Latest news with #CaspertheFriendlyGhost
Korea Herald
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Pop artist Sambypen asks what 'fine art' truly is
Fast-rising pop artist unveils new series at first solo show in 10 years Stepping into a white cube, one may expect to encounter 'fine art,' commonly thought to be an aesthetic and intellectual artistic creation, but PKM Gallery in Seoul is challenging the perception in collaboration with pop artist Sambypen. The word 'fake' is emblazoned on paintings taken from the artist's street graffiti practice, triggering viewers to ask, "What truly is art?" The 33-year-old's new painting series 'Wall' is part of his solo exhibition at PKM Gallery in Samcheong-dong, Seoul. The paintings were completed through layers of spraying, painting, sanding and redrawing, resulting in textured surfaces that evoke the weathered facade of city walls. Sambypen gained notoriety 10 year ago with a satirized Michelin mascot, leading to collaborations with major brands such as Nike, Porsche and Adobe. 'Collaborating with the artist is part of the gallery's attempts to accept diverse art. His works pose a blunt question — 'is fine art truly pure?' — to the conventional art scene,' said Jang Ye-ran, the gallery's exhibition team manager, when asked about the 35-year-old gallery's signing with the young and innovative artist. The exhibition is titled 'Lazy." The artist examines 'laziness,' or rather the psychological fatigue he believes to be prevalent among young people in contemporary society as they attempt to keep up with the fast-changing digital environment and flood of short-form content, according to the gallery. Another series shown at the exhibition is of sculptural paintings — produced through a layered process of pen drawing, digital graphics, wood cut by automated machining and brushwork. The character 'Bomb!' personifies the uncomfortable feeling of fear and helplessness the artist feels when overwhelmed by the need to keep up with the latest trend or complete tasks before him that he has already repeatedly postponed. The sculptural paintings may look familiar to visitors, as the artist illustrates scenes and characters from the works of Edward Hopper and Edouard Manet, as well as animated characters from" The Simpsons," "Pokemon" and Casper the Friendly Ghost. A variety of goods that feature the artist's works are on display on the upper floor for sale. The exhibition, running through May 17, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the artist's debut.
Telegraph
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Bottomless lasagne? London's latest foodie trend fills me with dread
There are some culinary artefacts among the marvels in the British Museum's Silk Roads exhibition. A platter for a flatbread that found its way from Central Asia to China; a wine jug repurposed as a funeral urn; countless ornate goblets and bowls that wound up thousands of miles from their place of origin. Astonishingly, there are even some 1,500-year-old baked goods, found at Astana Cemetery in the Gobi Desert. Insert your own joke about your local bakery. Gazing on these items, imagining the intrepid travellers who conveyed them across unknown or hostile land, I wondered what archaeologists from the future might learn from our food and drink curiosities. Would they marvel at Huel and its ilk, forerunners of the meal replacements they inject into themselves? Or gaze on air fryers with awe, as we do with Stonehenge? Will they revere Charlie Bigham as a deity? It was with these thoughts swirling that I checked my phone after the exhibition and saw an email about a new east London concept: 'bottomless lasagne'. Senza Fondo, which translates as 'without bottom', will open on February 20 offering unlimited lasagne for £20 a head. 'Lasagne lends itself to bulk production,' says the founder, Joe Worthington, who calls himself the 'chief bechamel officer'. 'You sit down, have a big, chunky piece of lasagne and – if you want – you can order it again.' 'Bottomless.' Of all the ominous terms in food – deconstructed, gooey, ultra-processed, nutritionally complete – none inspires as much dread. The word reassures the diner that they will not be judged, no matter how base their urges. The implication is not only that there is no bottom to your bowl, plate, trough or whatever else you are eating from, but possibly no bottom to you, either. As with Casper the Friendly Ghost, food and drink will simply plummet through you. This is not to denigrate 'lavish' or 'indulgent', which are ancient and admirable qualities in a meal. Nor is it to dismiss buffets, which at their best have a democratic sense of generosity and acknowledge that you want to add ham to stuff. No, bottomless is really a 21st-century curiosity. It started with unlimited soft drinks, fries and Pizza Hut pizza at lunchtime. But it achieved its zenith with the 'bottomless brunch' where, for a fixed fee, diners are given as much cheap booze as they can glug within their allotted time. Bottomless brunch not only normalises drinking in the morning, but specifically normalises drinking many low-quality drinks. Hopped up on lowest-common-denominator plonk, the bottomless mob make themselves vulnerable to sides, pudding and other cunning upselling. The bottomless promise also uses the diner's essential stinginess against them. To a certain cast of mind, hearing the word will get the cogs whirring. 'I will beat the system,' they think. 'I will be the outlier.' They crave a bargain, rather than endless layers of bechamel, ragu and pasta. Nobody has ever had a serving of lasagne and still felt hungry. That's the point of lasagne. One might as well offer bottomless mashed potato or risotto or bread and butter pudding. When archaeologists unearth the 'Senza Fondo' menu buried in the mud by Old Street, they will wonder about our priorities.
