Saturday, February 17, 2018

Artists of the day, February 17-18: Sir Anthony Hopkins, David Bowie, James Franco



Sir Anthony Hopkins (1937) British actor, painter. 
If you ask Anthony Hopkins the meaning of a particular painting or drawing, the answer might surprise you. He says, “I don’t think there’s any meaning in it. I just paint. I discover as I go along and I don’t analyze, I just go for it.”

His art studio is filled to capacity with various paints, oils, acrylics, tempera bottles, pens, markers, brushes, canvases; it’s all a riot of color and possibility. Strangely, even with paintings of all sizes on the walls, the studio exhibits a sense of organized chaos. Hopkins insists that he has no concept of the results while doing his art. “I do not feel afraid. I don’t feel that I have to prove anything.” This freedom from expectation and judgment allows him to run in whatever direction his imagination happens to be at any split second.

Hopkins’ paintings all have in common the power and vibrancy hidden behind the eyes. He says, “The face is not important. It’s the eyes that are the most haunting part of one’s soul. It’s very primitive. It’s childish art. It has to be childish because I am a child. I’ve discovered lately that I enjoy all that is supposedly wrong with me. I used to take myself so seriously, but now I don’t. I allow myself to revel in the exhilarating nature of life.”

And Hopkins has no plans to change the way he is working anytime soon. “I’ve never had that kind of academic discipline to work by rules. I work by trial and error. I guess I am purely instinct.”

While working on a painting in his studio he says, “I don’t know where this one is going. But I find that very satisfying. Everything is utter madness. It’s a reflection of what is in my mind. I tell younger people to be it. Enjoy it. This is it. It’s the way we are made. It’s the way I’m made.”

 © 2018. All images are copyrighted © by Sir Anthony Hopkins. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission from the artist is obtained.

Sir Anthony Hopkins

2014, Common Man



Aloha Nui Loa









Dreamcat

George rotated

2012, Imagineering II

2007, Mask Series

Nirvana

Opera Ball

Principessa 4

2007, Self Portrait

Steelworkers

The Hopkins Family 2




David Robert Jones (1947-2017) British musician, singer/song-writer, painter

David Bowie owned an extensive private art collection included paintings, sculpture and furniture. Artist and writer Matthew Collings characterized the collection as "bohemian, romantic, expressive, emotional art". Bowie was described by an art advisor as "a true collector. His acquisitions were not commercially motivated; he cared about the art, not the market. His was a deeply personal, eclectic collection, reflecting his British roots and his real passion for art.

Just like many others around the globe, we were saddened by the departure of a great artist of our age – David Bowie. I have to admit, though, my sadness is somehow selfish. I knew that it wouldn’t be long until my turn facing the end of this life, just like my favourite artist who sang me these songs that I grew up listening to.

However, there are some artists behind the mask of sadness, are simply prompted to promote their freshly-made paintings and prints, to profit from shocked fans who want to pay tribute to their hero. On that very same day!

So, instead of sharing arts made on the death of David Bowie, here I would like to share some of his very own artwork. Let’s pay real tribute to him by celebrating his creativity! David Bowie paintings show a knowledgeable approach to art, influenced by Frank Auerbach, David Bomberg, Francis Bacon and Francis Picabia.

© 2018. All images are copyrighted © by David Bowie. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission from the artist is obtained.


Mr David Bowie

1976, portrait of JO

1977, Child in Berlin

1977, World champion

1978, Berlin Landscape With JO8

1978, Self-Portrait

1978, Turkish Father and Son

1995, Dry Heads Capetown

1995, Hearts Filthy Lesson

1995, Present future accepted

1996, Evol for the Missing

1996, Squeeze 2000

1996, The rape of Bigarschol

DHeads II

Self portrait

Self portrait

Self portrait

Sketch

Sketch

Sketch



James Franco (1978) best known as an actor on film and on stage, as well as a writer, director, and producer, James Franco has established a career as a multimedia visual artist whose oeuvre includes photography, video, paintings, and drawings. His work has often involved provocative reinterpretations of “texts” taken from art and cinema—such as his 2013 multimedia installation “Psycho Nacirema,” which recontextualizes scenes from Alfred Hitchock’s 1960 thriller Psycho, and “New Film Stills” (2014), an homage to Cindy Sherman’s seminal “Untitled Film Stills” photographic series.

© 2018. All images are copyrighted © by James Franco. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission from the artist is obtained.

Mr James Franco




















No comments:

Post a Comment