Kurshaka

Steve Ogden

John Baldessari, RiP

From stained-glass windows to intricate stone carvings, Gothic architecture is incredibly impressive—especially considering many features were crafted by hand. It’s no surprise then that these ornate structures are the inspiration behind Bournemouth, England-based artist Phoebe Atkey’s highly-detailed architecture drawings.

From the arched doorway of Strasbourg Cathedral to Notre-Dame’s famous rose windows, Atkey captures the beauty of some of Europe’s most iconic buildings. The young, self-taught artist hand draws every ornate detail with incredible precision and perfect proportion. Atkey renders each drawing using a combination of pen and pencil, but keeps her palette monochrome. Clever shading and highlights make certain parts of the drawing appear three-dimensional, almost like you could reach out and touch the buildings’ stoney surfaces.

Check out some of Atkey’s impressive sketches below. Do you recognize the buildings and architectural features she’s drawn?

Artist Phoebe Atkey creates intricately detailed architectural drawings.

The self-taught artist is inspired by some of Europe’s most famous Gothic buildings.

She draws every ornate detail with incredible precision and perfect proportion.

Phoebe Atkey: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Vimeo

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Phoebe Atkey.

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The post Intricate Architecture Drawings Capture the Beauty of Gothic Buildings Across Europe appeared first on My Modern Met.

Ebola is no longer an incurable horror disease. Thanks to Canadian scientists. The new vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, was used in the last outbreak in the Republic of Congo. It protected over 90,000. Health responders deployed it in social rings: firstly those in contact with known cases, then their contacts. It’s the same strategy used against smallpox 40 years ago. And that was wiped out.

Magnetic North

Iranian mixed-media artist Golsa Golchini combines impasto and digital painting techniques to create miniature worlds of water and ice. Textured mounds of acrylic paint form three-dimensional waves and slopes. Digital paintings of tiny figures are added to the abstract landscapes via ink transfers, with additional details applied by hand. The paintings are simple by design because that is what the artist says the world needs right now.

Shadows added beneath the flat transfers, as well as the natural shadows on the raised paint, give the illusion that the swimmers and skiers physically are entering Golchini’s isolated environments. The limited color palette and similar character poses give the body of work a fun, unifying theme. “My artworks are my way of communicating with the observer about the things of everyday life that we all have in common,” Golchini said in a statement. “Although the artworks are simple, they are usually expressing challenging situations.”

Some of Golchini’s paintings are available online via Return on Art, or you can follow and contact her directly on Instagram.

For over a decade, Belgian street artist ROA has been painting his black and white murals of animals around the world. Moving from abandoned warehouses to giant building facades, his murals have made him one of the most sought after street artists in the world. Now, there’s finally a book to document some of his most remarkable works. As the first book to present an overview of his work, CODEX looks at how ROA’s art has spread internationally. Divided into four chapters, the book explores different parts of the world where ROA has worked and it shows his unique way of integrating art in public spaces.

While at first glance, one might dismiss ROA’s work as simple paintings of animals, there’s much more to be had when they’re examined closely. His love for local fauna is immediately evident, as is his skill for allowing these animals to dialogue with their surroundings. Each piece perfectly integrates into the environment and ROA uses architectural elements as an opportunity rather than a hindrance.

“ROA treats each surface he paints like a space to investigate, play with, and fit his creatures into. The technical perfection of his painting belies an underlying resourcefulness with simple tools,” writes RJ Rushmore in the introduction. “The animals are matched to their location, with rats in New York City and elephants in Bangkok. There are dark and funny messages, the beauty of both life and death, universal metaphors, inside jokes, and occasional violence, but always in ways that honor the animals and the spaces where they are painted.”

One thing that becomes clear while flipping through the pages is ROA’s insatiable need to create. From birds and bunnies to insects and rodents, the animals that fill the book spread across large facades and small niches. Whether shown fully or just via their skeletons, the animals are a clear expression of ROA’s imagination. Impressively, in a time when street art has gone mainstream, ROA has continued to work without compromising his quality or his beliefs.

“Exploration of nature,” he says, “more specifically of the animal world, can lead to increased empathy. It teaches you something substantial about how one should live a good life.”

Belgian street artist ROA is known for his black and white depictions of animals.

His new book CODEX gives an overview of his murals around the world.

And looks at how he became one of the world’s most sought after street artists.

Lannoo Publishers: Website 

All images by ROA except where noted. My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Lannoo Publishers.

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The post Street Artist ROA’s Incredible Black and White Animal Murals Are Now Immortalized in a Book appeared first on My Modern Met.

