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The Otherworldly Work of Mitsuru Watanabe
New Paintings on View at Rehs Contemporary in New York City
Rehs Contemporary is gearing up to open an exhibition featuring the latest creations of acclaimed Japanese artist, Mitsuru Watanabe. The exhibition will showcase a series of six captivating and thought-provoking pieces that reimagine and reinterpret iconic masterpieces by renowned historical artists. Opening October 5th, 2023, from 4:30 – 8 PM, all are invited to view the works being unveiled for the first time.
Mitsuru Watanabe: “Babel and Pudding” – Rehs Contemporary Galleries, Inc., New York City Mitsuru Watanabe’s unique artistic vision has captivated audiences, and his latest creations continue to push the boundaries of artistic expression. The most imposing of the bunch is entitled “Babel and Pudding.” Measuring more than 5 feet tall, the painting is inspired by Dutch Renaissance master Pieter Bruegel’s iconic “Tower of Babel,” a pair of paintings created in 1563. Here, Watanabe pays homage to Bruegel’s intricate detail and rich storytelling, while infusing the scene with his own distinctive twist. The towering structure in the background, reminiscent of the biblical tale, stands as a symbol of human ambition and folly, reaching towards the heavens with a fusion of architectural styles from different eras. Watanabe’s meticulous brushwork and vibrant colors evoke a sense of wonder and curiosity, inviting viewers to contemplate the enduring themes of human ambition, communication, and the complexities of our interconnected world.
One of the most intriguing compositions is “Naoko Playing in Bosch’s Hell.” Inspired by the infernal visions of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” and particularly the panel depicting “The Hell,” this work plunges us into a nightmarish realm of vivid and surreal torment. The elaborate detail and bizarre creatures create a visual feast for the eyes. Watanabe’s masterful use of color and texture invites viewers to immerse themselves in the chaotic scene, where every viewing reveals new layers of horror and oddity.
Perhaps the most iconic reimagining is “Rousseau’s Music of the Night.” This work draws from the timeless masterpiece “La Bohémienne Endormie,” or “The Sleeping Gypsy,” one of the most famous paintings created by French Post-Impressionist Henri Rousseau. Watanabe skillfully honors Rousseau’s delicate atmosphere while infusing his own unique style. The tranquil desert landscape, bathed in the soft glow of moonlight, forms a stunning backdrop to a slumbering gypsy woman and her mysterious lion companion; in this rendition however, the artist invokes a dream-like quality. Watanabe’s daughter casually sits atop the lion’s back, strumming the same mandolin that lays beside the gypsy woman; in addition, the gypsy woman is rendered repeatedly as a motif decorating the sky, further signifying the surrealism of the scene.
Mitsuru Watanabe’s work is a must-see for art enthusiasts, collectors, and the general public alike. This exhibition will provide a unique opportunity to witness the convergence of tradition and innovation in the world of contemporary art.
Mitsuru Watanabe: “Rousseau’s Music of the Night” – Rehs Contemporary Galleries, Inc., New York City EVENT DETAILS:
The opening reception for the exhibition will take place on October 5th, 2023, from 4:30 – 8 PM at Rehs Contemporary, located at 20 West 55th Street, 5th Floor. All works will remain on display through October 31st, 2023.For more information about the exhibition, artist Mitsuru Watanabe, or Rehs Contemporary, please visit www.rehs.com.
About Mitsuru Watanabe:
Mitsuru Watanabe is a celebrated Japanese artist known for his visionary reinterpretations of classic artworks. With a keen eye for detail and an innate ability to blend tradition with modernity, Watanabe’s works have garnered international acclaim and have been featured in prominent galleries and exhibitions around the world. -
La Jolla Art & Wine Festiva – Live, hands-on art activities for all ages!
The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival (LJAWF) will be returning to downtown La Jolla on Saturday, October 7, and Sunday, October 8, 2023, showcasing prestigious art, regional and international wines, craft beer and spirits, and family-friendly fun!
