Catherine Bertola

By working with site specific installation and ideas of manual labor, Bertola draws attention to aspects of the space that we normally would try to pretend are not there. Bertola meticulously collects dust from these specific sites and manipulates it into more permanent sculpture pieces that emulate patterns of decor taken from the site.  Sometimes she just makes patterns with the dust and lets everyone walk through it. Bertola draws attention to a substance that we try to rid our environments of, yet its very substance is made up of little bits of all the people who go through that environment; dust is a collective waste and highly symbolic. Here is a link to her work at the Victoria and Albert Museum:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1637_outoftheordinary/artists_detail.php?artistTag=bertola

"after the fact"


image from an installation

Alex Grey

The work of Alex Grey is a phenomenon. Grey has been a huge influence in my life and in my personal artwork in his fearless exploration of life, death, the body, spirit, and other grandiose things that just overwhelm the rest of us.

This was screen captured off his website, because I just can't say it better than Ken Wilber!

Here is one picture to tempt you to visit the website; it is amazing.

www.alexgrey.com

"kissing" 1983

Anne Austin Pearce

 Sensuous forms and psychological interactions abound in a dizzying visual splendor. Pearce's vibrant palate could be overwhelming in other contexts but the muted off-white papers she works on tone down those potentially odd contrasts. Pearce has a background in printmaking and has combined the immediate visceral qualities of paint with finely detailed prints and colored pencil. Pattern, repetition, and loose markmaking unify the diverse, soulful subject matter.
http://www.anneaustinpearce.com/index.html

"The Kiss" 44x 30", ink on paper, 2008

"Mental Exfoliation", 22x 22", ink on paper, 2008

Gretchen Ryan

I met Gretchen Ryan's brother in the computer lab at school one day. After I told him I was an artist he says "cool, my sister's an artist".  Of course I was skeptical because, well, everyone knows an artist... He proudly pulls up his sister's work online and suddenly, I'm very impressed. VERY impressed.

Not only is Ryan's work beautifully executed with skill and finesse, but conceptually she opens up a can of worms! Just depicting beauty-pageant girls lends a sour taste of Jon-Benet style tragedy that is still unresolved within the public psyche. American society is obsessed with beauty and youth, and these girls are the epitome. By seeing the extreme of this obsession within the fine art realm the viewer is confronted with the reality of these models and the future of expectation that sits on their shoulders. These works do not claim a political position and Ryan is deeply respectful of the models she works with. Instead She places the viewer in a position to consider what we see in front of us and to think about our reactions, that's all. Her work is deeply honest through its objectivity; Ryan doesn't claim a side, but certainly begs the viewer to ask.

Here is a link to a review on her last show:
http://artwelove.com/artist/-id/034763c2

and here are some pictures:
"Tinley" oil on linen over panel,  21x 17", 2006

"American Girl" oil on linen over panel, 24" x 18", 2008

Tom Judd

    Judd sometimes works with collaged paper, typically with handwritten text, then uses oils to create somewhat mysterious images. I'm drawn to the ephemeral feeling as well as the detailed rendering of imagery. Judd's titles are always kind of quirky too. He is a very skilled painter and printmaker. He often depicts wildlife in an Audobon Society kind of way which could read as stale and scientific, but Judd's collaged backgrounds imbue the work with a feeling of intimacy and mystery.

"Diver" 2007, Oil on Canvas, 50x 61"

"Stag" 2006, Lithography, collograph, digital, 41.5, 28.8"

Anju Dodiya

    Dodiya is a contemporary Indian artist who works primarily in drawing media and with themes around social justice, psychology, and spirituality. His aesthetic seems childlike at first, but after viewing for a bit, sophisticated detailing that references deep tradition in this style appears.  Dodiya's use of patterns as textures in unexpected areas is a nice surprise.
"Pilory" watercolor and charcoal, 69x 44", 2001

"The Site" acrylic on mattress, 78x 46x 8", 2005

David Altmejd

     David Altmejd's mythological warewolves and giants are striking. Many of these sculptures stand over 10 feet tall, and like the majority of Almejds work, seem to be in a state of decay. This state of decay is important as decay is really only a state of new forms of life taking the place of the old by feeding off of it. His work is about life in many forms. Altmejd started his undergraduate degree in Evolutionary Biology then later switched to art. He works with the evolution of myth and how myth and science relate particularly in regards to human social evolution in the broader scheme of biological evolution.

