12000 Years Old Carved Faces in Lene Hara Cave

While on a search for fossils of extinct giant rats, inside the Lene Hara cave, located on the northeast tip of East Timor, a group of archaeologists and palaeontologists discovered engraved prehistoric human faces on the wall of the limestone cave.

According to their description, the petroglyphs are frontal stylised faces, each with eyes, a nose and a mouth.

Uranium isotope dating revealed that one of the faces, framed by a circular headdress with rays, is around 10,000 to 12,000 years old, placing it in the late Pleistocene. The other face carvings could not be dated but are likely to be equally ancient.

These petroglyphs found in the Lene Hara cave are the only known carvings of faces on the island of Timor that have been dated to the Pleistocene.

Archaeologists and rock art specialists have been visiting the cave since the early 1960s to study its rock paintings, which include hand stencils, animals, human figures, boats and linear decorative motifs. The age of the pigment art in Lene Hara is currently unknown but a fragment of limestone with traces of embedded red ochre was dated previously by Professor Sue O’Connor of The Australian National University to over 30,000 years ago.

Photo by John Brush

Gérard Castello-Lopes died in Paris

The photographer and film distributor, Gérard Castello-Lopes, passed away on February 12, 2011, in Paris, at the age of 85.
His family hasn't yeat decided if the funeral will be made in France.

Born on the 6th of August, 1925, in Vichy (Allier), Gérard started his path in the visual arts as self-taugh, in similarity to others of his time when photography courses weren't as common as nowadays. Inspired in the techniques of Henri Cartier-Bresson, he also read many foreign books and magazines about photograpy.

An economics graduate from the Univertisity of Lisbon, he was a photographer, film critic in the "O Tempo e o Modo" magazine from 1964 a 1966, and manager of one of the oldest film distributing companies in Europe, Filmes Castello Lopes, that he inherited from his father; the company was acquired in 1998 by the Grupo JRP.
Gérard worked as assistant director in the movie "Pássaros de Asas Cortadas" (1963) by Artur Ramos and "Nacionalidade: Português" (1972), a short-film by Fernando Lopes and Nuno Bragança.
In the late 60's he was one of the founders of the Centro Português de Cinema, supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian foundation.

He started dedicating himself to photography since 1956, a passion that influenced his documentary "Belarmino" (1964) about the portuguese boxeur Belarmino Fragoso, but is was only after 1982 that his work started gaining recognition through an individual exhibition and retrospective in the Ether gallery (Lisbon), incentivated by the investigator António Sena, entitled "Fotografias de 1956 a 1982", after which he participated in several individual and collectives exhibitions.
The last retrospective about his photography took place in 2004, in the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), with the title "Oui/Non".

Gérard Castello-Lopes was an admirer of Ansel Adams, W. Eugene Smith, Sebastião Salgado and Cartier-Bresson, and considered the photo-journalist Joshua Benoliel (1878-1932) of the O Século newspaper “o único génio da fotografia portuguesa” (the only genius of the portuguese photography).
Before Paris, Gérard lived in Lisbon, Cascais and Strasbourg.

13th International Portrait Competition, 2011

Organized by the Portrait Society of America, the 13th Annual International Portrait Competition is open to all artists, members and non-members.
Continuing the tradition of its previous editions, the competition aims to showcase the finest in international portraiture and figurative art, today.

More than $50,000 in prizes will be distributed, as well as awards for each of the 15 top artworks, including cash and other prizes.
Selected artists will be given recognition in the International Artist Magazine, the Art of the
Portrait® Journal and on the Portrait Society's website.
The winner of the William Draper Grand Prize will be featured in an article in International Artist Magazine and receive cash prize of $5,000 sponsored by Jack Richeson & Co.
The top 15 finalists will receive complementary tuition to The Art of the Portrait® Conference 2012.

Entrants can submit up to three digital entries on one CD, each accompanied by a 4" x 6" print labeled in the same format.
Artists must present independtly created works completed after March 2008, showing an original design and concept, and never having received an award in a previous national competition.
All entries must be postmarked on or before March 1, 2011.

There's a non-refundable fee of $45 to enter the 13th International Portrait Competition, which
must accompany your submission.
Finalists are required to register for the conference and be in attendance with their original work to win a top prize. Tuition is $395 for members/$455 for non-members.
Artists will be responsible for all shipping charges and insurance, both on site and during transit.

Finalists will be notified on March 23, 2011 and the exhibition will run from April 28 through May 1, 2011.
The Art of the Portrait® conference Gala Banquet will take place on April 30, 2011 at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta, Buckhead, Georgia.

13th Art On The Streets - Colorado Springs 2011

The call for entries to the 13th Annual Downtown Colorado Springs Art On The Streets is open until March 1, 2011.

