public arts

After feasting on what had become our customary lunch fare in Paris—a Mixte sandwich (ham and cheese on a baguette), frites, and a bottle of red wind—at a café near the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, we stumbled upon a humble, inviting gallery just a few feet down the narrow street. As we stepped inside L’art de Rien (translation: The Art of Nothing), an Orwellian aura enveloped the gallery. A alarming warning—”Big Brother Is Watching You”—appeared everywhere. The exhibition (curated by Isabelle Lebre) consisted mainly of posters by various artists, ranging from overtly political to humorously absurd, but also included videos, sculptures and other forms. Spurred on by government plans to install more than a thousand surveillance cameras throughout the city by 2012, the 1984-inspired exhibition extended beyond the gallery, as a group of a dozen artists put up posters in place of the hundred or so proposed CCTV cameras in the 18th arrondissement, where the L’art de Rien is located. “The goal is not to condemn, but to think,” Lebre said.

In Amsterdam, if you find yourself facing a difficult decision, a should-I-or-shouldn’t-I situation, the answer is always simple and always the same: “Why not!” [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

This random scene along Canal Saint-Martin, comprised of disparate pieces of street art that together form a kooky-but-compelling composition, possessed a sort of magnetism, as Jimi Hendrix keeps a watchful eye on two foxy, albeit alien, ladies. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

We seemed to walk through Trafalgar Square at least once or twice a day during our stay in London. One Friday morning we passed an artist recreating Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus—using paint and brushes, of all things—on the sidewalk (or some medium laid out on it) outside of the National Gallery. Amidst the constant threat posed by heavy foot traffic, the artist had finished the painstakingly detailed piece when we returned several hours later. The result: a surprisingly accurate and altogether remarkable reproduction of an iconic image. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

Global warming is a real threat, according to this anti-establishment piece of street art in Amsterdam.

A building in Amsterdam goes “Boom” with the help of some Lichtenstein-inspired street art. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

I immediately fell in love with this large painting—mural really—covering an entire wall of an approximately two-story building on Quai de Valmy along Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. Fun and colorful, this seductive wallflower isn’t trying to sell anything, but she certainly makes one want to recline near the peaceful canal on a warm, sunny afternoon (like on September 14) with drink in hand. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

Supporters of the arts received good news late Friday when the Senate voted 60 to 38 in favor of a $787 billion economic stimulus bill following a 246-183 House vote earlier in the day. The bill included $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, which seemed to be in serious jeopardy mid-week. Read more…

Critics of the economic stimulus plan (read: impotent Republicans in Congress) have, throughout the debate over the size and scope of the package, cherry-picked various programs—ones, of course, that they don’t like or that run counter to their ideology—as evidence of “pork.” And in some cases, both in the House and especially in the Senate, Democrats have caved, stripping billions of dollars from the package in the name of bipartisanship, despite the obvious ways in which these programs would have played important roles in moving this country forward during tough economic times. Read more…