The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

Picasso and the iPad: Hockney says, “He would have gone mad.”

by

David Hockney’s digital obsession: now showing in Paris

Obsessed with new technology, David Hockney says he’s not alone. He has made the iPad his new canvas–and now paints with his fingers.

Hockney’s masterpiece app

Hockney trades sketch pad for iPad

Hockney’s new show in Paris, “Fleurs Fraiches” (Fresh Flowers) showcases 300 of his newer digital pieces–shown on actual iPhones and iPads. Drawing with an iPhone app called BRUSHES, it’s become a daily habit for one of the best known artists of his generation.

In 2009, Hockney told the Telegraph: “I draw flowers every day on my iPhone and send them to my friends, so they get fresh flowers every morning. And my flowers last. Not only can I draw them as if in a little sketchbook, I can also then send them to 15 or 20 people who then get them that morning when they wake up. Picasso tadalafil would have gone mad with this. So would Van Gogh. I don’t know an artist who wouldn’t, actually.”

The iconic British painter/photographer has now moved on to the larger iPad. Reviews say his digital images are “luminous,” though “less detailed.” From those I’ve seen, they are classic Hockney, with simple lines and fresh color.

iPad painting: a daily habit

The app is fun for exploratory artists as well. I’ve experimented with it on my iPhone, and I like the immediacy.  Thousands of other artists are making the big switch, enjoying the freedom from bulky supplies. The big headline last year was that the cover of The New Yorker was designed by an artist using the BRUSHES app. See the process in action via this ABC news story.

View an interview with Hockney on digital art here.

David Hockney: Fleurs Fraîches – on view at the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent in Paris through January 30.


The DC “Newseum”

by

(Pic #1) My encounter with a section of the Berlin Wall at the NEWSEUM in Washington.

Bring tissues, and know that you are living and breathing world history.

The next time you’re in our nation’s capitol, find time to explore the halls and galleries of what has now become one of Washington’s most popular attractions: “The Newseum.” What drew me there was The Unabomber’s cabin—what kept me there was—well, everything else.

The Newseum is an interactive museum dedicated to news, history, and journalism. Its theaters and galleries fill seven floors with Pulitzer Prize winning photos, sobering news video, and slices of unforgettable American culture and news events. As a former TV news reporter, I expected to be unmoved. I was wrong.

(Pic #2) Twisted Tower

(Pic #3) “Checkpoint Charlie” 

Artifacts like the fried, twisted, antenna from the fallen World Trade Center remind us of our fragility, (Pic #2) and what we have experienced collectively – often painfully — as a nation. The exhibits also underscore what our parents and grandparents witnessed – and tried to describe to our generation — before television coverage became the way we learned about everything.

The largest section of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany stands 12-feet tall here. (Pic #1)  If you didn’t have an opportunity to see it “fall” in 1989, you can get up close and personal here at home. It features eight massive concrete sections, each weighing about three tons. A 3-story East German guard tower that loomed near Checkpoint Charlie — Berlin’s best-known East-West crossing — stands nearby. (Pic #3).

(Pic #4) “Step by Step” section

Over the years, artists like Keith Haring and Thierry Noir have described the wall as “the world’s largest canvas that just had to be painted.” Many known and unknown artists contributed to the wall’s storied graphics, and often their work was painted over within days or hours. The Western side was generally colorful, while the Eastern side was white or gray.

(Pic #5) Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

I happen to like the abstractions (Pic #6) leftover from decades of layers of cracked, weathered, textured paint, as well as the poignant graffiti art (Pic #4). Some images remind me of the raw, iconic style of Jean-Michel Basquiat. (Pic #5)

(Pic #6) Detail, Berlin Wall

To mark the fifth anniversary of the most destructive hurricane in U.S. history, Katrina, the Newseum chronicles the dramatic coverage of the killer storm that shredded Mississippi’s coast, left 80 percent of New Orleans under water, and resulted in the deaths of 1,800 people.

(Pic #7) Anger and absurdity in New Orleans

Among other physical reminders, an in-your-face anti-looter sign from a New Orleans rug shop that was used as a backdrop for numerous network news reporters. (Pic #7)

(Pic #8) Unabomber’s Montana retreat

Check out the newsreels from the Lindbergh kidnapping, the death of mob boss John Gotti, and the one-room barren cabin that once housed Unabomber Ted Kaczynski  in Lincoln, Montana. (Did you know that Unabomber stands for “University and Airline Bomber?”) The FBI recounts the day they discovered the cabin—packed with chemicals and explosives. It’s an empty shell now, but chilling nonetheless. (Pic #8)

Be prepared to re-live some sentimental and horrifying moments, both of which may jolt you into a more satisfying state of gratitude.

Urban Underpinnings

by

How everyday structures become foundations for awesome abstract art.

Malibu Chic: Nature's Chemical Abstraction

I’m always impressed by those moments of discovery—when something functional becomes something artful—and smacks me in the face with its beauty. Here are a few shots capturing those moments – from recent trips to Nashville, Tennessee, Malibu, California, and Seattle, Washington.

Below, I zoomed in on a weathered copper panel from the foundation of this stunning Malibu coast home. Oxidation leads to a killer turquoise patina.

Sea Green: Close-up

On that same stretch of beach– underneath the storied multi-million dollar homes — you can see the raw structural supports  — wooden beams which look like precarious piles of Pick Up Stix poised for a fall. But in their own way, they are pure design.

Geometric Underbelly

"Our contractor was A.D.D."

Along the way, I discovered a small, older, somewhat neglected home with the most gorgeous peeling seafoam paint. It was so wind-beaten that it revealed an undercoat of textured gray wood.

"A Malibu Peel"

On Main Street, in Franklin Tennessee, right outside Nashville, I walked into a restaurant called “Red Pony” and grabbed the iphone to capture what can only be described as a couple of true surrealist compositions, revealing exposed brick and cracked cement walls. When I told the hostess I loved the look — she said — “Thank you. Most people can’t handle it.”

Then I ran across the work of a primitive American painter named Kelly Moore.  See if you see what I see (below). Her red skull makes for a sweet pairing with this new Nashville “brick art.”

Exposing brick -- creating art

NOT just another brick in the wall

Primitive painting by Kelly Moore

Up in Seattle, right on the shore of peaceful Lake Washington, the back of street sign caught my eye. It was weathered wood with a figure that reminded me of prehistoric cave paintings. I really love to encounter art in the funkiest places. Send me your discoveries. We’ll compare notes.

Signs of wildlife.