www.pushpauseart.com now LIVE!

I will no longer be updating this wordpress site. All the content has now moved to our official site: www.pushpauseart.com

Tim Burton in Modern Painters

Read the article on artist/director Tim Burton in Modern Painters or read it online here.

Frieze: Life in Film

Frieze Magazine runs an ongoing series asking artists and filmmakers to list the movies that have influenced their practice. Below is an excerpt from Peter Doig’s segment:
“A lot of people have assumed my paintings are influenced by or based on films, but it’s not that literal. I’ve directly referenced only one film still in my work, a figure in a canoe on a lake taken from Friday the 13th (1980, directed by Sean S. Cunningham). Of course, all artists are interested in film – I don’t know one that doesn’t have an opinion about music or movies. Cinema is, after all, the most important art form of our time.”

Peter Doig - Canoe Lake

Read all the articles at www.frieze.com

Robert Longo: Shadows and Forests

UNTITLED (ET IN ARCADIA EGO)

UNTITLED (IN THE GARDEN, ET IN ARCADIA EGO)

Like Beric Henderson, Robert Longo also finds inspiration in shadows and forests.
These works are currently on display in the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain. Nice, France until December 20, 2009. I was lucky enough to attend the opening of this retrospective and to meet the artist. The work was incredible and I have been a huge fan of Mr. Longo’s work since I first saw the Men in Cities series in the late 80’s. I even saw his film Johnny Mnemonic in the theater. See all of Robert Longo’s work on his website
Dawn Dudek

Shadows, cinema and the art of noir.

Hitchcock's 'Shadow of Doubt'

Why do shadows recur so often in my writing, photos and paintings? Not wanting to delve too far into my own psyche, I can only say that I was undoubtedly impressed as a child by film noir (especially Bogart films such as The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo) and Hitchcock films, and I still am. The portrayal of the otherworldly side of society and the darker side of human nature was powerfully conveyed on the big screen by extensive use of lighting effects and shadow. Night scenes with single-source lighting and long shadows were especially effective and suspenseful. I find that shadows provide an outline of form, but to me they are transient, vague and often hallucinatory. These qualities allow the shadow to serve as metaphors for a range of dramatic feelings and emotions. The ambiguity of the shadow is another critical element and one reason they feature in my thoughts and creative work. I lived in Europe for several years and loved the forests, spending invaluable time in Switzerland and Germany walking amongst the trees. European forests often have a gothic feel, a dark brooding and mysterious quality which is incredibly enticing. The German expressionists and film directors such as Hitchcock used this to great atmospheric effect. There are ultimately very few pictures I create which do not have a tree, or part of a tree, in there somewhere. In many of my paintings I search for classic frames of reference, often using forests as backdrops or street-lights to illuminate critical elements in a scene. Those elements within the composition are usually carefully constructed but almost always are based on one of many spontaneous ink sketches I produce in my spare time (ie. late at night). The use of shadows can heighten both the perspective or depth of a scene and its mood. And not infrequently, a shadow will take centre stage and provide the focal point of a painting.
Author: Beric Henderson

Five Films that influenced Gregory Crewdson

Brief Encounter by Gregory Crewdson

From Five in Focus interview with Gregory Crewdson, here are the five films that influenced him as a photographer.
1. Vertigo
2. Night of the Hunter
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
4. Blue Velvet
5. Safe
To read the full article click here

Chris Chang on Miguel Calderon’s Bad Route

Bad Route by Miguel Calderon

Chris Chang, editor of Film Comment writes an article on Mexican artist Miguel Calderon, including quotes from Wes Anderson who used his paintings in his film The Royal Tenenbaums . Calderon created the image then found a portrait painter to reproduce the image. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Anderson and co-writer Wilson considered turning Bad Route into an actual stunt the Tenenbaum clan would perform onscreen: “We thought they would have flashlights and ride on motorcycles and wear masks, playing a game.” Ultimately they never staged it. “We realized it didn’t make any sense.” In a neat bit of reflexive art history, after he bought the painting Anderson discovered it had been staged before it was painted, and, shockingly, wasn’t even painted by the artist. Calderon dressed and positioned his “cast,” photographed them, and then, after a long and extensive search, found a portrait painter with the style he was looking for to copy the photo. A few people, including Anderson, wondered why Calderon didn’t paint the thing himself. “Too much art school,” he responds. “If I did it, it would be too artsy. I wanted something camp. Less believable.” He realizes some find this “hands-off” approach to art making somewhat suspect. “People don’t understand,” he says. “The funny thing is, it’s absolutely like filmmaking.” Read the complete article here.

Fellini in Paris

From October 20, 2009 – January 17, 2010 JEU DE PAUME in Paris will showing the creative context of Fellini’s work. The exhibition includes drawings and photographs by Fellini, as well as original film posters, period magazines and excerpts from his films.
For more information visit www.jeudepaume.org

Time Magazine article on Jeff Wall 2007 MOMA retrospective

Time Magazine article

Photography: If You Build It They Will Come

A collective for artists inspired by cinema.

Pushpause is a collective created to showcase artists influenced by film or artwork that conveys a cinematic look and feel.  Part of the focus of the collective is also to include discussions, essays and articles relating to this genre.