artUnion-Spotlight on the Arts14

It started at the QPAT in 2013, a first-time outing in a collaborative art project that began its life centred around themes with a difficult-to-conceive on the spot drawing component.  One year later artUnion decided to submit a proposal for this year's teachers conference, with a significant change to the focus.  A shift was made from thematic images to biographical, where the students carried out the research for their assigned figure of historical or current importance.
Holy moly, what a difference it made!
We (a group of artists) were so pleased to facilitate this project and look forward to bringing it to schools in the upcoming new year. Art Ed! Whoo!

Jean-Michel Basquiat x Komono

In my days of youth Andy Warhol reined supreme in my art life and was my gateway to awareness of other artists' work, such Jean-Michel Basquiat.  But truth is, Basquiat didn't quite stick.  Years went by, I watched the Schnabel film, then Tamara Davis' doc and while I was filled with oodles of respect and love of the works' raison d'etre, the art itself never resonated. Shit, I just wasn't feel it!

I read a Vanity Fair article on early champions of Basquiat's work and admired their art intuition while established institutions dismissed it. Recent auction history has shown that Basquiat's oeuvre has more than stood the test of time.
For those who don't have 48$M kicking around and want a little bit of JMB in their life, the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat reached out to Belgian watch and sunglasses maker Komono to create a limited edition collection of watches featuring the artist's work. So when I walked into Boutique Oxford for the Basquiat x Komono  Montreal launch, I felt like I had a new (older? different?) set of eyes. What has changed?  The work remains the same, as I admired the signature scribbles, the crowns (even on the watch dial!) and the instinct-driven personal pieces that would come to compose watch straps of the Komono Curated series.  Has time worked its magic on me?  Has time been a gentle erosion on my own views and pillars of art and has finally let in the genius I have stubbornly never "felt"?  It's fitting that the Estate's latest collab marks the marching of time and the enduring nature of Basquiat's art.

ArtUnion-Spotlight on the Arts13

It starts with some blank canvas...

the all-star team! image by Mil Seguin

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collage of collage- image by Mil Seguin

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I was insanely pleased to participate in an artist workshop for the Spotlight on the Arts conference at the QPAT convention.  We (a group of five artists) were to facilitate with the creation of a collaborative collage/paint/draw/go/crazy project with thirteen high school students.  It was not only fun but super rewarding to create and jive on the three assigned themes (food, energy, technology) with a group of talented kids.
Art Ed! Whoo!