Pointillism Marks

Jaap Hillenius was born in 1934 and throughout his career you can see the influences of the many Art Movements that proliferated in the 20th century. He was definitely influenced by and respectful of Georges Seurat and took the tenets of pointillism from the last century and applied them to Modern Art; to Abstract Art. Although you see traces of Landscape, Portraiture,Impressionism and Suprematism, to name a few and occasionally colors that evoke Matisse, he remained true to his oeuvre of pointillist marks. And being a great experimenter, you'll see touches of school after school of Modern Art reinterpreted through pointillism.

I have the deepest respect for his tenacity of being true to his oeuvre, rather than succumbing to the trends that swirled around him. For me, his best work occurs when he combines pointillism with chirography. Some of these works are quite scientific and biological looking.

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There's a quiet thrill to looking at the works of Paul Signac, Georges Seurat, Andre Derain, Augusto Giacometti and Henri-Edmond Cross, to name a few. Jaap gives us a new thrill by reinventing pointillism for a new century and a new society.

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Although his Website is not in English, I'm sure you ll find your way around. The only readable bit I found about him - Here. It's a real tragedy that his own website doesn't include the dates with each work so we can trace his career.

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Mutual Art has 13 images that enlarge a second time, so you can get a closer look at the brushwork.

AskArt has 5 good size images.

Top image is from vbcn.nl.

All other images are from his website.

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Painting On Photographs

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Saw this painting by the Modern Master, Gerhard Richter and just couldn't pass up sharing it. This abstract painting on a photograph transcends the sum of it's parts to become a very captivating image that we find ourselves indulging in. Click for larger view.

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I don't know who originated this idea and there are several who do it well, but Richter just seems to take the idea so much further; makes it so much more cerebral. This is one of 10 images from his exhibit at Fundacion Telefonica. Their thumbnails click to a much larger size, which makes it easier to appreciate what's going on here.

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This particular image was spotted at artnews.org where you'll notice the names of major cities under the red navigation bar. I make it a habit to click those links to see exhibits and shows going on around the world. It's a great resource blog. Just click Home to take you to the current page.

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Bursting Your Bubble

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This image is from an excellent compilation of photographs of big bubbles bursting over at Crooked Brains.

Very interesting and surprising.

To see the complete set of original thumbs of bubbles and bubbles bursting by Richard Heeks, go Here.

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And YouTube slo mo vids Here and here.

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A Herd Of Letters ?

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Kade L. Twist is a fascinating Cherokee artist with many interests. What caught my eye were these two works titled, The First Syntax Rebellion (4a & 4b) top and (2a & 2b) bottom. It's quite natural to look for a solution in the jumbled letters. They don't seem to spell anything, so what does the seemingly strategic placement of the letters mean or represent ? It'd be great to have the answer.

The top image is from his page at Chiascuro. The second, blue work is from Art Envelope where they discuss the Group Show he participated in. .

Click the images for a larger view.
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Connecting The Dots

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What child hasn't taken a crayon or marker and numerically connected the dots to reveal the secret image? As we look at the work of David Craven, we're reminded of those adventures, but instead of a realistic image, we're presented with light hearted abstractions. You'll notice small flourishes in some of his work that bring to mind the work of Juan Miro. Statements about his oeuvre compare the visuals with circuitry and electronics, and Pollock and Postmodern are mentioned. For my part though, these are just playful, sincere musings that tend to bring a smile to my face.

Both images are from the Leo Kamen Gallery.

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More images can be found at Ralph Pucci.

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And even more and different images at Winchester Galleries.
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Scientific, Contemporary Pointillism

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I exhaled a huge sigh of relief when I read Laura Paulini's Artist Statement. To hear her explain the way in which she set some parameters and then went about painting her dot paintings as though they were controlled scientific experiments, warmed my heart. You really must read it for yourself. This was so encouraging to me to know that there are others who go about their work in this way; following formulas and also giving much opportunity to chance. There's such a wonderful reward in blindly following your instincts within a basic set of rules. It's like playing a new game and winning.

This image titled "Not Dark Yet",2007 (40" x 40" x 2" Acrylic on panel) is from her Website. Take your time and look around and I think you'll come to appreciate her oeuvre and her approach to making art.

This close-up from a different painting, is from Art Business, where they had a review of her Show at Eleanor Harwood Gallery: Laura Paulini & Jill Sylvia - Allegories of Control.

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And THIS is her page at Eleanor Harwood Gallery.

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Dots, Marks & Scribbles

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In general, you could call Laura Pakrow a minimalist. I say that because from a distance her works look like undulating monochromatic shields or emblems. And at first glance they tend to look very similar, but closer inspection reveals all the tiny and wonderful details. It was hard to pick two pieces that would fully represent her oeuvre because the more you look, the more differences you see, both in mood and execution. Please click to enlarge.
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She covers a lot of bases as she manipulates and maneuvers within her world and pretty much every work is a winner.

