oh snap!

tokion magazine is running a contest for emerging photographers.
it's open until next friday april 30th so get you entries in for a chance
at $500 clam shells and some exposure in the magazine (for the grand
prize winner) or on tokion.com for the runners up.

all you need to do is pick your three best images, no theme at all.

check out the tokion guidelines here:

http://www.tokion.com/contest/2010/ohsnap/about/

**image sourced from tokion.com

iceland's amazing volcanic dust

so the volcano iceland may be may not be the darling
of huge numbers of people left stranded in europe.
as everyone has heard due to the volcanic ash planes
have been unable to fly masses of people out.

there is one great and amazing thing to have come out of
this whole debacle though, the photos!

check these gems from national geographic. a lighting storm
captured within the volcanic ash takes the scape to some
whole other level. thanks iceland, thanks volcano.

***images by: olivier vandeginste, your shot
***images sourced from nationalgeographic.com

the whitney on the highline

they may still be deliberating on their proposed $680
million venture in the meatpacking district, however the
whitney museum is already sowing its seeds with some
temporary outdoor installations at the high line park site
around gansevoort and washington streets.

featuring three artists chosen for their ability to work with
digital technologies long association with the museum work
will be on show from the following three artists and
collaborators: guyton\walker (the collaborative efforts of
new york painters wade guyton and kelley walker),
tauba auerbach (whose photo-realistic work can presently
be seen in the whitney biennale) and barbara kruger who is
known for layering confronting statements over photographic
works.

the work is intended to speak about the site and its neighborhood,
the highline park is one of many improvements that have been made
to the area and the whitney commissoned works will be on show over
the summer and removed come october.

the high line park was once an elevated line built in the 1930s to
remove dangerous trains from the street. initially part of the west side
improvement project, it was then in the 1980s after its last train
passed over pulling three carloads of frozen turkeys it was in use no
more. with much talk of the site being demolished from then until
1999 a 'friends of the high line' group was founded and discussion
of preservation got underway.

in 2001 the design trust for public space commissioned architect casey
jones to conduct research and after much planning and framework the plan
began to gain city support. after a call for submissions for the design of
the park it was awarded to james corner field operations (a landscape
architecture firm) and diller scofidio + renfro (an architecture firm).
eight years later in june 2009 the high line park opened to the public.

for more in depth information on the high line park check their site:

http://www.thehighline.org/

for more on the whitney museum head to:

http://www.whitney.org/

and on the whitney's downtown installations please read the new york
times article, by carol vogel here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/arts/design/16vogel.html?ref
=design

** image by guyton\walker, sourced from nytimes.com

new york photo festival - call for entries

the new york photo festival has put out a call for entries.
the prizes are pretty cool (a canon S90 camera and spyder 3
studio from datacolor) but the coolest thing about it, exposure.

their mission statement says it all, "the mission of the new york
photo awards is to give visual artists the opportunity to reach
key decision makers in the photographic community and the
editorial, fine art, and commercial worlds and to honor talented
photographers from all over the world whose exceptional work
breaks new ground visually, intellectually, and aesthetically."

check their site here:

http://www.nyphotofestival.com/site/?page_id=6824

** logo sourced from new york photo festival website

rooftop legends

it's pretty hard to ignore the presence of graffiti in new york city. some things may have changed- the trains are no longer awash with color but the impact this has had on popular culture is hugely evident. nowadays this art from is recognized as much more than vandalism, and in some institutions it is even welcomed.

the new design high school in the lower east side of new york city is one such institution. having proudly presented the rooftop legends graffiti event since 2007 their open rooftop space (which occupies an entire city block) becomes a living, breathing street-art museum unlike anything else on the island of manhattan. featuring some of the most prolific artists from the cultures formative years and the present, rooftop legends not only functions as a way to preserve the roots of this movement, but also, to inspire and entire body of students.

please check out the rooftop legends blog to keep up-to-date with the shows progress and read artist interviews. the show will take place on may 8th, 2010.

http://rooftoplegends2010.blogspot.com/

**picture artist: ENUE COD, photograph and flier by sarah lester

henri-cartier bresson at moma

chances are if you ever picked up a how-to book on
photography, went to school, or looked into the
people who had the greatest influence on the craft
henri-cartier bresson's name would have popped up.

MoMA's current retrospective is the first in the u.s
for over three decades. it traces over his entire career,
supported with books and periodicals focused on this
man who gave so much to modern photography's
direction.

opening at MoMA this saturday it will run through june 28th
and then travel to the art institute of chicago, the san francisco
museum of modern art and the high museum of art, atlanta.

catch it while it's here!

for more information on the show and MoMA please go to:

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/968

** image sourced from MoMA website

good-bye winter

as spring officially gets under way with some 85 degree action
here's a little snap to remember what it is we're leaving behind....

***image by brett nelson
***sourced from lovebryan.com

exit through the gift shop

u.k street artist banksy is definitely an acquired taste.
love him or hate him- and people tend to pick one of
the two, passionately, you can't argue the fact he is
one of the most prevalent and prolific contemporary
art figures of our time.

in his recent foray into the film world banksy looks at
the life of thierry guetta- the frenchman who made a
fortune selling crappy clothing with couture price-tags.
guetta made a name for himself in the street-art world
by filming his cousin, french mosaic artist 'invader.'

given banksy's history as one of our generations greatest
pranksters, the question has been raised that he himself
is in fact guetta. conspiracy theories aside this film gives
a true insiders view into one of the biggest, continuously
evolving area's of contemporary culture and should not be
missed.

opening april 14th, 'exit through the gift shop' addresses
some of the most well known avenues of street art (stencil,
wheat paste and traditional graffiti) but also causes us to
think about the exploitation, from both sides, the artists and
the art elite that are keen to jump on the bandwagon and
make a few bucks off another underground movement that
has come up. hence the clever name.

make up you own mind, love or hate banksy, but if you are
interested in contemporary, accessible art then this is something
you shouldn't miss.

watch the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTlm6dU2xHk

** image sourced from juxtapoz.com
** video link from youtube.com

amy morken

some people don't need boast, or brag or even hint
that they are in fact super talented. these rare breed
of people allow their work to speak for itself.

artist amy morken is one of these people. her pieces
whisper, laugh and insinuate many things that sit on
the border of innocent and seductive all at the same time.

having fallen in love with amy's work- and being a fan of
her in general we'll be keeping a close eye on any new work,
shows or news in general surrounding her presence in the
art world- and making note of it here in our blog.

some good news and cause for congratulation is her recent
joining with the arroyo gallery in santa fe. she'll be part of on
ongoing group exhibition there as part of the galleries
opening today, april 1st. nice work amy!

check out her website for information on past shows,
bibliography and resume:

http://amymorken.com/index.html

and for more inforation of the arroyo gallery you can
check them at:

http://www.arroyosantafe.com/#

** image sourced from the arroyo gallery website