Jules de Balincourt

@ The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 
Boys Club, 2011, Oil on panel

Jules de Balincourt was born in Paris in 1972 and moved to the United States with his family in the early 1980s. After studying at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, where he developed an interest in the art of ceramics, which he practised for some time, he settled in New York, completing a master's degree at the city's Hunter College in 2005. He lives and works in Brooklyn, and is one of its art scene's main driving forces. Dubbed "Starr Space," his Starr Street studio in the Bushwick district serves as a community centre, performance and concert space, as well as an art gallery for neighbourhood artists. LINK julesdebalincourt

Mondrian Cake

As a lover of modern art, Mondrian inspired creative projects, and unusual cookbooks, I was instantly enamored with Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art by Caitlin Freeman, pastry chef at the Blue Bottle café at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s, which she roams for inspiration, then translates the artwork into edible masterpieces. From Matisse parfait to Mondrian cake to Frida wedding cookies to Fuller hot chocolate, the recipes hit the spot for art-lovers and foodies alike, adding an extra layer of whimsical delight to the art of dessert. LINK modernartdesserts

Norbert Schwontkowski

In his drawings and paintings, Norbert Schwontkowski does not explore the path to abstract visualization and instead has discernible objects and figures emerge from the foundation to the images he creates. He records the world and the seemingly vacuous side to everyday life in fragmentary excerpts, and on even the smallest of canvases proves to be a great storyteller. The focus is on human weaknesses and rashness, human inadequacies and the paralysis of existence, but often he also addresses the small moments of movements and happiness. Many of his images are defined by melancholy and yearning, and yet he forever undermines this with humor, such as arises first and foremost from the interaction of pictorial idea and work title. Alongside oil, crayon, water and pigment, Schwontkowski often also adds metal oxides to his pictures, something that can lead to unforeseen changes to the color. In a wet-in-wet process, initially many layers of color and paint are superimposed, and thus a kind of horizontal foundation is laid. The use of metal oxides resembles photographic and film processes in terms of the art’s sensitivity to light. Part of the painting process is left to chemistry, which cannot be controlled, and thus to chance. Schwontkowski makes deliberate use of these arbitrary and surprising effects. The images continue to morph, changing their colors with each day anew. The result are at times impasto, at times fluid surfaces, often shimmering with a vibrancy in a sea of colors associated with the season from November to February. LINK Norbert Schwontkowski

Opening of Museo Jumex

Mexico City

Mexico City is blessed with a number of great contemporary art museums; Museo Tamayo, whether or not it ever expands, in Chapultepec Park; Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in the south; smaller institutions like Museo Experimental El Eco on Reforma and the non-profit Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros (SAPS) in Polanco-however, as a civic point of interest and a feat of twenty-first century architectural showmanship, it's hard to rival this corner of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, where the Museo Jumex now sits opposite Carlos Slim's eccentrically hubristic Museo Soumaya, which opened in 2011. Indeed, probably the best sight provided by Lopez's new museum this weekend was the picture of the Soumaya, in all its tiled mushroom cloud grandiosity, framed by the outlook of the Jumex's first floor terrace, where the public programs were held (a roundtable on the role of the private museum, a talk between Hans Ulrich Obrist and the architect, and a performative lunch). The city block is like a kernel of an Arabian upstart in the New World: two of the most moneyed private museums anywhere, sprouted beside one another on a commercial thoroughfare en route to becoming a miracle mile. LINK Museo Jumex

Yto Barrada

Cinematheque Tangier 
@ Walker Art Center

As a "crossroads of civilizations," Tangier has long captured the imagination of the West, and been romanticized and immortalized in film and literature. Having grown up around those myths, artist Yto Barrada has been interested in the material history and visual culture of her hometown, particularly its rich cinematic past. She has developed an artistic practice that combines documentary strategies with a metaphoric approach to imagery, resulting in a poetic body of work recognized for its emblematic power.
 LINK walker art center

Joe Rilla

Ostwest

Im Jahre 1997 gründete Joe Rilla zusammen mit den Hip-Hop-Musikern Dave Q und MC Poise die Formation Da Mash. Die Gruppe veröffentlichte zusammen mit der PDM Posse ein Album, welches unter dem Titel Plus & Minus erschien. Wobei die Vinylplatte auf der A Seite der PDM Posse und auf der B Seite Da Mash zugeteilt ist. Joe Rilla tourte in dieser Zeit mit der Sängerin Joy Denalane und dem Rapper MC Poise als Family Affair quer durch Europa. Rillas Debütalbum Zeitgeist erschien 1998. Es folgte 1999 die Bildung der Hip-Hop-Formation Analphabeten, welche ein Zusammenschluss aus den Hip-Hop-Musikern DJ Danetic, SMC, Joe Rilla und DJ N.Y.C.O. war. Sie veröffentlichten die EP Waz Louz über das Label Raid Records und die Alben … Punkt! und 1Deutige 2Deutigkeiten über das Label Upgrade LINK Joe Rilla

