Met als thema vuur en mythologie gaan 3 artiesten : Mark goss (londen) , Dajo Peeters (antwerpen) en Ojo Johan (brussel) samenwerken aan
een grote canvas in de gallery zelf. Gedurende de expositie zullen naast
het uiteindelijk resultaat eveneens alle schetsen en voorstudies worden
tentoongesteld om de evolutie van het werk weer te geven. Alles zal
uiteindelijk samenkomen in de finissage, waar het afgewerkte canvas en alle
studies en schetsen zullen worden voorgesteld.
Je kan alles live volgen in D'ojos arts & designshop in Antwerpen
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Using the theme of fire and mythology, three artists Mark goss (london) , Dajo Peeters (antwerp) and Ojo Johan (brussels) will collaborate on a
large scale piece of art work in the gallery setting. Over the period of the
exhibition studies and sketches will be shown alongside the main piece to
show the evolution, culminating in the final showing of the piece and all
it’s supporting artwork.
all to be followed in D'ojos arts & designshop in antwerp
Last time I was in the gallery working on the main piece I also got some work done on my cardboard obsession installation!...
This work was drawn from another smaller piece I did towards the exhibition, which you may have seen a few posts back. Although the original reference was a figurine of Homer in the British Museum, the piece is meant to be more representative of Zeus, seeing that Homer wrote many of the mythological stories(or versions of them) I thought it apt to have the greek god in the image of one of the authors...
Pele is often depicted as a wanderer, constantly traveling her domain. Sightings of Pele have been reported all over the islands of Hawaii for hundreds of years, but especially near craters and her home, Mount Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.
My sketch
Pele is known for her violent temper, but also for her common visits among mortals. She is said to appear either as a tall, beautiful young woman or as a very old, ugly and frail woman. She is often accompanied by a white dog and typically tests people. Myths are told of Pele wandering up to people in the form of an old beggar woman, asking them if they have any food or drink to spare. Those who share with her are rewarded and spared. Those who are greedy and unkind to her are punished by having their homes or crops destroyed, so that they themselves may have to rely on the kindness of others.
We've all had a few days off to do the Christmas thing but before we went some more progress has gone on with the canvas!... I worked some more flames into the canvas as a base for some of the more figurative work that is still to come in the following weeks!...
A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (sun city in Greek). It is said that the bird's cry is that of a beautiful song. I'm working on him ... Ojo
Some more cardboard studies, working again with Greek mythology I'm taking different stories from the history of Hephaestos the Greek god of fire and metalworking and illustrating them in as close to a time line as possible...
Obviously a bit of artistic license is allowed here so I'll be putting some spin on it!...
I have always found it interesting working on different surfaces. The nature of art work being produced on a temporary surface has always interested me, the fact that it might only last a day or a week or it might last years depending on where it is.
Cardboard has always been a favourite to work on because of its availability and cost (nothing is always a good price!...). It degrades reasonably easily in the right environment and it is such a disposable material, but it's texture and colour as well as the way it takes certain mediums means it is limitlessly usable...
I have been working on a number of pieces for this show on cardboard, the first of which I am working on in the gallery...(see photos)
I've known about Shango and other yoruba gods, but it's the first time i will make a piece of him.I'm gonna make a sculpture of him today and maybe integrate him somewhere on the canvas.
Here's some info ,4 those who are interested plus an entrancing track by babatunde olatunji - Shango (Chant to the God of Thunder) :
In Yorùbá religion, Sàngó ( also spelled, Sango or Shango, often known as Xangô or Changó in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also known as Jakuta[1]) is perhaps the most popular Orisha; he is a Sky Father, god of thunder and lightning. Sango was a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third king of the Oyo Kingdom. In the Lukumí (Olokun mi = "my dear one") religion of the Caribbean, Shango is considered the center point of the religion as he represents the Oyo people of West Africa. The Oyo Kingdom was sacked and pillaged as part of a jihad by the Islamic Sokoto Caliphate. All the major initiation ceremonies (as performed in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela for the last few hundred years) are based on the traditional Shango ceremony of Ancient Oyo. This ceremony survived the Middle Passage and is considered to be the most complete to have arrived on Western shores. This variation of the Yoruba initiation ceremony became the basis of all Orisha initiations in the West.
The energy given from this Deity of Thunder is also a major symbol of African resistance against an enslaving European culture. He rules the color red and white; his sacred number is 6; his symbol is the oshe (double-headed axe), which represents swift and balanced justice. His dominance is over male sexuality and human vitality, in general. He is owner of the Bata (3 double-headed drums), as well as the Arts of Music, Dance and Entertainment. Shango can be deduced, in some regards, to be the essence of "strategy" (logic and passion drawn and fashioned precisely to achieve some end).
Today in Antwerp it snowed...A lot!... I went down to the gallery to hang the work I have been working on over the last few days... I also hung some cardboard which I will be working on in the gallery as well... I started on this one... Johan was getting down to work on the big boy... ...and a fairly inebriated man dropped by to say yo!...Thanks!... Come by and say hi, we'll be there tomorrow too...
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