Posts tagged with marla olmstead
January 16, 2010 | New Art | by Zolton |
We posted a while back about the debate surrounding the legitimacy of the artwork of child prodigy Marla Olmstead. The furor, in particular, centered around her performance in a controversial documentary, My Child Could Paint That, which looked at the then four-year old, who was already exhibiting regularly, despite her age, and the questions that were raised about the influence of her ambitious father. We’ve since received a long but mixed bag of comments about her work, from statements blaming the media (‘I watched the movie, and I do believe that the MEDIA has the ability to make ANYTHING look different than reality’), to disbelievers (‘not convinced one bit that the paintings she was filmed painting and the others were painted alone by Marla’), to those who think Marla is the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread (‘this child is amazing, her work speaks for itself’). Check out the comment thread and let us know your thoughts.
January 8, 2009 | New Art | by Zolton |
I watched the controversial documentary last night, My Child Could Paint That, which looked at the then four-year old art ‘genius’, Marla Olmstead, who was already exhibiting regularly (and selling her works for thousands), despite her age and the questions that were being repeatedly raised about the influence her rather ambitious father might have been having on her artwork. It was fascinating to watch, both for the trainweck story plots which hijacked its generally reverential tone, and for the process by which Olmstead was creating her vibrant, colourful, and exciting modern art pieces. Apart from anything else, the documentary raised important questions about what actually constitutes ‘good’ art and why some art sells for so much more than others. It’s all subjective, of course, but the outcry that greeted claims of third party interference in her paintings (a claim which has been noticeably muted over the years) suggests that it’s often less about the work itself than about the story or personality behind the artist who created it. Either way, Marla Olmstead is now eight years old, is still painting, and is selling her work for remarkable amounts. If you have a spare thirty thousand dollars or so, this piece above is apparently still available. So crack open that well fed piggy bank and get some modern art on your walls. Read more
For a good dose of morbid beauty it’s hard to go past artist-slash-taxidermist, Polly Morgan’s work. Each of her still life pieces are hauntingly delicate and dead clever, really.
I have a weak spot for the work of New York illustrator You Byun. Her pastel, Miyazaki-esque landscapes populated with their saucer eyed creatures just make me swoon. It reminds me of several other well-known illustrators working today, but I feel that she is onto something spectacular that will simply continue to evolve until we’re all just utterly blown out of the water.
This awesome promo video for the Lost At E Minor site was created by our friends over at New York-based design studio, Lifelongfriendshipsociety. It’s all about looking into a black mirror and seeing the creative energy burst back out at you. We think it’s very cool and the first in what we hope will be a series of short videos exploring what it really means to be lost at e minor. Hit us up if you’d like to have a go at creating one.
Here’s a sweet, angular house that simultaneously stands out and blends in with the old neighborhood in Tokyo where it is located. It’s designed by Jun Igarashi Architects, and was commissioned for a two-generation family as their private home. Read more
Channeling Justin Timberlake and Alan Vega, or both or neither, Spanish Dancer is on his own axis, spinning to the BPM of a lost drum. At one point, between moving back and forth between Providence, Rhode Island and Miami, Florida, he discovered punk and his uncle bought him a ratty 50 dollar Cruise VMI guitar to mess around with. Subsequently, Spanish Dancer material is a little snarky, self-aware, and fun, while still retaining all the complex spastic freakout moments of his prior band, A Trillion Barnacle Lapse. His debut album, Burned Up, Bred High, is out now and we have the lead single, The Hustler [listen below], available for free download via the Music Download section of the Lost At E Minor site.
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Aussie streetwear label Zanerobe create the most wearable t-shirts around. Not only are they soft like the fur off a particularly smooth peach, they look mighty sharp too. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Pencils made from recycled newspaper
The problem with awesome things like these pencils made out of recycled newspaper is that you almost don’t want to use them.
How ’bout this Jose Manuel Hortelano-Pi guy, huh? Quite the illustrator, yessiree Bob. From Spain, too. Spain is great! Read more
Baltimore Mural by Josh Van Horne
My friend Josh Van Horne, a local Baltimore artist, did this amazing mural in our neighborhood that depicts the history of this warehouse-laden area.
Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
Christoph Niemann illustrates a nightmare flight
New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann has created a brilliant visual diary outlining the peril and pitfalls that beset the everyday passenger based on his recent experience flying from New York to his home town of Berlin. Read more
Created by graphic t shirt label, the-affair, and printed on beautifully soft American Apparel. Limited edition of 200.
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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