Featuring more than 160 artists from across the U.S. and Mexico, their exquisite creations come in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, jewelry design, fine glass, ceramics, woodwork, mixed media, and photography.
This Festival is not just for the art connoisseur; The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival is also a destination where vino enthusiasts and craft beer lovers unite. The iconic wine and beer garden highlights over 35 international wineries, local craft breweries, and craft distilleries. Along with a two-day silent auction, 15 pet adoption stations and an all-star line-up of live entertainment and music, there is something for everyone.
MISSION: The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival Foundation is a non-profit organization. Its mission is to bring needed funds to La Jolla’s public schools, art to the community and promote La Jolla and its merchants strengthening the vibrant community of La Jolla. All donations to the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival are tax-deductible.
All profits raised benefit underfunded programs such as art, music, science, physical education, technology and on-site medical care at all La Jolla public schools. Since its inception, the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival has donated more than $1,000,000 to these schools for the educational benefit of more than 4,000 children.
Beyond attracting wine and art aficionados, La Jolla Art & Wine Festival beckons those who seek to awaken their inner artist through immersive, hands-on experiences. They are thrilled to announce the return of the Geppetto’s Family Art Center on Wall Street. This vibrant hub is brimming with an array of free, engaging activities designed to captivate both the youthful and the young-at-heart. Whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or just discovering your artistic side, there’s a boundless realm of inspiration waiting for you. The Geppetto’s Family Art Center is again partnering with two local San Diego companies to bring fun and creativity to the weekend! The Geppetto’s Family Art Center.
Artist Lulu Yueming Qu is going to paint live pet portrait during the two day festival event.
Explore the stunning array of offerings at LJAWF23.givesmart.com and embark on a bidding journey featuring over 170 remarkable items, including awe-inspiring art generously contributed by festival artists. Imagine placing your bids on a private in home wine tasting from Wine Guy & Wine Gal or vying for a luxurious seven-night stay for two at Rancho La Puerta Wellness Resort & Spa. The possibilities are endless!
Bid with ease and convenience, utilizing your cell phone or computer for seamless electronic bidding. No matter where you are, the auction is at your fingertips, open for bids at any time until the closing moments. Stay in the know with real-time updates if you find yourself outbid. This is your opportunity to secure exceptional treasures and experiences, all while supporting the vibrant La Jolla community.
DIRECTIONS
The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival takes place on Girard Avenue in La Jolla, California.
From 5 North
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Exit La Jolla Parkway
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Follow La Jolla Parkway down the hill
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Continue straight as La Jolla Parkway changes name to Torrey Pines Road
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Continue on Torrey Pines Road until it dead-ends at Girard Ave and the Vons Shopping Center
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The festival will be to your right on Girard Avenue
From 5 South
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Exit La Jolla Village Drive
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Right on La Jolla Village Drive (headed West towards the ocean)
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Left on Torrey Pines Road
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Veer right to stay on Torrey Pines Road when you get to the bottom of the hill
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Continue on Torrey Pines Road until it dead-ends at Girard Ave and the Vons Shopping Center
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The festival will be to your right on Girard Avenue
PARKING
There’s ample street parking, as well as paid parking facilities, available throughout La Jolla.
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Access this link to take advantage of the plentiful and inexpensive (starting as low as $4.95 ALL DAY) off-street parking lots and garages located just steps away from La Jolla Art & Wine Festival.
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Additional, paid parking options are available here for pre-booking.
