Author: Afzal Ibrahim

A woman bows her head, eyes shut, praying over her bulging womb. Peeping out from the rim of her swollen belly is a skull’s head, an omen hovering over the unborn. At her feet, three women with bowed heads raise their hands in prayer—their sobriety implies mourning as if they foresaw the child’s fate. This is one of the greatest Gustav Klimt paintings ever made in the pre-modern era This prophetic painting is titled “Hope, II.” Why would “Hope” apply to a scene of expectant fatalism? There’s a method to Gustav Klimt’s paradoxical aesthetic. “Hope, II” recalls his earlier, related painting…

What is art? – The dictionary definition of art says that it is “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination, especially in the production of aesthetic objects” (Merriam-Webster). Art is essential to society as it stimulates creativity, reflects culture, fosters empathy, provokes thought, and offers a medium for expression. It enhances society’s intellectual and emotional understanding of the world. But the thing about art is that it’s so diverse that there are as many ways to understand it as there are people. That’s why there are scholars who give their special definition of the word, such as the one…

Around the globe, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are coming more and more into everyday usage. A variety of different research firms, such as L’Atelier BNP Paribas and NonFungible.com, examined the NFT market and discovered that throughout 2020, NFTs controlled a 250 million dollar market, with rises in investments by up to 299% year to year. Naturally, since the market for such items is growing quickly and can be quite a profitable source of income, many investors seek to cash in on the craze and make a lot of money.  Perhaps part of the reason why the craze has taken off…

“We’re all creative, it’s just some of us earn our living by being so.”  ― John Hegarty, Hegarty on Advertising People often wonder where creativity comes from. Creativity Definition – What is Creativity? How can an ordinary person become a creative one? Creativity isn’t about a new age, hipster, or beatnik look or lifestyle; you don’t have to don a new personality or even learn a fine art to be creative. Creativity is inherent in all of us, from the dentist that designs a perfect new smile to the house movers that know just where to put furniture to make a room…

While Titian, an Italian-born painter of the 16th century, was no master sculptor or architect like the infamous Michelangelo, nor was he renowned for his scientific and inventor skills as was Leonardo, but he is known as the Shakespeare of painting. [quote_colored name=”” icon_quote=”no”]Titian was well known in the High Renaissance art era as the ‘man of colour’ and so was aptly named the ‘Venetian Master of Colour’.[/quote_colored] Colors add right mood, temperature, and structure to your work. To a sensitive soul, the impact of a perfect color combination is deeper and intensely moving The magic he produced with paint…

Popular culture was shrouding everything in the 1950’s and 60’s in America, and maintaining the status quo became more important than ever. The power of pop art has been emerging since then and continuously breaking all conformist perspectives of art The post-war era seems old fashioned to us now, but at that time, humanity was experiencing life in ways that adults of the time could not have even conceived of as children. With a new world, came new perspectives, new attitudes, and new lingo. How else to describe the visual expression of the era than to use that lingo? Lawrence…

Over the years, the concepts of communication and collaboration have continuously evolved and changed. The methodologies and technologies are essential for globalization and the realization of an interconnected, one-world concept. The ancient world utilized smoke signals and carrier pigeons. As technology progressed, the discovery of telex, telegraphs, telephones, video calling, and even telepathy technology is revolutionizing the way in which we communicate. If you simply look back over the last ten years, humanity has primarily utilized the internet for communication, from making new friends, to form new associations and businesses. Social media and messaging applications have only managed to enrich…

The definition of art remains controversial and multifarious, but the diverse functions of art get better once you allow your conscience to absorb and understand diverse perspectives that art offers. The purposes, motivations, intentions, and inspirations behind the art are endless. Being one of the most creative ways of expressing human experience, we have used art as a means of telling stories. May it be the story of a single person, of a community, or of a nation, art has in many ways contributed to the beautiful way these stories are told. We’ve put together a list of 25 functions…

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A popular quote from the 3rd century and true to anything you happen to be beholding. Literary genius Shakespeare expressed this perfectly in his play Loves Labours Lost of 1588 – Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean, Needs not the painted flourish of your praise: Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye, Not uttered by base sale of chapmen’s tongues When it comes to art, some may say that not all art is beautiful, that it should not be beautiful, always. As with many aspects of life, such as…

According to Matisse’s artistic enemies, he was a “raging animal” mocking their comfortable realism with bright colors and unconventional forms. Henri Matisse paintings always carried a personality of an unconventional artist In later years, visitors to his home and studio were surprised to find a mild-mannered gentleman in spectacles and a well-tailored suit. The maniac he was labeled as had never existed, but perhaps it was his creative intensity that was mistakenly perceived as insanity. The challenge, then, was to utilize this passion as a means to achieve the serenity he really wanted out of life. It’s been said that…