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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
New Zealand based artist Peter Stichbury combines attractive good looks with ugliness in 1950s style portraits. His Big-Eyed young subjects represent non-conventional beauty, something we can find in today's supermodels and misfits alike. Stichbury regards these young people as a collective group in society, which he renders in a style that flattens their facial features to a non specific point. In their abstract, clone-like similarities, they become anonymous and linked to one another. They are intentionally deprived of human emotion, owing to their awkwardness. At the same time, his aesthetic can be regarded as strangely realistic.
Hi-Fructose attended last night's premiere of Tim Burton's biopic, "Big Eyes" at the theatre at Ace hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. The premiere was also attended by leading actress Amy Adams, notable fans and gallerists including Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Andrew and Shawn Hosner of Thinkspace Gallery, Greg Escalante of Copro Gallery, and Margaret Keane's own San Francisco based Keane Eyes Gallery, to name a few. "Big Eyes" chronicles the journey of Margaret Keane's popular big-eyed waifs, from humble beginnings to her abusive relationship with Walter Keane, who locked her in a studio and took credit for her art for years. Photos from the premiere after the jump!
Beijing based artist Wang Zhijie paints more than cartoonish renderings of pretty girls. They are a young generation born into the extravagant part of contemporary Chinese culture. His colorful portraits utilize ideal beauty in Chinese art; porcelain skin, shiny, dark hair, and an oval face with dramatic makeup. His background in animation shows in the way he stretches facial features to their limits. With "Big eyes" art style experiencing a boom, one can't help but think of artists like Margaret Keane, or the application of Mark Ryden. They also enjoy material trinkets while possessing a look of fearlessness. Attractiveness cannot be fully achieved without inner beauty, and combined these create an asset that reflects certain social and financial success. In Zhijie’s view, his girls embody decades of economic prosperity in China.