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Buffalo akg art museum launches national council
With Eleven Founding Members, National Council Is Dedicated to Sharing the Buffalo AKG with Global Contemporary Art Community
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum formally launched the National Council, a new group that will bring together the voices and viewpoints of individuals from across the country, at a special celebration in Buffalo last weekend. The Council’s members are united in their passion for contemporary art and dedication to advancing the museum’s mission to flourish as an exceptional hub of artistic and creative energies that enriches and transforms people’s lives in and beyond Western New York. The launch of the National Council comes on the heels of the opening of the Buffalo AKG’s new campus, designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Cooper Robertson. The culmination of an unprecedented $230 million capital campaign and three-and-a-half years of construction, the Buffalo AKG comprises more than 50,000 square feet of prime exhibition space; five state-of-the-art studio classrooms; major site-specific art installations; and more than half an acre of new public green space.“With this summer’s opening of the new Buffalo AKG, we are reintroducing this 161-year-old museum on the global stage,” said Janne Sirén, Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director. “Though the Buffalo AKG has played a significant and often decisive role in many of the most important developments in the art world, the establishment of the National Council is the first time that we have formally convened a North American group of collectors, supporters, and lovers of art who will guide and advance the mission of the renewed and revitalized museum. This is a transformative moment in our history and the launch of the National Council is a fitting capstone to the opening season of the Buffalo AKG.”
Advised by Amy Cappellazzo, a native of Buffalo and member of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum’s Board of Directors, the National Council is composed of visionary collectors and civic leaders who share the Buffalo AKG’s passion for discovery, learning, and community engagement. The National Council’s eleven founding members are:
- Cynthia van Eck (co-chair), Rye, NY
- Antonio Valverde (co-chair) and Anna Valverde, New York, NY
- Abby and Doug Bennett, Rochester, NY
- Jane DiRenzo Pigott, Park City, UT
- Mark Giambrone, Dallas, TX
- Michael and Abby Gregory, Dallas, TX
- Charlotte Grey Jackson, Santa Fe, NM
- Deborah Ronnen, Rochester, NY
- Matthew P. Schaab, Miami, FL
- Richard Stamberger, Washington, DC
- Amy Blum Houston (New York, NY) and Nancy Houston (Nova Scotia, Canada)
The National Council will have up to thirty-five members and will meet twice annually. As a geographically dispersed group, council members serve as the museum’s ambassadors in communities across the United States. The National Council will provide intellectual guidance and feedback related to artistic and cultural phenomena, as well as other relevant topics, to the museum’s Board of Directors and staff in Buffalo. Together, the council members will decide how their membership dues are collectively designated to support upcoming Buffalo AKG exhibitions.
The launch of the National Council is the Buffalo AKG’s latest move in its systematic effort to advance sustainable partnerships and collaborations beyond Western New York. In 2012, the museum founded the Canadian Friends of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum with supporters in Canada. In 2021, the museum launched the AKG Nordic Art and Culture Initiative, whose seventy-two Founding Patrons supported the creation of a new transatlantic platform for art and artists working in or associated with the Nordic Region.
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About the Buffalo AKG Art Museum
Founded in 1862, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright- Knox Art Gallery) is the sixth oldest public art institution in the United States. For more than 160 years, the Buffalo AKG has collected, conserved, and exhibited the art of its time, often working directly with living artists. This tradition has given rise to one of the world’s most extraordinary collections of modern and contemporary art.
In June 2023, following the completion of the most significant campus development and expansion project in its history, the Buffalo AKG opened anew to the public. The project is funded by a $230 million capital campaign, the largest such campaign for a cultural institution in the history of Western New York, including $195 million raised for construction and $35 million in additional operating endowment funds.
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Cambria Announces Six Depth Defying New Designs
Groundbreaking Designs on Display at Three Twin Cities Gallery Locations
Cambria, The Finest Countertop Makers in the World™, introduces six new additions to its iconic quartz design palette. The groundbreaking new designs are fueled by Cambria’s proprietary technology and techniques, and transcend the existing palette to further expand its innovative quartz surface collection.
The new designs can be viewed in full slab format at Cambria’s three Gallery locations in the Twin Cities, Cambria Gallery on 7th, Cambria Gallery at IMS and the Cambria Gallery in Plymouth.
The three new WINDSOR™ designs include Windsor Brass™, Windsor Steel Satin Ridge™ and Windsor Brass Satin Ridge™.
