ART AFICIONADO

Friday, September 22, 2023

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

Music Appreciation

One of the best memories I have is playing with my kid Rock Band on PlayStation 2. The song we would jam to was Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Maps. She on the drums and I on the guitar singing, "Wait, they don't love you like I love you."

Released on September 22, 2003, American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released Maps as the lead single from their debut album "Fever to Tell." Written by the band's lead vocalist Karen O, the song expresses a feeling of longing for a lost love.

The music video, which was directed by well-known director Patrick Daughters, features the band playing in a cafetorium. Guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase start with the song's signature guitar and drum riff. Karen O. holding the mic starts, "Pack up. I'm straight. Enough..." The song increases in intensity of emotion.

via yeahyeahyeahsmusic

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://imvdb.com/n/patrick-daughters

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Hans Hartung

Art Appreciation

Born in Leipzig, Germany, on September 21, 1904, Hans Hartung was a German-French painter acclaimed worldwide for pioneering the gestural abstract style known as art informel.

From a young age, Hartung admired the works of Rembrandt, Lovis Corinth, Oskar Kokoschka, and Emil Nolde. He began experimenting with abstract painting at the age of 17. Later, in 1924, he pursued studies in philosophy and art history at Leipzig University before enrolling in the Fine Arts Academy of Dresden, where he meticulously studied and replicated paintings of renowned masters.

In his early twenties, Hartung relocated to Paris, where he delved deeply into the principles of harmony and proportion, including the golden ratio. At 25, he married the Norwegian abstract expressionist artist Anna-Eva Bergman.

In the 1930s, the Nazi regime in Germany condemned Hartung's work as degenerate due to its association with Cubism. During a visit to Berlin to sell his paintings, he narrowly escaped arrest and fled the country.

Upon returning to Paris, Hartung experienced a turbulent period, culminating in a divorce from Anna-Eva, which plunged him into depression. His art evolved into a more abstract form that struggled to find buyers. A turning point came when the sculptor Julio González generously offered Hartung his studio, reigniting his artistic journey. Eventually, Hartung married González's daughter, Roberta, in 1939.

During World War II, Hartung joined the French Foreign Legion and suffered severe injuries, resulting in the amputation of a leg. After the war, he was granted French citizenship and honored with a military medal.

In 1947, Hartung held his inaugural solo exhibition, showcasing his distinctive gestural paintings characterized by suspended areas of color and sweeping calligraphic brushstrokes, solidifying his reputation in the art world.

P20-1984-H9 (1984)

T1964-H47 (1964)

T1985-E9 (1985)

Untitled (1939)

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://www.hans-hartung.com

https://www.artnet.com/artists/hans-hartung/

https://www.perrotin.com/artists/Hans_Hartung/308#biography

https://www.simonleegallery.com/artists/hans-hartung/

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095923283

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Joke: Lonely Minnesotans

Sick of the city, Sam quits his job and moves to Minnesota, as far from humanity as possible. He sees the postman once a week and gets groceries one a month. After six months of isolation, someone knocks on his door. A huge bearded man is standing on his porch.

"Name's Lars,''the man says, "from down the road. Having a party Saturday. Wanna come?"

"Definitely," says Sam. "After six months out here, I'm ready to meet some people."

"Gotta warn you," says Lars, "there's gonna be some drinkin'."

"No problem: I can drink with the best of them," says Sam.

"More 'n likely gonna be some fightin', too."

"Well, I like people," Sam says. "I'll be there."

Lars starts to walk away, then turns back. "I see some wild sex at these parties, too."

"Not a problem," says Sam. "I've been alone for six months! Just one question, though: What should I wear?"

"Whatever you want -- just gonna be the two of us."

- David Priest, USAF