I keep looking at Korean painter Ho Ryon Lee's paintings waiting for them to move. Double exposures are often used in photography as a way to simulate movement and mood. But these paintings make me feel like a dirty old man and make my eye bounce from the edges to the center and back to the edges again. Does their perfectly painted beauty seem to initially hide their pervy upskirt tease factor? By the time your brain figures out the layered image/motion, you get trapped in a shame stare spiral for looking.
If only the world was as cool and compositionally interesting as depicted in the art works of Ragnar. It's exciting to see the normally pixel pushing artist, whom we featured many years back in Hi-Fructose vol.4, make one of a kind originals on canvas. His stunning mix of contrasting off-kilter color combinations paired with an impeccable design sensibility has made him a sought after artist for many years. Take a look at Ragnar's studio and a few pieces from his duo show with Scott Tolleson show at Stranger Factory here! - by atta
We first premiered artist Yoko d'Holbachie in print in 2007 as the cover feature of Hi-Fructose vol.6 with a stellar lineup including Jordan Crane, Audrey Kawasaki, Jonathan Viner, sculptor Ron Muek, Marion Peck, and more. A string of group and solo shows followed for the Japanese pop surrealist. Five years later, the artist will finally visit the U.S. in person for her latest solo exhibit :My Strange Goddess" at AFA Gallery in NYC. D'Holbachie's candy colored monstrosities drip with saccharin from the shadows of some bug like cream-filled world. They're grotesque and alluring at the same time. See the work on April 29th and don't miss the opening for a rare appearance of the artist at the show! Check out previews of the show here!
This interesting topography style mapping of street art Barcelona looks like it could lead to many interesting Google-like statistic thermodynamic style results. Or perhaps, just a handy tool for law enforcement to crack down on unregulated creativity and/or vandalism. From Katrine, the curator: "While living in Barcelona, inspired by each corner that I turned, I began to carry my camera with me at all times." Read more after the jump.
We first covered Gary Taxali's work in Hi-Fructose Vol.4. Since then, the artist has been nominated for a Grammy, his work has made an appearance on Canadian currency, and he's released olde-timey toys and a new monograph entitled "I Love You, OK?." Taxali's mixed media style often incorporates found items from book stores, worn out book pages and endpapers, and he creates hand crafted layered pieces that look printed, stamped and annotated, while still letting the soul of the original aged canvas shine through. He has a new show at The Outsiders Gallery opening May 4th. See more images after the jump.
Multi-media artist Ted Vasin's blog looks to be evidence photos of a person on a hallucinatory bender; a mix of electronic equipment, newspaper/magazine clippings, wires, medical marijuana, dildos, and art supplies. While that's fun and all, it wouldn't be worth investigating or mentioning if the end result wasn't such a fantastic body of provoking art works.
Michael Page was last featured in Hi-Fructose vol.19. Images from his upcoming April 14th showing at White Walls in San Francisco appear to be electric. Bursts of glowing color seem to pulse at the viewer. Abstract bursts and realistic figures and backgrounds seem to collide with energy. We don't want to give too much away but here are a few previews of his new body of work! Page's Élan Vital will feature thirty paintings and six drawings, as well as an installation.
Melissa Cook does extremely realistic graphite drawings. But this particular series of plastic bag self portraits are extra frightening.
Says the artist: "The Vacuum series ascribes to the devices of melancholia in order to explore society’s fascination with violence, death and insanity. In this series I create a fictional, tortured persona in order to fulfill the stereotype of the tragic artist. Within my avatar, I am able to exaggerate the characteristics of the crazy, unstable, melancholic artist in order to question its glorification and validity.”
Photographer Carlie Armstrong took a trip to the studio of one of the lynch pin's of Portland's Art Community, the endearingly enduring Bwana Spoons. Bwana is known for creating eye-peeling cell vinyl paintings, resin cast sculptures, curating powerfully humorous shows with artists like Martin Ontiveros, Skrappers, J.Otto Seibold, and Tim Biskup. Spoons is a dynamic force in the art world and we're happy to show you an exclusive look at where so much of that black magic happens.
