The Landscape Flag of Greenland

The distinctive flag of Greenland turns 30 today; Inuit artist and leader Thue Christiansen's design was adopted 21 June 1985. According to its designer it depicts the sun reflecting on the ocean as it sets beneath the horizon, and the glaciers, ice cap, and ice bergs so prominent in the island's landscape. In 2010 artist and University of… Continue reading The Landscape Flag of Greenland

Flags and Stamps

Flags and Stamps is the beautifully curated blog of Indian vexillologist/philatelist Sekhar Chakrabarti.  The scope of flag stamps covered is wide-ranging, though Chakrabarti has a special interest in the appearances of the Indian flag on stamps.  He is author of The Indian National Flag Unfurled through Philately published by Niyogi Books. Here are some examples from… Continue reading Flags and Stamps

The Shrillest Flag Art on Tumblr

shrill_eflags is a Tumblr feed documenting the many uses of the US flag in (non-folk) art, ranging from gallery installations to documentary photography.  The archives start in January of this year and @theshrillest (aka Shrill Cosby) has been posting over 60 times each month since then. It is dazzling to see all the many ways the US… Continue reading The Shrillest Flag Art on Tumblr

Andy Warhol and the American Flag

Yesterday we looked at Warhol's iconic screen print Moonwalk.  Here are some more examples of artwork connecting Andy Warhol and the American flag. From Warhol/Basquiat at Kunstforum Wien 16.10.2013-02.02.2014 From Christie's Auction February 2013 From Karen Bystedt - The Lost Warhols (2013) in Paraphilia Magazine and Livefast Magazine Alberto Schommer

Andy Warhol, NASA, and the Making of “Moonwalk”

Moonwalk is one of Andy Warhol's last works, produced shortly before his death in 1987 and never signed.  There are two regular edition versions, one in yellow, one in pink. There were also 66 trial proofs, each unique. One example: It is easy to think that this is Warhol drawing and painting over a famous NASA photograph… Continue reading Andy Warhol, NASA, and the Making of “Moonwalk”

Mexican-American Flags

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday that is celebrated more in the United States than in its country of origin: a Mexican-American holiday more than either a Mexican or American one.  How can Mexican-American-ness be expressed through flags?  Most commonly, of course, the Mexican flag is used for this purpose, often in conjunction with… Continue reading Mexican-American Flags

The Trouble with Icons

Here is a fascinating 37-minute documentary on the use -- by photographers, artists, journalists, institutions, and ordinary citizens -- of the American flag in response to war/terrorism, from British film makers David Dunnico and Cat Gregory. They compare two cases: the 1945 attack by US Marines on Japanese-held Iwo Jima out of which came Joe Rosenthal's iconic photo, and the… Continue reading The Trouble with Icons

Ron English – Flag of Baby America

Bucky Turco at ANIMALNewYork reports on a large US flag mural by "interventionist" Ron English that's gone up on the Houston Bowery Wall (an outdoor exhibition space) in Manhattan.  The stars feature star-eyed (or rather star-eye-socketed) skulls, and the stripes are reproductions of English's Propaganda images of ad and currency parodies.  The baby Hulk in the middle? “The… Continue reading Ron English – Flag of Baby America