Spring into a Summer of Art
Welcome to your Vernal Equinox edition of Signified
Art is a great talking point. Why not start a conversation by forwarding this newsletter to someone you know who shares your love of art? We include ‘Friends Links’ to the articles mentioned so, if you forward this to a non-subscriber, they can enjoy it just as much as anyone.
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📢 Attention artists, photographers, painters, illustrators:
The Signifier : six : shot : gallery invites you to showcase your work — scroll down to the end of the newsletters for more information and a link to our submissions guidelines. ⬇️
🔥 A Handful of Signifier’s Top Stories 🔥
Home Dance & the Biting Cat (Yaorenmao) — celebrating the energising art of a joyous Chinese subculture that knows no bounds
Typically, Home Dance comprises a series of expressive or cute movements that can be performed pretty much on the spot, say within a radius of two metres. The subculture encompasses amateurs, simply having fun, to serious participants approaching professional standard, and a handful who carry it further into a complex and nuanced artform, often showcased in videos with very high production values. The varied dance styles incorporate dynamic poses from manga, exaggerated anime movements, traditional Asian dance, voguing, hip-hop, narrative mime, and encoded kawaii gestures.
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Florence 1504 — a meeting of minds: when a handful of Great Artists pushed each other into the High Renaissance
If time travel were possible, Florence in 1504 would be a fascinating place to visit. This walled city on the river Arno was home to the Medici, one of the wealthiest banking families in Italy, whose patronage partly inspired and financed the rebirth of all interest in classical art, architecture, and philosophy, known as the Renaissance, which was by now fully underway as Greek and Roman classical texts from the East reached Italy through trade. Three of the most influential Renaissance artists were also working in Florence at that time — Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. They may have been competitors but their work also fed off one another’s.
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Happy in Hell — Kawanabe Kyōsai’s Memento Mori: combatting uncertainty and the concept of death with creativity and humour
Ukiyo-e artist Kawanabe Kyōsai / 河鍋暁斎 recounted that in May in the 10th year of Tenpō, the town of Edo was in the middle of the rainy season, and it rained every day. One day, Shusaburo / 周三郎 (his childhood name) went to the Kanda River. There, he found a human head, picked it up and began to sketch it. The 10th year of Tenpō correlates to 1840 on the gregorian calendar and, amazingly, this was when Kawanabe Kyōsai was just nine years old. His immediate reaction to the grisly find speaks volumes about his passion for art. He painted a wide range of subjects in his lifetime and left many great works.
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Visualising Vampires — The Undead in Art and Culture: considering ancient and modern representations that influenced our perception of these bloodthirsty fiends
Compulsively seductive, it lures in its victim with an enigmatic pull before submerging into crimson gore, unleashing its evil curse upon the world. People sharpen wooden stakes and valiantly clutch onto their crucifixes. They hang garlic talismans upon the entryways to their homes to wane it away. This esoteric creature is revered as one of human history’s most iconic and feared legends — the Vampire. Portrayals of the undead have permeated the art of many cultures around the world for over a millennia. Ancient Athenian painters adorned vases with ominous depictions of blood-thirsty demons with engorged bellies and protruding fangs.
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David by Donatello: A Revolutionary Masterpiece — how Donatello’s innovations changed art and our perception of King David
David, a central figure in the Bible, spent his childhood tending his father’s flocks, while developing his talents as a musician and using a sling to hunt predators in defence of the livestock in his care. Disappointed with King Saul, God chose David as the future king and had him anointed¹ by the prophet Samuel. One of first major works by Donatello (di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) is a marble statue of David. It was commissioned for Florence Cathedral in 1408. Barely 22 years old and undoubtedly inspired by the ancient sculptures he had discovered with Brunelleschi during their trip to Rome in 1402, he did not propose a David in the medieval tradition.
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Entering the World of Art — a view from the inside, with so much to be learned…
The job posting asked for a photographer who could also manage a digital sales department. My lifelong dream had been to work as a photographer. This was my opportunity. A panel of three conducted the job interview. The first was the Gallery Manager: a young, tall blonde woman who had scribbled some questions on a notebook and seemed somewhat prepared for the task. The second was the person vacating the position for which I was being interviewed: a cordial middle-aged woman who was there presumably to assess the suitability of her replacement. The third person was the Gallery Director/Owner: a friendly, diminutive man with an easy smile and a casual attitude. He appeared disinterested in the proceedings and only paid attention when I mentioned my amazement at the guitar collection that lined his office.
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Frederic, Lord Leighton: Styles & Techniques of Britain’s Most Lauded Artist — a masterpiece by one of the great Victorian painters was once lost and now restored to its former splendour
Flaming June is visually striking and one of the most revered works of Victoriana. Painted by Frederic, Lord Leighton it was first exhibited at London’s Royal Academy in 1895 and, 130 years later, returned to welcome 2025. While on loan from the earthquake-damaged Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico, it has been restored to reveal its original lustre and fiery luminosity. There are painterly effects that cannot be appreciated via a print or a screen. The delicate translucency of the orange gown’s diaphanous fabric seems ready to ripple sensuously in the slightest summer breeze. The distant sea shimmers and sparkles as if magically animated.
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…and don’t miss our Signifier : six : shot : gallery showcases for 2025 so far:
Cacen Ffenest: ‘Amwys / Imprecise’
The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defines mind as “the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons,” and defines the term ‘mind over matter’ as “a situation in which someone is able to control a physical condition, problem, etc., by using the mind.” What better definition is there of art?
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Eugene Theron: ‘Morphos’
Wales’s west is dramatic and craggy. Around 500–550 million years ago, the very beginnings of the coast and mountains we know in North Wales started to take shape. Two paleo-continents collided after slowly drifting towards each other for millions of years. The sea that separated them now gone and in it’s place a new landmass created. This period of geological history brought the onset of mass volcanism and deformation of the ancient continents.
continue reading and see the art at : six : shot : gallery 🚀 [this article was Boosted!]
Be sure to check out our special ‘Global Freeview’ of archived six shot showcases where you will also find our submissions guidelines for artists — there are slots available so, artists, please find your confidence and submit. It’s a simple process. All we need are six images and a brief statement about them. We couldn’t do it without you. 🫶
And Finally, From the Archive:
The Hat that Changed the World — how did the bold fashion statement of wearing a Top Hat affect architecture, world trade, human rights …and help to save the beaver?
Reputedly, in 1797, John Hetherington was the the first man brave, or foolhardy, enough to wear a Top Hat. The sight caused such great disturbance in the street that police were called-in to control the panic. He was arrested and appeared in court for wearing upon his head, “a tall structure having a shining lustre calculated to frighten timid people.” It seems that the general public just weren’t ready for such an outrageous fashion statement. They didn’t understand what they were looking at! Was this a thing from another strange and scary world? An apparition from the realm of demons? Was this monstrous man really so inhumanly tall? Was his head really that shape?
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