Paraduça, Jakob Wagner

Toilet Paper

Athens-based photographer Elias Chasiotis was visiting Qatar in late December 2019 when he captured a photo of an annular eclipse that has since gone viral. Taken at sunrise as a part of a series, the image shows the moon covering the center of a red sun. The timing of the photograph turns the crimson star into curved horns emerging from the horizon.

A self-identified astrophotographer and amateur astronomer, Chasiotis tells Colossal that the conditions were hazy on the morning of December 26 when the photographs were taken. The haze gave the sun its red glow, but as NASA astronomer explained on the Astronomy Picture of the Day blog, the Earth’s atmosphere helped create the full image: “The dark circle near the top of the atmospherically-reddened Sun is the Moon — but so is the dark peak just below it. This is because along the way, the Earth’s atmosphere had an inversion layer of unusually warm air which acted like a gigantic lens and created a second image.”

Chasiotis continued to photograph the eclipse as the sun rose, writing on Facebook that the “annular phase was blocked by clouds, but the red crescent sunrise was the most awesome sunrise I’ve ever seen!”

Spashdown, Chen Chengguang

Pattern recognition, Barbara Boisservain

Straddling the line between portraiture and fashion, London-based photography and film duo The Masons create images that spell out new perspectives on representation and beauty; their work reveals the multidimensionality of black existence and the power of vulnerability.

Read more

The post The Masons’ Photographs Champion Black Beauty appeared first on IGNANT.

While unrelenting news junkies spent the year’s waning moments toggling between the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, the mega-fires in Australia, and Kim Jong Un’s nuclear muscle-flexing, who would have imagined the biggest New Years social media drama would involve the pope slapping a well-wisher in St. Peter’s Square? And a woman, no less. And someone, we might assume, from a different culture. 

Watching the video or looking at screenshots, it turns out to be something of a Rorschach. Sampling the social response as to who was at fault, opinion seemed to split down the middle.

Judging from this frame, for example, it’s clear the woman clearly clamped on to Francis’s hand and wouldn’t let go:

On the other hand, she clearly pissed His Holiness off:

(The frame at the top of the post captures the slap, but you can see it best in the video.)

The Jesuit Pope came to power as a humanist with high hopes for a social and environmental agenda. He hasn’t had a good run, and I would chalk some of this up to that frustration.

You can see the crisis weighing down the church also coloring the Pope’s empathetic failure. The moral, legal and media damage from widespread clerical sexual abuse continues to eat away at the church’s integrity. In his rapid and broadly-appreciated apology, that’s exactly what the pope chose to focus on, as if using it to set up the homily he delivered on New Year’s Day. The message of the Pope’s serman was that women are to be honored. He specifically emphasizing how humanity is understood by the way we treat a woman’s body.

There is also another element worth noting here. Citizens around the globe are feeling a growing disdain for leaders and governing institutions. On a daily basis, protest movements are lashing out against institutional power, authority figures, and their double standards. This media spectacle, taking place on the threshold of a new year and a new decade, offers a fascinating preview and an inescapable promise of more such scrutiny.

— Michael Shaw

Video via Vatican TV via Reuters. Caption: Still frames from a video, Pope Francis slaps the hand of a woman to free himself after she forcibly grabbed the pontiff and pulled him toward her during a New Year’s Eve event in St. Peter’s Square, Dec. 31, 2019.

The post On the Pope Slapping a Woman on New Year’s Eve appeared first on Reading The Pictures.

Swatches, Zoer

Berlin-based photographer Michael Schlegel is fascinated by trees and their splaying branches. From his series featuring a Spanish olive grove to another capturing snow-covered trees in Germany, Schlegel consistently documents native plants around the world. The black and white photographs in his recent Fanal series spotlight trees with bare and twisting branches as they are enveloped by thick fog. The uncanny images were taken in the Fanal region of Madeira, Portugal.

The photographer tells Colossal that he visited the area in March 2019, hoping to experience the region’s cloudy weather.

It was only dense fog all day long and from the moment I first arrived at the trees. I photographed there for five consequent days and really enjoyed the atmosphere of walking around lonely, only being able to see what the fog allows me to and being alone with maybe one or a few of these old, mysterious trees at a time.

In each one of his works, Schlegel tries to shoot exactly what he sees on location. “With my photos I also don’t actively try to express an artistic message or interpretation—I rather simply try to show my vision of how I experienced the location,” the photographer writes. Find more of Schlegel’s monochromatic landscape shots on Instagram.

2019 was a great year for Don't Take Pictures! Take a look at our Top Nine from Instagram while we welcome the New Year.

