Jerry Bleem

Using everyday materials, like staples, Bleem creates delightful, abstract 2-d and 3-d works. He is a very diverse artist incorporating drawing, sewing, crochet, millions of staples, and prints. Bleem layers his materials so to a point where they become confusing and in that confusion he reveals beauty, well if not beauty at least intrigue. Most of his work lies in the non-representational abstraction category and when he does venture into more representational work the subjects are generally motifs, like a skull. His work is more successful in creating pattern, texture, and rhythm.
http://www.jerrybleem.com/

"Crest", fish scales and staples, 13.75x 16.75x 8.5"

Matthew Barney

Sculptor/ filmmaker Barney graduated from Yale in 1991, and began throwing everyone for a loop. History, autobiography, mythology, and fantasy merge in his legendary CREMASTER series, which were poignantly released out of order. Layers of symbols that seem intensely personal and familliar weave a seductive and challenging story. It seems like there is a linear plotline, something we can follow, grasp, and understand yet like a vivid dream there is indefinitely something out of reach. With these videos that are filled with dense, beautiful, and grotesque images (that make for fantastic stills) Barney keeps it real by making the unreal tangible.
A link to his art21 video, and some other goodies.
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/barney/index.html
http://www.cremaster.net/
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14bpo_matthew-barney-cremaster-3_creation

Barry X Ball, 2000-2003, Mexican onyx, stainless steel, gold, rhodium, polyurethane, wood,
Installed at PS1 in NYC

 

Sybylle Peretti

Peretti works with glass and pigment, but honestly I'm not sure how. It seems like the pigment could be painted on, but there is more to it. The work is about connection and abandonment on some level. Like my own work there is a recurring theme of honeycombs that tie it all together. The rendered portraits capture likeness as though it is actually stolen from the subject. The high gloss of the glass lends an almost sickly look to the children. I feel uplifted and depressed at the same time while looking at this work. Here's her gallery's website:
http://www.hellergallery.com/artists/peretti_sibylle/index.php

  




























Silent Children Series XII, glass, paper, pigments, 9.75x 4.75", 2008

Honey Child, glass and mixed media, 100x 36", 2006

Shahzia Sikander

Shahzia Sikander has been a personal favorite artist for years now. She is very well known in the art world and PBS's Art21 has a fantastic interview with her.
Sikander, based in NYC, is originally from Lahore, Pakistan and was trained in the miniature painting tradition of Pakistan. While she has branched out into installation work she remains true to this discipline and it is infused into all of her work. Religion, social issues, roles of Muslim women, and explorations of westerner's views on people of the middle east are consistent themes. Her work often takes years to complete as it is extremely technical and detailed.
links to her website and the full interview on Art21:
http://www.shahziasikander.com/
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/sikander/index.html

The Illustrated Page series 1, 2005-6

Ranjani Shettar

Shettar works in site-specific installation with a tech-savvy touch while retaining a connection with more earthy materials such as beeswax and mud. Based out of Bangalore, India this work is sensual and emotive that easily dialogues well with metaphysical philosophies and often relates to the cultural environment of Bangalore as a city under emmense transitions.
Here's a link to an installation of her's at the ICA:
http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/shettar/

I've been having some issues finding agreement about the titles, but I'm including pictures anyway.

Ingrid Magidson

Ingrid Magidson works with layers of collage and a ton of other unknown materials to create dreamlike, abstract narratives that feel like a dizzying swimming history. While her work does have it's roots in dreams, which imply both spirituality and psychology, there is a strong historical reference to her work as well, which I really appreciate. In Magidson's words, the work depicts "delicate balance between the material and the spiritual".  Although the frames are super gaudy and distracting,  the work itself is strong and quite intriguing. The use of text, or scribbles that suggest text, is a familiar technique for me to confuse and reveal at the same time. Pretty sweet stuff. She lives in Aspen, CO.
http://www.ingridmagidson.com/

Distant Shores Calling Me Back, layered mixed media, 96x 42", 2009

Honour, layered mixed media, 27x 21", 2009

Alicia Ross

Alicia Ross creates thought provoking, embroidered portraits. Rather than evoking the history of craft by use of her medium however this work seems to evoke technology. Squares of cross stitch evoke bit mapped images. As the portraits are somewhat broken down, manipulated, and contain crazy colors they are both grotesque and sexy (like hot) at the same time. Here's some examples and her website!
http://www.aliciaross.com/home.htm


(Untitled)Expecting Marilyn, 23x 32", cross-stitch on cotton, 2008

  























Motherboard 2(pinned), 30x 42", cross-stitch on cotton, 2007