Abirpothi

Opinion Feature

Jeff Koons’ Made in Heaven is the Public’s Best-Kept Secret

The Beginning of Jeff Koons’ Art Controversy It all began in 1989, when via an invitation by the Whitney Museum, and guest curator Marvin Heiferman, Jeff Koons created a piece focused on media for a billboard for the exhibition “Image World: Art and Media Culture.” Koons’ billboard promoted a fictional film named Made in Heaven. […]

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Gustave Courbet: Critic of Romanticism, Founder of Social Realism

Gustave Courbet and his painting

Gustave Courbet’s Contribution to the Art Community Art scholars argued about Gustave Courbet, a founding father of the politically-motivated Realism campaign, revolutionising the European art setting. He is regarded as an originator and initiated the route for the Impressionists and, eventually, the genesis of modern art in Western art. In each art history domain, people

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How The Lonely City Misses the Mark on Artistic Motivation

The Lonely City by Olivia Laing is an exploration of loneliness in the modern city, and the connection between solitude and creativity through the lens of iconic artists like Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz (and Nan Goldin), Henry Darger, Vivian Maier, Klaus Nomi, Josh Harris and Zoe Leonard. She explores Edward Hopper in the

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Why Hyperrealism Isn’t Dead: Reflections on Parag Sonarghare’s Art

When pretty much every thing in the world today seemed possible with AI, internet, and cameras ever cheaper, one may wonder the point of creating images by hand; particularly hyperrealistic paintings. Why paint what you can photograph with someone quickly? These questions quickly faded when I found the work of Parag Sonarghare and suddenly, it

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The Irony & Sincerity in Misha Japanwala’s Practice

Introduction The last few decades have witnessed a rise in individual artists from around the world to create work based on themes of cultural identity, social struggle and complex dialogue between tradition/modernity in different places. Misha Japanwala is one of them, a Pakistani artist and more recently fashion designer who has made her name through

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If You Are Not Weeping Before a Rothko, Don’t Worry. You Are Not Alone

Art, especially abstract art, evokes many emotions, along with reefs of scepticism. The “I could do that too” argument has been countered many times with “Why didn’t you then?” And Mark Rothko is entrenched in that argument. If there is one artist who polarises art lovers and critics alike, it is Rothko, considered one of

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Preserving India’s Cultural Heritage: The Need for Stronger Institutional Support and Widespread Art Institutes

My last visit to the Nawab Palace of Murshidabad Hazardwari Palace which is now transformed into a museum, left me disheartened and questioning the notion of “better preservation.” As I observed the peeling wall paint and witnessed the neglect of priceless 17th and 18th-century oil paintings, I couldn’t help but reflect on the lack of

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No Offense! All Taken! Conservative Shook With the Drag Homage of This Grecian Event

When they said that the table was big enough, I never knew that there were a few Terms and Conditions added to the clause. The table is big enough and accommodating only if you are ‘white’ Jesus and twelve of his ‘heterosexual, cis-gendered’ disciples. I am, of course, talking about the fiasco that enveloped the

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