New Contemporary Art Exhibit Revives Ancient Classics

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A new ancient art exhibition in Rome is blurring the boundaries between antiquities and contemporary art. The Post-Classical: The Revival of the Ancient in Contemporary Italian Art exhibit illustrates the profiles in history of the works of 17 artists, including Jannis Kounellis, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Giulio Paolini of the Arte Povera, as well as Frank Shapell, Vanessa Beecroft, Claudio Parmiggiana and Mimmo Jodice.

Contemporary Art Rome

Vincenzo Trione, exhibition curator, said:

“What brings them together is the need to reinvent the fundamental themes of Classicism, to the point of rendering them unrecognizable. They don’t make faithful copies, they don’t out the culture of the past on a pedestal, they privilege discontinuity and margins.”

Rome Contemporary Art

 

Historic Train Depot to Become Local Artisan Center

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White Oak Rail TrailRailroad enthusiasts in Oak Hill, West Virginia, are turning a historic train depot into an Artisan Center.

According to the West Virginia Gazette, the White Oak Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society is preparing for a ribbon cutting on May 4th. The venue will be called White Oak Depot Artisan and Heritage Center.

Susan Craun, chapter secretary, explained that live music and artistic demonstration will be offered at the site throughout the next few months. So far, fifteen artists have been juried for the gallery.

The new Center will be built on the halfway point along the White Oak Rail Trail, which was built around 1903. Thanks to donations from the Coal Heritage Highway Authority, the site will feature a handicap-accessible restroom, as well as landscaping, seating, and a dog-watering station.

The Honorable Company of Horners

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The Honorable Company of Horners is a group of practitioners of the ancient art of horn carving. This past weekend, the artisans gathered at an annual conference to discuss and showcase their trade. This year, the event was hosted by the Army Heritage and Education Center in Pennsylvania.

According to Art DeCamp, a member of the Honorable Company, the gathering provides an outlet for kindred spirits to share knowledge and techniques that would otherwise be lost in history.

“In the old days, it was knowledge that was passed down word-of-mouth from the shop master to his apprentice,” DeCamp explained. “It was not written down.”

The non-profit organization aims to document the trade in a way that is educational to the public while remaining loyal to the period.

“We are all artisans,” said Jeff Bibb, guild master of the Honorable Company. “We are all working to produce items that are historically significant and continue the study of the history of our country.”

Learn more about the Company:

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Exhibit Reveals Similarities Between Pablo Picasso’s Work and Prehistoric Art

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According to the British Museum, the works of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse contain elements similar to the artwork of cavemen.

In a new exhibit called “Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind,” the history museum presents more than one hundred works ranging from 40,000 to 10,000 years ago alongside some of the more modern artists including Henri Matisse, Henry Moore and Joseph Hecht. The ancient pieces are made primarily of ceramic or mammoth bone.

Jill Cook, the exhibit’s curator, said “The modern works are there to show that way back in time, the key concepts of drawing, sculpting and modeling were well-known and utilized.”

“The modern brain has been able to create and formulate in these ways as far back as the ice age,” she added.

Many scholars have stated that Picasso and Moore’s works were influenced by paleolithic art. The French artist owned two casts of Venus de Lespugue, which was made with mammoth ivory, and is known to have lamented the vast stores of prehistoric art that has been lost or destroyed throughout the years.

9-Foot Statue of Ancient Queen Shamiram Presented to Turlock City

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nsshamiramNarsai David, a Turlock native, recently presented a model of a bronze statue which he hopes to donate to the city. The 9-foot sculpture depicts Queen Shamiram, an ancient Assyrian ruler and the first woman to run an empire on her own.

David, a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, is especially grateful to the community. He has hosted a national PBS televisions series, written for the San Francisco Food Chronicle, and co-hosted a number of radio broadcasts and cooking shows.

In an effort to give back, David is involved in many projects. He serves as president of the Board of the Assyrian Aid Society of America and chairman of the Board of the Berkley Fund, while hosting the annual Narsai’s Taste of the Mediterranean which support the Assyrian Aid Society of America.

David explained that Turlock is part of his identity, as it is of many Assyrians from Chicago.

“All Assyrians came to Chicago, where the first jobs were. Once they had enough money, they wanted to find land that reminds them of home. The first Assyrian went to Turlock and bough requisite of land and began an Assyrian migration in Turlock,” he said. “There are a lot of Assyrians here. I graduated from Turlock Joint Union High School and have a warm spot in my heart for Turlock.”

David’s statue has evoked numerous responses in the community already. Resident Amil Adishol said: “This statues is a symbol of art and symbol of women in power. She was the first female that ruled the empire without being ruled by a king. Regardless of race, it is something that everyone can appreciate.”

Raymond George, president of the Assyrian American Civic Club of Turlock, added: “Aside from being Assyrian, we have a civilization of 5,000 years. The Queen is known for her beauty and pride. It is fitting to see that beauty and pride in Turlock.”

Ancient Art Center Uncovered in Rome

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A recent excavation of an ancient art center in Rome is the most monumental discovery in 80 years, according to archaeologists.

