Illustrator Jonathan Wolstenholme is a fine artist living in London who depicts still lifes feature animated books with arms engaged in humorous scenarios. His paintings are created using watercolors on paper. These antiquarian books are busily smoking pipes and writing letters. The works are a deliberate celebration of vintage charm and are filled with many nostalgic details from the past. See more after the jump!
All Visual Arts in London will be debuting their summer show on June 21 featuring three international artists with an inclination towards magical realism: Julie Heffernan, Haruko Maeda and Dolly Thompsett. While the three artists paint in detail-oriented styles that utilize soft colors and nature imagery, their conceptual foundations set them apart. Heffernan hearkens back to the Baroque with her allegorical paintings, while Maeda poses questions about death and spirituality and Dolly Thompsett constructs airy, atmospheric landscapes. Take a look at some of the work in the show below and see the exhibition June 21 through August 3.
Since 2011, Brian McCarty (featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 1) has traveled to wartorn areas in the Middle East, speaking with children who have witnessed extreme violence. With the help of therapists, McCarty conducts art interviews with the children and invites them communicate their experiences through drawings. These drawings in turn become the basis for McCarty’s photographic works in his “War Toys” series, where he stages violent scenarios using toys to illuminate the traumas these children experience. The V&A Museum of Childhood in London is investigating some of the themes put forth in McCarty’s work with an exhibition titled “War Games.” Read more after the jump!
Known for his opulent taxidermy sculptures, Portland-based artist Peter Gronquist has a solo show coming up at New York’s ArtNowNY on June 6 titled “One in a Million.” A new collection of taxidermy sculptures and paintings, Gronquist’s work questions materialistic values in a recession-era America. Bombastic in their own right, the sculptures transform weaponry and animal heads into delicate, albeit ironic monuments to beauty and excess. Get a first look at Gronquist’s new work and a peek into his studio after the jump and see the exhibition on view June 6 – July 6.
Fine artist Januz Miralles is also a digital artist, illustrator, and painter who merges multiple painting techniques with digital photo manipulation and photography. Miralles is based in Laguna located in the Philippines where much of his work is created on his small laptop computer. His added textures and brush strokes create eerie marks that seem to dissolve and negate the identity of these digitally altered female figures. See more after the jump!
Canadian artist Jon Todd paints portraits of hardened characters with an expressionistic approach, softening the rigidness of their tattoos and tense expressions with soft brushstrokes. Elements of Mexican, Asian and European folk art find their way into his work, but these influences are filtered through a prismatic, structured painting style. Todd will be featured in a two-person exhibition opening on June 8 with Jesse Hazelip titled “Butcher’s Hook” at Yves Laroche Galerie D’Art in Montreal. Take a look at some of his latest paintings after the jump.