Isabelle Beernaert

Red, Yellow & Blue

Red, Yellow &  Blue is the third full-length theater production of Isabelle Beernaert who tours along the Dutch and Belgian theaters. Isabelle has another great performance choreographed especially for you, with stories and emotions that can not then you completely carried away and let it live. Else in your own way For this, an impressive cast of dancers Isabelle brought together, known from So You Think You Can Dance and The Ultimate Dance Battle ... LINK Isabelle Beernaert

Jimmy Nelson

Before they Pass Away

From 1997 onwards Jimmy began to successfully undertake commercial advertising assignments for many of the world’s leading brands. At the same time he started accumulating images of remote and unique cultures photographed with a traditional 50  year  old plate camera. Many awards followed. When he started to successfully and internationally exhibit and sell these images, this created the subsequent momentum and enthusiasm for the initiation of Before they Pass Away. LINK Jimmy Nelson

‪Solomon Burke‬

‪None Of Us Are Free‬

Solomon Burke was an American recording artist and vocalist, who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s and a "key transitional figure in the development of soul music from rhythm and blues. He had a string of hits including "Cry to Me", "If You Need Me", "Got to Get You Off My Mind", "Down in the Valley" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love". Burke was referred to as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", "Bishop of Soul" and the "Muhammad Ali of soul". Due to Burke's minimal chart success in comparison to other soul music greats such as James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, Burke is often described as the genre's "most unfairly overlooked singer" of its golden age. Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler once referred to Burke as "the greatest male soul singer of all time".
LINK ‪Solomon Burke‬

L.I.S.A. Project

Beau Stanton in Little Italy 
Photo: by Rey Rosa

The L.I.S.A. Project (Little Italy Street Art) was established by Wayne Rada & Ralph Tramontana President of the Little Italy Merchants Association and is under creative direction of Wayne Rada, and RJ Rushmore from his famed website vandalog.com The mission is to bring a diverse group of street artists together in the Little Italy area of downtown on historic Mulberry Street, between Broome and Canal to create Manhattan's only mural district. To encourage New Yorkers, art fans and tourists alike to visit or revisit Little Italy to view and photograph the art work. LINK lisaproject

New (Nieuw)

DPhoto

The Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) is more than a museum. It is an archive, museum, library and cultural podium all in one. The NAI holds important archives and collections of Dutch architects from after 1800 and makes them accessible to the public. The NAI is part of The New Institute. Read more... LINK nai

"Bergensbanen"

NRK. A 7 hour long travel (minute by minute) 
from Bergen to Oslo by train (Norway)

Bergensbanen is 100 years in 2009, and the documentary was a wild idea from NRK staff that came through, and was, surprisingly, a big success.
 Millions of Norwegians have watched "Bergensbanen" on NRK2. The longest documentary ever? At least the longest NRK has made, almost 7 1/2 hours, showing every minute of the scenic train ride between Bergen on the Norwegian west coast, crossing the mountains to the capital of Oslo. LINK NRK

Ghetto Biennale 2013

622 Blvd Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Port-au-Prince
 Haiti

The 3rd Ghetto Biennale 2013 will take place from 26th November until the 16th December 2013. All works must be made and exhibited in Haiti. Artists will be invited to pass one to three weeks in Haiti before presenting their work in the neighbourhood to an audience of local people, Port au Prince neighbourhood communities, arts collectives and arts organisations. The 3rd Ghetto Biennale will be co-curated by Andre Eugene, David Frohnapfel, Leah Gordon and Celeur Jean Herard. LINK Ghetto Biennale

Color

New stamp from PostNL

"We have deliberately chosen a different color" a spokeswoman said Friday, but they stressed that this choice is made ​​before the discussion of recent weeks erupted. Obviously afraid to tell you that the choice is made ​​for fear of criticism and threats the company. Rather it gives business in a handful of troublemakers who grant their foundations should allow to set. Supposedly an important social point raised safely From survey and found that Dutch want to keep as it is, so with Zwarte Piet there. LINK NOS (Dutch)