Artist of the Week: Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Akseli Gallen-Kallela (birthname Axél Waldemar Gallén) was born on 26th of April 1865 in Pori, Finland. His represented national romaticism and realism in his work. The artist who studied in Paris first painted the bohemian life, but more and more Finnish nature, landscapes, and the people started to interest him. Also the mythology, the Finnish Epic "Kalevala" started to fascinate him. He created nationalist art, through which he portrayed the vitality of our culture and Finland's right to exist as a nation when the country was fighting against Russia. After Finland got its independence, Gallen-Kallela worked for a while as the President Mannerheim's adjutant and designed uniforms and other items for the military. In 1922 he began to design the Great Kalevala. He designed ornaments, typographs and illustrations for few years, but it was not until he visited Mexico and North America (Chicago) that it became clear to him how to portray the Finnish Epic, Kaleva. It was then that he discovered how he could illustrate the spirit within the poetry, how he would portray it through paintings and typographic methods. In 1931 he travelled to Copenhagen to lecture about his work and also to meet other Nordic artists. During the return back to Finland, 7th of 1931, he died in Stockholm.

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Ad Astra, 1894

The Aino Triptych

The Symposium

Démasquée, 1888

Boy And Crow

Spring, 1903

Kullervo's Curse

The Defence of the Sampo

The Fratricide, 1897

Sky (wall rug), 1900

Lemminkäinen's Mother

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This painting is quite special to me. It's illustrating the Finnish epic Kalevala. In this painting, Lemminkäinen's mother is praying at the side of her dead son. In 1999 (I think) as I was still studying fashion design, art history etc. we had to take one painting we liked and try to copy it as best as we could - this was done so we would learn about the technique of that particular artist. I decided to do a detail shot of this painting (Lemminkäinen's torso). I still think I did a pretty good copy of it. I still have that painting, so I'm adding it below.

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My detail copy (1999) of Gallen-Kallela's Lemminkäinen's Mother.

Mr.Bitch Loves This!

This book is hilarious. I got it from my boyfriend this past weekend. It's a comic book. The head character is a hedgehog, which are usually seen as sympathetic creatures. In this case, looks are deceiving. The title, Kiroava Siili (english translation of the name: Cursing Hedgehog), tells it all. This particular hedgehog running around in these comics is something completely different than those cute little ones that run in the backyards of our houses. This grumpy hedgehog curses to every direction, for a reason or without one. Everyone he encounters get some verbal abuse to deal with. Once in awhile he shows his soft side too. This comic series ran in one of the biggest newspapers in Finland and was such a success they made a book. The creator of Cursing Hedgehog is Milla Paloniemi. She is born close to the place where I come from - people from that area are considered to be temperamental and gutsy... haha... Anyways, I love this book. If I'm having a bad moment and I open it, it doesn't fail to make me smile! Thank you, darling!

My Art: "Autumn Forest"

Autumn Forest, 2006. Oil on canvas.

Artist of the Week: Pierre-Yves Monnerville

This week's artist is a friend of mine, photographer Pierre-Yves Monnerville. He's originally from Martinique, French Caribbian but he was born in Paris. I got to know him in the 90's. We wrote a bunch of letters (which I still have). Back then it was still fashionable to write letters instead of sending email, haha! Pierre-Yves has worked for model agencies in Paris and London and nowadays he lives in Brighton, UK. I had a bit of difficulties to select the images, so I ended up presenting almost double amount of what I usually present in this section. I really like Pierre-Yves' work, I think all images are beautiful. He really knows how to capture the moment. If you want to see full sets and/or other works, go to my links list and check them out at his website! Enjoy! Here's a link to Pierre-Yves' interview:

http://studioguyzmag.blogspot.com/2007/01/photographer-pierre-yves-monnerville_14.html

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(Pierre-Yves Monnerville, selfportrait)

Order and Chaos

Fucking the System

My Art: "In Thoughts"

In Thoughts (2006). Oil on canvas.

Thought of the Day

Be patient and try to see the meaning behind things that happen to you. Sometimes the path you want to walk, isn't the path you were chosen to walk. It doesn't mean you will not get there. It doesn't mean you will not reach your dreams - the path just may have a twist or two, so you learn to appreciate the journey instead of the result.

My Art: "The Burning"

The Burning (2005). Oil on canvas.

Artist of the Week: Photographer Steven Klein

Steven Klein has become the fashion world’s current superstar by understanding how to be transgressive and commercial at the same time. Beyond multitasking with Pitt and Madonna, Klein is, arguably, the most influential (and busy) fashion photographer in the world right now, even while his career seems to be all about flouting the rules of fashion photography.

A Steven Klein image is typically a place with a dark, foreboding aura. Sometimes the mood of his photographs is so emotionally isolating that it can seem like he conducts all his shoots in airtight bunkers buried under a desert floor somewhere. The paradox of Klein’s status as a superstar photographer of superstars—he’s created risqué, iconic images of not just Pitt and Madonna but Justin Timberlake, Ethan Hawke, Naomi Campbell, and others—is that he’s successfully selling a darker version of celebrity at a particularly idiotic, giddy juncture in pop culture, just as US Weekly is flying off newsstands and the American Idol is topping the ratings.

Here is some images I found that I personally like. He’s shoot Madonna many times and every time the result is beautiful. I also liked his version of The Valley of the Dolls as well as the Men’s Vogue issue with magnificent images of Brad Pitt.

My Art: "Man In A Red Shirt"

Another painting of mine:

Man in a red shirt (2006). Oil on canvas.