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Sunday, April 26, 2015

Ronald Ventura



Ronald Ventura (Filipino, b.1973) was born in Manila, Philippines. In 1993, the artist earned a BFA in Painting from the University of Santo Tomas. After graduating, he worked at the university as an instructor. Ventura had his first solo exhibitions in 2000, called All Souls Day, which was held at the Drawing Room in Makati City, Philippines, and Innerscapes, which was held at the West Gallery Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

Since then, Ventura has continued to refine his signature style of multi-layered paintings, which utilize a broad range of imagery and tend to focus around the human form. In addition to paintings, Ventura also makes sculptures that explore the same themes and aesthetics as his two-dimensional works. In 2001, he received the Artist of the Year prize from Art Manilla, and then in 2005, he won the prestigious Ateneo Art Gallery, Studio Residency Grant in Sydney, Australia, for his The Human Study series of graphite works on canvas. He also participated in the Prague Biennale in 2009.

Ventura had his first exhibition in America at Tyler Rollins Fine Art Gallery in New York in 2009; Metaphysics of Skin contained paintings and the Zoomanities sculpture series. The same gallery hosted his A Thousand Islandsshow in 2011. That same year, Ventura’s Greyhound sold for US$1.1 million at Sotheby’s Contemporary Southeast Asian Painting auction in Hong Kong.

source: Artnet
image source: supertouchart

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Andy Warhol





Andy Warhol [/ˈwɔrhɒl/; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987] was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. The Andy Warhol Museum in his native city, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. It is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to a single artist.

Warhol's art used many types of media, including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. He was also a pioneer in computer-generated art using Amiga computers that were introduced in 1984, two years before his death. He founded Interview Magazine and was the author of numerous books, including The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and Popism: The Warhol Sixties. He managed and produced the Velvet Underground, a rock band which had a strong influence on the evolution of punk rock music. He is also notable as a gay man who lived openly as such before the gay liberation movement. His studio, The Factory, was a famous gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons.

Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the widely used expression "15 minutes of fame". Many of his creations are very collectible and highly valuable. The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting is US$105 million for a 1963 canvas titled "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)". A 2009 article in The Economist described Warhol as the "bellwether of the art market". Warhol's works include some of the most expensive paintings ever sold.

source: wikipedia

Friday, April 24, 2015

Hello Kitty



Hello Kitty [ハローキティ Harōkiti?] [full name Kitty White [キティ・ホワイト Kiti howaito?]] is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, created by Yuko Shimizu and currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi. She is depicted as an anthropomorphic white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow.

The character's first appearance [on a purse] was introduced in Japan in 1974, and brought to the United States in 1976. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. By 2010, Sanrio had groomed Hello Kitty into a global marketing phenomenon worth $5 billion a year. By 2014, when Hello Kitty was 40 years old, it was worth about $7 billion a year, all without any advertising.

Originally aimed at pre-adolescent females, Hello Kitty's market has broadened to include adult consumers. She can be found on a variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories and high-end consumer products. Several Hello Kitty TV series, targeted towards young children, have been produced. Hello Kitty is also the main character at the two Japanese Sanrio theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland.




Yuko Shimizu [清水 侑子 Shimizu Yūko?] [born 1 November 1946] is the Japanese designer who created Hello Kitty.

She was born in Chiba Prefecture. After graduating from Musashino Art University, she created Hello Kitty at Sanrio in 1974. She left Sanrio in 1976 to get married, and has been working as a freelance designer ever since. She did not make a lot of money from Hello Kitty.

The other characters she has created include Angel Cat Sugar and Rebecca Bonbon. She has also published some picture books.

source: wikipedia
image source: wikipedia

Monday, April 20, 2015

Manny Pacquiao (repost)



Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (Tagalog pronunciation: [pɐkˈjaʊ], English: /ˈpæki.aʊ/; born December 17, 1978), also known as Manny Pacquiao, is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is an eight-division world champion, the first boxer in history to win ten world titles in eight different weight divisions. He is also the first boxer in history to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000's by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). He is also a three-time BWAA and The Ring "Fighter of the Year" in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Currently, Pacquiao is the WBC Super Welterweight World Champion and WBO Welterweight World Champion (Super Champion). He is also currently rated as the "number one" pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by several sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports and About.com.

Aside from boxing, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording, and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani. He is the only active boxer to become a congressman in the Philippines.

source: wikipedia