Oliver Vernon just finished his largest mural ever, a massive project organized by Kirk Gallery in Denmark. Working 12-hour days over two weeks, he created a piece that reflects his dynamic, abstract style. Vernon was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Yayoi Kusama's art is in London this month as part of a new exhibition at the Victoria Miro gallery. Her internationally known work is obsessive and overwhelming, presenting the world as a polka-dotted dream land, featured in Hi-Fructose Vol 25. The word "extraordinary" is overused in writing about contemporary art but we can make an exception for Kusama, who has been selected as one of TIME Magazine's World's 100 Most Influential People for conquering both the art and fashion world. "Dots are a symbol of the world, the cosmos; the earth is a dot. The sun, the moon, the stars are all made up of dots. You and me, we are dots," she once said.
Andrew Schoultz's art is filled with chaotic imagery, expressing a rather dystopian vision through a variety of techniques, from sculpture to collage, street art to installations to paintings. Featured here on our blog, his eclectic work cultivates an arsenal of personal symbolism: fragments of dollar bills, fractured Grecian urns, ripped American flags, war horses, and slave ships are just a few of the symbols he uses to juxtapose Western culture with allusions to conflict and exploitation.
In drawing the world around him, New York based artist Mike Lee conveys a simple and playful essence of his subjects, whether they be people, buildings, or objects. Featured here on our blog, the artist's intriguing drawings of miniaturized scenes have often been compared to a child's Playmobil or Lego playsets. In these new versions of his subjects, Lee further simplifies the human form, isolating them from their toy-like environments and focusing instead on finding expression through minimalism.
New York based painter and illustrator Mike Perry is an artist working in a variety of mediums, once describing his collection of works as having an "antsy" energy. He doodles around the clock, whether creating new typefaces for his graphic design work or new burst of colorful characters that amass in his paintings. At his website, he writes that his creative goal is "to conjure that feeling of soul-soaring wonder you have when you stare into distant galaxies on a dark night, when you go on long journeys into the imagination, when you ponder what it is that this life is all about."
Since moving from New York city to the countryside in Hudson, artist Jason Middlebrook has found himself in a constant contact with nature. His striking "plank series" is informed by his surroundings; vividly painted abstract designs on natural pieces of cut wood like maple and birch, sourced from a local mill. Though his use of straight lines and angles, drawn with a geometric precision, may not be naturally occurring, they are inspired by the subtle nuances found in his materials.
A child of a bustling city of contrast and colors, Rodrigo Branco's affinity for abstraction may come as no surprise. But his blurred portraits of local people in São Paulo, created using patches of colors and expressive strokes, are actual representations of what the artist used to see as a little kid. Raised in the southern outskirts of the city, Branco had a severe vision impairment that was left untreated for years.
People complain a lot about Los Angeles: It's too big, too spread out, and the traffic is terrible. But local artist Susan Logoreci sees a different side of her city that she conveys in her large-scale mosaic-like colored pencil drawings. Her images of the urban sprawl are drawn by hand and without a ruler or projector, giving her work a hand-made or in her words, "elastic", quality that breaks the first rule of drawing architecture.
"I like when you can walk up to a painting and it's a little abstract, and as you back up it all syncs together into something that makes sense, but if you walk up close it all falls apart," says Brooklyn based artist Michael Kagan. Working out of his Brooklyn, New York based studio, the artist draws upon themes relating to space and man's triumph over nature in his texture-heavy paintings. His self-described obsession with space imagery began as a child, when he would look at the moon through a telescope with his father, and later on, joined Space Camp.
What does it mean to be "normal"? Normality is different to different people, generally applying to what is considered acceptable and not out of the ordinary. To Los Angeles based artist Wyatt Mills, the idea of being "normal" has a broad meaning that he addresses in his latest series of chaotic mixed media paintings. Mills is an artist that likes to make observations about the human psyche, relating his work to a reflection of his reality which is never one thing and switches between different styles.
New Zealand based artist Meredith Marsone's muted oil portraits reveal glimpses of her subjects in emotional and peaceful moments, "sparks" of realism amidst abstraction. They are typically painted with realistic details juxtaposed against areas of impasto, paint applied thickly enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. It's a technique that she admits was borne out of frustration and is an artistically risky one, a process that she details at her Youtube channel and blog, where she recently wrote, "I think the best work I've made has been about things that are meaningful to me personally and have been about something I've had experience in."
