#contemporary
The Highlight of the week: Birth by Maite Guerrero
“Water is pure. Water is oxygen. Mothers give birth in the water. The water soothes tears, while bringing joy. Water is pleasure, delight, emotion … holy water. There is nothing to equal the impact of water on us, the water gives us life. We are water.” - with such short and strong description Spanish photographer Maite Guerrero, based in Barcelona, presented her one of the most beautiful and original projects, called “Birth”. Water, as you probably already noticed that, is playing very important role here: it gives us life and creates thousands elements in it everyday.
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Chaotic beauty: interview with Kim Byungkwan
This style of painting you would recognize always. It’s different, messy, emotional, dark and bold. Kim Byungkwan, was born and lives now in Seoul, Korea. After graduating Hnasung University he forgot about his passion for a while. Finally, Kim started painting again and become the finalist of planned exhibition on a gallery in Seoul. “That was the first solo exhibition of my life in 2011.” – told to me Kim. With several other awards, Kim is also popular on artsy and social websites. I believe that some of you are familiar with his project already. However, this time my goal was not to show you his famous works again but to get more insights about the author and his perception. Enjoy!
When and how you started painting?
I’m sure cartoon is most of little kids fantasy world. But as a young boy, I was into it beyond your imagination. I spent most of my days to draw favorite cartoon characters or entire cartoon. I think from the beginning, pop-culture become an important code of my work. However to become a cartoonist was never my dream. I always have a sense of delight when I draw something, and I keep drawing like crazy.
I could say you have a very strong and clear style of painting. How did you find it, and why did you choose this one?
While in college, I was enthusiastic in Willem De Kooning and Francis Bacon. I couldn’t sleep at all for being fascinated by their e-pression mode and technique. Their strokes are energy itself and I feel like they done it as there’s no second chance and any excuse. I was influenced on them by nature, and they were a good teacher of mine. That lies at the foundation of my work. My style has been formed with being mixed pop-culture code surrounding me by nature through developing my work.
What kind of emotions are you trying to express through your painted portraits? What message you are sending to others with your artworks?
I draw famous person like a politician or an actor/actress. Doing so, I try to extract unfamiliarity from the person who is familiar to everybody. You can feel the unfamiliarity not from alien which you have never seen before, but from the things which you know well. The unfamiliar image I draw affects to break the way we see the things usually. I think that one of the important functions of art is to show the new-vision to the world.
You seem as the person who is bored of the repetition in the world and the same things that we see, feel and experience. Why do you think we need that factor which brings something totally different and new to us?
I despise the regular phenomenon rather then hate. Because these regular phenomenon implant the same vision of the world to everybody. Uniformity could be the worst thing.
For example, the image of ‘James Dean’ and 'Marilyn Monroe’ is gradually fixed. That is from having permanent repeatability. I think we have few methodology to be refreshed, which we escape from permanent paradigm by breaking off or rupturing the repeatability.
Would it be right to say, that a true artist always desires and feels a need of something new and different?
Something new doesn’t always face to the future but you can extract it from the image of past.
New things which the artist is requested are discovery of new rather then creativity.
It is important that the artist must be trained to interpret the world in different way.
If we trained well, then everything must be new or refreshed by nature.
In many poetic writings, we always discover that the routine is killing the creativity and passion. Do you agree? Why?
I agree with that some but not all in this decade. We already have system for creativity in our routine. For example, network is one of these. Now I can gather the data or communicate with others without huge energy. If you have enough passion for creativity, you can add another life in your routine.
Some of artists can create art at night, or in early morning. Does the time period matters to you somehow? Why?
It’s not that important to me. Because I do my work whenever I want to, and it happens anytime random.
What is the biggest challenge for you in the process of creating art?
I want to make some piece that people get the new visual experience and never forget. And that kind of impression which shows to the people the way of new methodology of vision, I hope, affects the vision of world of people’s. That’s one of my objective. I don’t know if it’s possible but still It’s my dream.
Edward Hopper once said: “More of me comes out when I improvise.” Can you relate this quote to yourself?