Renee French's drawings do a difficult thing; they are quiet and mysterious yet powerful at the same time. She creates wonderful graphic novels, many published by Seattle's Fantagraphics. But, I find that each panel/page can certainly stand on/tell a story all on it's own.Enjoy more of her drawings after the jump!
We last covered Eric Fortune's paintings in 2009 with Hi-Fructose Vol.13, and soon after with his piece for the Hi-Fructose Anniversary show. We thought it was high time to check on what he's been up to. Fortune's ethereal layered drip technique is painstaking, but the moody results are spectacular.Here's a few recent works from Fortune and we can't wait to show you previews form his upcoming show at Labasse Projects Gallery.
I've always loved road-side attractions and restaurant mascot characters. Especially fond when the characters,usually a burger-faced man or knife-wielding pig, voraciously devours itself. And don't get me started on my affection for lobster bibs.These very fiberglass effigies are pure American, and they dart our landscape like castles strewn around the English country-side.But nothing I've ever seen could prepare me for Tony Tasset's "Hot Dog Man." He's a urine-dripping pork bi-product monster. He is what you eat, just follow the mustard trail to this over-stuffed, shriveled testicle smile with the Robert Crumb-esque "Keep on Trucking" Stance."Tasset's other works, playing on emoticons as threat levels and garbage heaps, are equally fantastic, bold and humorous. Take a look at "Hot Dog Man" and a few other works after the jump.
We'll be kicking 2012 off right with a new Hi-Fructose New Contemporary Art Magazine vol.22 in January.
In this stand-out issue we present: a major feature on Aron Wiesenfeld's amazing drawings and paintings, we interview the notorious street artists Trustocorp, go hooking with the paintings of Natalia Fabia, are taken aback by the powerful wooden sculptures of Gehard Demetz, battle nature with the paintings of Ryan McLennan, and get inflated beyond capacity with the insane sculptures of the legendary Irwin Wurm.
Then, we put a spotlight on the new work of Esao Andrews, explore decay with the uneasy houses of Ofra Lapid, plunge into KOZYNDAN's new show, then go swimming into melancholy with Double Parlour, and finally, we present to you the work of our cover artist Winnie Truong!
Plus much more of what you come to expect from us at Hi-Fructose.
Subscribe today here!
And see previews of our Hi-Fructose vol.22 here!
Hi-Fructose with be presenting an Oasis of Chaos at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con,featuring signings, art-centric exclusives, book launches, exclusive appearances, and selections from the Pressure Printing archives.
We're also doing a stunning series of expertly printed wood prints from five amazing artists!First up is this from Alex Pardee, whom we first featured in Hi-Fructose Vol.1 way back in 2005!Alex Pardee's print is 11"x14", limited to 50 signed and numbered pieces, with each one being a bit different depending on the grain of the wood. See a larger image of the print andPardee signing them at HF headquarters here. They will be available exclusively at the Hi-Fructose Booth on Thursday, July 21st at 2pm.
I have no qualms about telling everyone I know that nobody does art prints like Denver's Pressure Printing. Nobody.
They're artisans who carefully plan out each detail of the editions they make. They cast frames from 19th century framesand add little stands. They tea stain and etch, they pressure print for texture on handmade archival paper. Their certificates of authenticity are nicer than most fine art prints. Printer's "chop"? Intaglio? What the hell is that? They'll educate you.
Their latest release is this Todd Schorr's "Amphibian Frontier" and it's three and a quarter feet tall. Available here, check out some additional images after the jump.
"Controversy has been trumping craftsmanship since the beginning of Modernism. I like a little controversy, but I'm always awed by good craftsmanship..." --Charles Krafft, Hi-Fructose vol.19
We have a great exclusive interview with Disasterwear® sculptor Charles Krafft by acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Spurlock in the latest Hi-Fructose Magazine now on stands.In it they discuss Krafft's roots an artist, the pros and cons of controversy, his work with Michael Leavitt (like the piece above), his Spone® urns made of literal human bone china,Jack Kerouac, and more. Here's a few great Krafft works. Be sure to check out the interview on the new issue on stands now.