"Le Berger" 2008

Untitled sculpture installation

Wangechi Mutu

    Mutu, originally from Kenya, appropriates magazine images of women and turns them into mythical, monsterous creatures. She is working with the idea of creating new myths by creating new types of images. Women's bodies as a site for social debate runs through her work and often stirs up controversy; I'm with her though, why not concsiously use womens bodies, they are used all the time anyway to sell things or pull heartstrings, that way we are at least competing with representation and defining it for ourselves. Personally I am inspired by Mutu's references towards a new myth and I love the grotesque forms. Also, in line with a feminist aesthetic, Mutu incorporates collage, mixing it with watercolors and other mixed media onto a Mylar ground. The sensuous textures she creates through this process are fascinating to look at.

"Tree Spirit" 2004-06, Mixed Media on Mylar

"Untitled" 2002, Mixed Media on Paper

Jenny Morgan

Jenny Morgan is an inspiration to me because she is young, female, from Denver, and is making quite a name for herself through producing consistently high quality work. Morgan went to RMCAD in Colorado and then moved on to the School for Visual Art in NYC where she recieved an MFA. She shows at Plus Gallery, Pirate, and Like The Spice Gallery in Brooklyn. Morgan works with portraiture and the body primarily. She peels and sands off surface layers of the paintings to reveal layers underneath, a very poigniant act in portraiture. Her next show at Plus incorporates neon colors and asks questions about identity and reality. The solid backgrounds reference a pop aesthetic which is a nice touch, giving another subtle insight into the subjects. I look at these people and I wonder who they are, about their lives, what traumas left them so raw?  Love love love her! This work is profound!
 www.jennymorganart.com

"Absent", 2008 oil on canvas, 40"x 30"
"In Your Absence"

Joseph Raffael

    For as corny as his subject matter is, I can't stop looking at these paintings. Raffael paints kind of cliche things like flowers and fish but somehow they seem intoxicatingly beautiful through his handling of the media. Raffael works on a large scale with watercolor, which is mind blowing enough, and his application is impeccable; through extreme patience and skill he achieves rich, vibrant colors. He uses watermarks on purpose which is a sign of a master watercolorist.... and I'm totally blown away.
www.josephraffael.com/


"Ancient Reverie" Watercolor on Paper, 85" x 30" 2003
"Bali Pond" 31 1/2"x 26 3/4", 2003

Lorin Hesse

Paintings that feel like drawings or drawings that feel like paintings,  is a middle ground where both Lorin Hesse and I live. The only reason to distinguish the mediums is for school, really. I am drawn to  Hesse's palate and compositional style.The subject matter runs down the same lines as Kojo Griffin, but the landscapes and approach are completely different. It seems as though Hesse has been heavily influenced by cartoons and children's book illustrations as well as the classical tradition making for a delightful conflict in depiction. Hesse incorporates projections and transfers as layers, which adds visual interest in the layers mixed with a more traditonal compositional approach, lending a floating, and surreal sense of space
www.lorinhesse.com
"Whatsoever", 4' x 3', Mixed Media on Canvas


"Hungry?", 3' x 5', Acrylic on Canvas

Neo Rauch

Born in East Germany in 1960's Rauch's earliest artistic influences stem from Social Realism, which is very apparent in his work. Rauch works on a larger scale to create paintings that seem to make sense as a narrative, but the longer they are viewed the more confusing they become. Often depicting really distant, cool looking, mod people that are really not doing anything (kind of like reading Wallpaper), a sense of whimsy and irony pervade his work as well as a quirky sense of history. The strong bright colors of his palate echo Pop art, advertising, and dreams.

Hunter's Room, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 110x 160 cm



Pfad, 2003

Kojo Griffin

Griffin works with a bright palate, when using color, but often time the whimsical and sometimes frightening line drawings are left in a neutral monochrome. The subject matter seems to cycle around a theme of seemingly innocent family moments with a sinister edge. I selected him because of an installation of his at the MOCA GA in Atlanta. There were many elements such as line drawings all over the walls in an intricate pattern that could have been overwhelming if Griffin had chosen to use color. Instead color was limited to monochrome washes on the wall and whimsical little statues. What interests me most is Kojo's  creepy-cute aesthetic and the unique ways he displays work within the white cube.

Kojo Griffin, Untitled (two women), 2005, mixed media, 12" x 24"

What will be on this blog?

This blog hopefully will serve as a site of reference, dialogue, and inspiration. I will post information on contemporary artists, historical artists, experimental techniques, and include my own thoughts on contemporary art as well as some examples of what I'm currently working on. Critiques, opinions and contributions are welcome.