WINDSOR BRASS™: This new addition to the Alloy Collection™ is high gloss with chocolate brown streams that converge along a cool white backdrop. Its translucence and movement are punctuated by hints of brilliant brass. The Windsor Brass alloy accent lightly traces the peaks and valleys of this flowing landscape for visual depth with a glint of glamor.
WINDSOR STEEL SATIN RIDGE™: Bold movement and balanced texture are hallmarks of the steel-toned colorways of Windsor Steel Satin Ridge which ebb and flow like waves against warm honey sand. The steel alloy traces each crest like gleaming sunlight, while cool charcoal contrasts the warm-white debossed Inverness™ veins.
WINDSOR BRASS SATIN RIDGE™: Chocolate brown hues and warm honey shading play against delicate debossed Inverness veins. Radiant brass complements this stony canvas with subtle warmth and smooth movement with unmatched sheen in Windsor Brass Satin Ridge.
Windsor Brass Satin Ridge, Credit: Cambria
“Cambria’s new Windsor designs unveil a realm of design that transcends ordinary, a symphony of textures and visuals entwined in a harmonious embrace.” said Summer Kath, EVP of Design for Cambria. “These one-of-a-kind creations are poised to steal the spotlight, leaving an indelible mark on the world of design.”
In addition to the new Windsor designs, three new Inverness™ designs have been added: Inverness Swansea™, Inverness Everleigh™ and Inverness Bristol Bay™.
Inverness Swansea™ Credit: Cambria
INVERNESS SWANSEA™: The colorway guides into a tonal white, marbled design. The merging of neutral tones, debossed Inverness™ veins and smooth textures creates an artfully combined, warm-meets-cool design.
INVERNESS EVERLEIGH™: Statement meets subtle in this movement-rich design that features cool gray and warm, sand-honey tonalities, combining the best of bold patterns and soft, tone-on-tone design with delicate debossed Inverness™ veins.
INVERNESS BRISTOL BAY™: Stormy-blue waves surge against the cool white backdrop of this striking design, cloaking its translucent gray colorways with soft ripples and pronounced spires of saturated cobalt, paired with debossed Inverness™ veins, adding subtle texture.
“The Inverness designs are a testament to Cambria technology reaching unparalleled pinnacles, meticulous craftsmanship and innovation that elevates aesthetics to unprecedented levels, with a touch of texture. These masterpiece designs will cater to diverse project aspirations,” said Kath.
All six of the new Cambria designs are available immediately and come in 2cm and 3cm thicknesses and are available in jumbo slab size of 65.5″ x 132 (60 sq ft).
Cambria has the most extensive palette of designs in the world with over 170 bold designs. These state-of-the-art designs can be viewed in full slabs at CAMBRIA’S GALLERIES AND SHOWROOMS across the country. Design launch events are scheduled throughout the nation in Cambria Gallery, Sales and Distribution Center Showrooms in over 25 major US cities and metropolitan areas across the country. Samples can be ordered online at CambriaUSA.com.
About Cambria
Cambria is the leading producer of American-made quartz surfaces and is a family-owned company. Cambria’s innovative quartz designs are stain resistant, nonabsorbent, durable, safe, maintenance free, easy to care for, and backed by a transferable FULL LIFETIME WARRANTY. Cambria is sold through an exclusive network of premium, independent specialty retail and trade partners that can be found in the DEALER LOCATOR at CambriaUSA.com.
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ourney in the Netherlands to explore the Rural Van Gogh
On September 11, 1883, Vincent van Gogh arrived in the province of Drenthe. There he sought peace and reflection and new inspiration. The three months he spent in Drenthe became decisive for his development as a person and as an artist. On September 11, 2023, exactly 140 years later, the exhibition ‘On a journey with Vincent van Gogh in Drenthe’ will open at the Drents Museum. You can discover his story here until January 7, 2024. In addition, a collaboration to celebrate the “Rural Van Gogh” started this spring, with the reopening of the Van Gogh Village museum in Nuenen.
