ED Ruscha is fond of words. The versatile artist likes them so much, words appear in his paintings throughout his career. Most of the time he uses an existing type, but between 1966 and 1969 Ruscha makes up his own form. The results are the ‘liquid words’ paintings. The first one has the title ‘Annie, Poured from Maple Syrup’. Check out more paintings of Ruscha here.  They are all there, from the early works from 1958 till the late ones in 1992. Although some are missing.

AFRICAN art has strong and deep traditions. But there is always room for new materials and approaches. Take for example the masks of Romuald Hazoumé from Benin. Masks are a traditional subject, but these are made from junk and reclaimed materials. Like jerry cans.

THIS lion is not from Zion, this lion is from Turkey. The calligraphy is made in that country in the seventeenth century with ink and gold paint. It praises Ali, the first imam of the Shiites. His nickname was Haydar, which stands for lion. The face of the animal consists of the words Ali, once written normal, once written in a mirrored way. I guess the man who made this got the same satisfaction from his work as a graffiti writer gets for making a good tag.

GILLES Aillaud, Eduardo Arroyo and Antonio Recalcati took matters into their own hands in the year 1965. The three painters lured Marcel Duchamp into an empty house, tortured him a little and then finished the old man off. The painters committed the act of killing Duchamp in a series of oil paintings called ‘Live and let die, or the tragic end of Marcel Duchamp’. You can see Duchamp climbing up the stairs, being hit by Aillaud, Arroyo and Recalcati and being thrown down naked from the stairs. On the last picture artists like Rauschenberg, Warhol, Oldenburg and Arman carry Duchamp to his grave. They are dressed like U.S. Marines. The project consisted of eight paintings. Next to the scenes, the painters copied three major works of Duchamp, like ‘The Fountain’. The actual painting of the canvases took place in the Creuz Gallery in Paris in September 1965. The whole act was a condemnation of the work of Duchamp, who died of natural causes in 1968. ............................................. ............................................. ............................................. .............................................

I guess you can’t live in a painting, but there are some days I like to jump in the work ‘Canoe’ from Alex Katz. Just sit in the birch bark canoe and paddle with the current. For Katz , an artist from New York, 1974 was his birch bark canoe year. He made several paintings with canoes as subject. Other work of Katz is also nice to see on grey, rainy days. Katz likes to paint the Good Life. Happy people, sunny lawns and bright lakes.

MANY artists define their style while abroad. Like Daan van Golden. He left Holland in 1963 to visit Japan. During this trip he began to model his work on everyday objects. As an abstract expressionist he was tired to see the form develop during the process of painting. Big inspirations were decorative patterns on textile and wrapping papers, forms he picked out in advance to work with. In Japan Daan van Golden also started to paint with Japanese Enamel paint. It gives his work a very smooth surface. Like the painting Mitsukoshi, made in 1964.

TOMOKAZU Matsuyama’s work has elements of Japanese folklore and graffiti. The first one can be traced back to his childhood in the traditional city of Takayama, Japan. The second element increased in his work after his arrival in New York City, shortly after 9/11. Therefore he can’t be placed in a box. Or as he says it: ‘I am not a Japanese artist, I am a  modern artist that is Japanese.’

IT looks that these party’s Howard Kanovitz painted all were situated somewhere in the Upper East Site. They are filled with WASPs. Artist Kanovitz (1929 – 2009) was a forerunner of Hyper Realism and lived in New York.  The first painting below called ‘The Opening’ from 1968,  can also be looked at as some offshoot of Pop Art.

WHEN seeing the paintings of Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) you can see he evolved from a photographer focusing particularly on architectural subjects to one of the founders of American modernism. Sheeler liked to paint factories and barns. Both structures played a role in his life. Sheeler owned a farmhouse in Pennsylvania and he was hired by Ford Motor Company to make paintings of their factories.

ART don’t always have to be minimalist paintings and difficult sculptures. It can be a vacuum cleaner. British artist John Kaine made a line of slick dust busters. He called the series ‘vacuum cleaning as fine art’. The desire of human beings to change or interfere with the environment has always been a key element in the work of Kaine. Check also his artificial flowers.