New Age Mondrian - Klas Ernflo's Color Pad

By: Klas Ernflo, from the series "Color Pad"

I've come to the conclusion that I have a slightly unhealthy addiction to Art History - it's my security blanket in the arts. The art of yesterday has been consolidated into nice little boxes of time and style and technique. When I am presented with a new artist I immediately analyze the work as I would a piece from the past.

Klas Ernflo's "Color Pad" series is an amazing example of what I am experiencing these days as I wade through hundreds of articles about new creations. Can you guess why the "Color Pad" series is so attractive to me? View bellow:

The "Color Pad" series screamed Piet Mondrian the second I saw it. Clean and bold colors each carefully placed in their own little area on the canvas. The main difference is that Ernflo uses organic forms which seem to be slightly alive and dribbling around on the canvas (still NEVER mixing) where as Mondrian's color "subjects" are static and unmoving. This series is the new age Mondrian.

I particularly enjoy the peices in which plaid is intorduced into the "color pallette." Ernflo has some other work which is also interesting. Please visit http://www.klasherbert.com to see more!

Links:
Original Source: Free People's Blog
Artists Website AND Image Source: KLAS ENRNFLO'S
Mondrian Image: Story Board Toys

Review 1 - Nutcracker Gone Indian in the Underworld - La Bayadere

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending La Bayadere at The Seoul Arts Center. I went in with mid-level expectations that were not truly defied until the final act of the performance. The premise of the story is a love square with a death of one of the lovers. The first two acts were a Nutcracker like performance - everyone sits on stage and takes turns dancing.
Despite my lack of interest and longing for a candy-cane in mid-April I was impressed by the number of men on stage. Other than that the first two acts were not very interesting.

The third act blew away my expectations. One of the lovers is killed by another lover at a wedding. The third act is about the living lover taking a long hit of opium and then visiting the underworld to reconcile with his dead lover.

The lighting is what made this act. At first I was a disgruntled audience viewer wondering why my eyes were playing tricks one me. Too much chocolate cake at intermission? Once I realized that the lighting was an intentional affect I stopped rubbing my eyes and stared in awe at the stage. A gray film-like blanket of light played tricks on my eyes that created a piercing red glow underneath the dancers' movements. This reminded me of the final act in Swan Lake which I later read was inspired by the third act of La Bayadere - go figure.

Image Credit: The Korea Times

Urban Sketch Crawl - Opportunities for Artists

A quick sketch I did in Cortona, Italy in 2005 in the main piazza.

If you like to sketch check out this site and represent your city - Urban Sketchers.

I found this site through Karyn Zlatkovic, she will be hosting a sketch crawl in Barcelona in May. Check out her new blog CLICK HERE.