We're always excited to hear about art projects that are doing good in the world, and there are manifold, but rarely does a project so directly impact its environment for the better than this one that we discovered recently via the website Brain Pickings. It seems that Jason de Caires Taylor, an underwater sculptor, has teamed up with TED fellow Colleen Flanigan, the designer of Biorock, to create an underwater sculptural environment that promotes the growth of endangered coral reefs.

As Maria Popova writes, "As the temperature and acidity of the world’s oceans continue to rise under the effects of global warming, these new sculptures offer corals a vital alkaline environment: Using a low-voltage electrical current, the installations raise the pH of seawater to attract limestone minerals, which adhere to the metal matrix and help corals get the calcium carbonate they need to build their exoskeletons."

The project was funded by Kickstarter.

ArtStar curator Meenakshi Thirukode stopped by the studio of artist Meena Hasan to talk about the push-pull of hybrid cultures in our ongoing series of studio visits. Stay tuned for more awesome videos featuring ArtStar artists and curators!


.

One of ArtStar's favorite photographers, Katherine Newbegin, was recently profiled on the excellent photography blog Photogrill in which she discusses her explorations of derelict buildings around the world, in particular her recent trip to Cambodia. If you've never read an interview with Katherine, she's one of those rare artists who speak as eloquently as her photographs do.

Katherine notes, " For me, breaking into spaces and exploring the traces of what has been left behind feeds my insatiable curiosity about these places and the people who occupied them. My hope is that the photographs create a stage for a story to be told, for the viewer to examine the remainders and piece together something that echoes within their own history. The work is deeply informed by the human relationships that took place in these spaces, but now only remain in the evidence left behind."

Read the rest of the interview here.

Join LittleCollector, Abe's Peanut, and the Children's Museum of the Arts for a special afternoon of storytelling, singing, and arts and crafts on Governor's Island on August 6th! The event celebrates the publication of LittleCollector’s story “Kingsley Monkey and the Super Fast Bus” in Abe’s Peanut, a mail art publication for kids. Children’s author, storyteller, and LittleCollector Education Consultant Amanda Hendricks will present her magical story that was illustrated by LittleCollector artist Yukie Yasui. Children and families are invited to join in the fun and create their very own painted postcards with Amanda and Yukie. Shaun Seneviratne will provide musical accompaniment.

You have three chances (11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm) on August 6th to partake in this incredible event on Governor’s Island! We hope to see you there!

Below: A SNEAK PEEK at one of Yukie's illustrations of Kingsley Monkey and the Super Fast Bus!

The Dance of the Gallerinas at The FLAG Art Foundation. June 29, 2011. Cinematography by Shaun Seneviratne and Joe Violette.

copyright Sabastien Moriset, Delta du Saloum, Senegal, UNESCO.org

Via  the excellent Angela G. Robins comes the USESCO World Heritage List for 2011. Add these sites to your list for any world traveller worth their salt. We're particularly intrigued by the Mongolian petroglyphs.

From Angela:

The World Heritage Committee has inscribed a total of 25 new sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List, including three natural properties, 21 cultural and one mixed site. Two properties were added to the World Heritage List in Danger and one was removed from that list. The World Heritage List now numbers 936 properties: 183 natural sites; 725 cultural; and 28 mixed. List below:

Natural properties:
Ningaloo Coast (Australia)
Ogasawara Islands (Japan)
Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley (Kenya)

Mixed natural and cultural properties:
Wadi Rum Protected Area (Jordan)

Cultural Properties:
Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison (Barbados)
West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou (China)
Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (Colombia)
The Persian Garden (Iran)
Konso Cultural Landscape (Ethiopia)
The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean Agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape (France)
Fagus Factory in Alfeld (Germany)
Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568-774 A.D.) (Italy)
Hiraizumi - Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing The Buddhist Pure Land (Japan)
Fort Jesus, Mombasa (Kenya)
Petroglyphs Complexes of the Mongolian Altai (Mongolia)
León Cathedral (Nicaragua)
Saloum Delta (Senegal)
Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana (Spain)
Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe (Sudan)
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps (Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia)
Ancient Villages of Northern Syria (Syrian Arab Republic)
Selimiye Mosque Complex at Edirne (Turkey)
Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas) (United Arab Emirates)
The Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans (Ukraine)
Citadel of the Ho Dynasty (Viet Nam)

Extensions:
Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany (Slovakia, Ukraine, Germany)

Additions to the World Heritage List in Danger:
Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras)
Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (Indonesia)

Removed from World Heritage List in Danger:
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (India)

To while away the rest of your friday afternoon, pictures are viewable online here.

Riding high on our momentum following the Affordable Art Fair - a major success, thanks to all who came by to visit and shop right off the wall, you made deinstallation so much easier! - the team at LittleCollector remains in high spirits with our latest collaboration: Trey Speegle. You may have spied the very first print of Trey's HE-MAN (Battles Skeletor) at our booth at AAF (both unframed and framed quickly flew off the wall) but fret not, they're now available online!

We talked to Trey about all the best cereal to pair with cartoons, the strangest paint-by-numbers he's ever seen, and who HE-MAN should take on in the Battle of the Century!



LC: Your work has such a bright POP aesthetic. How do kids respond to your work?

TS: I think they "get it" rather quickly, sometimes more so than adults who maybe over think it. My friend brought her 9 year-old to an opening of mine and after looking at the show, he identified his favorite right away. He was so serious that heasked his Mom the price and then paused and said, "When I get some money, that's the one I'm getting."