1. Untitled by Rob MacInnis 2. Suave by Paul Cupido 3. Buffet by Tomasz Kaczorek 4. Yellowstone Winter no. 2 by Steve Burkett 5. Silent Cradle by Natalia Drepina 6. Night Trio by Krysia Lukkason 7. Floating Tree Farm by Rebecca Clark 8. Yellow Balloon by Ben Stockley 9. Lilith Rachel Talibart

Saeed Khan


Saeed Khan


State Government of Victoria via AP


peter parks / afp via getty


Sam Mooy / Getty


Saeed Khan /


Matthew Abbott for The New York Times


Matthew Abbott for The New York Times

NSW, Australia

Gimme whatever ★ instagram.com/itsPeteski

Like many artists, past and present, San Francisco-based painter Jacob Dhein is inspired by the world around him. But rather than pigeonhole himself as a landscape or figurative artist, Dhein paints both. His work depicts everything, from busy cityscapes to painterly portraits, but his beautifully expressive style is consistent throughout. “Inspiration for me comes from all around,” Dhein tells My Modern Met. “It could be a person I see on public transit, my family, friends, movies, books, or a beautiful backlit city scene at sunset as I am taking a walk.”

While Dhein’s oil paintings depict real subjects and scenes, the artist pushes the boundaries of realism by adding vibrant flashes of color with expressive brushstrokes and subtle paint drips. “It is my goal to explore the beauty that lies within the division between representation and abstraction,” reveals the artist. “It will be my take on a modern impressionism using the figure and cityscape as the building blocks of this contemporary genre.”

Each painting is highly textured and full of visible energy. As a viewer, you can almost imagine watching Dhein work as he quickly layers swatches of color into the canvas. “There is a visual map in many of the works that allows the viewer to see my process,” explains Dhein. “This is especially evident in my paintings of dancers. From the initial toning of the panel to the last mark, the viewer is able to see the process upon close inspection.”

Check out some of Dhein’s oil paintings below and see more from his portfolio on his website. If you’re feeling especially inspired by his work, the artist hosts painting workshops in various museums and galleries. Find out more here.

San Francisco-based artist Jacob Dhein’s expressive oil paintings are inspired by the world around him.

From busy cityscapes…

To expressive portraits…

…to vivid figurative work.

His impresive style is a modern mix of realism and abstraction.

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Jacob Dhein.

Jacob Dhein: Website | Facebook | Instagram 

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The post Expressive Oil Paintings Capture Energetic Visual Experiences of People and City Life appeared first on My Modern Met.

Same as it ever was

The End is Near

When Donnachaidha Ó Chionnaigh learned that his nieces and nephews wanted cash for Christmas, he wasn’t surprised. Despite the straightforward request, he still want to do something more than just handing them some folded bills. “Cash as a gift, while practical, always feels impersonal,” he tweeted, “so I made special packaging.” Chionnaigh’s creative solution reimagined the cash as if it were a doll or figurine, and he housed the money in vintage-inspired blister packs. Each package had its own comic book-style lettering (that said “cash,” “money,” or “fifty”) as well as dynamic explosion graphics that you’d expect to see with an action figure.

The designer shared his cash gift wrapping idea in a now-viral tweet and people naturally wanted to know how he pulled it off. In a series of follow-up tweets, Chionnaigh explained his step-by-step process. He started by basing all of his designs on existing toy packaging and recreating them in Photoshop. After printing his handiwork on cardstock or paper (that was then glued to paperboard), he cut them out. “Cut rounded corners as you see fit—real ones don’t have sharp corners,” he advised. “Because children.”

The thing that makes Chionnaigh’s designs look all the more impressive is that he included the plastic “bubble” on the packaging. This required some trial and error. “Originally I wanted to use plastic from used blister packs,” he explains, “but bits of the printed paper stuck to the glue on them no matter how carefully I removed them, and I didn’t want to ruin the plastic trying to chemically remove the ugly bits.” He ended up finding plastic boxes that had built-in tabs, which he then disassembled to put in the cash. To complete the project, he glued the plastic to the packaging.

Scroll down to see some of this clever uncle’s “limited edition” gifts. And if you want to learn more about Chionnaigh’s custom gift wrap, you can see the full thread on Twitter.

Designer Donnachaidha Ó Chionnaigh learned that his nieces and nephews only wanted cash for Christmas, but he still wanted to present them with a special gift.

Inspired by vintage toy packaging, he created a series of clever cash gift wrapping.

Want to make this for yourself? Chionnaigh explained his step-by-step process in a series of tweets.

