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OddZoo
Sept 28, 2008 21:51:27 GMT -8
Post by rizza79 on Sept 28, 2008 21:51:27 GMT -8
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OddZoo
Sept 29, 2008 21:21:16 GMT -8
Post by LeBasse Projects on Sept 29, 2008 21:21:16 GMT -8
No offense here, but its a bit more than just "influence" of other artists. It is like Oddzoo blatantly copied Blaine Fontana and Ekundayo. Maybe they are collaborating under a pseudonym. I mean its like Ekundayo's characters with Blaine's animals? The Koi, Bear, and Peacock are right from Fontana paintings. I also see a Nathan Ota hat, and thats without looking at the whole set.
I only mention this because as a gallery owner and collector I am starting to get very disappointed by the lack of originality I am seeing lately. The thing is, this artist can clearly paint - so why not paint something a little more original.
If someone can give me some more insight about this artist I might feel better about it - I am not above admitting I am wrong.
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OddZoo
Sept 29, 2008 22:44:22 GMT -8
Post by rizza79 on Sept 29, 2008 22:44:22 GMT -8
No offense here, but its a bit more than just "influence" of other artists. It is like Oddzoo blatantly copied Blaine Fontana and Ekundayo. Maybe they are collaborating under a pseudonym. I mean its like Ekundayo's characters with Blaine's animals? The Koi, Bear, and Peacock are right from Fontana paintings. I also see a Nathan Ota hat, and thats without looking at the whole set. I only mention this because as a gallery owner and collector I am starting to get very disappointed by the lack of originality I am seeing lately. The thing is, this artist can clearly paint - so why not paint something a little more original. If someone can give me some more insight about this artist I might feel better about it - I am not above admitting I am wrong. No offense taken at all. The only reason I posted about him was that, like you said, he clearly can paint. As far as giving you some insight into your statements and the derivative "copying" influences, Nathan Ota was both a teacher of Blaine and Odzoo. I actually contacted Odzoo via email and asked him about what you mentioned myself, but in a little nicer way. He is a pretty young artist. I am sure that he is just attempting to find his own style. As a gallery owner and collector, I am sure that you could admit that most newer artists tend to look a lot like other artists early in their career. I think this just kind of happens. It would be complete speculation to say whether or not an artist chooses to do this. One would hope and assume that this is not intentional. However, a lot of this whole genre tends to reflect and be influenced by other artists work. I am not going to go into a list of examples because that is not what this thread is about. As far as Ekundayo, I don't see so much of that, other than the graffiti element. I definitely see the Fontana and Ota influences though. If I am not mistaken, this may have been his first solo show. I am not completely sure. The "Hearts Ramifications" piece is what initially caught my eye. I think I liked this because of the actual lack of characters. Also, to go back to your point about finding originality when starting out, I think it would be a safe assessment to say that only a select few artists, if any, start out with their own definitive original style. Hopefully he does progress and develop his own signature trademark style because I think he has some solid skills. As far as the characters, I can see your sentiments about the other artists. Before making a snap judgment, I looked at his painting skills and potential for some good stuff in the future.
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OddZoo
Sept 30, 2008 8:07:25 GMT -8
Post by droow2 on Sept 30, 2008 8:07:25 GMT -8
gotta say, I quite like 'em except they're a bit expensive for a nu artist imho :0)
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OddZoo
Sept 30, 2008 9:23:40 GMT -8
Post by LeBasse Projects on Sept 30, 2008 9:23:40 GMT -8
Nathan might have taught Blaine (though im not sure of that) but Blaine's work never pulled direct influences from Ota.
I am well aware that many young (and established) artists are influenced by other artists. Certainly no problem with that - but I am not ok with any artists plagiarizing work. How is this for an analogy: If we were talking about writers, and a young novelist was to copy and paste sections from another book - we would certainly not be ok with it.
If an artist wants to experiment and develop their style, more power to them. Just don't use those pieces as examples of "original work" in a gallery show. I show quite a few young artists at the gallery - but I doubt I would have been ok with this form of plagiarism.
I am sure Odd is a perfectly nice guy/girl - and I would be more than happy to discuss my feelings with him in detail - I am not picking on just him here - there is too much of this going on. I really believe that as an arts community we need to NOT be ok with artists copying from each other.
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OddZoo
Sept 30, 2008 9:34:20 GMT -8
Post by sleepboy on Sept 30, 2008 9:34:20 GMT -8
ironic since there have always been whispers of blaine's work looking like a more famous artist as well...
but yes beau, i can see where you are coming from. there are similarities.
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OddZoo
Sept 30, 2008 11:00:12 GMT -8
Post by svenman on Sept 30, 2008 11:00:12 GMT -8
who do you mean sleep?
i must admit, i agree with beau on this one.
i do see some direct fontana and dayo chops in there.... which is a shame, especially as this whole scene is very insular.
oddzoo certainly is very talented, and i hope that he finds his own style soon.
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OddZoo
Sept 30, 2008 16:16:15 GMT -8
Post by carmichael on Sept 30, 2008 16:16:15 GMT -8
Well, I'm always fascinated by peoples reactions to art, but never happy when an artist we are developing gets called a plagiarist. We have been working with OddZoo since November 2006 and I can assure you he is a very talented guy and full of original ideas. I think he is doing a great job developing his own world that will get stronger and stronger. I don't think anyone that actually came and saw the show would say otherwise. Sure there are influences and OddZoo is the first to say Ota (as his teacher) and Blaine as an artist he loves have had an impact on his work, but I don't see where he is stealing from either of them. He painted a Koi? Sure, but his Koi is in a world so different from any Fontana Koi I have ever seen! Someone feel free to prove me wrong. An Ota hat? You mean the Dunce Cap? I don't think that piece, "All Talk", has anything else in common with Ota's work, but maybe it's a portrait of the man? Or just a fun homage, certainly not stealing the Dunce Cap! I don't think he references Ekundayo much, but I can see why there are comparisons made and I know that with Dayo being fairly established already OddZoo will need to keep pushing himself to get out from that shadow. I don't think OddZoo credits Dayo as a major influence and he is very upfront about his influences. I'll post here some images from summer of 2006 that first got me excited about OddZoo, he was doing great stuff over two years ago, it's not like he just started painting yesterday.
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OddZoo
Oct 1, 2008 10:54:25 GMT -8
Post by LeBasse Projects on Oct 1, 2008 10:54:25 GMT -8
Sorry Seth. This was not really meant to be a witch hunt of Oddzoo. I posted kind of late at night and a little cranky - probably not the best time to make posts.
I am certainly not trying to label Odd as a plagiarist, but there has been a lot of "copying/influencing" lately - and i have had the same relatively stern conversations with some of the artists we work with regarding their work. There were several pieces one of our young artsits recently planned to submit that we pulled because it was too similar - in our opinion - to another artist. We could have probably sold them - but felt they were a little too "influenced" for our taste.
Artists should feel free to experiment and discover their style. I encourage a lot of emerging artists we work with to do fewer shows - and experiment in between without the pressure to produce for a gallery show. I think we would all agree that it would be nice to see more truly original work, than obviously "influenced" paintings.
I am sure Odd has a long career ahead of him, as he is working with a gallery that has a good focus and plan. I am certain as we see more from him there will be quite a bit more Odd than Ota in the work - and I am sure that will serve Odd well.
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OddZoo
Oct 2, 2008 15:52:01 GMT -8
Post by dear earthling on Oct 2, 2008 15:52:01 GMT -8
Not a whole lot to add here, but I do see the resemblances to the artists mentioned.
Even with that being said, I really like OddZoo's work!
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