Atlanta, Georgia based artist Sarah Emerson's paintings and murals portray a world where sweetness and craziness collide in energetic displays. These colorful landscapes present a bizarre version of actual places or things, inspired by the ways that time and human intervention affects them. Words like loopy, cartoony, even psychedelic are often used to describe her imagery, populated by Disney-cute animals like baby deer and googley-eyed creatures, who peek through a thick foliage of wavy shapes and lines. Emerson once said that if there is any message that runs through all of her paintings, it's that life is delicate and temporary, and she urges us to be present in it. This philosophy is at the heart of her solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, "The Unbearable Flatness of Being".
Earlier this month, we shared with you the intriguing embroidered installations by Beijing based artist Gao Rong, uncanny and realistic replicas of her childhood home in inner Mongolia. Using the Chinese embroidery she learned growing up as her primary technique, Rong was able to create stunning copies of artifacts from her memories for that series. Her new series applies the same handicraft but to a much more minimal, even painstaking degree. Aptly titled "The Simple Line", Rong goes in the opposite direction of her complicated and detailed spaces and embraces simplicity and abstraction.
First featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 15, North Carolina based artist James Marshall aka Dalek was exposed to punk rock, skateboarding and painting graffiti early on. His earlier works feature abstract illustrations of characters, strongly influenced by his time as an assistant to Japanese Pop artist Takashi Murakami, and over the years, have progressed into more geometrical works. Dalek has always liked things that are "super flat" and graphic, and he approaches his art with a mathematical sensibility. His paintings today feature geometric shapes that seem to morph when viewed from different angle.
Originating from the New York graffiti scene, where he was known as "REAS", artist Todd James (covered here) has become instantly recognizable for his colorful abstract style and erotic sense of humor. You may also know him as the artist who designed logos for the Beastie Boys, or Miley Cyrus' outlandish backup bear dancers. Some have compared James' creative style to a child's for his use of cartoony lines and forms, which he combines with adult subjects. He has described his art as a sort of "horrible cartoon", influenced by UPA (United Productions of America) animations. His latest solo exhibition "Fly Like the Wind" recently opened on Saturday at Nanzuka Underground gallery in Tokyo.
Dallas, Texas based artist Michael Reeder paints eclectic portraits that explore ideas about identity. Reeder is fascinated by the various characteristics that define us, and his works mix those elements both stylistically and conceptually. While his main interest is modern identity, the figures he portrays often have a classical quality. He renders their faces as if he were chiseling away at marble, redefined with abstract and exaggerated features with blank eyes (ancient statue eyes were painted or inlaid.) His portraits aren't meant to be accurate representations. Rather, he considers portraiture to be more like a reinvention of his subjects, which takes place at their simplest form.
Op art works are abstract, and while mostly in black and white, UK artist Carl Cashman usually infuses his with clashing neon colors. Using geometry and optical illusion, his works depict hidden symbols and movement, as in bold patterns that appear to flex and warp. Cashman (covered here) enhances these qualities with a style that he calls "Neometry". Unlike completely abstracted art, which bears no trace of anything recognizable, Cashman's sees his art as a sort of biography. The inspiration behind his latest series of acrylic works, titled "An Edited Version of Life", references moments in his daily life.
Los Angeles based artist Dave Kinsey (HF Vol. 13) will debut geometric landscapes in his upcoming solo exhibition with FFDG Gallery in San Francisco on Friday. In "The Modern Condition", Kinsey continues to walk the line between the natural world and his abstract perceptions of it. His exhibit features 9 acrylic and collage works on canvas that portray boldly colored giant figures and structures erupting from a barren environment.
Connecticut based artist Carly Janine Mazur employs a limited palette and repetitive design in her portraits. Her latest series, "Metamorphosis", on view at Arch Enemy Arts gallery in Philadelphia, shows her growing interest in this mixture of the figurative and abstract. Working in oils and acrylics with metallic accents, her paintings portray classical-bodied female nudes intermingling with their environment.
Photos by Mik Luxon On July 25th, Hi-Fructose attended the opening of Peter Gronquist's solo exhibition "All of the Above" at Soze Gallery in Los Angeles. As recently discussed, the artist has embarked on more abstract and conceptual explorations than in previous works. For this exhibit, he chose to expand on multiple recurring themes in his art, and techniques using more varied color, form, depth and stillness - and with surprising results. Gronquist's paintings, for example, are created using sanded plexiglass over hand-painted drop boxes, creating a foggy, luminous effect. This process flattens the image to the surface while simultaneously dropping the image back. Gronquist says, "It's hard to explain without seeing in person, I best describe it as a glowing effect."