Art On The Strrets is a yearlong venue where the works of emerging as well as celebrated artists from across the nation, enliven the Downtown Colorado Springs cityscape and urban experience.

The artworks can be created in any medium and format suitable for outdoor exhibition, where obviously the quality, durability and safety of the piece must be a common denominator.

Entrants may enter two works, with a suggested minimum dimension of 3 feet, vertical or horizontal, and scaled to outdoor spaces, submiting their proposals in one packet (no proposals sent via email) in a Word or .pdf document with JPEG images burned to a CD or DVD.

There's a non-refundable entry fee of $25.

Selected artists, will be granted $400 for installation assistance and one night complementary lodging for attendance at opening reception on June 24, 2011.

Three prizes of $15,000, $7,500 and $2,500 each, will also be awarded and artists will have photos of their artwork and biographies included in a brochure.

The artwork will be exhibited until May 2012 throughout the 40-square-block downtown district, with the majority of pieces clustered in the busiest 10 to 15 block core.

Complete guidelines to participate in the 13th AOTS can be consulted on this page.

Art On The Streets is presented by U.S. Bank, and supported by Nor’wood Development Group, G.E. Johnson and H. Chase Stone Trust in concert with Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs and its affiliate, Community Ventures, Inc.

This year's edition will be co-juried by Kathy Loo and Jim Raughton .

American International Fine Art Fair 2011

Until February 13th, takes place in the Palm Beach County Convention Center, Florida, the 15th American International Fine Art Fair (AIFAF), where near 50 international exhibitors will show works of fine art, from classical antiquity to contemporay, as well as some of the world's finest jewelry and antiques, namely from specific periods.

Among the presented works is Pablo Picasso’s "Buste d’homme a la pipe", a self portrait of Picasso portrayed as a spirited musketeer dated January 28th, 1969, brought by Richard Green Fine Art.

A multi-color 46.52 carat diamond peacock brooch set in platinum and a 59.45 carat multi-shape diamond necklace with a 30.94 carat light pink briolette diamond drop, courtesy of Graff Diamonds, are sure to shine during the event and receive most attention from the feminin attendees.

The oil on canvas "After the Game"completed by Zonaro in 1887 and a bronze sculpture, "Sir Winston Churchill", created by Sir Jacob Epstein in 1946, are represented by MacConnal-Mason.

These are only a small sample of the fine art and jewelry that visitors to the AIFAF 2011 can appreciate.

One of the fair's highlights is a major Renoir exhibition in collaboration with Hammer Galleries, which includes approximately 20 pieces from Renoir’s later works dating between 1885 and 1912.

A partnership with Corfield Morris offers art advisory services to its visitors, as well as the possibility to be orientated throughout the fair or straight to whatever they seek.

Another partner of the 15th American International Fine Art Fair is the Norton Museum of Art, holding its 70th Anniversary celebration. Complimentary admission will be available to all events on February 8th, with shuttle buses running between the Palm Beach County Convention Center and the Norton Museum of Art on that day.

Following last year's successful format, the AIFAF provides daily activities to its visitors, including informative lectures presented by museum curators and art experts, cocktail parties and other social events.

The American International Fine Art Fair is organized by David and Lee Ann Lester, owners of International Fine Art Expositions (IFAE).

Participate in "Bodies in Urban Spaces" Choreographed Performance by Will Dorner in Margate, UK

Those of you who have seen and experienced public performances, such as flashmobs, and would like to participate, now have the chance of being selected.

Turner Company is looking for extremely agile people such as dancers, gymnasts and performers, to participate in the "Bodies in Urban Spaces" choreographed promenade performance, part of the YOU ARE HERE event that will include remarkable manifestations of artistic creativity.

Willi Dorner’s moving trail of performers will lead the audience around Margate, UK, on April 16-17, creating a chain of physical interventions within the town’s architectural edifices by placing the bodies in selected spots, influencing passers by and residents movements and motivating them to reflect their urban surrounding.

If you would like to audition to take part in this performance, please contact Sepake Angiama to find out more details on +44 (0) 1843 233000 or send an e-mail to sangiama@turnercontemporary.org by the 25th of February, 2011.

Bodies in Urban Spaces are temporary interventions without leaving any traces behind, but imprints in the eye-witnesses' memory.

The following video is a trailer of the Dance Umbrella Performance that took place in Southbank, London, in 2009.

In collaboration with MACBA (Barcelona), Fundação de Serralves presents: "Gil J Wolman. Sou Imortal e Estou Vivo"

Video from the exhibition that took place at MACBA

In colaboration with Museu D'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), the Fundação de Serralves (Serralves Foundation) presents the exhibition "Gil J Wolman. Sou Imortal e Estou Vivo" (I am immortal and alive).

