their pieces, is their absolute attention to detail and unique vibrant colors, which makes them part of our favorite street artists.


to keep track of their latest doings, you can follow os gêmeos via twitter: @OsGemeos or you can add their blog to your rss reader. in the meantime, and to get a better overview of their work and inspiration, check out this interview during their too far too close exhibition at deitch projects gallery in new york back in 2008…

los artistas del barrio = a refreshing concept!

last weekend in Madrid we attended a very interesting art related event, aptly titled: los artistas del barrio (the neighborhood’s artists). in short, the itinerary consisted on picking up a map and guide at a specified location and then following said map around two of Madrid artsiest neighborhoods, lavapiés & la latina, in search of artists’ homes and places of work. the main idea behind the event is to “transcend the institutionalization of musem-recluded art and to return it to its original source of creation and dissemination”.


the range of artists and disciplines was extremely wide, with several locations often offering more than one type of art to be seen. photographers, illustrators, painters, dancers, musicians, and other artists could be seen at their most intimate environment, where you could ask them about specific works or just establish friendly conversation. with at least 46 places to visit, we are featuring some of the highlights of our route with photos and links to the artists’ websites. needless to say we look forward to next year’s edition!

we’d love to know if your neighborhood has similar events, share your comments below…

susan mowbray: website

colectivo bonus extra: website | blog

E-4 arte: alfredo omaña | santiago plata | bernardo bersabé

taller dom*ca: blog

micky forever studios: blog

asociación cultural mediodía chica: website | blog