Graffiti Goes Mainstream ?

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A while back I expressed the opinion that street art (graffiti) was the new avant garde. Well it was and in a way still is, but it's become so entrenched in it's own values and emulations, that it has become just one more mainstream genre. On top of that, street artists and academically trained artists have so cross-informed each other that, except for location, the distinction between the two is becoming quite blurry at times.
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The blog Arrested Motion made note of the fact that the famous street artists Banksy, Faile and Ryan McGinness were included in the Southey's London Contemporary Day Sale (on June 26). The works of these three blended seamlessly with the other contemporary artists hanging on the walls. No graffiti here.

Where I did find graffiti was in the street art auction by Artcurial. Now this was news. You'll want to check out the 4 pages of offerings which include a wide range of oeuvres. Work (below) by SKKI caught my eye and researching him took me for a very fascinating ride.
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. All of that brought me to the TAG exhibit at the Grand Palais this spring, where they featured examples of graffiti from 300 street artists. You'll find more fotos from their site here and there's a boat load of images from that show on Edwin Bartlett's flickr page.

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In this image from the TAG Exhibition, SKKI's piece is second from the bottom, on the right. You'll find a much better picture of it on Ed Bartlett's link listed above.
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What's ironic about all this is that on the one hand tagging is a crime and a scourge; on the other hand, galleries are recognizing the talent and embracing this art with the hopes of bringing them in from the cold. But one of the hurdles for these artists is their street cred and notoriety. And regardless of how many do forsake the old ways and join the ranks of gallery-exhibiting artists, there will always be new taggers to take their place
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Meaningful Geo-Abstracts

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How could you not like the Geo-abstracts of Sarah Morris ? Described as using "the formal language of Pop Art and Minimalism"* and at other times called constructivist, her paintings are clean, bright, attractive and they induce contemplation. What was a real treat was coming across a video of her explaining the concept behind the paintings in her current Exhibition at MAMbo Museo in Bologna. She's also being featured at the MMk, Frankfort Show, "Yellow and Green".

There's a lot more thought that goes into these works than just where to put the next line and which color. Her oeuvre includes film making and actually the films inform the paintings. Upon further reading you come to understand the importance of the color schemes and architecture of the paintings in each particular show.

The image below is of two of her "Pool" paintings that I found quite fascinating, both in the concept and the subliminal images that these works conjure. (Titles are so amazing in how they guide the mind.)

A painting from her "Pool" series sold at auction for $70,000 in 2007



She's represented by Friedrich Petzel and you can see how her work has matured in the four different Exhibitions since '99.

She's also represented by Barbara Krakow Gallery.

To round out the train of thought about the development of her paintings and films, go Here.
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Words In Paintings

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Is just one of many phrases I'd use in my Web searches for artists who wrote in their paintings.

A funny story is that I came across work by Cy Twombly and night after night I would search and search, using a new phrase each time to produce, hopefully, more and different results. Well, as luck would have it I stumbled across a Goggle Image result. Boy did I feel stupid ! All of that time, all I would have had to do is click on Images at the top of Google's search page to see the images I was looking for.

I don't know what influenced me, but somewhere along the line I started to write my thoughts into my paintings. For a while I would use cursive writing as the sole content and flesh it out by coloring in the spaces created by the letters

In 2000 I moved to New York state from Atlanta GA and started my Web searches for other artists who did the same. At this same time I started doing abstract pointillism and searched for those artists too. As I started collecting results it seemed a good idea to do a Blog, both to save that research and to share it.

So I hope you'll check out the lists of all the artists I've collected in the right hand column. It's quite inspiring to see all the different ways that they express themselves and to read what brought them to their particular oeuvre.

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Stretched, Abstract Pointillism

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Artists who find and steadfastly pursue a niche oeuvre, have my admiration. To me it's similar to a scientist tracking down all the answers to a particular question: and the results sure are pretty.


