Man Of Few Words

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Marcus may or may not be saying anything in his paintings - but he's not saying. By that I mean that he doesn't explain what the words say or do, other than to mention that his works incorporate "graffiti-esque" elements. Either way, I really like what's going on here and the way he treats language in his compositions.

The image is from Craighead Green Galley, but you'll find more images and more info at Markowicz Fine Art.

Beautiful Graffiti

JonOne is another graffiti artist who's came in from the cold to work on canvas and exhibit in galleries.  It's been a real pleasure to follow him; watching as his oeuvre matures. The current Show at Fabien Castanier Gallery is an example of just how beautiful graffiti can be. He still produces pieces with writing and writing gestures and the new abstracts are truly sweet.

This image is from Graffuturism, where you'll find more images of the A Beautiful Madness Exhibition.

Arrested Motion has an even more thorough visual coverage of the show.

Painting Math

If you're like me, the name Bernar Venet brings to mind some fantastic sculpture (including a recent show at Versailles). So it was interesting to find out that he did these paintings of mathematical equations. This image is from LuxArtAsia where you'll find more images and an interview.

Visit his Website and you'll be well rewarded for snooping around.

Words and Mark Making

Have you ever noticed or thought about just how little it takes for our minds to perceive an image. With only a few brush strokes or marks, our brain will leap to conclusions and "paint a picture", so to speak.

This particular work has plenty of effort put forth, but it still reminded me of  the ease with which we can evoke meaningful visuals and conjure moods. Adding words, a more advanced form of mark making, complicates things and slows us down while we search for concrete clues and meaning.

The artist is Gunter Ludwig and the image is from a really great Blog called just another masterpiece.

You'll find a nice slide show of his work HERE.

Words and Images

Brigitte Waldach works in red and combines words with images of people. The compositions are spare and powerful. I've always appreciated Eastern Drawings with their calligraphy, but here we can actually read the text. So we have a bit of a different spin on a very old eastern tradition of combining images with words.

Visit her Website for more images.

Image is from Archblog.

Just A Few Words

There seems to be some bumping going on within the walls of certain galleries these days, between works by fine artists and urban artists and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. It's almost a melding of the minds in this visual pursuit, and yet the different camps retain their own dogmas; proud to carry their banner of words into this brave new world of fashionable expression.

Read about Zavier Ellis' work Here or visit his Website.

In the end it's really nothing more that school-taughts and self-taughts trying to cross some "line".


Image from ichinichiichinin.blog45.fc2.com/blog-entry-475.html

Artist Signature

We usually think of an artist signing their name to the work to signal it's completion, but some have decided to use it as part of the composition. I was more impressed with Todd Kelly's efforts than others. This painting especially, caught my eye because it's slightly reminiscent of Andy Warhol's Death and Destruction Series (especially the Green Car Crash). Please click to enlarge. Using brushwork, spray paint and stencils he reaches out in several directions of experimentation, using his name as a cursive or hard-edged element. Some are playful, while others have the feel of a foot firmly planted in a good direction. He's represented by the Asya Geisberg Gallery, where you'll find installation shots of his 2011 Show as well and individual works.

This image from Anaba.

Writing In Abstracts

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There are many artists who incorporate writing into their paintings and James Walton Fox is one of them, but his oeuvre seems to go in three directions. In some of his works, like the one above from his page at the Tria Gallery, the writing is an integral part of the colorful, abstract composition. In others, it's all about the writing and he manages to make that the star of the show. And then there are the paintings that are so Joan Mitchell-esk that they'll blow your mind. Many of his works also have some thicker brush strokes that are calligraphic in nature-only; harmonizing with the writing and abstraction nicely.
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A visit to his Website will show you what  mean.
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Dear Diary . . . .

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If it's angst you're looking for, Alice Leach is your woman. The statement on her Blog talks about keeping a daily diary, but I think you too will come to the conclusion that these aren't really daily record keeping, but conceptual role-playing. Someone with this much anxiety over a failed relationship really should seek help and if you compare the diaries visually, you'll notice they're always open to the middle pages (there are other clues too).
Regardless, they are powerful, weighty works and you really must visit her site so you can click to enlarge these beautiful monstrosities. There are so many variations that you're sure to find a favorite.
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Image from her blog.
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Abstracts With Writing Gestures

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You can't help but love the works of Moe Brooker. Fresh and alive, they all tend to brighten your mood. What especially attracts me are all the calligraphic lines, marks and gestures that look like writing in his paintings. You can find out more about him by reading this post at the art blog, where they have 6 pix of their studio visit with him. And there's nothing like meeting the man himself in this short YouTube.

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He's represented by the Sande Webster Gallery in Philadelphia, where you'll find more images.
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These images are from their Website.
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Colorful Notes

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Beautiful, haunting, ugly are words that simultaneously come to mind when viewing the work of Ashlynn Browning. The Works On Paper section of her Website has nine pages of images and these have more of the words and writing elements that I'm attracted to. You'll find four installation shots HERE. The works are nicely framed in a well lit gallery and just sing. I'm sure you'll find her work interesting and entertaining.
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Words On Paintings

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Writing on/in paintings is nothing new and you'd be surprised at how far back this practice goes. But it's become quite common these days, with many an artist putting words center stage in their work. Julian Schnabel was never shy about writing on his paintings. In fact, he was never too shy about anything. If I remember the story correctly, back in the day he was the darling of the art world and then fell out of favor, but making some critically acclaimed art movies resuscitated his career and now he's getting a second look at the painting he's continued to do all along. To make my point - ArtCritical gives one of his shows a bad review in '03 and then in 2005, does a good review of a different show and rethinks their position. He's most famous for his Plate Paintings, which are actually pretty cool. What prompted this post was seeing his work at Ace Gallery and remembering how some of his work really moves me.

