#back on my egon schiele vibe

[rossenn]

Show me him in DA4 immediately

[fairycosmos]

it's me can I please have,,quote i love u so much djbfjdjs,,seeing u on my dash makes me 💞❣️💞❣️💞

jfdklsvjkfdl ur an angelic being and i’d die for you :’)) i’m so glad you like seeing me on your dash omfg!! thank you so so much 💖💖💖

“i have already lived too long in another world, and i want to go back there again.” - egon schiele

“the sky is bleeding with me–.” - A. maraval-berthoin from “the legend of lalla maghnia.

“all day I’ve built a lifetime and now the sun sinks to undo it.” - anne sexton from the fury of sunsets 

“your crystal heart is free like a wave, which finally grew tired of the sea,” -  margaret muenstenberg, from “reproach”.

i hope these r okay !! i get more than one type of vibe from you lol so loads came to mind. but you have a super beautiful blog and you’re always so lovely aaaaaaa :( sending my love your way

[ina-nera]

Amoako Boafo aims to challenge the notion of Blackness

Now, more than ever, art speaks to us through a medium that challenges without raising a fist or drawing blood; no one is more adept at saying what needs to be said than Amoako Boafo. Looking through Boafo’s portfolio I’m immediately drawn to the Diaspora Series (2018 ongoing) with its bold colours and patterns. The series of paintings is a celebration of black life. It aims at challenging the notions of blackness that embodies and dehumanises, by assimilating it with negativity. Portraying individuals from the Diaspora and the continent by highlighting self-perception and beauty. It invites for a reflection on blackness and asks for an understanding of its diversity and complexity.

Art is not a job

Born in Accra, Ghana, brought up by his mother and grandmother along with two siblings who made their feelings clear about his career choice. But Boafo knew from an early age he wanted to paint, to be an artist. Starting his journey at Ghanatta College of Arts and Design in Ghana, Boafo credits his peers for teaching him his art. A very generous statement from someone who is so clearly naturally talented and unusually modest.

Amoako Boafo Straight from art school, Boafo studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Immediately finding the Austrian capital unreceptive to black people and subsequently the art scene is, in his words, “just as challenging”. He tempers this atmosphere in his first exhibition at the Roberts Project in Los Angeles, in February 2019 with a portrait series which is a celebration of his identity and blackness; an attempt at self-preservation, he says.

Just Like Egon Schiele

Talking to the Los Angeles Times, Boafo recalls his first impression of Vienna. “When I arrived in Vienna, I didn’t think of changing the way I paint or anything, but I heard certain names over and over—Klimt, Schiele, Lassnig—and I wanted to see why they were so famous. I actually love their paintings, and every now and then I would test myself to see if I could paint the way they were painting. I could, of course. But with Schiele, I was most interested in seeing how he got his results. You could really see all the brushstrokes and colours he mixed to make a painting, unlike Klimt, whose work is very well mixed, realistic and decorated, which is also good. I just want my paintings to be as free as possible, and Schiele gave me that vibe—the strokes, characters, and composition”.

It’s all in the brushstrokes

Looking at the painting, you are drawn to the immaculate texturing and the all expressions on the sitters face made more poignant by the brushstrokes; drawing the viewer into the quality of statement while allowing you to make up your own mind. The work is excellent and has a broad range, which many might consider un-appealing. This work is so far from bland. To be challenging you need to be seen and you really get the feeling that Boafo sees. The portrait that resonates with me is “Bel”, a 2018 portrayal of a long-suffering woman, possibly his wife, giving that well-known expression of humouring a loved one and acknowledging a back seat position that is both powerful and comforting.

"Bel", 2018. Photo: fashionweekdaily

Every Artist needs a break

Things moved quickly for Boafo once Kehinde Wiley, a prominent gallery owner, bought one of the paintings and then introduced Boafo to his gallery. This may not seem unusual to most but African art was not being bought in Austria; especially contemporary art, and certainly nothing that hadn’t been painted for at least two hundred years earlier. Exhibitions follow soon after with his first exhibition at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles, titled “I see me” and, more recently, “wish you were here” also at the Roberts Projects—a phrase that resonates with all of us at this moment in time.

We Dey, a nonprofit arts organization in Vienna

Most artists would be put off by the negative response and hightail it back to Ghana. But Boafo is a stoic individual, to be seen and not to have his art whitewashed meant starting We Dey, a self-funded space for artists of any discipline to include performance, drawing, painting. In order to maintain the space, the exhibition space is funded by a successful yearly crowdfunded project.  No one can deny that enthusiasm and hard work pay off. The aim now is to create a similar space in Ghana to support other artists. Boafo is an artist we will see much more of in the years to come. Anyone who can be quiet and extremely vocal at the same time is a force to be reckoned with—mark my words. Read the full article

[djseaward]

may, lately

hey, it's may! may sure starts quiet slow and cool but boy does it ramp up quickly! especially when you live in the czech republic which has a holiday two weeks in a row. i don't know about you guys, but i can already feel the slowing of the school year and delighting in the approach of the second half of spring (the better half).

here are some things that have been making me smile lately...

our hiking holiday at the end of april really got the spring/warm weather mood going! i posted the above photo in that particular post but it’s just too darned cute not to share again.

london only a week later was a whirlwind of delicious food, city walking, top-notch music and all the makings of a perfectly memorable weekend. i have another london post in the works - there’s more i have to get off my mind before the memory starts slowly dissipating - you know how that is.

last week, i celebrated my birthday and it was pretty lush. i slept in, alex made me fluffy american-style pancakes, then we went to český krumlov to check out what was going on at the egon schiele centrum, my favorite art museum. we gazed at the interesting paintings, then went and had a picnic in the park behind the castle (below) which is extremely idyllic as well as quiet and devoid of tourists, and continued our talk about what we saw at the museum. later back in budejovice, we went out for a chill dinner and sat outside, watching the canal and some older gentlemen fishing from their bicycles (fascinating) and had a little party in the evening. i'm now in that post-birthday happy/grateful phase - it was a relaxed but such a nice day.

i've started gardening at my new garden plot! i spent a few hours this and last friday weeding half of the bed and planted some tomatoes and pumpkins, today some greens seedlings. i can't overstate how much having a garden (my first plot) means to me. i have balcony and windowsill gardened for a few years now and although it's been alright, i haven't done well outside of the herbs and flowers department. so now that i've got my permanent residence and worked up the resolve to make it happen (thanks in part to two lovely friends for making it possible!), i am ready to see what this first-time plot gardener bringing in loads of fresh can-do energy will yield come summer. i'll surely update you on the progress as the summer goes on.

(nothing much to see here -- the state of things as i left it day one, only tomatoes and pumpkins in the ground)

it’s also been fun watching my second eurovision - if you have never seen it, it’s a long-running europe-wide song contest: three minutes of the most over-the-top pop song performances you can think of. this year i am extra stoked as one of my favorite icelandic bands hatari is competing in the finals! i probably won’t be watching the finals live as i’ve got concert tickets for that very evening... but a belated watching will be necessary. 

also trying all the natural and herbal remedies as my several year old allergy meds kicking around are probably expired and i don’t yet feel like going to the lékárna for more. tried the extremely local honey method which may have worked... already allergies are far better than yesterday, so (shrug). also drinking a tea blend i mixed up containing stinging nettle leaf as that may also help.

and that’s about it for this friday! the weather should be great this weekend so we’re off to prague for some music, good eats, and spring in the big city vibes. hope all is well and happy weekend, friends.