Category Archives: Modern Primitive

explorations of the connections between traditional and modern art

Halloween Face Painting Gallery 2014

by Christopher Agostino #transformationsny

Here are some of the photos from the Halloween events I’ve already done this season, plus some from last year that weren’t yet posted. With Halloween still to come this Friday, our event schedule will continue through the coming weekend, crossing over with some Day of the Dead events. See schedule.

learn about all we do at: agostinoarts.com

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Mythic Faces at the Hudson River Museum

by Christopher Agostino  agostinoarts.com #transformationsny #mythicfaces

This past Sunday, June 29, I was back at the Hudson River Museum for Family Day, and I was invited by the organizers to take my inspiration for the faces from a wonderful current exhibit, “Mandy Greer:The Ecstatic Moment” (June 7-Sept.14). From the museum website:

Mandy Greer. Every Moment Lost is Lost Forever, 2013         Photo: Andrea Kurtz

Mandy Greer. Every Moment Lost is Lost Forever, 2013         Photo: Andrea Kurtz

“Seattle-based artist Mandy Greer installs a fantasy world awash in color, laced with glittering chandeliers, and alive with sumptuous birds and enigmatic figures draped in costume in her first New York solo exhibition. In The Ecstatic Moment at the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, June 7 to September 14, 2014, she draws her inspiration from ancient myths and fairy tales and from the mundane and magical  moments of everyday life.”

The scale of her installations transforms parts of the museum into otherworldly landscapes peopled by fantastically costumed creatures, along with photographs of people wearing the costumes in ritualistic settings, often with their faces painted. spiritdancer_figure_hrm_140629cc_agostinoartsUpon seeing the exhibit, I set myself the task of painting the faces of the museum visitors as if they would be inhabiting these costumes and landscapes, in some cases making mask-like designs as if they were enacting rituals like the scenes in the photos and in other cases taking a figurative approach to create personas related to the myth and folklore as well as the thematic description of the different sections of the exhibit (i.e. “Celestial”, and “Earth and Forest”). Hey, if you’re painting faces in an art museum, why not try to paint them like they belong there.

 

 

learn more about the exhibit at: http://www.hrm.org/exhibits.html and Video: Mandy Greer: The Ecstatic Moment

Learn about all we do at: agostinoarts.com

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From African Abstraction to Modern Art — Huntington Arts Council Workshop

I’ll be presenting a workshop on the journey from masks to modern art  — #modernprimitive — for the Huntington Arts Council on October 2.  I am re-posting here the notice from the Long Island Arts Alliance that this workshop will be a signature series event of this October’s Arts Alive Festival:

Cultural Arts Workshops:
African Abstraction &
Modern Art Intertwined

PIFA-21

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 4:30 – 7:30 PM 

Huntington Arts Council 
213 Main Street
Huntington NY 11743  

Christopher Agostino – visual and performing artist is the author of Transformations! The Story Behind the Painted Faces and his work has appeared on TV and on magazine covers.  He will display examples of mask and makeup art traditions of different cultures in Africa.  The social function of masks and body arts will be examined and how these “primitive” arts influenced the revolutionary approach of Picasso, Matisse and the other early “modern” artists.  Participants will design a mask and observe Christopher’s face painting technique.    FREE for participating JOURNEY district teachers, $20 for general public and other teachers.

To register online: huntingtonartscouncil.org or email: artsined@huntingtonarts.org  or call (631) 271-8423 X14. Learn about the full line up of workshops at: Huntington Arts Council

This is an Arts Alive LI Classic Signature Series event.

– See more at Arts Alive LI: http://www.artsaliveli.org/cultural-arts-workshopsafrican-abstraction-modern-art-intertwined/#sthash.Kmv3BXRn.dpuf

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