LC: You have access to an amazing archive of paint-by-numbers. What does this archive mean to you as its conservator and and as source material for your work?

TS: I really love them and am constantly amazed at their odd beauty, unusual color palettes and real artistry. I eventually want to have a paint by number museum chronicling their history and displaying them by subject.... that will be a real undertaking but with 3000 of them, I'm well on my way to the goal!

LC: What's the craziest paint-by-numbers you've ever encountered?

TS: There are some pretty strange ones but I have one with a giant persian cat with rows of tiny dancers in a smokey void... it takes a while to make out what you are looking at... honestly, I still haven't figured out what it's supposed to be.

LC: Which cartoons did you watch as a kid and/or adult?

TS: Well, I really loved a live action cartoon called H.R. Puffinstuff... that was about a little boy whose best friend was a goofy dragon and their nemesis was a crazy witch called Witchiepoo. And Batman... loved Batman.

LC: Perhaps more importantly, what cereal did you enjoy during said cartoon watching?

TS: Frosted Flakes.... and Fruit Loops. I liked the classics... still do.

LC: If you could pit HE-MAN against any opponent, who would you have him take on?

TS: Superman, I guess. And then I might root for Superman because he seems like THE American superhero of all time. Maybe that will be my next LittleCollector print; "HE-MAN vs. SUPERMAN: The Battle of the Century!"



The LittleCollector booth at AAF. Note the woman in the front looking at Trey's print!

ArtStar's first Affordable Art Fair couldn't have gone better. We had a blast meeting so many collectors and were overwhelmed with all the positive feedback we received. ArtInfo listed ArtStar as one of the most successful galleries at the fair. Artist Jason Alper's Mr. White had collectors charging into the booth to grab one for their collection (including Stacy London from TLC's What Not to Wear!). ArtStar was a major partner with AAF for this Spring fair and along with exhibiting at the fair also hosted two workshops. We coordinated with artist Don Porcella to be onsite during the fair creating his pipe cleaner action figure sculpture series 'The Art World' surrounded by his phenomenal installation of his larger sculptures and encaustic paintings. We also hosted a talk for fair attendees focused on how to take the intimidation factor out of collecting. Thanks to Nicole Berry, Rebecca Heidenberg and Kate Singleton for putting together such a thoughtful discussion. We really had such an amazing experience and look forward to the next AAF!

The ArtStar team: Rich, Grace, Chrissy and Mike

"Taking the Intimidation Factor out of Collecting Art" with Kate Singleton, Nicole Berry and Rebecca Heidenberg

Our crowded AAF booth!

Don Porcella hard at work at AAF

Chrissy being interviewed for AAF tv.

Hi everyone,

So as many of you know, we here at ArtStar endeavor to take the pain out of fram(ing) (right guys?!).  There's nothing worse than having a gorgeous piece of art sit in your desk / on your desk / under your desk and threatened dust bunnies just begging to be framed while you guiltily try to figure out when you'l  make it to Dick Blick.

So we do it for you.

And then we pack it up just so, attach our authenticity card to the back, cradle it in a bespoke box, and mail it to you with a hanger and nail, ready for the wall. Easy. Peasy.

This is what it looks like when it arrives at your house:

Woah! What a well-packed package! Whatever, could it be?

I think I know! Is that the authenticity card?

Why yes it is! With the title, date, edition number, signature and everything.

You: "Thanks ArtStar" AS: "no prob."

*happy sigh*

As a new feature in our newsletter, we've decided to pose to each week's featured artist a series of 5 questions to probe their deepest psyche.  This week, Creative Director Rich Hendricks talks to Micah Ganske about painting with pure light, Shrek's ass, and Evolutionary Anthropology.

See more of Micah's new work, made exclusively for ArtStar, here.

5 Questions for Micah Ganske:

AS: Who/What most influenced you to become an artist?

At first I wanted to go into computer animation but my highschool art teacher infected me with the fine arts bug.  I realized quickly that I sure as hell didn't want to work for a company like Disney, doing the artistic grunt work on a movie whose point was to sell pretty princess dolls.  I may not make as much as my friends who continued on into the animation field, but then again, I didn't have to model the warts on Shrek's ass so I'm pretty content with my decision.

AS: What's the most random art world thing that's ever happened to you?

That's easy!  It's most certainly when I first met Jeffrey Deitch.  In the last month of grad school, I had one of my thesis show pieces in my first ever group show in New York.  He showed up to the opening on recommendation from Kurt Kauper, and bought the 10 foot painting on the spot.  It all started there and, while I admit he bought the painting because it was an awesome painting, it could have easily never happened and my whole life would be different.

AS: Who would you most want to share a beer with?

Living or dead?  I'll go with living since zombies are so unpredictable.  I choose... Bill Bryson!  He's not a real scientist and not a true specialist in any field, but I feel there are few people who have developed such a well-rounded knowledge of both science and world history.  Oh, also, he's funny as hell.

AS: If you could only paint/draw with one color, what would it be?

I would paint with pure light, man.

AS: If you were not an artist who/what would you be and why?

Realistically?  Probably a writer since I've always loved to do it as well.  I don't know what I would write about but non-fiction and science fiction are strong possibilities.  Romantically, I want to say something along the lines of Evolutionary Anthropologist because I love the combination of natural science and social science.  It's almost like a perfect union between science and philosophy.  I wish I could say I'd be a Physicist so that I could help put people into space, BUT I'm rubbish at math so what can you do?