I Heart Art

In honor of this lovely holiday, I am taking Katie's lead and bringing you some of my loves... all Valentine's Day themed artworks. (If you can't be corny on Valentines Day, when can you be?)

Hanging Heart (Magenta and Gold), above, is my absolute favorite piece by the famed Jeff Koons. It is currently in a private collection (if I'm wrong please correct me) but you can view his sister piece Sacred Heart (Red/Gold) on display on the Met's rooftop. It feels just how love should... big, juicy, and bold.

Further downtown tonight, Fernando Mastrangelo's show LoVE is a smoke made with the fume of sighs... is opening at Kumukumu Gallery on the Lower East Side.

Mastrangelo is a Brooklyn artist who has transformed Kumukumu into a three part sea vessel-- a metaphor for life, death, and love. It's a romantic yet forlorn look at love as conveyed through history, literature, and art. And the title, if you weren't aware, was taken directly from Romeo and Juliet. Yep. LOVE IT.

My final heart is an Andy Warhol 1979 screen print. I actually did a similar series in college of intaglio prints of hearts that I sketched from human anatomy textbooks. There is something so alluring about this grotesque yet poetic human organ that has been the physical embodiment of love for centuries. And coming from a medical family background, this was my meager attempt at connecting art and science.

Warhol completed this version late in his career when he could pretty much stamp anything and make it famous. While this phase of his life annoys me a bit, I do love the piece.


Happy Heart Day, my loves. :)