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Aaron Johnson’s Grotesquely Humorous Paintings and Sock Art

Manic characters grin wildly in Aaron Johnson's over-the-top, explosive paintings. The Brooklyn-based artist's work overflows with gross-out humor and in-your-face sexuality, which he renders in a color palette of hyperactive, neon acrylics. While paintings on fabric comprise the majority of his work, Johnson has an ongoing series of sculptural sock paintings (made from used, donated socks from his social media followers, mind you) that evoke both assemblages and D.I.Y. puppetry. Darkly funny, Johnson's gag-filled work nods to the over-saturation of violent and sexual imagery in our media culture with its blatant absurdity.

Manic characters grin wildly in Aaron Johnson’s over-the-top, explosive paintings. The Brooklyn-based artist’s work overflows with gross-out humor and in-your-face sexuality, which he renders in a color palette of hyperactive, neon acrylics. While paintings on fabric comprise the majority of his work, Johnson has an ongoing series of sculptural sock paintings (made from used, donated socks from his social media followers, mind you) that evoke both assemblages and D.I.Y. puppetry. Darkly funny, Johnson’s gag-filled work nods to the over-saturation of violent and sexual imagery in our media culture with its blatant absurdity.

Topics

Aaron Johnson, painting, Sock Paintings

Abstract, Cristi Rinklin, painting

August 8, 2016

It's not hard to become absorbed in Cristi Rinklin’s otherworldly paintings. The artist creates seamless layers of billowing, amorphous forms and sharply defined lines to depict post-human landscapes that appear to hover weightless in space. These worlds, which take the form of both paintings and installations, are influenced by digital technologies while channeling a grand tradition of illusion in painting. "It is my desire to create paintings and installations that seduce the viewer into believing that the impossible spaces that are presented within them can potentially exist," the artist says.

Chris Mars Returns in Copro Gallery

Chris Mars, painting, surrealism

May 4, 2019

The cerebral paintings of Chris Mars pack a new show at Copro Gallery, with a collection of surreal works that very in both size and scope. His new solo effort kicks off on May 11 and runs through June 1. (Mars was last featured on HiFructose.com here and here.) Works such as "Relativity" (below) show the artist's knack for embedding visages in the contours of structures.

Amy Casey Takes Her Tiny Cities to New Heights

Amy Casey, painting

July 11, 2016

Amy Casey is known for her paintings of miniature towns with teeny suburban houses and buildings, many of which are modeled after the ones she comes across in her adopted hometown of Cleveland. Rendered in incredible detail, her tiny structures are stacked like building blocks and teeter on stilts at anxiety-inducing heights. Connecting these delicate communities are maddening networks of highways and cables, and while people are visibly absent from the picture, there is no doubt that these microcosms are brimming with life and nervous energy. We featured her work in Hi-Fructose Vol. 5 and on the blog here and here.

Whimsical Paintings of Bizarre Underwater Scenes by Philip Giordano

painting, Philip Giordano

December 5, 2014

Italian-born, Japan-based artist Philip Giordano paints humorous animal characters with textured, impressionistic brushstrokes — an unusual juxtaposition of traditional techniques and a cartoon-like style. Giordano is a children's book illustrator by trade and his personal work retains similarly whimsical qualities. His latest series of paintings depicts a gigantic cat in a place that could either be in the thick of the forest or underwater. Sea creatures float in mid air while the cat examines a variety of surreal characters and object that seem to be its playthings. One wouldn't necessarily describe the narratives in Giordano's paintings as adventures because his fictional world seems neatly arranged and unmoving, almost like a still life. Take a look at Giordano's latest work below.

Aaron Johnson’s Grotesquely Humorous Paintings and Sock Art

Cristi Rinklin’s Immersive Paintings Recall Digital, Natural Worlds

Chris Mars Returns in Copro Gallery

Amy Casey Takes Her Tiny Cities to New Heights

Whimsical Paintings of Bizarre Underwater Scenes by Philip Giordano

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