To follow up on yesterday’s first installment review of the top twenty online articles featured here on Hi-Fructose, we’re proud today to present the ten most read pieces we published online in 2011. While Hi-Fructose favorites such as artist Scott Hove and gallery La Luz de Jesus made the list (no real surprise there,) the large number of many new, emerging and widely unknown artists in this year’s top ten is worth noting.
Xiau-Fong Wee, Michael Murphy, Emil Alzamora, Jeff Proctor, Fumi Mini Nakamura, Vasco Mourão and Cicicleta Sam Freio are by no means household names, but when their articles attract hundreds of thousands of readers each, we take it as a strong indicator in both our reader’s voracious desire for new contemporary art, and of our mission to bring you new and exciting happenings from around the globe.
Get a look at the 10 most popular online articles from the year after the jump, and be sure to check out last year’s top ten list here.
#10. New Works by Scott Hove – September 2011
Since we last visited culptor Scott Hove in his studio (here) earlier this year, the Oakland-based artist has been hard at work preparing for his upcoming solo show in San Francisco at Modern Eden. For the show, appropriately titled ‘Your Deadly Desserts’, Hove has created a bite sized sampling of smaller to medium sized works, cakes with fangs and spikes, tongues and teeth, and even a dismembered limb or two. We’ll be visiting the artist in his studio in the weeks to come to see what else he has in store, but in the meantime, check out a visual aperitif here on Hi-Fructose.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1770-new-works-by-scott-hove.html
#9 The Art of Michael Murphy – October 2011
The art of Michael Murphy first caught our eye a couple years back when he participated in the Manifest Hope art shows in Denver and Washington D.C. The artist’s multi-dimensional works engage the viewer with a transformative perspective, however it’s not just tricks of the eye that he’s known for. From sound installations utilizing pools of water and live cellos to the incorporation of shadows as shading, Murphy’s ability to think outside the box, and his technical skill to bring the concepts to fruition, make his work a fun, imaginative and accessible experience. The artist’s latest solo show, ‘Look,’ just ended at New York City’s Gallery Nine 5, get a look at several of our favorite selections from the exhibit below.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1832-the-art-of-michael-murphy.html
#8 – Billy Norrby’s ‘Of the Vanguard’ – April 2011
Opening on April 16 at Corpo Gallery is the debut solo show of NYC artist Billy Norrby, ‘Of the Vanguard’. The impressive oil paintings reflect the classical styles of a past era, while the subject matter is infused with the tumult and unrest of our current climate as characters don gas masks amid war torn cityscapes. Capturing the grit and strife of the underbelly of an apocalyptic environment, Norby also imbues the works with a subtle, melancholy romance, as beautiful woman appear saintly and unmasked, seemingly immune to the threats around them.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1406-billy-norrbys-of-the-vanguard.html
#7 Bicicleta Sem Freio – March 2011
Bicicleta Sem Freio, or “Bicycle Without Brakes”, is a Brazilian collective of threeexceptional illustrators: Douglas de Castro, Victor Rocha,and Renato Reno. Their work combines each of their selectiveaesthetic achievements into one ideal cohesive of illustration bliss.Bright colors, enigmatic surrealism, and gorgeous women rock and rolltheir way throughout a broad selection of spectacles. Their bodyof work adds to the beautifully rich art scene that is exploding inSouth America. Bicicleta Sem Freio certainly shine brightly as one ofthe forerunners from our friends down south!
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1379-bicicleta-sem-freio.html
#6 – The Art of Vasco Mourão – September 2011
Meticulous, breath-takingly elaborate, and original are the firstwords that come to mind (along with a flurry of statements such as”beautiful!,” “wow!,” or “Jesus Christ!”) when viewing Vasco Mourão’s architecturally designed, insanely detaileddrawings. The works speak for themselves as pillars of complex renderings done in pen on large sheets of paper, withseemingly endless pieces of their puzzling arrangements to gaze over.These larger works included here are thoroughly backed by a hugeamount of smaller pieces which can be gawked upon over on Vasco’sblog. Vasco lives and works in Barcelona, Spain.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1809-the-art-of-vasco-mourao.html
#5 – The Art of Fumi Mini Nakamura – March 2011
With her complex woven compositions and stimulating narratives, artist Fumi Mini Nakamura creates her luminous work solely in graphite and colored pencil. Featuring pale figures with milky hair and bleached eyes, they are often wreathed by metamorphic halos of flora and fauna. This transformative element adds an intriguing feeling of movement within the white negative backdrops.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1382-the-art-of-fumi-mini-nakamura.html
#4 Everything But the Kitsch ‘N Sync – Opening Night – March 2011
Last Friday, March 4th, La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles opened their massive “Everything but the Kitschen Sync” group exhibition, bursting with over 300 artworks by underground artists and better knowns. Now in its 14th year, the exhibit is a celebrated platform for artists from every walk of life to showcase new work and techniques.
Young artist JAW Cooper has exhibited in “Everything But The Kitschen Sync” before, this time with a slick painterly style. We both marveled at the sheer size and impact of the show, a work of art in its own right as an endless mosaic of paintings, drawings, and sculptures, big and small. It’s always refreshing to see new names supported among familiar faces Junko Mizuno, Nathan Ota, Aya Masuda, and Shark Toof. “Everyone looks at this show for new and interesting artists”, stated owner Billy Shire. (I personally can’t wait to see more from artists Jeaneen Carlino, Eunbyul Kwak, and Hui Tan.) The following photos only touch the surface.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1348-everything-but-the-kitsch-n-sync-opening-night.html
#3 – Jeff Proctor’s Flora and Fascia – August 2011
Known for his typically gruesome illustrations and decrepit design work, Jeff Proctor is certainly not one to pull any punches. When he was recently invited to show at Breeze Block Gallery in Portland, he was challenged with the concept of bringing some beauty to his unsettling watercolors. The body of work, along with a new mural and bed made of cats, are all on view now. Get a look at some of the images below.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1706-jeff-proctors-flora-and-fascia.html
#2 – The Sculptures of Emil Alzamora
Conveying his narratives through the exaggeration of the human body, artist Emil Alzamora’s sculptures meditate on the forlorn beauty and pain of the human experience. His figures manifest impossibly long limbs and twisted, hard flesh, visualizing the intangible effects of psychic wounds and troubling situations. By focusing on the human form, the viewer is able to recognize himself while simultaneously encountering the unseen features his psyche possesses.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1325-the-sculptures-of-emil-alzamora.html
#1 – The Art of Xiau-Fong Wee – September 2011
Tempering the violence of modern weaponry with charmingly rendered creatures, artist Xiau-Fong Wee captures a dark humor in her quirky drawings. While some of the weapons appear terrifyingly realistic, others such as in the ray gun wielding bunny portrait, speaks more to the fantastical worlds of science fiction. The anthropomorphic dispositions of the spectacle-wearing creatures also range in merry reverie to stern seriousness, adding to the delightful nature of these well-executed portraits. View more of the drawings below.
http://hifructose.com/the-blog/1764-the-art-of-xiau-fong-wee-.html
