Dog Art Today

Tag: Post Secret

  • Yay Me: Moira McLaughlin Receives Thinking Blogger Award!

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    We interrupt this regularly scheduled dog art blog to announce that the fabulous Melissa Langer of PugNotes has tagged me with the Thinking Blogger Award. Melissa states ” I always learn something new about art and the world when I visit Moira’s wonderful blog.”

    Thinking_blogger_post

    Thank you so much Melissa. That means a lot coming from truly one of the most creative and inquisitive minds I’ve encountered in the blogosphere. Really, if it’s crafty, Melissa has done it or is about to take a course next week. She blows my mind!

    Here are the rules attached to these awards:

    1. You must write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

    2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.

    3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award” with a link to the post that you wrote.

    4. Tell the award winners that they won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

    The Five Blogs That Make Me Think:

    1. Answer Girl – makes me think I will never read as many books as my cousin Clair Lamb has already re-read. And it makes me think, I will never be without a good book, since Clair’s recommendations are always 100% excellent!

    2. Wendy Brandes Jewelry – makes me think blogs are better when you truly express all facets of yourself. Jewelry, fashion, Medieval Queens, dogs, party pics, SEO strategies, and curious obsessions with fish feet, butt bows, and CoCo, Ice-T’s wife all co-exist seamlessly in Wendy’s world. If you stop by her blog be prepared to become one of her peeps. Her writing is completely addictive. (Wendy is excused from having to tag 5 more bloggers because she is continually being tagged and I know she’s already won the Thinking Blogger’s Award, probably more than once.)

    3. Post Secret – reminds me how complex, clever, and creative people are. Each post card could inspire a great short story, novel, indie film, psychoanalytical dissertation or air tight restraining order.

    4. Ping Mag – Makes me think I have Japanese DNA in my system. I can lose myself there for hours. Everything is beautiful at Ping!

    5. FFFFound! – Agggh! I think I’ve been meaning to join this brilliant site for months. Description: “FFFFOUND! is a web service that not only allows the users to post and share their favorite images found on the web, but also dynamically recommends each user’s tastes and interests for an inspirational image-bookmarking experience!!”You must visit it to get the full experience. Truly genius!

    (Above Photo: Me the night I won the Father Gallegar Athlete-Scholar Award in eighth grade, 1981. Yeah, I still like to brag about it.)

  • RCA’s Secrets Revealed. Dogs Alive and Well in Contemporary Art World

    Chrissy_wilson_dog

    Chrissy Wilson

    A few weeks ago after results came in of the record breaking Sotheby’s contemporary art sale sale, I was encouraged to hear that , as Mike at MAO reported it, the “the sky wasn’t falling” in the art world after all (the Impressionist show was dismal and Sotheby’s stock had subsequently plummeted 28% in a day the week before.) But, I found it disheartening that I spotted only 2 dog art lots in Sotheby’s offerings: Takshi Murakami’s Jellyfish Eyes, Max & Shimon, which sold for $541,000 and the vaguely naughty Chihuahua II by Sean Landers. I wondered if dogs had cycled out today’s artists’ repertoires. If the Royal Academy of Arts 2007 RCA Secret event is any indication, the answer is a resounding “No.”

    Established to raise money for the college’s awards fund, RCA Secret, is the Post Secret of the art world. Each year RCA students and graduates, including many famous alumni, donate postcard sized art pieces signed only on the back. Collectors view the art at the college or online. Then, over a November weekend they can purchase up to 4 postcards for £40 each. This year contributors included Damien Hirst, Manolo Blanik, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, David Bailey, and Tracey Emin along with many other celebrated artists.

    I was going to feature all of the dog art works here, but I’m pleased to report there were too many for a reasonably sized post. So, here are my top dog picks…

    Micha_bandini_dog

    Micha Bandini

    Jo_longhurst_dogs

    Jo Longhurst

    Andor_komives_dog

    Andor Kömives

    Elinor_evans_dalmation

    Elinor Evans

    Vanilla_bear_dog_2

    Vanilla Bear

    Nadine_faye_james_dogs

    Nadine Faye James

    Christos_lyssiotis_dog

    Christos Lyssiotis (I’m pretty sure this is a dog)

    View all the dog art works here along with some favorites and famous names.

    Anecdotally speaking, I noticed a curious trend…there were hardly ANY women artists in the Sotheby’s sale and there were hardly any dog art works. There were numerous women in the RCA Secret show and there were numerous dog art works. Of the dog art works at RCA, It seemed to me that there were more women than men. The men seemed to favor skulls (or they were just mimicking Hirst or both.) In fact, skulls and dogs are so prevalent in the RCA Show, dare I say, they reflect the zeitgeist of our times…the intense polarity…the yin/yang…dogs=love, skulls=death.

    Also, there was much less in the way of the bulbous-head, big eyed Pop Surrealism than I expected. Hardly any “bird on a wire” pieces. And, I’m happy to report, not a single image looking down at Mary-Jane shoes from a first person POV.

    Finally, I must share with you my latest acquisition, Wordy Study by Mickey Smith from Jen Bekman’s 20 x 200 Series.

    Wordstudy_artworkimage

    I received it yesterday and it’s even more brilliant in person. Thanks, Mom and Dad (it was an early Christmas present.)