Chinese dissident on trial

From The Guardian.

Miss Mao

Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, known for making satirical sculptures of China’s former leader Mao Zedong, has been tried over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs”.

Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit to China from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence.

Quebec Cartoonist Christian Daigle Passes

Roger Waters presents « The Wall » on the Plaines of Abraham in the summer of 2012.

It is with sadness that we learned of the passing of Christian Daigle, better known by his pseudonym Fleg.

He died yesterday from grade 4 pancreatic cancer, which he had been suffering from for the last year.

Our thoughts are with his family and his partner Chantal.

News from Patrick Oliphant

From The Santa Fe New Mexican. 

Richard Nixon victory salute, April 23, 1994, Library of Congress

Political cartoonist Patrick Oliphant kept some of his hate mail. Some of it he memorized and can still recite verbatim.

Some of it he crumpled into a ball and tossed aside. 

Some are now housed in the archives at the University of Virginia, a curious memento from a career that lasted for more than half a century and defined political parody in some of the most prominent newspapers in the United States.

Stan Roach 1931-2019

From the Dawson College website.

Born on January 10, 1931 in New Waterford, Cape Breton, Stan Roach passed away in Montreal on Monday, November 18th.

He studied at Mount Carmel School where the Sisters of Charity encouraged his love of drawing by arming him with coloured chalk and sending him from one classroom to the next to draw on the blackboards.

Jeff Koons Found Guilty of Plagiarism

From artnetNews.

Fait d’Hiver by US artist Jeff Koons at Christie’s auction house is seen before going on sale for an estimated $4-6 million in New York on November 12, 2007. Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images.

Jeff Koons is found guilty of plagiarism in Paris and ordered to pay $168,000 to the creator of an ad he appropriated

A French adman claims victory in his legal battle with the US artist over a surreal campaign featuring a rescue pig and freezing model.

U.S. Postal Service must pay millions for Statue of Liberty mistake

From The Washington Post.

A federal judge ordered the Postal Service to pay $3.5 million to Robert S. Davidson, after admitting it had confused an image of his plaster sculpture replica in Las Vegas for the 19th-century stone-and-copper behemoth off the New York shore.

Pat Oliphant archives housed at the University of Virginia

Fom The Augusta Free Press.

Elevator, 2010, oil on canvas, Pat Oliphant

Pat Oliphant has donated his archives to the University of Virginia, including original artwork, sketchbooks & sculptures.

Artist Rokudenashiko Found Guilty of Obscenity

From CBC.

Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi, known as Rokudenashiko, holds her vagina-inspired artworks

A Tokyo court ruled Monday that vagina-shaped objects created by a Japanese artist qualify as art, but found her guilty of obscenity for distributing digital data that could be used to make a three-dimensional recreation of her genitalia.

Banksy's "Dismaland Bemusement Park"

From Fany Blog.

Banksy, the elusive British artist has once again surprised everyone. After days of speculation about what was taking place in an area of ​​over one hectare on the beach in Weston-super-Mare, we have finally discovered the 'secret'.

'Dismaland', a place dedicated to installations where Disney's world is turned upside down opened on August 22. Amongst the 58 contemporary artists who participated in the project, we can find Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer and Jimmy Cauty.

Oleg Dergachov and Behzad Ghafarizadeh Exhibition in Montreal

From the ECC Cartoonbooks Club website.

Cartoon by Behzad Ghafarizadeh

Cartoon by Oleg Dergachov

The Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec will hold an exhibition of the cartoons and illustrations of Behzad Ghafarizadeh and Oleg Dergachov entitled ARToon from January 8th to February 8th 2015 in Montreal. The exhibition includes 50 cartoons and illustration of the two artists.

Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec
615, avenue Sainte-Croix
Ville Saint-Laurent
Montreal, Quebec H4L 3X6

Lego Versions of Famous Artworks

David Griner in Adweek.



Late last year, Italian designer Marco Sodano received global praise for his creative pixelation of famous paintings remade with Legos. At the time, he said he wanted to convey "the belief that every child with Lego can become a great artist like Da Vinci and Vermeer."

Patrick Oliphant, Master of 'a Dying Art'

An interview with Ann Landi in The Wall Street Journal.

Illustration by Fred Harper

At his opening at the Gerald Peters Gallery in New York on March 20, you can probably expect veteran political cartoonist Pat Oliphant to be up on a ladder, drawing some of his trademark targets on a huge sheet of white paper.

"Spitting Image: From Start to Finish"

From Procartoonists.

The exhibition Spitting Image: From Start to Finish opens at the Cartoon Museum in London tomorrow (26 February) – 30 years to the day since the TV series burst into our living rooms and put satire back at the heart of British comedy.

Artist Re-Creates Iconic Portraits With Thousands of Found Objects

From Demilked.

British artist Jane Perkins calls herself a re-maker, as she uses found objects of various shapes, sizes and hues to replicate the most famous paintings and portraits of our times. In her gorgeous mosaic series “Plastic Classics”, Perkins combines all sorts of plastic objects – buttons, LEGO pieces, beads, figurines – and matches their shapes and authentic hues so well that the works look strikingly similar to the originals. These artworks resemble the impressionistic tradition, as they can be appreciated both from a distance as well as up close.

Source: bluebowerbird.co.uk

The making of Gerald Scarfe's 'Watch Out, Gromit!'

Dozens of sculptures of Gromit, one half of the highly successful animated series Wallace and Gromit, have raised more than £2.3 million ($3.84 million Cdn) at a charity auction to benefit a British hospital.
I posted an article earlier this month.

Here is a short video of Gerald Scarfe talking about his contribution to the project.

Wallace and Gromit dog sculptures raise $3.84M for charity

From CBC News

An organizer of Gromit Unleashed walks among the giant Gromit sculptures decorated by artists and celebrities before Thursday's auction, which raised raised $3.84M for Bristol's children's hospital. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Pixar's creation, Gromit Lightyear, fetches highest price in British charity auction.

Santa Monica bid to remove Paul Conrad's 'Chain Reaction' nonsensical

Christopher Knight in The LA Times

Chain Reaction by Paul Conrad

Paul Conrad's 'Chain Reaction' remains a vital message and safety concerns have been debunked, so why is Santa Monica determined to dismantle the sculpture?

The Just for Laughs 2013 International Visual Arts Contest - The Winners

First Prize, Pascal Gelu (Romania), Simple Solution

The Just for Laughs 2013 International Visual Arts Contest - Call for Entries

The Just for Laughs 2013 International Visual Arts Contest 

5th edition – July 13-27, 2013 – Montreal

Just for Laughs is proud to once again be teaming up with artist and designer Constantin Marinescu, who has been creating a unique brand of visual humour for more than five decades, as the Director and Artistic Director for the Just for Laughs 2013 International Visual Arts Contest. It is also proud to be have Montreal’s URBANA Marketing organizing the event.

After the Funny Story in 2001, the Joke in 2002, Irony in 2003 and Parody in 2004, Cynicism will be be explored this year.

The Just for Laughs 2013 International Visual Arts Contest, presented within the Street Arts programming of Just for Laughs Festival, will culminate with an exhibition running from July 13-27th, in the heart of Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles within Place des Festivals, in front of the Place des Arts entrance on Sainte-Catherine street.

Entries from over 150 participants from at least three continents are expected, with 30 finalists and three winners announced during the vernissage. All artist applications must be received by June 17, 2013.