Week #39 ('20) Art Appreciation
Welcome to my weekly Art Appreciation post, where I provide a list of some amazing album covers, single art, and random art that have come out within the past week. I’ll give you the artist/photographer/painter/magician’s name, as well as any social media or websites where you can go and check out more of their work. Click here to go back and see some other Art Appreciation posts.
——————————
I got a great set of totally of-the-walls abstract art for y’all today, from two of the most identifiable members in this “music/art” community that is coming with some of the weirdest and challenging art-pieces. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: abstract art provides great opportunities for artists to express things that go beyond surface levels, essentially depicting the undepictable: emotions, ideas, feelings, insecurities, politics even. If it sounds like I’m repeating myself, then you would be surprised at the number of people who think this shit can be done by a third grader. I’ll let my man Tony Starks lay it out for y’all haters:
“I don’t give a fuck if you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is art. When you go see a painting on the wall and it looks bugged out because you don’t know what the fuck he thinking, because he ain’t got no benches, no trees there, it’s just a splash. The n***a that did it know what the fuck it is.”
Remember, use this post to follow and subscribe to these artists; they deserve as much recognition as the musicians they are attached to.
Artist(s): Action Bronson
Only For Dolphins, by Action Bronson
I know the intense irony of using a Ghostface Killah quote to justify the existence of a piece of Action Bronson’s art is not lost on any of you, but really is there high-profile cover artist out there that seems as much “in his own world” as Bronsolino? You can point to guys like al.divino, but you gotta get a dose of happiness amongst all of the darkness and despair of his pieces, and that’s exactly what Action is providing here in his art. Look at this shit here: you go the Grim Reaper and what looks like RoboCop patrolling the streets down here on the ground level, making life a living hell for people just trying to get by. But you know who doesn’t have the deal with that shit? Motherfucking dolphins. They are flying above everyone, living in their own beautiful existences talking to each other in their own languages and frolicking amongst the stars, as dolphins do. It make sense that Bronson would identify with such intelligent creatures, because he truly has transcended all humanity with this one. In all seriousness though, I’ve always loved the carelessness of his pieces, with the very broad and drippy brush strokes, as well as the very distinct color breaks, giving the impression of both an effortless painter and a careful calculator. This art also goes along well with the very laidback and blue/green vibes of the record itself (which is one of my new favorites from Bronson). Dude should really look into making pieces for other artists; check what he did for his Lamb Over Rice and White Bronco projects if you want to see more like this.
Action's Instagram/Action’s Twitter
——————————————————
Artist(s): George Condo
FRANCHISE, by Travis Scott
I’ve been waiting for this moment since I started my Art Appreciation posts. Anyone who does not know who George Condo is needs to go and do some research immediately, because this man is a modern art icon, whose influence is felt both through modern art circles and modern musical circles. I say both art and music because, while he known world-wide for his reality-bending artwork, everyone who frequents here will know him from the work he did with Kanye West over a decade ago. The art behind My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is iconic in it’s own right, bringing together the debauched and power-driven West and the uniquely gifted Condo to create a suite of images, from the final artwork of the ballerina, the alternate artwork of Kanye raw dogging that demon chick, down to the iconic single art work for tracks like Power with it’s tragic decapitated head. Now it seems we have a second generation of G.O.O.D. Music/Condo collaborations, extending it into the 20’s with this new piece commissioned by Travis Scott. As La Flame is expanding his brand to be spokesman and mouthpiece for brands like McDonalds, I think this piece (and it’s aptly titled FRANCHISE single attachment) represents the new position that Scott has been placed, utilizing a lot of the historical stylings of Condo to his personal advantage. Two things have been central to George Condo portraits, the eyes and the mouth. The eyes have the subject looking forward and sideways, but the third eye, tinted green, seems to symbolize eyes looking *at* the subject, as if he’s unaccustomed or uncomfortable with the attention. The mouth, always my favorite feature in Condo pieces, is extended and duplicated several times in the piece, showing us that Travis’ voice now extends much farther and reaches far more than it ever has before. I mean Christ the man has people going to buy a hamburger off clout alone, and if that’s not influence, I don’t know what is. I could talk about my love for this artist all day, but George Condo speaks for himself, in a way that maybe only he truly knows how to explain.
George's Instagram
——————————————————
