What We're Reading: 2/14/23

Banksy stands up to domestic violence with new Valentine’s Day mural in coastal Kent town

Banksy has taken a stand against domestic violence with a new mural painted in the UK coastal town of Margate in Kent to mark Valentine’s Day.

Titled Valentine’s Day Mascara, the work shows a woman in a 50s-style gingham checked dress, complete with apron and yellow marigolds, smiling and winking with a swollen, bruised eye. Arms outstretched, she appears to have just disposed of her abusive husband inside a large chest freezer—his legs can be seen sticking out from the kitchen appliance.

Via The Art Newspaper

AI Tech Enables Industrial-Scale Intellectual-Property Theft, Say Critics

Grzegorz Rutkowski has studied the great masters of texture and light—Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer—and his ability to mimic their techniques has made him an in-demand painter of fantastical beasts and landscapes for the videogame industry. 

But these days, instead of devoting all his time to painting in his sun-dappled studio near the picturesque medieval square in the town of Pieńsk, Poland, he’s spending ever more of it on Zoom calls, talking to lawyers, artists and others about the strange reason he is suddenly far more famous than he ever thought possible.

Via WSJ

An Emerging New Class Of Creators Are Shaping The Future Of Black Art

“I truly believe that art, at the heart of it, is a tool of expression. As artists, it’s natural that our art reflects our lives, values, and interests. Whether we create art that holds a mirror up to the world or as an attempt to shape it into a new one, these are the tools we can use to navigate these thoughts and feelings,” artist and illustrator Sabrena Khadija told ESSENCE. Khadija is among a new class of artists seeking inclusive spaces to explore creativity. 

Via ESSENCE

Art Collective’s ‘Big Red Boots’ Flood Social Media Feeds

The impish, Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF has spawned yet another flurry of social media engagement, this time in the form of a pair of sleek, rubbery red boots that would be home in Astro Boy’s wardrobe.

Set to be released on February 16 (just in time for New York Fashion Week), the “Big Red Boots” have already been the subject of numerous posts on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram. The boots have a TPU shell that renders them soft but sturdy, like an iPhone case, and pairs are set to go for $350 when they drop. They’re likely to sell quickly, as most items by the collective often do.

Via Artnews