Donnachaidha Ó Chionnaigh: Twitter | Redbubble
h/t: [Laughing Squid]

All images via Donnachaidha Ó Chionnaigh.

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The post Creative Uncle Designs Vintage Toy Packaging for Cash Gifts to Nieces and Nephews appeared first on My Modern Met.

Hot wheels - Syd Mead, RiP

Urban street photographer Teemu Jarvinen is known for his cyberpunk style photographs of cities around Asia. Recently, he spent three weeks in Sapporo, the capital of Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido. Blanketed in snow, the city made the perfect canvas to create a series of intriguing cityscapes. As Jarvinen bundled up and set out to wander the city streets, he was able to capture the isolation and beauty of this wintery atmosphere.

The harsh weather conditions in Sapporo, where average winter temperatures are below freezing, make the city quite unique within Japan. Being in an area where snow is a regular occurrence proved to be quite challenging for Jarvinen as he set about his work. With the snowstorms came harsh wind, which kept the photographer on his toes. But in the end, it was worth it. “Shooting in the cold snowstorms with lots of wind is kind of a special challenge, so it’s extra rewarding when it works out,” Jarvinen tells My Modern Met.

Given the temperatures, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the human presence in Jarvinen’s photographs is often solitary. Figures trudge through the wet streets, umbrellas protecting them from snowfall until they’re able to scurry indoors. The atmosphere vacillates from the bright, neon-soaked lights we’re familiar with in Japan to dimly lit scenes where people appear as blurry silhouettes in the night.

Thanks to this unique atmosphere, Jarvinen’s Sapporo photographs distinguish themselves from other pictures of urban Japan. It’s a tribute to his dedication to photography and his willingness to push his style that Jarvinen was able to spend time in this part of Japan, which is far less photographed than other cities like Tokyo.

If you like Jarvinen’s style, check out his set of Night Photography Presets.

Urban photographer Teemu Jarvinen spent 3 weeks in Japan’s snowy northern city, Sapporo.

He braved the weather to take stunning images of the city battling the harsh winter conditions.

From bright lights to dark alleyways, the environment is both beautiful and solitary.

Single figures make their way indoors, protecting themselves from the snow with umbrellas.

Teemu Jarvinen: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Teemu Jarvinen.

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The post Photographer Walks the Snowy Streets of Japan to Capture Wintry Cyberpunk Scenes appeared first on My Modern Met.

Rockets Redglare

I had that dream again

A year of moons, Jim Nickelson

Staring at the Sun

There are 409,543 named species in the ocean, but the deep sea is home to a vast amount of mysterious creatures that are yet to be discovered. Inspired by marine life, Computer scientist Neal Agarwal has developed a fun website (titled The Deep Sea) that allows users to scroll down to discover the different animals and plant life that live at varying depths of the ocean.

As users move towards the bottom of the ocean floor, they are fed various facts and figures about marine life. Close to the ocean surface, at around 30 meters deep (98 feet), familiar fish such as the Atlantic salmon and the striped bass are seen, alongside the polar bear, who is known to dive to similar depths in order to hunt for food. Scrolling deeper reveals the killer whale at around 100 meters deep (328 feet), and the green sea turtle at around 170 meters (557 feet).

However, if you scroll even further, things start to become a little more interesting. The site marks the deepest depths that any human has ever scuba dived at 332 meters (1,089 feet), and it’s surprising to see that the emperior penguin can dive even lower, at 530 meters (1,738 feet). Once you get to the “Midnight Zone” at 1,024 meters deep (3,360 feet), you’ll meet the many deep-sea creatures that create bioluminescent light, such as the strange anglerfish and the infamous blobfish. One of the most suprising facts the website reveals, is that the giant elephant seal explores depths far below where these deep-sea creatures lurk, with dives that can reach 2,400 meters (7,874 feet) below the sea’s surface.

The Deep Sea website also reveals the resting places of famous shipwrecks, including the Titanic (3,800 meters / 12,467 feet) and the USS Johnston shipwreck that sunk in World War II and is the deepest wreck ever found (6,241 meters / 20,475 feet). And despite the extreme conditions at the lowest trenches of the ocean, there are still small signs of life—and there’s so much more to be discovered!

Check out The Deep Sea for yourself here.

The Deep Sea website allows users to scroll down to discover the different species that live at varying depths of the ocean.

The deeper you go, the weirder it gets!

The Deep Sea: Website
h/t: [this isn’t happiness]

All images via The Deep Sea / Neal Agarwal.

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The post This Website Lets You to Scroll to the Bottom of the Ocean and Discover Deep Sea Animal Life appeared first on My Modern Met.