These two works by Susan Dory are 2 years apart. The top image is from her Exhibition at Winston Wachter in Oct/Nov '08, where they do an excellent job of explaining what she does.

This image, "Pearmaintune" 2006 (acrylic, graphite on canvas over panel54 x 60 inches) is from her Website.

I've been coming across the terms repetition and accumulation lately, which is absolutely true; but I can't help but see these works as another form of pointillism. I say that because the picture has been broken down into bits or brush stroke type units. Even though these many artists are conjuring their works with new ideas in mind, I can't help but think that Pointillism was a much bigger idea with more far reaching consequences than we thought.

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Simple Gestures

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I've been a little preoccupied of late with a project at the house, so things are kinda thin, Blog-wise. Been wanting to share this image for a while and now is as good a time as any.

This painting, "Yesterday's Heroes, Tomorrow's Fools" by Zsolt Bodoni really caught my eye. The work is so simple and yet so captivating, emotionally. It takes so very little to make an icon that we recognize. With just a few brush strokes of shades of grey, we're presented with this intriguing tableau that draws us right on in and our mind begins to make a story. Utterly amazing.

Sometimes we waste so much time agonizing over how to present our ideas or we fiddle with the tiniest of details to make it just right; and our struggling just ruins everything.

It really just take so very little, with some suggestive strokes, to conjure very concrete images and feelings.

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To see more of his work you can go here.

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Image is from re-title.

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Op Dots

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This Blog is several years old now and I've been more than amazed by the amount of artists who give so much consideration and consistent effort to working with the simple shape of a dot. Each artist has their own compositional agenda and the reasons and oeuvres are seemingly endless.

Remember Op Art ? Well, Valerie Arber gives us these sweet, simple compositions with just a touch of Op.

Good luck searching for more examples of her work on the Web. These are 2 of 6 images that you'll find at the Rule Gallery, where they hint at some of her influences.



Valerie was born in Englewood, New Jersey in 1949. She studied at Leksand Folkhögskola, Leksand, Sweden in 1969-1970 and received her B.F.A. (drawing) from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque in 1973. Currently she's living and working in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Marfa, Texas.
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Minimal Abstracts With Writing

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Works by George Vergette need to be experienced in person, to fully appreciate his oeuvre. The layers of resin give a depth that can't possibly translate in photographs. There's a wonderful atmosphere and dream like quality to these paintings that have spare words or phrases floating within.

This image is from the Third Avenue Gallery where you'll find an interesting sampling of his work. Gallery Jones has mostly darker works and the Tartar Gallery has several white works which I'd like to see in person.

One of my favorite pieces is a resin enamel, graphite and acrylic on photograph mounted on paper in a group exhibition at the Art House. ( There is a group of blank cubes to the right of the picture that represent thumbnails - his is the bottom right.)

This image, from a review of his exhibit last year at Galerie Trois Points, by The Belgo Report, shows the highly reflective glossy surface and the smokey, mysterious atmosphere within some of his paintings.

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Repetition & Perspective

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What is there to say about something like this? It's mesmerizing, unbelievable, mind boggling . . .
This piece by Tommy Støckel is designed with computer programs and then executed in paper and cardboard.


To say that he is playing with perspective here, is a major understatement. This work, called Exposed Superstructure, is just plain shocking to the mind. A similar work, but not quite as intense is, Model for Early Pyramid. Most of the other works on his Website are much easier on the mind. You'll want to do a little research to see what makes this guy tick.

For starters you can go Here or see some more, different images Here.

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Just Like Skating

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Lisa Stefanelli is another artist whose work reminds you of calligraphic gestures. There's not much said about her oeuvre to explain what and why, except for references to her former career as a figure skater.

Even her Website has no Artist Statement. Some of the titles clearly spell out the ice skating connection, so we'll just go with that and enjoy her work.


The top image is from Irvine Contemporary: bottom image, from Mark Moore Gallery.
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