The center, uncovered beneath one of the city’s busiest streets, was built by the emperor Hadrian in 123 A.D. Featuring three enormous halls and marble terraced seating, the center hosted poetry and speech performances for Roman nobles.

“Hadrian’s auditorium is the biggest find in Rome since the Forum was uncovered in the 1920s,” Rossella Rea, the dig’s supervising archaeologist, explained.

The site was discovered thanks to recent excavations for a new subway.

Rea said: “We don’t have funds for these kinds of digs so this has come to light thanks to the new line.”

Though the discovery may hinder the subway construction, Rea believes the ruins can be left intact beside the new station.

“I believe we can run one of the exits from the station along the original corridor of the complex where Romans entered the halls,” she said.

Lahori Artist Exhibits Modern-Day Ancient Pottery

A new exhibition at the Color Art Gallery in Gulberg 2, Lahore, features seventy one pieces of antique-style pottery made over the last twenty-five years. The artist, Sheherzade Alam, uses gold leaf, inks, acrylic pigments and glazing to create handmade clayware inspired by ancient potters.

Alam, 64, explains that her art comes from a fascination with ancient pottery from all over the world.

“I have examined the claywate of every culture: Greek, Chinese, Egyptian, Harappan and Mohenjodaro,” she said. “The bulbous female figure, prominent in the clayware of many ancient cultures, was the starting point for my work…It is considered a symbol of fertility.”

Though her art has been displayed across the globe, Alam’s art has a meaningful local connection.

“I believe I am a Harrappan. I prefer colors that reflect Pakistani culture, especially the domes and minarets I saw as a Lahori. If someone asked me to create a traditional Japanese bowl, I could not, as it is not me,” she said.

Alam’s pieces were moved to the new exhibit from a displat at the Koel Art Gallery. Owner Noel Bilgrami said:

“Sheherezade’s forms are fluid… They encapsulate the essence of ‘time’ as it spans across the Indus Valley Civilization, through ancient cultures and the Islamic period to the island of extremely refined sensibilities, Japan.”

The Frieze London

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The Frieze Masters fair just opened its doors to its most important visitors. With more than $1.5 billion of art, the show attracts a wide range of guests, including hedge fund managers, business moguls and veteran collectors.

This particular Frieze fair features more than 90 international galleries focusing on pre-21st century works. Nearby, Frieze London sells contemporary art of similar value.

“It will bring more people,” said Judith Greer, a contemporary art collector. “Clients who went to Basel, who thought Frieze too cutting edge, will now come along. There’s less of a willingness to gamble now, and interior designers are mixing the new with the classic modern.”

Richard Feigen, New York dealer, added: “So far there hasn’t been that much crossover buying. There’s a huge gulf in price for good works by contemporary and Old Master artists, and word has got back to collectors. They’ll now have a chance to company the markers at the two fairs.”

Divers Discover New Ancient Bronze Artifacts

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Forty years after the celebrated Riace Bronzes were discovered, a new group of artifacts have been found only 50km south of the site of the earlier discovery.

Three divers were investigating the area in the Calabrian Sea in southern Italy when they saw a gilded bronze sculpture of a lion on top of a 15cm square panel.  They also saw what they at first thought was a set of armor made of bronze but what is now thought to be a statue. The statue is still stuck between rocks on the sea’s floor, about 300 meters from where the lion was discovered.

It is thought that the artifacts are of either Phoenician or Greek origin, and were perhaps sunk along with a ship, the remains of which were also found close by. The divers also said that they found parts of colored vases spread out over the seafloor, which also most likely went down with ship.

It is a lucky twist of fate that this is the same area where the famed Riace Bronzes were found in 1972. Unfortunately the bronzes have not been on for public view since 2009 as the government is waiting until the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Reggion Calabria completes its extensive renovation project. When the museum does open, hopefully in December of this year, there will be several new items to be displayed.

Ancient Egyptian Tentmaking Displayed in New Exhibit

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‘Stitch Like an Egyptian: Tentmakers of Cairo’ is a new exhibit showcasing the intricate, ancient art of Egyptian tentmaking. Brought to the U.S. by the American Quilter’s Society, the project hopes to “make the world aware of the beautiful yet shrinking art,” according to the DigitalJournal.com. The exhibit’s curator is Jenny Bowker, an international textile artist.

Modern technology has pushed the art to the side as machines and computers are built to replace manual labor and hand-made items. Unique designs are thus copied and resold by businesses around the world. The American Quilter’s Society has taken action to increase interest and appreciation of these traditional appliques.

Bonnie Browning, Executive Show Director for AQS, explained: “We began a three-continent collaboration to make arrangements for ‘Stitch Like an Egyptian: Tentmakers of Cairo’ to debut at the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids.”

The exhibit’s artists include Hosam Hanafy Ahmed Mahmoud and Tarek Abdelhay Hafez Abouelenin, who will be on hand to explain and demonstrate their technique. The tentmakers are from Khan Khayamiya, the market of the trade in Old Islamic Cairo. Their skills and techniques have been passed down through many generations. In fact, “There were tents found in Pharaonic tombs from 2,000 B.C… There are pictures in the Rameses panels are Abu Simbel of tents lined up,” said curator Jenny Bowker.