With near 250 pieces and documents, from "L’Anticoncept" (1951) – the film that was conceived for projection onto a weather balloon and was censored in the Cannes Film Festival, with its screening only open to the press – until "Voir de mémoire" (1995), the exhibition, previously held at MACBA, Barcelona, is the first major monographic display of works from Gil Wolman happening outside France. Included are also numerous never before exhibited pieces.
This exhibition can be considered an encyclopedia of Lettrism, based on the early twentieth-century Dadaist and Futurists movements and stating that the expressive heights of all artistic expressions had already been reached.
Created in the mid-1940s by the Rumanian-Parisian artist Isidore Isou, Lettrism was endorsed by Wolman and Guy Debord.

French artist Gil J Wolman (1929–1995)) invented the “mégapneumie”, poems of breath and pure sound, for example "La mémoire", which he belched out at his legendary recitals in Paris, and ‘Scotch art’, in which he mutilated and defaced artworks in order to imbue them with new signs and meanings.

"Gil J Wolman: Sou Imortal e Estou Vivo" (Gil J Wolman. I am immortal and alive) is open to the public in the Fundação de Serralves (Serralves Foundation) until the 27th of March 2011.
Guided visits will take place on February 22 (18h30) and March 1 (18h30).
Visits can be orientated on Saturdays (17h00-18h00) and Sundays (12h00-13h00) by the staff of the Educational Service.

The Bronx Museum of the Arts: smARTpower

Administered by The Bronx Museum of the Arts, with the purpose of increasing the mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries through social and cultural values, smARTpower will send fifteen American artists abroad to work with local artists and young people around the world to create community-based art projects and develop programs in cooperation with local arts organizations in host countries including China, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kosovo, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Venezuela.

The selected artists are required to address a full range of relevant subjects such as women’s empowerment, the environment, health, education, and civic engagement, which may be represented through several visual arts media, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, drawing, video, installation, photo-based work, public art, and interdisciplinary projects.
Artists are encouraged to work in group.

Among other requirements, the participating artists will be asked to establish professional working relationships with partner organizations, provide workshops and other outreach activities, facilitate the sustainability of the program's core concepts beyond the project, and communicate the development of their activities through blogging and other social media resources.

Each recipient will be provided with an honorarium of up to $11,000.00, travel funding, a budget for materials of up to $10,000.00, resources for documentation (including photography, video, and web posting), and on-site logistical support.

The smARTpower project is only open to professional artists who are not part of the Bronx Museum of the Arts staff, nor students currently enrolled in a BFA or MFA studio art program.
Entrants must also be United States citizens with at least 18 years of age, having resided in the U.S. within the last year. Residents and Green Card holders without citizenship are not eligible.

Owning experience in working with youth, engaging with other artists, art educators, and other community members, as well as being able to demonstrate high standards of quality and records of accomplishment, are of significant relevancy for being selected.

All applications and application materials must be received via the smARTpower website by midnight Eastern Standard Time, February 28, 2011.
Before sending their applications, the artists are advised to carefuly read all the participating requirements, including the submission process.

smARTpower is an initative of the Department of the State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with the participation of The Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Visit the Most Famous Museums and Collections with Art Project by Google

Brainstormed by a group of Google employees passionate about art who gathered to come up with project to help museums make their art more accessible to those who don't have the chance of exploring their artworks, the new Art Project powered by Google uses a similar technology to Street View adapted to the inside.

Still in its early stages, this project already permits users to take virtual tours inside 17 of the world’s most acclaimed art museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA in New York, The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Tate Britain & The National Gallery in London, Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Interiors can also be explored directly from within Street View in Google Maps.

Thanks to super high resolution photo-capturing technology called "gigapixel"and making use App Engine and Picasa, which includes a specially-built “microscope view”, users can zoom in with an extraordinary level of detail, allowing them to observe the brushwork of famous painters or explore hard to-see elements of an artwork.

When exploring an image, users are given information about the artwork through an info panel which also permits to find more works by the artist and watch related videos on YouYube.
A new clickable annotation feature enables visitors to quickly visit a particular artwork outside the museum that they're visiting at the moment.

Using the “Create an Artwork Collection” feature, users can save specific views of any of the artworks, add comments, and build their own personalized collection. The whole collection can then be shared with friends, family or on the web using the integrated goo.gl URL shortener.

At this moment Google's Art Project is comprised of over 1000 paintings by more than 400 artists, with plans to continue to add more museums and works of art.

The responsible team is putting alot of effort and giving their best, not only to offer an exciting virtual way of visiting museums and explore their collections, but also to serve as an inspiration to visit the real thing.

Steven J. Backman creates a Miniature Replica of the White House from a Single Toothpick

The artist Steven J. Backman, who gave an interview for this blog last year, has created a miniature of the White House from a single toothpick.

According to him this is the world's smallest replica of the White House and took several days of painstaking work to complete.

A S. Francisco native, Steven has been creating toothpick art for nearly 40 years.