(The work of George Chamoun)
On Mondays after a long weekend my mind is like a dial-up modem.
I wince while opening Outlook, and instead of addressing hundreds of e-mails, turn my attention to the infinite vortex of picture blogs.
Let’s hit the snooze button.
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Noel Ill
(Painted Lady)
“Born in a December, Noël began her art career at an early age. In Kindergarten she drew her first animal portrait, the classroom pet, a mother rat and its babies. Since then her love for all animals, especially cats, has continued to be an inspiration.
She grew up in Highland, California, a place where a one-hour drive in any direction will find a person in a different climate. The visits to the mountains, the beach, the desert and the valleys have enchanted her and influenced her drawings. Gnomes, fairies, puppets and interesting characters appear in her illustrations and three-dimensional pieces for all to enter Noël’s fantasy world.”
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Alicia Garcia Ruiz
(La Terraza)
See more of her work at Figuration Feminine.
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Christina Empedocles
(Blue Jays)
“Christina Empedocles, born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, discovered her love of nature on early morning bird watching trips in the fourth grade. After graduating from Oberlin College in Ohio, she started her career as a geologist in San Francisco before transitioning to fine art, receiving her MFA in painting from California College of the Arts in 2008.
Empedocles uses obsessive realism in an attempt to recapture her early fascination of the natural world, mixing idealized images and reality in a unique perspective. By folding and cutting images, using sculpture, painting and collage, she records personal moments and impressions, enhanced by the ephemera of everyday. Her work is the result of hours of looking – contrasting the nostalgic fantasy of idealized memory and the intense focus of the realistic image. Christina has been awarded a public art project at the University of California, San Francisco, and has had her work included in Manifest’s International Drawing Annual, Studio Visit Magazine, American Art Collector and Color & Color. She currently shows in Denver and New York.”
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Choi Xooang
“All at once delicate and nightmarish these painted polymer clay figures by Seoul-based artist Choi Xooang are nothing short of remarkable. Try as I might it’s hard to find a definitive, trustworthy article to source information from, and even the spelling of his name seems to change from site to site. However it seems generally accepted that Xooang is attempting to draw attention to human rights abuses in Korea, and seeing these somewhat macabre, stunted figures unable to see or speak, it’s hard to dispute that. You can see much more of his work at Mu Um and Slash, though be warned it’s somewhat graphic (generally nudity).” – (via this is colossal)
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Adolf Hoffmeister
(In the Pisces Constellation)
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Jason de Graaf
“My paintings are about staging an alternate reality, the illusion of verisimilitude on the painted surface, filtered so that it expresses my unique vision. Though my paintings may appear photoreal my goal is not to reproduce or document faithfully what I see one hundred percent, but also to create the illusion of depth and sense of presence not found in photographs. Many of my paintings are about the relationship of light with reflective and transparent surfaces and my journey to understand those qualities and convey my sense of wonder and intrigue over them. In all of my paintings the subject matter is a springboard and a means to explore my ability to communicate something unique to the viewer. I use colours and composition intuitively with the intent of imbuing my paintings with emotion, mood and mystery. Throughout, I try to remain open to new ideas as the painting unfolds.”
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Peter Gronquist
“Portland-based mixed media artist Peter Gronquist has caught our eye numerous times the past few years. His glitzy gold plated weapons and taxidermy are both a celebration of decadence, while at the same time, address pressing issues of consumerism and war. For his latest solo show, ‘The Evolution will be Fabulous,’ Gronquist expands on the taxidermy aspect to his work, incorporating a variety of pollards, accessorized with gold, guns and Gucci. The exhibit opens later this evening (Friday, October 14th) at Gallery 1988’s Venice location, and will be on view until October 28th. Get an exclusive first look at the new works, here on Hi-Fructose.” (via hi-fructose)
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Scott Moore
(Ice Cream Man)
“I was a happy kid.”
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George Chamoun
Swedish artist/jeweler George Chamoun has made a digital collage series called Iconatomy. The series merges present day icons with their counterparts from yesteryear.
“The pictures are not morphed in any way. What you see is a collage of two different people in each picture. Did it take me a long time to find the right pictures? Hell yes it did!”
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Sooey Milk
Her work was also featured in this cool show..
‘Homeroom’ at Subtext Gallery
“Fingerpaints, crayons, chalk and color pencils. We were all budding artists in childhood, and we had the freedom to create every mystical creature and dream we envisioned. The early years were full of drawings that were hung in the kitchen gallery, where everything we made was welcome and immediately sold into the hearts of our loved ones. Guest curated by Christina Conway, Homeroomattempts to rediscover the nostalgia of youth and innocent creativity. Each artist for this exhibition found a piece from their childhood and reinterpreted it in their current style. Join us this November, and see the results”
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Ivan Venkov
(King’s Folly)
“The composition polarizes the pure natural element, which resonates in black sculpt of the deer and the golden manifestation of allegorical cabinet, which aggregates elements of mundane ravishment. Young Deer is landing on its front legs, whilst his body is drawn up in the motion of running, the body is cut in half and in the cut, a richly ornamented golden cabinet resides. The natural element presented in the deer does not fight the artificial parasitic presence of the golden cabinet. It’s statement is infinite quietness. Deer’s motion is eternal, the body is corrupted, but the principle carries the motion endlessly…”
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Troels Carlsen
“The Danish artist Troels Carlsen works with the precision of the 19th century and uses all the media of the 21st century, yet his work never feels superficial. He creates many of his installations from lifelike imitations of animals, complete with glass eyes and fur, preferring to use monkeys because of the detail of their facial expressions, which resemble human portraits. Behind his choice of themes lurks what could almost be called a morbid fascination for natural history, for preserved animals and insects – which seem to interest Carlsen much more stuffed than alive – and for outlandish artefacts in general. In this way he sees animals as “an analogy of the beautiful creature in search of truth”, whilst man on the other hand is seen as “plainly knitted, cowardly existence”.” – (bio via Jarmuschek+Partner)
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Drew Millward
(Tribes)
“Drew Millward was born in 1981 in Coventry; he grew up in Bolton, and now lives in Leeds, where, since around 2004, he has been drawing pictures.
Drew likes to draw ‘the old fashioned way’, using pencils, pens and a love of the craft of illustration. While his subject matter can vary dramatically, he hopes that the attention to detail and the love of drawing is apparent throughout his work.”
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I’m cutting myself off.
(The work of Peter Gronquist)
But there are loads more Webfinds just waiting to be stuck in a post, long after they are relevant. ♥
