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Art

The Life and Times of an Aging Superhero Captured in Oil Paintings by Andreas Englund

In his ongoing series of photo-realistic oil paintings called the Aging Superhero, Swedish artist Andreas Englund takes us into the candidly humorous life of an anonymous superhero who has probably seen better days. Though he still puts up a tough fight, the wear and tear of battling crime has taken its toll on this elderly action figure. From a statement by Philipp Windmüller:

In a kind of tender comic on a huge canvas, Englund describes the hero who is slowly but surely spending his remaining years with human traits as a link between the artist himself and the viewer. It was extremely important to Englund to portray the aging process with an intensified presence. If you want to accord credibility to a character, the character himself needs to face up reality and the aging process. He has to acknowledge to himself that he cannot live up to expectations and that the “perfect life” is nothing more than wishfulness. Englund’s artworks are focused on the maturing process. Even in the old age it is still possible to achieve something valuable although someone’s drive and vigor won’t bluster out explosively. Nevertheless everybody in his advanced age deserves to be recognised and respected for what he has achieved in life.

Many of Englund’s original paintings are available through his website, and almost everything you see here is also avail as a limited edition print. (via Juxtapoz)

 

Art Illustration

Birds on Bills by Paula Swisher

It’s been almost two years since we first checked out the work of Pennsylvania artist and designer Paula Swisher and her series of birds drawn in books. Lately the artist has been drawing on her mail, often adapting the color (and subject!) to the context of the mail piece. See lots more here.

Photography

Switcheroo: Quirky Portraits of Couples Swapping Clothes by Hana Pesut

Switcheroo is an ongoing portrait project by Canadian photographer Hana Pesut where fashionably dressed couples are asked to swap clothing for a pair of portraits sent against an identical backdrop. While the premise is pretty simple, the results are often highly amusing because of all the subtle details and unusual juxtapositions. Giant feet crammed into tiny high heeled shoes, the seemingly nervous faces of cross-dressing in public, or even the genuine grins of subjects who clearly enjoy the project as much as the photographer.

The portraits shown here are among the most recent from a trip to Japan, and you can see many more on her Tumblr. Pesut also gathered many of the best portraits into a book. (via My Modern Met)

Illustration

Art Director Javier Pérez Turns Everyday Objects into Whimsical Illustrations

Ecuador-based illustrator and art director Javier Pérez has been posting a fun series of photo illustrations over on his Instagram account. The simple ideas mix everyday objects with line drawings, creating balloons out of grapes, porcupine quills out of nails, or light bulbs out of balloons. These are a few of my favorites but you can see much more here. (via Behance)

Art

Banksy Has Unannounced Art Sale with Genuine Signed Canvases in Central Park, Sells Almost Nothing

For his 13th day in New York, Banksy pulled a fantastic prank on unsuspecting passersby in Central Park yesterday by setting up an unannounced art stall with dozens of 100% original signed canvases. In a world where copies of unlicensed Banksy works are available for a dime a dozen, it’s not inconceivable for somebody to peddle cheap knockoffs for $60 apiece. To further camouflage the artwork the booth was labeled simply “SPRAY ART” and manned by an unsuspecting old man who seemed completely uninterested in what he was doing.

So after having the art stall open for an entire day in Central Park, with an inventory that could have value into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, how many people stopped to buy something? Over a period of 7 hours just three people bought a total of 8 canvases, one of whom managed to haggled the price down 50%! Total haul for the day: $480. One lucky man who said he was decorating his new house in Chicago just won the lottery and unknowingly walked away with four original Banksys. But don’t get your hopes up, according to the artist’s website this was a one day affair. “This was a one off. The stall will not be there again today.” Watch the video to see it all unfold.

For those of you following along the past few weeks via Instagram, Banksy’s website (or perhaps following his tracks around New York), the artist has been creating a new artwork every single day in October as part of his Better Out than In Residency.

Art

Doublefaced: Sebastian Bieniek Creates Unsettling Two-Faced Portraits with Makeup

I’ll be honest in that I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. Created by Berlin-based artist Sebastian Bieniek, Doublefaced is an ongoing series of experimental portraits where a second (or third), rudamentary face is painted with makeup products on the side of a subjects face. While the idea seems ridiculously simple, the actual result is a super bizarre, off-kilter series of photos. Kind of gives you the heebie jeebies. See much more here. (via My Modern Met)