Take a look at the works on her page at the Rosenfeld Gallery and you'll understand my comment about minimalism. But you'll need to visit her Website to see all her work and enjoy the sophisticated candor with which these works speak and to appreciate the full range of her repertoire.

Artist Statements are a funny thing. Hers is short, sweet and enigmatic, but I almost feel like I understand what is meant. There's definitely a lot of commitment to each piece. Some are packed full with dots, marks and scribbles, while other have more breathing room.

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Enigmatic Marks & Gestures

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Steven Poser is a psychoanalyst in New York City with a studio in the Hudson Valley. While some of his works are obvious landscapes, most are unusual, fascinating abstracts made with marks and gestures; all are untitled, leaving you to your own imaginings.
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These images are from Carrie Haddad Gallery via Gallery Driver, where you can compare the 23 different manifestations of his oeuvre.
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He's also represented by Art Rent & Lease. They have 24 examples of his work with more of the landscape type.
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Kitsch With Dots

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Works by Christina Niederberger have a feel of luxury about them. The comparison that comes to mind is a family with enough financial stability to thoroughly and inventively fix up the " nursery" for a new child. There's some sort of quiet exuberance going on here; a calculated happiness. But alas, it's all about kitsch. You can read her (pdf) Article Here.

I'm fascinated that when she attended the University of Bern from '81 to '89, her main subject was Psychology with secondary subjects being Pedagogy and Psychopathology.

Dots ? The woman does dots with abandon. They might look like doilies, candy, poker chips or waterlilies, but the effect is always captivating and happy. She has several subsets to her oeuvre, each with it's own charm. She's represented by Jill George Gallery. To see all her work just click on Paintings in the left menu, then click on her name and then you can click on any of the 5 years, listed. I think you'll be a little surprised by the variations in her endeavors..

You may also want to check out her Research Student Profile at Goldsmiths University of London.

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Top images are from Jill George Gallery.

Bottom image from SwissInfo.
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Jumbled Words

As I studied these intimate and labor intensive pieces by Susie Grant, it piqued my interest as to what her Artist Statement might say. I was refreshingly surprised by the low key attitude she expressed. Simple and realistic, her Statement paints a picture of her thoroughly enjoying the work that goes into creating these small collages. Nothing super fantastic or earth shaking is going on here. Just a very creative and patient woman who doesn't mind taking the time to really, cut & paste with a sense of humor. Some of her pieces are pleasant abstracts composed entirely of different size and colored O's. Other works contain many letters that instantly set you to searching for words and phases.

It's unfortunate that there's not more about her on the Web; we'd like to see more by this talented artist.

These images are from her Website. Clicking on the images there, will show a closeup that lets you more fully appreciate the labor that has gone into these little gems.

This shows the detail from the image below.

This work is titled All I Have Is What I remember, a collage on 11" x 10"panel.

Line/Form & Color

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There's a wonderful comfortableness to the Line & Color Drawings by Stacy Elaine Dacheux. For me it was all-too-familiar artistic territory. So many of my own works included words that I'd colored-in some of the closed spaces. These drawings represent the basic building blocks of almost all painting; the sketching and then the painting-in of those spaces as the subject matter gets fleshed out.

And there's also something very art-historical about these pieces. The more you look at them, the more artists come to mind. There's such a calm, rational beauty here that evokes many a well known master. As intriguing as the shapes are, some of her gestures are reminiscent of letters and we find ourselves searching for words.

.You'll find 10 larger examples of these works on her Website by clicking flora & fauna. These images are from the 14 examples she has on her Flickr page.
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Firework Drawings

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Many an artist has tried to capture the beauty and excitement of fireworks in painting or photography, but Rosemarie Fiore actually uses the fireworks themselves to produce the lovely works you see here. These are collages, really and it's fascinating to read about the process.

She's represented by Priska C. Juschka Fine Art where they have images of her work, installation shots and pictures of her "working"(like the one below).

You'll certainly want to visit her Website to see more of her work. Be sure to check out the Projects page; she's got some other wild stuff that's pretty fascinating. You'll enjoy watching her "bombing" as she explains her oeuvre in this YouTube video.

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Easy Art

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There are several things about this image that give me great pleasure. It's always such a happy surprise to find works of art like this that remind you that simple, casual ideas really can work.
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And the interaction between the two adults and child is quite fascinating. I don't know what the relationships are here and they might not even be discussing the painting, but the whole thing is just so cozy.

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The image is from a post about the - Lincart Gallery in collaboration with David de Rothschild's Adventure Ecology & Sculpt the Future Foundation: SMART Art ­ Trash into Treasure - Exhibit on the Art Business Site, which posts reviews and pics of exhibits in San Francisco.

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