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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Austrian artist David Leitner’s stirring work takes him across the world, whether it’s in murals, illustrations, or stirring drawings that react to his surroundings. In his black, graphical line drawings, the artist’s cascading figures make use of neighboring contours and abstractions.
Deedee Cheriel’s new paintings, offering explorations of connectedness and spirituality, are part of a current show at KP Projects in Los Angeles. The paintings in "Cosmic Connections," often featuring human-animal hybrids, display scenes set against nature. Cheriel’s work was last seen on HiFructose.com here.
In Yuanxing Liang’s folkloric sculptures, the hair of his figures become their own whimsical landscapes. Liang, formerly a game character designer, is now a full time artist, often working within fantastical figurative sculpture. Many have noted the challenge of displaying his work, as each pieces comes fully realized and detailed, 360 degrees of intricate notes from the artist.
Caroline Westerhout’s cerebral paintings are selective in rendering aspects of the body faithfully, otherwise distorting the female form and offering unexpected textures. Though this may bring disconcerting results, each of the works carry a vulnerable and honest quality.
The action-filled paintings of Conor Harrington pit nameless political tribes against each other. His explorations of patriotism and contemporary social themes come in the form of Baroque figures, combining classical oil painting techniques and graffiti influences. The artist most recently expressed this thread in "The Story of Us and Them" at HENI Gallery in London.
Using steel rebar, chicken wire, plaster, wax, acrylics, and other materials, Rebecca Ackroyd constructs pieces that play in both figurative and abstract themes. The artist’s practices moves between mixed-media painting and sculpture, the latter producing beings exploring space and gender.
Horacio Quiroz’s rich, disconcerting oil paintings manipulate and toy with the human form. In an upcoming show at Booth Gallery, "Polarities," his latest experimentations are displayed, whether on the canvas or in an installation of works on paper (including poems, sketches, and more). Quiroz appeared in Hi-Fructose Volume 46 and was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
The oil paintings of Dino Valls balance the bare vulnerability of his figures with surreal touches with deceptively elaborate embellishments, from the transforming compartments of his triptychs to constellation-bearing freckles. In some ways, the Spanish artist continues a thread and approach forged by European masters; elsewhere, his psychological additions feel contemporary. He was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Sasha Gordon's vivid oil paintings feature touches of the surreal, exploring themes such as mental illness and sexuality. The artist, currently a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, has moved from intimate, realistic portraits to more conceptual, perspective shifting work recently. Works such as "I Left The Night The Dummy Crashed The Gordon's Volvo" offer seemingly personal narratives with several elements to unpack.
Despite their expansive celestial backdrops, Tae Lee's acrylic paintings can feel quiet and intimate. The tethering of these otherworldly forms and figurative subjects show an artist traversing internal and spiritual topics. The artist describes his work as an "exploration of place of human consciousness in an universal causality."
In Tom French's series "Parallax Paintings,” the artist’s fractured, stark approach has stirring effects. The artist limiting his palette adds to the cerebral nature of the work, with figure and abstractions blending in elegant cacophonies. In a statement, the artist’s work is described as looking at a spectrum, rather than a single state of mind.
Using stills from early propaganda films or frontier paintings as a basis, the layered paintings of Joshua Hagler deconstruct our history. Each work goes through several iterations, distorting and removing previous layers to arrive at something new entirely. The explorations become both visceral and introspective in this process.
South African artist Mary Sibande explores race, history, gender, and other social themes, her visceral mixed-media figures constructed from fiberglass, cotton, resin, and other materials. She uses a sculptural representation of herself, Sophie, to also look at her own family’s generational narrative. Her practice also includes photography, integrating the themes of her sculptures and installations.
"A Student's Dream," the central oil painting in Mario Moore's new show, is inspired by the artist's recent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. "Recovery" kicks off at David Klein Gallery in Detroit at the end of the month, and in the show, the artist looks at how African-American men experience recovery from hardship and trauma.
The duo Santissimi, comprised of artists Sara Renzetti and Antonello Serra, use the body to both examine humanity and use its elements for new creations. While the contortions and dissections would supposedly bring expressions of agony, the tranquility of the subjects implies a greater purpose in these explorations.
Amir H. Fallah's acrylic paintings are portraits of immigrants in Los Angeles, carrying vibrant, varying textures and obscured figures. His new show at Denny Gallery, "How Far We've Come," collects the latest work in this ongoing series. The show runs through June 17 at the New York City space.
The surreal sculptures of Jesse Thompson pair youthful figures with massive, weathered "lifecasts", revealing deeper themes within each scene. The artist says these narrative three-dimensional scenes are inspired by comics and other forms of sequential art.
Matteo Lucca’s figurative sculptures are forged with the unlikely material of bread. Using the unusual contours of these bakes—and experimenting with burns and malformed sections—the works take on an unsettling quality.
The work in Fintan Magee's "The Big Dry" explores the artist's personal experiences during Australia's "Millennium drought." The show starts at Thinkspace Gallery today and runs through June 23. Magee was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Jasmine Worth uses religious iconography to recall and challenge the role women have played in historical narratives. Her contemplative new paintings are featured in the show "Future Past" at La Luz De Jesus Gallery. The show starts today and runs through July 1 at the Los Angeles space. Worth was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here.
The figurative sculptures of Javier Pérez tether our bodies to nature in both morbid and elegant approaches, using material like polyester resin and animal intestines. The artist uses sculpture, drawing, video, and performance art to explore these themes.
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.
In Ryan Hewett’s recent works, the painter uses disparate abstract elements to reconstruct the human form. The artist’s works focuses less on the harsh textures of past works, instead introducing new hues and formations into his portraits. The effect is both disconcerting and wholly absorbing.
New York artist Maria Kreyn saw her U.K. debut this month with a show “staged at a secret location in the heart of Soho, London.” Organized by Heist Gallery, the chapel-set "Polyphony" assembles oil paintings and sound installations, composed by David Triana, for two of her paintings. The show runs through May 29 at the space. Kreyn was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here.
Federico Infante blends the figurative and the abstract in his stirring acrylic paintings. His upcoming show at Hugo Galerie in New York, "The Geography of Hope," collects a new body of work from the artist. The show begins May 26 and runs through June 17. Infante was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Rendered in crosshatched pen and ink, Akira Beard’s “Life Drawings” carry both an energy nad humanity in each of their vague forms. While the artist’s paintings tend to be more vibrant and abstract, his drawings are vulnerable and more controlled in execution. The artist was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Jamie Adams offers striking oil paintings that “present the artist’s reconstruction of scenes from his father’s youth” in the new show "Blondie Bubba" at Jonathan Levine Projects. The works blend the influences of varying artforms while examining the idea of memory. Adam was featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 40.
Gosia's captivating figurative sculptures are displayed in her first solo European show with "The Windows of the Soul" at Dorothy Circus Gallery in London. We recently wrote about the artist in a multi-page feature in Hi-Fructose Vol. 41, and she was last featured on HiFructose.com here. This show kicks off May 5 and runs through June 30.
With Scott Prior’s oil paintings, magic is found in the normalcy of his scenes, in which backyard fires illuminate figures and dim city streets glow. The painter's practice moves between these narratives and still-life studies, landscapes, and figures. All have a shared quality that Prior of which has a mastery, William Baczek Fine Arts says.
Ozabu only uses pencil and graphite in her startling figurative works on paper, using elegant linework and subtle iconography in mysterious minimalist pieces. The Japanese artist is self-taught, and the artist’s long fascination with birds comes through in how figures are accompanied by and are overtaken by winged creatures.