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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Philadelphia based artist Drew Leshko (featured here on our blog) creates multi-layered paper and wood sculptures that beckon viewers to connect with a bit of nostalgia, while keeping one foot planted in the now. Leshko got his start as a studio assistant and fabricator for another sculptor just after finishing his schooling at West Chester University in his native Pennsylvania. Being strongly influenced by documentary photographers such as Walker Evans and Hilla Becher, Leshko creates sculptural commentaries that echo those filmmakers’ abilities to capture moments in time.
Tomorrow night, American artist Wayne White will exhibit alongside his son, Woodrow White, for the first time in San Francisco at Heron Arts Gallery. In 1986, Wayne White earned international acclaim as the set and puppet designer of TV series Pee Wee's Playhouse, for which he won three Emmy awards. "Ass Kicking Contest" brings the same slapstick and backwards charm that will be familiar to fans of his work on the show. Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee and now living and working in Los Angeles, he credits his Southern roots for his unique take on Americana and D.I.Y. style. In addition to witty word paintings like "Hoo Ha" and works on paper, he will also present animated puppets.
The characters in Yoskay Yamamoto's paintings are often portrayed submerged in water. With eyes half-closed and a serene expression on their faces, they seem at peace in the cool blue seas painted from the artist's dreams. The concept of being submerged, for Yamamoto, represents his place between cultures as a Japanese artist living in America. His ocean possesses a strong physical and emotional power because of this. It's waters contain new elements in his latest series of 12 paintings, debuting on Friday at the Honolulu Museum of Art's Contempo #ArtShop, curated by Giant Robot.
"Their world was soft like melancholy. The conversation was silent. Their faces were small and round, incapable of invoking fear. Once the door was open, nothing could be unseen." This is how Kathie Olivas describes the childlike subjects of her latest exhibition at AFA gallery, "Safe from Tomorrow". The show boasts a series of 20 new paintings and 16 sculptures inspired by early Americana portraiture. The nostalgia felt by her palette and inspiration is constrasted with a concept set in the future.
Tonight, Mark Miller Gallery in New York celebrates what they call an anti-Santa event, "Beasticon II: Monstrous Art by Uncaged Creatures". Co-curators Lori Nelson and Antony Zito are painters who glorify the eccentricities of their subjects. At her website, Nelson says, "I became interested in the nature of the Beast. Has the myth of the half-man-half-beast persisted because we have always all felt its undeniable presence on some level? Where does the Beast dwell? What does the Beast do for a living? What does the Beast do for fun? Most importantly, what is the Beast?" She and Zito posed these questions to other artists including Laetitia Soulier, Jessicka Addams, Christina Pitsch, Eduardo Benedetto, Joshua Ben Longo, and more, who offer a range of paintings and sculpture.