Dance: Nora Fatehi - What Do I Know

Choreography: Matt Steffanina and Nora Fatehi

via Matt Steffanina 

Cosplay is an Art: Youmacon 2025 (Michigan)

via Justin Pineda Media 

Ragnhild Kaarbø

Art Appreciation

Ragnhild Kaarbø, born on December 26, 1889, in Harstad, Norway, grew up surrounded by the rugged beauty of northern Norway. This dramatic natural environment would later influence her artistic vision. 

As a young woman, she showed an early talent for drawing and painting, prompting her to pursue formal studies at the prestigious Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in Oslo. She continued her education abroad, studying in Paris at the Académie Colarossi, where she was exposed to the avant-garde movements shaping European art at the time.

Kaarbø held her first solo exhibition at the Artists' Association in Kristiania in Oslo in the 1920s, marking the start of her professional career. Her work was met with positive attention for its vibrant colors and dynamic compositions. 

Over time, she became a recognized figure in Norwegian art circles, participating in national and international exhibitions. Her pieces often depicted the northern landscapes of her childhood, as well as intimate interiors and still lifes, each infused with her unique perspective. 

Despite the challenges of being a female artist in a male-dominated field, Kaarbø’s talent and determination earned her a respected place among Norway's early modernists.

Known for her bold use of color and expressive brushwork, Kaarbø’s technique blended elements of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism with her own distinctive style. Critics praised her ability to capture both the grandeur of nature and the subtle emotions of everyday scenes. Her paintings often evoked a sense of movement, as if the landscapes were alive and the interiors brimming with quiet energy.

Though Kaarbø’s career was relatively short, her contributions to Norwegian art were significant. She paved the way for future generations of women artists and left behind a body of work that continues to be celebrated for its vitality and heartfelt connection to the natural world. 

Composition with a Head (1925)

From Sjusjøen near Lillehammer (1941)

Village

House in Landscape

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://nbl.snl.no/Ragnhild_Kaarb%C3%B8

https://digitaltmuseum.no/011085441174/ragnhild-kaarbo

https://www.artnet.com/artists/ragnhild-kaarb%C3%B8/

https://artvee.com/artist/ragnhild-kaarbo/

https://isitaholidaytoday.com/birthday/RagnhildKaarb

https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Fra-Sjusjoen-ved-Lillehammer/8390724B61B37174C9D00774576D6358

Naughty Granny Crossing the Delaware

by Buck Brown, Playboy February 1984

RANDOM WEDNESDAY: Marin Kitagawa

Model: Diaphora

via (@diaphorauwu) 

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz

Photography Appreciation

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz was born on December 23, 1968, in the town of Guayama, Puerto Rico. He grew up in a working-class family and spent part of his youth in Rochester, New York, after his parents moved to the mainland United States. 

His upbringing—marked by rural poverty, migration, and cultural adjustment—became central to his worldview and later to his photography. Rivera-Ortiz eventually studied journalism and communications, grounding his visual practice in documentary ethics and narrative structure.

His career developed through a commitment to social documentary work focused on underserved and marginalized communities around the world. Rivera-Ortiz photographed daily life in places often ignored by mainstream media, including regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. 

His images attracted international attention and led to exhibitions in Europe and the U.S., as well as the creation of the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film, which supports emerging visual storytellers.

Rivera-Ortiz’s technique emphasizes intimate, human-centered storytelling. He works primarily in film and digital photography, using natural light and close framing to highlight dignity and resilience rather than imposing a sensational narrative. 

His style has been praised for its empathy, though at times critics argue that social documentary work runs the risk of reinforcing traditional power dynamics between photographer and subject. Rivera-Ortiz has responded by emphasizing collaboration, long-term engagement, and transparency with the communities he photographs.

Some of his best-known projects include Cuba: Campo Adentro, India: A Celebration of Life, and his series documenting tuberculosis patients in rural India. His work on poverty in Latin America and his global documentary essays have been exhibited at major festivals, including Les Rencontres d’Arles. 

Widow of the Mines,  Potosi, Bolivia, 2004

Tobacco Harvesting, Valle de Viñales, Cuba, 2002

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://www.manuelriveraortiz.com

https://mrofoundation.org

https://www.rencontres-arles.com

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/columnist/garner/2016/02/18/manuel-rivera-ortiz-brings-beauty-poor-india/80540958/

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Art Appreciation 

Jean-Michel Basquiat was born on December 22, 1960, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother. Growing up in a multilingual home—he spoke English, French, and Spanish—Basquiat absorbed cultural influences that later shaped his artistic voice. 

His mother encouraged his interest in art and took him to Manhattan museums from a young age. After a childhood accident, she gave him a copy of Gray’s Anatomy, which became a recurring reference in his visual language. Basquiat attended several schools but left formal education behind as a teenager, drifting toward downtown Manhattan’s creative scene.

His career began on the streets of Lower Manhattan under the name SAMO, a graffiti collaboration with Al Diaz that blended cryptic phrases with social critique. By the early 1980s, Basquiat transitioned from graffiti to canvas and quickly became central to the emerging Neo-Expressionist movement. 

His meteoric rise drew attention from influential figures, including Andy Warhol, with whom he developed a close friendship and later a collaborative body of work. Despite his youth, Basquiat exhibited internationally and became one of the most talked-about artists of his generation.

Basquiat’s style fused bold color, frenetic line work, text fragments, and references to history, anatomy, jazz, and Black identity. His technique often involved layering and erasure, using acrylic, oil stick, collage, and repeated symbols such as crowns, saints, and skeletal figures. 

His work challenged racial stereotypes and the exclusion of Black artists from the art establishment. Yet his success brought criticism—some accused galleries of exploiting his image, while others questioned whether the art world’s fascination with him was rooted in genuine respect or tokenism. Basquiat himself resisted labels and stayed focused on expanding the language of contemporary painting.

Among his most recognized works are Untitled (1982), Hollywood Africans, Horn Players, and Dustheads. His collaborations with Warhol, including Olympics and Ten Punching Bags, remain central to understanding the dialogue between pop culture and street-born expression.

Basquiat’s final years were marked by growing pressure, fame, and personal struggle. The death of Andy Warhol in 1987 deeply affected him, and he increasingly turned to heroin. Though he continued producing work at a rapid pace, his health declined. On August 12, 1988, Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27, leaving behind an extraordinary body of work that reshaped American art. 

Untitled, 1982

Hollywood Africans, 1983

Horn Players, 1983

Dustheads, 1982

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://www.thebroad.org

https://www.moma.org

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org

https://basquiat.com

https://whitney.org/collection/works/453

https://smarthistory.org/jean-michel-basquiat-horn-players/

https://www.mfa.org/membership/video/writing-the-future