Robilant & Voena have 85 images of his work, from 1995 through 2008, but this really doesn't totally represent him properly, so you'll want to do more researching before finalizing your opinion about this out-sized character and his meandering oeuvre.
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Image is from Galerie Hughie.
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Painting With Writing.

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There's usually a whole lot of writing going on in Jumaldi Alfi's paintings, but with just a couple simple elements he anchors the picture as a landscape and gives us some dimensionality. Born in 1973, he's already had a work sell at Sotheby's for $35,000 US. OneArtWorld has a page with 10 of his paintings that sold at various Sotheby's Auctions and is as good a place as any to get a sense of his work.

Google has plenty of images and Art Radar Asia has an interview that helps fill in a lot of blanks.

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Image from Artnet.

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Loopy Lines & Lotsa Color

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Most of Janet Lage's paintings just seem so darn happy. I don't know what it is; the loopy lines, the almost-Easter-colors, but somehow they boost my spirit. She certainly qualifies for a post on this Blog and I especially like four of the paintings in her Hose Me series, painted on board, because they have even more writing and writing gestures in them.

She gives us no Statement about her work, but I found this on her Art Review page -

" ...Up against it in the studio. Four weeks before my solo show, Hose Me. Very simple answer, the series is informed by every day garden hoses. That was the platform and then I play with both imagery and language when referring to being "Hosed". " - which gives a little insight into her sense of humor.

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Both images are from her Website - besides the Galleries, be sure to check out her Archive to see all the rest of her work.

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Floral Inspirations

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There's still a bouquet of cut flowers, flanked by two half-burned candles on the dining room table. They're now faded and wilted and they remind me of the story behind a series of paintings by Fereydoun Ave, titled Lal Dahlias. I can't seem to find the original story which paints the picture of a depressed artist who's mother passes and he fills his apartment with dahlias and suddenly finds inspiration and begins a manic whirlwind of artistic activity focused on the now wilted and dying dahlias.



This image is from a review of that Show, in the DubaiLime. You'll find 6 more images from that Show Here and a picture of the artist with several of the works Here. It takes quite a bit of searching several search engines to come across any more images from that Exhibit, which then gives you a better feel for the variety of styles and materials he used.
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You might also want to check out his Persian Miniatures.
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Northern Perspective

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From studying architecture, to working for a gold exploration project in the Arctic, to designing postage stamps for Greenland, Ina Rosing certainly has an interesting life to inform her oeuvre. Her mixed technique includes bursts of color and writing in the paintings. Although she uses crayons and spray paint, her passion is to - " . . . make the oil paint work in different ways and talk in different voices. My main concern when I paint is the paint itself. The colour and texture is more important to me than the subject matter." This partial quote is from her BIO at GV Art London. You can view installation shots of her Show, The Importance of Beauty and also view many more images of the work in the catalogue (pdf).


When you visit her Website, you'll need to other click and then choose "open link" to enlarge the thumbnails.


Image is from Amelia's Magazine.
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Writing In Paintings

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It doesn't matter whether it's readable or not, paintings with writing in them or on them attract me like a high voltage magnet. For me there's just something amazing about written words as content and composition.

Ludmila Pawlowska's oeuvre is at once masculine and yet there's no mistaking the feminine side. Maybe that comes from the feeling that her paintings are constructions rather than just brushwork. You'll find a beautiful blue painting and she describes her work Here.
She's represented by Galeri Elise Toft where you'll find 10 images.
Ludmila is also represented by the Tapper-Popermajer Art Gallery where you'll find 14 other images of her work.
You'll get a better picture of this interesting woman by wandering around her studio.



Top image from Galeri Elise Toft.

Bottom image from the Tapper-Popermajer art gallery.
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Another Art Hero

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Calligraphy and graffiti can be very ordered forms of gesture and writing. If we travel a little further afield, where mark-making, scribbling and writing converge, that's where we'll find Hans Staudacher. If you're unfamiliar with the man's work I've included plenty of links that will wet your appetite for more from this important artist.

Galerie Ernst Hilger has a 3 paragraph Bio that explains his oeuvre. As you look at the 19 images of his work, notice the dates and you'll more fully appreciate the influences in his career.

Galerie Gergersdorfer has 6 images Here, and 7 more Here.
You'll find another 8 images at the Judith Walker Galerie.
And for 4 totally huge enlargements of his work, Galerie Seidler has 3 0n This page and 1 at the bottom of This page

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The top image is from jmcfaber.

The painting, from Galerie Gergersdorfer.
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Graphic Paintings

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M. Muhraddin's oeuvre has writing, collage, texture and lots of drama. Each work feels like a complete, light meal with a different flavor. You'll really enjoy visiting his Website where he's done us a tremendous favor by presenting his work in such a way that we can see the progression through his career. You can read a brief biography Here. Another important tidbit of information can be found Here.

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Both images are from his website.

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One-Off

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Dolan Geiman does include text in his pieces, so he certainly qualifies to be listed on this Blog. But this work in particular is a little unusual for his oeuvre and with my research for the previous Post fresh in my mind, I couldn't help but notice how this has a very Twomblyish feel to it.
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Regardless, you'll want to visit his Website and check out his charming, homespun work. From shadow box-collages and 3-D Constructions to Prints and Paintings, you'll find his new Americana to be very interesting.

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