MICHAEL CRICHTON KNOWS ART...DO YOU KNOW MICHAEL?

The front of Christie's on Camden Drive in Beverly Hills, CA.

A book display of some of Writer Michael Crichton's books

Last Friday at Christie’s in Beverly Hills they honored the Collection of the late Michael Crichton. Best-selling author and screenwriter, film director and producer, Crichton is renowned for his terrifying and sometimes controversial scientific thrillers such as The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Timeline, The Lost World, Rising Sun, and State of Fear, and for creating the television series ER. Crichton is also acknowledged as a leading authority on the American artist Jasper Johns.

Christie’s unveiled the major works from the Collection, with a public exhibition of 50 highlights with key works by Andreas Gursky, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Claes Oldenburg, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Mark Tansey, Wayne Thiebaud, and Andy Warhol.  On public view together for the first time ever, the works will be on exhibition from Friday 5 March to Friday 12 March at Christie’s Los Angeles Galleries.

You really began to understand how amazing of an eye Michael Crichton had as you view his art through his selections.  I felt honored to be in the presence of such astonishing art work.

Claes Oldenburg’s, Alphabet/Good Humor Edition, 1975

Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Mao. Painted in 1973, Mao is a fine example of Warhol’s greatest & most sensational portrait series of the 1970s.Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Mao. Painted in 1973, Mao is a fine example of Warhol’s greatest & most sensational portrait series of the 1970s.

Pablo Picasso Femme a la Robe Rose oil on canvas 39 3/8 x 31 7/8 inches Painted in 1917.Jeff KoonsJASPER JOHNS (b. 1930) Flag encaustic & newspaper collage on paper laid down on canvas 17 ½ x 26 ¾ in. Painted in 1960-1966

THE RISE OF A NEW CELEBRITY (part 2 of 2)

Andy Warhol "Everyones Famous for 15 Minutes"In yesterdays article, The Death of Mega Fame, there's been wonderment...is this the end of the "age of celebrity." The Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henniger writes:

Marketing runs the world now. Because of marketing the world is overflowing with people who are famous, or anyway familiar. These people aren't celebrities. Not real celebrities.

And he argues the shift to digital technology works against the rise of another mega-celebrity:

It has taken some time to see how modern media squashed the life out of genuine celebrity. Web sites, TV and magazines shot  Michael Jackson and his white glove into the sky like a Roman candle. But in the nature of fireworks, modern media then fired thousands of other people into the same sky - singers, actors, athletes, talk-show hosts, psychologists, comedians, models - and turned them all into . . . familiar faces...

A real celebrity is beyond reach. Today, to hang out with famous people all one needs is the ability to mouse-click. Constant clicking rubs the shine off anyone's glamour. Beautiful people have become a dime a dozen.

NOT SO FAST

There's good reason to suspect that, sooner or later, new technology will spawn an even bigger mega-star with even more global reach. That's been the pattern in the past actually and there's little reason to think it will end now.

With every new technology - from the rise of film, recorded music, talking pictures, transistor radios, FM radio, cable TV, and now the digital revolution - experts have predicted the death of celebrity. But each advance has generated celebrities bigger than the past.

The first big star was Rudy Vallée, whose soft singing voice was amplified by the invention of the electric microphone. He inspired other crooners like Bing Crosby, whose 500 million records sold make him one of the top five selling artists of all time. Next came Frank Sinatra- a true mega-star whose scores of bobby-soxer followers helped solidify the notion of teen pop culture and who was one of the first to capitalize on tie-ins between radio, albums, and feature films. Then came Elvis Presley, the King who took teen culture to a whole new level -his hip-swiveling appearances on Ed Sullivan making national news - and sold more than a billion records over his career.

Noted rock critic David Marsh has said that Elvis ushered in the first major shift in modern popular music culture. The second shift came with the Beatles (who also sold a billion+ records) and the British Invasion, which augured the shift to album-oriented rock featured on FM radio. Michael Jackson defined the third major revolution in popular music, selling some 750 million records and, according to Marsh, giving rise to the heavily produced pop form which is with us to this day. MJ can count everyone from Madonna and Justin Timberlake to Beyoncé, Britney, and Lady Gaga among his disciples.

The digital revolution - from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube - creates a powerful platform for instantaneous global reach that goes beyond what radio, TV, and even cable TV can offer.

James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Elvis PresleyThe NEXT BIG THING is predicted to be more of a global celebrity. Unlike Elvis from the U.S. and the Beatles from the U.K. This next celebrity will rise simultaneously not being tied to one country of origin and be seen as a world mega-star. Glimmers of the new age of global celebrity are peeking through. "Jai Ho," the theme song for the mega-hit Slumdog Millionaire, features lyrics in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Spanish and has been covered by Americans the Pussycat Dolls and Snoop Dogg. Its composer is A.R. Rahman, a star film composer who has already sold over 200 million records in a career that began only in 1992.

Grammy and Academy Award-nominated rapper M.I.A.'s persona is equally rooted in London and Sri Lanka.  TIME magazine ranks her as one of the world's 100 most influential people and sums up her global appeal:

She's a Sri Lankan refugee who didn't speak a word of English before she was 10, yet she's also a child of Chuck D and the Pixies and Fight Club and MySpace. There are no borders for her. . . You don't have to be from the West to have a favorite Biggie song. We are all listening to the same music.

The end of Mega Fame...you tell me.

The rise of a new technology has led to a celebrity even bigger than the last.

My prediction is that NEVERWOOD HIGH will be the perfect platform for this so called GLOBAL CELEBRITY.

KATE MOSS ON THE STREETS IN AN ARTSY WAY

Kate Moss on the streets of New York

Graffiti, an art form that was not recognized as “art” until more recent years, has made its mark on the fashion world. From the gritty streets of various cities worldwide to embellishing high-priced Louis Vuitton apparel, graffiti has certainly evolved. Once considered an act of vandalism, graffiti has now been accepted as an art form that is displayed in galleries and art exhibits worldwide.

The city is a canvas for anyone who dares to defy the law. Through some-times unnoticed by the denizens, grafitti presents a raw beauty that screams to be seen by the establishment.

Graffiti is an element of every literate society whether it's enjoyed or not. Don't dismiss graffiti as wanton acts of destruction without first analyzing first the motives for the action because everyone is entitled to an opinion whether they have the resources to express it legally or not. True, graffiti can express negative aspects of society such as hatred, racism, and harm to others ; however, keep in mind that graffiti also promotes ethnic unity, love, friendship, freedom from oppression, and diversity. Before forming a quick opinion the next time you see graffiti, take time to analyze the markings to reveal the motive behind it and its value to someone other than yourself.

In the pieces with Kate Moss, the artist protest the newly opened Topshop a few block away in SoHo, NYC.