JOST A MON

The idle ramblings of a Jack of some trades, Master of none

May 28, 2008

Gritty?

Let it not be said that graffiti are gritty and grotty. Here's an example of a graffito that's uplifting (well, you have to raise your head, at least) and lovey-dovey and suggestive of a pot of gold. Seen in the medieval quarter of Aix-en-Provence.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I take it then you do not know of the Tate Modern graffiti experiment. Some of them have stunning detail and I intend to visit it soon (also to look in the NY-Lon telescope near GLA)..

Fëanor said...

Nope, I had no idea re: graffiti@Tate Modern. Haven't been to Tate Modern either. Took me a while to recover from the MoMA in NYC and I've been taking it easy since then :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh for this one, you needn't go inside at all. These are murals made by the same guys who would go to jail for spray-painting any other listed building in a similar vein.

You did not like NY-MoMA? What about the Guggenheim? Now _that_ is a tad weird. Have you been to SFMoMa? It is one of my favourite places in SFO, although $12.50 is a bit eye-watering to pay to enter, considering one's spoilt in London.

Aside - Thomas Friedman at British Museum on June the 5th talking about his new book, if it interests you.

Fëanor said...

I didn't mind the exhibits of Matisse and his ilk, but when I saw a bag of cat food (or some such) lying around as a work of art, I felt the need for air. Not much a fan of modern art, me.

Are you going for Friedman? I have a suspicion that he will be quoting Nandan Nilekani once again :-)

Anonymous said...

That I empathise with. I am not a fan of modern art of the Tracey Emin's bed kind either.

But in Guggenheim, I saw an installation by a Thai artist, Rirkrit Tirvanija. It was a superbly powerful idea and a very basic installation with a potentially subversive message. You can read about that installation here:

http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/hugo_boss_prize/

So not modern art is like what becomes of what was in that tin (or gulab jamun, according to your son!).

Yes, going to Friedman. Tickets cheaper for members. :-) Can't resist an intellectual bargain. I have a feeling that with a title like Hot, Flat and Crowded this is bound to be a climate change and population discourse with Nilekani thrown in for good measure. I shall dutifully post about it, of course. The book isn't released till Sept 2008, this is part of the American Scene thingummajig at Brit Mus.

Fëanor said...

Shefaly: Thanks for the link. Will take a dekko asap. And do let us know what latest geometric fancy has seized our man Friedman! Conflating flat earth (what an inane characterisation of the idea of a shrunk planet, I always thought) with global warming will no doubt prove very popular in the best-seller lists. I look forward to your take on it!

Anonymous said...

was looking through your blogs after a long time... i wonder if you and your fan know that the 'uplifting' graffitti of a rainbow you spotted on that french building means that it is a Gay hotel or Gay meeting place?
Rajesh

Fëanor said...

Yup, I am aware the rainbow colours, indeed, are a mark for 'gay-run' or 'gay-friendly'. I did say 'lovey-dovey'! In this case, I'm not too sure that it was marking a gay-friendly hotel, because, well, I didn't see a hotel there. I may have missed it, of course.

Welcome back!

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