On a journey with Vincent van Gogh
Over the past eight years, the Drents Museum conducted extensive research into Vincent van Gogh’s Drenthe period. The exhibition On a journey with Vincent shows more than 20 works by Van Gogh ranging from paintings, watercolors and drawings as well as those by his contemporaries such as Jacob van Ruisdael, Jules Dupré, Jean-François Millet, Anton Mauve and Anthon van Rappard. The works come from museums and private collections from all over the world. This is the first time the museum has presented so many works from that era together.One of these unique works is Landscape with a Farm (1883), a colorful watercolor that has been in the possession of a Canadian family collection for more than 40 years. In all that time, it has never been exhibited. Also on display are paintings, watercolors and drawings made by Van Gogh just before and after his time in Drenthe. The well-known correspondence with his brother Theo is also included in the exhibition.
Rural Van Gogh
From 2023, the provinces of Drenthe and North Brabant will put Vincent van Gogh in the spotlight. The focus will be on ‘Rural Van Gogh’ – his years in the Netherlands, his love of nature and his connection with the countryside. Van Gogh’s short and eventful life was characterized by a large number of moves to various places in Europe. Although his period in France is best known, he nevertheless spent most of his life in the Netherlands. North Brabant is the region where he lived longest and where he was formed as a person and an artist. There he developed his love for nature and landscape, struggled with his family, faith and feelings, started there as an artist and completed his first masterpiece here.
During his time in Drenthe, Vincent wrote letters about the impression the landscape made on him. Afterwards, the landscape, rough working-class life and playing with light always remained important themes in his work. That same landscape can still be admired in many places in North Brabant and Drenthe.
Activities in Drenthe and North Brabant
Besides the launch of the exhibition in September at the Drents museum, the renovated Van Gogh Huis Drenthe in Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord, where the painter stayed during his time in Drenthe, will also open in October. In addition, signposted Van Gogh cycling and walking routes have been developed around Emmen, Hoogeveen and Zweeloo. The cycling and walking routes provide an illuminating picture of where Van Gogh drew his inspiration.Earlier this year, on May 16, Queen Maxima opened the Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen and the fifth Van Gogh National Park walking trail was opened in Helvoirt. Also in North Brabant, in Vincent’s birthplace Zundert, a tribute to Vincent’s stay in London will be paid this autumn with an exhibition by Saskia Olde Wolbers about her artist in residence project at Van Gogh House in London. This autumn, Van Gogh’s 150th anniversary of living there will be commemorated.
Besides a wide range of activities in Drenthe and North Brabant, 2023 is also the 50th anniversary year of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. You can read the full story about Vincent van Gogh’s period in North Brabant and Drenthe and his love for the landscape at holland.com/vangogh.
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Kinstler Contemporary Fine Art Puzzles: New Designs Launch
Kinstler, the New York based fine art online puzzle shop that showcases the vibrant modern art of emerging and established artists has released brand new puzzle designs! https://hellokinstler.com/
The new designs include Self Portrait as a Florist (Rachel Hayden), Drowned Bodies Never Die (Thania Petersen), Mondegreen Codex (Benjamin Styer).
https://hellokinstler.com/
pages/artist-interviews https://hellokinstler.com/ pages/conversation-with- thania-petersenhttps:// hellokinstler.com/pages/ conversation-with-benjamin- styer 
Kinstler was started by a fine art puzzle lover who found that his options were mainly limited to a few big-name artists who were, by and large, long dead. https://hellokinstler.
com/ These puzzles are the products of unique and distinct visual voices- some will be comforting and playful- And some will be more challenging thematically (but still fun to do!)
Kinstler is committed to environmental sustainability. Our puzzles and boxes are made from recycled chipboard and printed with soy inks. Plastic shrinkwrap and bag are recyclable. Printed, assembled, packed in the USA. $23-$25. Available at: https://hellokinstler.com/ and Amazon.