I completely agree with you. In fact, my work process is just like that. As soon as I get a subject, I draw the image without any sketch. I want to extract the shape never designed by doing so.
The planing prevents you from some mistake, but blocks some accidental happenings at the same time. It produces a piece trapping people inside of controlled world by artiest. Of course there are lot of great pieces with elaborated plan. It’s all about style, I think.
Text Edited by Melissa Searle
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Nothing can stop us.
AZAR ON FIRE
by Olivia Abtahi
Nancy Paulsen Books | Aug 23 | 9780593109458
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Goodreads | Storygraph
Fourteen-year-old Azar Rossi’s first year of high school has mostly been silent, and intentionally so. After a bad case of colic as a baby, Azar’s vocal folds are shredded—full of nodules that give her a rasp the envy of a chain-smoking bullfrog. Her classmates might just think she’s quiet, but Azar is saving her voice for when it really counts and talking to her classmates is not medically advisable or even high on her list.
When she hears about a local Battle of the Bands contest, it’s something she can’t resist. Azar loves music, loves songwriting, but with her vocal folds the way they are, there’s no way she can sing her songs on stage.
Then she hears lacrosse hottie, Ebenezer Lloyd Hollins the Fifth, aka Eben, singing from the locker room. She’s transfixed. He’s just the person she needs. His voice + her lyrics = Battle of the Bands magic. But getting a band together means Azar has a lot of talking to do and new friends to make. For the chance to stand on stage with Eben it might all just be worth it.
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THE DO-OVER
by Lynn Painter
Simon & Schuster BFYR | Nov 15 | 9781534478862
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After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Anothernightmare V-Day.
Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. In addition to Josh’s recurring infidelity, Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into—sometimes literally—in unfortunate ways.
How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?
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SALT & SUGAR
by Rebecca Carvalho
Inkyard Press | Nov 1 | 9781335454331
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The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families’ feud in this delicious debut rom-com perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Gloria Chao.
Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.
Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.
Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?
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ANNE OF GREENVILLE
by Mariko Tamaki
Melissa de la Cruz Studio | Oct 4 | 9781368078405
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In this modern reimagining of Anne of Green Gables, Anne is an ABBA-loving singer/actor/writer of disco-operas, queer, Japanese-American who longs to be understood for her artistic genius. Recently relocated to middle-of-nowhere Greenville and starting at a new school, Anne has a tendency to A) fall in love quickly, deeply, and effervescently and B) fly off the handle in the face of jerks. Both personality quirks quickly come into play when the soccer team boos the premiere of her disco performance, which—in a roundabout way—introduces her to her new BFF, Berry, and she soon after meets the girl of her dreams, Gilly.
Falling quickly into that age-old trap of ignoring the best friend for the new crush, Anne soon becomes embroiled in a series of dramatic and unfortunate events, and quickly finds herself wrapped up in a love triangle she never expected. Is she MTB with Gilly? Or is Berry her true soul mate? Only time (or 304 pages) will tell.
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LOVE FROM MECCA TO MEDINA
Love from A to Z #2
by S K Ali
Salaam Reads | Oct 18 | 9781665916073
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Adam and Zayneb. Perfectly matched. Painfully apart. Adam is in Doha, Qatar, making a map of the hijrah, a historic migration from Mecca to Medina and worried about where his next paycheck will come from. Zayneb is in Chicago, where school and extracurricular stresses are piling on top of a terrible frenemy situation and making her miserable.
Then a marvel occurs: Adam and Zayneb get the chance to spend Thanksgiving week on the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, tracing the hijrah in real life, together. Adam’s thrilled, and Zayneb hopes for a spiritual reset—and they can’t wait to see each other.
But the trip is nothing like what they expect, from the appearance of Adam’s ex in their traveling group to the anxiety gripping Zayneb everywhere they go. And as one wedge after another drives them apart as they make their way from one holy city to another, Adam and Zayneb start to wonder: was their meeting just an oddity after all? Or can their love transcend everything else like the greatest marvels of the world?
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