Last year, Portland based artist Peter Gronquist made a remarkable departure from his dramatic taxidermy sculptures in favor of more abstract explorations. He continues to experiment with color and form in his latest body of work for "All of the Above", opening on Saturday at Soze Gallery in Los Angeles. The show expands on his 2014 exhibition "The Great Escape" which featured infinity boxes of holographic war planes and firearms, a recurring motif in Gronquist's art.
Self-taught designer Joseph Walsh builds lyrical pieces of furniture that are more like free flowing sculptures. Functional and aesthetically beautiful, his creations blur the line between art forms. Walsh's materials are all natural; combinations of wood, white oil, olive ash, to name a few, which he retrains into fluid shapes mimicking growth. In this way, his pieces also blur a line between the original living source and their still form. See more after the jump!
San Francisco based artist Zio Ziegler (covered here) has an eclectic style; a few of his pieces portray Cubist figures, some more detailed than others, and then there are his more color-based paintings. His art is not cohesive, but rather reflects on his every day life's emotions and moods which flow between feelings of self awareness and bliss. He very much lives in the moment. Ziegler's current solo exhibition at Soze Gallery in Los Angeles, "The Psyche's Gestures," takes a look at these different sides of the psyche.
Australian artist Reka (covered here), now based in Berlin, has become recognized for the colorful and energetic aesthetic of his graffiti and paintings. The figures in his work have a variety of characteristics that are whimsical, yet bold and vigorous. His new body of work, "OLYMPVS," on view at AvantGarden Gallery in Italy, continues to mix contradicting styles. Inspired by scenes from Ancient Greece and its Mount Olympus, Reka's new pieces combine classical themes with a futuristic look. In poppy, vibrant colors, fragmented into Cubist compositions, he depicts bathing nudes, marble busts, and still life.
Recently named the most popular artist of 2014, Yayoi Kusama (HF Vol. 25) has currently taken over two expansive spaces at David Zwirner Gallery in New York. Her exhibition, "Give Me Love," which closes this week, includes a reenactment of her popular installation, "The Obliteration Room" (2002), new pumpkin sculptures, and paintings. They share the hallucinatory, obsessive, and energetic qualities we've seen throughout her career, something this exhibition aims to embody. More photos after the jump.
V1 Gallery in Copenhagen is currently hosting a two men show featuring Barry McGee and Todd James. Ever since they created "Street Market" together with Steve Powers at New York City's Deitch Projects in 2000, the two have exhibited together several times. Among others, they exhibited at the 2001 Venice Biennale, 2004 "Beautiful Losers" group exhibition, and the L.A. MOCA "Art in the Streets" in 2011. V1 Gallery has been supporting both artists through that entire time, and "FUD" is their second double-show with the gallery. Read more after the jump.
Italian artist Carlo Fantin (featured here) uses the Catholic imagery from his devout upbringing as a metaphor for contemporary rituals. In particular, his hand-cut paper works address our unrelenting use of social media, where he likens bloggers and the media to shepherds whom we follow like a flock of sheep. His current exhibition, "U Have 2 Name Him Jesus #Annunciation" at Mercury 20 in Oakland, CA continues this play on religious iconography.
Los Angeles based artist Anthony Ausgang, coined a "godfather of Lowbrow," has made a career of depicting his own struggles in his kaleidoscopic cat paintings. Colorful and intensely surreal, his playful images portraying cartoon cats in unusual scenarios are loosely inspired by reality. Ausgang makes no secret of his experimentation with psychedelics, and these experiences have carved their way into his hallucinatory visions and bright palette. In his upcoming solo exhibition "Catascopes", opening May 30th at Copro Gallery, Ausgang's trippy paintings of cats get even trippier.
Revok is set to make his LA debut on April 10th at MAMA gallery space with his exhibition aptly titled "Revok: Los Angeles". His show already promises the vibrant, geometric forms that Revok has become known for, recently featured in the publication "Revok: Made in Detroit." On display will be 12 new paintings on assembled wood pieces, a sort of continuation of that series. Here, Revok explores new themes inspired by his newfound home in Los Angeles where he sources his materials.
Multimedia artist Magnus Gjoen has a signature way of combining grim imagery with classically inspired techniques. We recently featured his series of war weapons made to look like delicate 16th century blue and white porcelain. Can something so horrific also be considered beautiful? This is a central theme of Gjoen's upcoming solo exhibition "Monster", opening March 20th at Hang Up gallery in London. He began working on the show after reading an FBI article about a real-life monster, a serial killer who fantasized about children. In newly abstract illustrations, Gjoen seeks to reveal the killer's beautifully disturbed psyche.