Jean Hélion (1904-1987) is one of the most disconcerting artists of the 20th centurye century. He never respected any constraints and paid dearly for his obstinacy in going against the dominant currents. One of his most famous paintings is called Backwards (1947), an expression which could have served as his motto. Today, when most of the dogmatisms he challenged are crumbling, we can hope that he will be better understood and that this retrospective will be one of definitive recognition.
Of this absolutely independent character, his life provides proof which could have been fatal. In 1939, he lived in the United States, in Virginia, with his first wife and their son, and his notoriety grew in New York. The war comes on September 3. Instead of trying to avoid mobilization, he voluntarily returned to France to enlist. On June 19, 1940, he was taken prisoner and sent to a stalag in Pomerania. Instead of waiting for the end of the war there, he escaped in February 1942, crossed Germany and Belgium by train and reached Paris, where he was helped by Mary Reynolds, then the companion of Marcel Duchamp. Then he clandestinely crossed the demarcation line, reached Marseille, where he also found Duchamp, and managed to embark for Baltimore. Arriving in the United States, he published the story of his escape under a title which could also be his motto, They Shall Not Have Me (Dutton, 1943; published in France by Claire Paulhan in 2018, They won’t have me), bestseller which strengthens the anti-Nazism of the American public. So much for the man.
Straight geometry
In painting, it is the same. After ordinary beginnings, in 1926 he met the Uruguayan painter Joaquin Torres Garcia, who introduced him to Jean Arp, Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and Léon Tutundjian: they have in common an abstraction constructed by a straight geometry which delimits planes of color uniforms. It would be an understatement to say that their position is an arch-minority. Jean Hélion nevertheless joined them, founding two groups with them, in 1930 Concrete Art and, in 1931, Abstraction-Création. Black lines of varying thickness, rectangles of blue, yellow and red, the three primaries: this is the language of Mondrian and the De Stijl movement, which Hélion makes his own with ease.
He accumulates small drawings which are variations designed from these principles, to develop them into paintings. But this proliferation is the indication of a desire for experimentation which is not satisfied for long with the initial system. Straight lines must soon support the vicinity of curves and quadrilaterals have round corners from 1933: first license. A second follows. The color planes are no longer uniform, but modulated with nuances that suggest volumes. Then, quickly, they are affirmed: spindles, bent tubes, cylinders. The titles no longer say Compositionmore Monument – canvas of the rest admirable (1937) – and Blue figureor rose or, more explicitly, fallen. These increasingly anthropomorphic constructions develop against a background of flat colored areas, which gives the impression of seeing sculptural assemblages in front of a purely abstract painting. In 1937, Jean Hélion was already far from his beginnings.
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Freedom according to Jean Hélion, at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris
Godzilla and King Kong once again turn entire world cities into rubble
#Godzilla #King #Kong #turn #entire #world #cities #rubble
In the 1910s, every Hollywood studio wanted its own ‘cinematic universe’: an endlessly expanding world of feature films, series and games. The ‘Monsterverse’ has been fairly successful so far, where the radioactive mega-reptile Godzilla romps with Japanese giants and with giant ape King Kong, here a walking apartment building of about forty meters.
Monsterfilm
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Regie: Adam Wingard. Met: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle, Dan Stevens, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen. Lengte: 115 min.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the third round in their battle since two Japanese guys in rubber suits comically wrestled on a model of Mount Fuji in 1962. King Kong can now talk, as was shown in the previous part Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), where the giant ape kidnapped from Skull Island growls ‘home’ to his girlfriend Jia (Kaylee Hottle). She is a child: although Kong once stood for frustrated male sexuality, people now prefer to emphasize his paternal side.
In the previous part, the earth turned out to be hollow and Kong found an ancient throne and battle ax in this prehistoric wonder world à la Jules Verne. He has lived underground ever since, but fighting Godzilla remains a passion. This time too, the duo rolls entire world cities into rubble – Rome, Rio and Cairo. But in the end, they once again join forces against a greater threat.
Godzilla smells trouble when he wakes up from a nap in the Colosseum and demolishes a nuclear power plant to recharge, being fruitlessly shot at by the French air force. As if people could do anything against him; their contribution once again consists of fleeing, screaming, explaining things and looking up with their mouths open. Considering the scale of destruction, every Monsterverse movie costs five to ten million lives, and this one is no exception. But that’s a statistic, of more importance is the group of heroes that makes up Kong’s entourage. Especially as ‘comic relief’: a goofy vet in a Hawaiian shirt, a wappie, a mom-scientist with a spicy short haircut and her foster daughter Jia, also Kong’s favorite.
Not that they really matter: it’s all about Godzilla and Kong. The latter – after people have pulled out a rotten tooth with a helicopter – goes underground in search of other giant apes. It turns out that his people live under the control of a vicious spider monkey armed with a whip and an ice-spewing triceratops.
As a threat, the duo is not impressive, but Kong still calls on the now charged Godzilla and the mighty giant moth Mothra to help. Because yes, everyone just does whatever, things happen without much narrative cement between the action blocks. For example, King Kong’s hand freezes, but people then just conjure up an iron prosthetic fist with antifreeze lying around somewhere. From ‘Project Powerhouse’ or something. Cool: an iron fist!
Maybe such a silly deus ex machina doesn’t matter, fans are all about thunderous action and overwhelming images. But no matter how fierce but good-natured Kong tries, this film lacks emotional impact, logic, originality, tension and humor. Why such a fluff script for such an expensive film? Because the makers take neither their ‘franchise’ nor their audience seriously. It was recently proven that you can combine giant monsters with drama and a human scale the Japanese Godzilla Minus One.
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Godzilla and King Kong once again turn entire world cities into rubble
ISAGO Jewelry Uses Lab-Grown Diamond Technology
ISAGO is a jewelry brand that provides luxury jewelry products. Photo/ mpi
JAKARTA — ISAGO is ready to be released in Indonesia. Brand jewellery This will add new colors and collections to Indonesian people. However, ISAGO is different from other jewelry brands.
Yes, ISAGO is a jewelry brand that provides luxury jewelry products made from 14K recycled gold and Lab-Grown Diamond.
ISAGO Co-Ceo and Co-Founder Valencia Tanoesoedibjo said that using Lab-Grown Diamonds is like diamonds in general, but made in a lab.
“So actually Lab-Grown Diamonds are diamonds, they’re not fake diamonds or fake like that. “The term is still diamond, but it is made in a lab,” said Valencia Tanoesoedibjo as Co-Ceo and Co-Founder of ISAGO at the ISAGO Investor Gathering event at Park Hyatt Jakarta, Friday (22/3/2024).
Furthermore, Valencia likened Lab-Grown Diamond to hydroponic tomatoes. Even though they are planted and raised in a pot, they are still tomatoes like tomatoes in general.
So the Lab-Grown Diamond process does not reduce its value and beauty. This technology actually provides many benefits.
ISAGO believes Lab-Grown Diamond is more environmentally friendly when viewed through its production which does not go through a mining process. Apart from that, with this process ISAGO can provide prices that are much more affordable compared to diamond jewelry from other brands.
In fact, the Lab-Grown Diamond process is not widely used by jewelry stores in Indonesia. This is what makes investors interested in investing in ISAGO.
“Because it is our hope that Lab-Grown Diamond technology makes us really believe in creating an even bigger market,” said Alberts Hendrajaya as ISAGO Investor.