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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Matt Gordon is a mixed-media artist based in Plymouth, Mich., where he crafts both surreal acrylic paintings and graphite drawings. In these images, skeleton characters, bat-human hybrids, and other creatures interact and frolic in different scenarios. Or, as the artist puts it, his works in both mediums "take place in the same dreamy world of happier times."
With “Dark Matter,” Martine Johanna offers a new collection of stirring acrylic paintings that blend portraiture and abstraction. The show, running through June 23 at KochxBos Gallery in Amsterdam, is an autobiographical exploration of femininity, adolescence, and the place of women in Western culture. Johanna was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Oil painter Vasilis Avramidis, first featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 26, produces modern portraits of isolated landscapes, often depicting architecture in states of overgrowth. At the time of this interview, Avramidis confessed that he has settled in to his third studio location this year, a small studio in northern Greece. It is here that he has been putting the finishing touches on a new group of dramatically lit scenes based on memory and the overlooked. According to Avramidis, these paintings are as much about creating a familiar sense of place within a moment as they are about the absence of humans within the architecture. His latest works will be on view at The Contemporary London, located at Space W10 which opens on November 13th.
As the saying goes, "the best things come in small packages". Philadelphia gallery Arch Enemy Arts has challenged artists to create their smallest works to date for their annual group show, "Small Wonders". For its fourth installment in a row, "Small Wonders 4" features over 75 small pieces by artists from all over the world, including 64 Colors, Alex Garant, Brian Mashburn, Caitlin Hackett, Caitlin McCormack, Craww, Hanna Jaeun, Maria Teicher, Matthew Greskiewicz, and many more. As with previous showings, all the work is sized under 12 inches.
The murals of Dimitris Taxis recall his experience in both comics and cinematography. The Poland-born, Athens-based artist has emerged as a force in public art for his distinct works, often depicting solitary scenes in a style not often seen on walls. Recent sites include Italy and his native Poland.
Andy Dixon's vibrant and decadent paintings examine the relationship between art and money. Whether it's the personal rooms of patrons or coveted works from the Christie's catalog, Dixon’s lush pieces look at the worth assigned to objects and expressions. (The artist shows new examples of this in an upcoming show at Joshua Liner Gallery.)
Colorado-born artist David Rice creates stirring acrylic paintings that blend the figurative, abstraction, and notes from nature. His recent work “pushes the limits and boundaries of the physical world through his imagery,” a statement says. Rice was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here.
Brazil native Alvaro Naddeo crafts intricate watercolor paintings that examine the consumption of the Western world through enormous, unlikely constructions. The artist, who has a background in advertising, has a particular knack for depicting discarded branded products. For some, his attention to detail and urban iconography likely recalls the work of Kevin Cyr, whose oil paintings have focused on graffiti-adorned vehicles.
Femke Hiemstra’s acrylic paintings carry a whimsical, absorbing quality no matter the canvas. A new collection, "Sonntag Spaßtag,” offers works on books, panels, and other objects at Jaski Art Gallery in Amsterdam. It’s been a decade since the Dutch artist has shown in Holland. She was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here.
Swiss artist Till Rabus crafts realistic oil paintings that exhibit both a whimsical and darker side to nostalgia. His version of a “Transformer” may consist of household objects, and his combined Disney dolls hint at the toll time takes on the icons of youth. The artist’s striking style may make viewers mistake the works for manipulated photographs, at first glance.
Clive Barker, the British artist, film director, and author, comes to the Copro Gallery in Santa Monica with a new show. “Wunderkammer,” running Aug. 6-27, focuses on the artist’s neo-expressionist paintings. Like Barker’s work in other mediums, the subject matter leans toward fantasy and horror imagery. But as the title suggests (translated to mean the “Cabinet of Curiosities” of the Renaissance), there’s both a playful and mysterious nature to this body of work.
Scotland-born sculptor Philip Jackson has crafted faithful depictions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mahatma Gandhi, and Sir Matt Busby and served as the Royal Sculptor to Queen Elizabeth II. Yet, Jackson’s also known for his modernist, dramatic gallery works, with characters that are less specific and in many cases, eerie and haunting. The quality present each of these works is Jackson’s seasoned knack for form and inspiring awe.
Mexican street artist and illustrator "Smithe" creates intensely detailed images that combine biological and mechanical motifs. Featured here on our blog, Smithe's art is a visual collage of everything that he loves; a mix of comics, animation, film, street art, science fiction, but mostly spontaneity and fun. Like his murals, his illustrations portray strange figures and pop-culture characters in a state of deconstruction. They stretch, distort, and melt into the floor, other times falling into a thousand little particles of themselves. Smithe explores the source of such madness in his latest body of work, "Fisuras de la Materia" ("Fissures of Matter"), currently on view at Celaya Brothers Gallery in Mexico.