6-22-2009

I love to talk about art, art history, concepts, and movements. Today's blog will focus on two artists who are impressive, influencial, and either seen or mimicked often. There are many artists throughout history that fit this discripition, these two artists do have a descent level of notariaty but don't seem to be on the tips of the tongues of art fans.

The first artist is Giovanni Battista Braccelli, an etching artist from the early 1600's. Braccelli put together a collection of etchings depicting pairs of figures constructed of inaminate objects. His pre-surreal, graphic draughtsman aesthetic is a great example of originality and progression. It was centuries bofore Braccelli's books were discovered, at which point, a small amount of copies were printed. This book of figure etchings Bizzarie di Varie Figure(1624). This handmade vellum book was rediscovered and reprinted in 1963, then again in 1975. Unfortunatley, the copies made were very limited, and are now very expensive. The original copy is in the Library of Congress in Livorno. BUT there is a digital copy of the original on the web here.

 

The next artist of today's blog is Mr. Ron English. Now, English is really well known and does very well for himself in the gallery art scene, but so manu art fans don't seem to know the name. If you are one of those people who doesn't know squat about English, you may still recognize his work. This Marilyn with Mickey boobs is sort of an English trademark. Much of his fine art studio paintings depict pop culture icons like Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mouse, Charlie Brown, and KISS. Ron English is also a huge part of the history of street art and billboard liberation. Remeber Joe Camel? Thanks largely to Ron English, Joe Camel as well as other cartoons selling cigarettes, are a thing of the past. English attacked the Camel Cigarette company with ferocity by "stealing" billboard space to display the reality of what Camel was doing by using cartoon characters for advertising. English dubs his artwork "Popaghanda."

6-5-2009

Today's Blog entry is about two artists, with very different styles in sculpture. What they do have in common is the way their work made my heart skip a beat. These two artists are Jaime Bennati and the legendary Richard Deacon.I met Jaime Bennati today while I was working at ROY G BIV Gallery, where she is currentlyexhibiting. When I walked into theroom, my heart pounded a littleharder. I saw elegant mountainous papersculptures that seemed to be deteriorating before my eyes, and a baren gallery corner that had been transformed into a peacful sanctuary amid giant piles of bundled newspaper. Everything seemed to be beautifully teetering on the edge of descintegration and chaos. But there was no chaos to be found. Go check out Jaime Bennati's work at ROY G BIV if you are in Columbus,OH for the next month.

The second artist of today's blog is Richard Deacon. This man's work BLOWS ME AWAY; especially one of his piece, which is appropriately named "What could make me feel this way?"(Pictured below).

The shear size of this monstrous beauty is impressive. What most people don't realize is that this is made of bent hardwood. THAT is a process, which involves steam boxes, custom jigs, and many, many, many hours of labor. I tip my hat you Richard Deacon!

6-1-2009

This blog will feature two artists and two different views of human form and story telling. Vincent Hui has an amazing ability to arrest the viewer with a vivid narrative. Browsing through his portfolio also reveals that he is not an artist afraid to experiment. Hui has the ability to get into the psyche and jossle it around a bit. Playing well with arresting imagery, Hui manages to make the ridiculousness of the work and make it almost believable. Hui is currently working in Los Angeles, California.

The next artist I would likw to talk about in today's blog is Inka Essenhigh. I don't remember when I first discovered this incredible work; It may have been in an issue of Juxtapoz Magazine. Essenhigh has an interesting, almost early "The Wall" meets Disney meets mythology style work which was done around the early 2000s. More currentwork seems to shift away from the solid color fields interuppted by graphic detail. The twisted warped figures throughout the work creates an incredible warped sense of reality, but not in a bad way at all. I just love this work more and more everytime I look at it. I hope you enjoy today's blog entries!

5-25-2009

It is always strange when you come across an artist onthe internet that you admiregreatly,and then realize that you are only about
2 degrees separation from them. This happened to me very recently and it still took me a while to put the pieces together. A couple of my fellow Avocado Squad memebers have a painting in their home (on right) by Martina Nikova. She is the girlfriend of our friend David Horton and went to CCAD with quite a few of my friends. I was unsure of her last name until the morning when I scoured the internet for her work. When I saw the image on her home page, I about dropped my jaw.

I had come across this painting numerous times while roaming the world wide web and was always blown away bu it. Here's to Martina Nikova and her amazing partner David Horton (who unfortunately doesn't seem to have any work on the net.) Keep up the good work!

5-10-2009

So now that I have this art blog I have been scrounging my brain for relevant, groundbreaking art projects I have seen. The one that most frequently comes to mind is Blu's "Muto" Video. If you haven't seen this yet, prepare to be amazed, and a little bit disgusted. This video is a public wall painted animation. the first of it's kind as far as I know.

Blu has easily become one of my favorite artists even though his style is not something I amnormally drawn to. Trying to describe an art style is hard but I usually use the analogy of Shel Silverstein's darker, more poignant, and grusome side.

Check out MUTO but don't forget to check out Blu's disturbing and mindblowing sketchbooks. At first glance, this street artist may seem to be just another grafitti artist with a twisted sense of reality but he has been a featured mural artist at places like the Tate Modern Museum in London.

5-8-2009

Wow, two blog entries in two days? Will this streak continue? I doubt it! But let's not get too pessimistic, after all you are here to see some art, and art is not pessimistic.

You're probably thinking,"Okay, okay, let's get to the artwork already, Lucas" And I shall do just that. Check out the Johansson Projects, based in Oaklnad, CA. This space is sure to please. I first discovered the Johansson Projects when a friend of a friend, Jill Gallenstein, was featuredthere recently with Christina Lewis. This space shows workthat almost always strikes a deep chord inside the head. I don't know why Ididn't do any gallery hopping while I was on the west coast. The Johansson Projects makes that a harsh lesson learned.

 

5-7-2009

So I have been really enjoying lots of art blogs lately. I don't really know why I never explored them much before. Sites like Giournale Nouvo and Groff Stuff are an awesome way to discover awesome art that you may never have otherwise seen.

Now I have to put something in here that serves as a decent blog entry of my own right? Well... you may just like
Mike Libby's Insect Lab of mechanical Bugs.These creatures are a retro sci-fi story, handcrafted from the smallest perspective and left to the imagination. I was blown away when I first came across Mike Libby's work while I was living in Portland, ME. Libby is from Maine and is a prime example of the phenomenal callibur of work coming out of that area. Check out Mikke Libby's work and please let me know what you think

2-13-2009

1-21-2009

We officially have a new president. It's about time. I'm not going to get too political or even affiliate myself but let me just say I am glad Bush is gone. But on a completely seperate note, I worked a lot on a drawing that's been unkempt for a while. and here it is.