Fresh Ideas

When is a painting not a painting ? In the case of Sarah Steinwachs, you'll forget that question as you're swept up in her luminous and sometimes glorious hand-cut paper and mixed media works. Please enlarge this image, from her Website and you'll understand completely. Then visit her Site for more palette-cleansing works.

Crude Portraits

George Condo has made a great career of painting his clown/monster-people "portraits" and his big Show at the New Museum provided plenty of those. Although I appreciate them and the stories they evoke, my true love are the works where he cuts up a bit; abstracts things with movement and gesture (especially his mixed media pieces). Most of those somehow remind me of De Kooning. This particular work goes even further, almost invoking graffiti and helps one to comprehend some of the inherent similarities in disparate art genres.

Image from AllArtNews.

Subliminal Iconography

I've had many a conversation with a fellow artist about how we humans learn from visual icons and how little it takes for our mind to recognize familiar shapes and work them into a context or train-of-though equation. Joshua Marsh teases us with his simple and colorful compositions of everyday objects and for just a moment we naively/innocently enjoy the "abstractions" before suddenly recognizing the familiar shape. These have the feel of old fashioned after-dinner jokes with friends.

Image is from his Website.

The Gist Of Things

.
.

.
Impressionism was a wonderful invention and tool that set us free to concentrate on painting our emotions rather than faithfully depicting facts. Choices about composition and color certainly revealed some of the artist's personality, but as we've moved forward through all the "isms' and movements in the art world, painting has become so much more about the artists themselves.

I made the right decision by visiting Philip Maltman's Website yesterday to see what he's been doing this year. As I viewed the new paintings it occurred to me that these represent the gist of things; these are ideas of landscapes. They are invoked feelings. His new paintings are lush and spatial and the detail images do very well on their own.
.
.

Re-photography

.
.

.
.
It's not an installation shot. This work, by Miriam Bohm, is a photograph of two photographs of more photographs. Is this another kind of 3-dimensional photography?
.
At first glance, we enter into the subject matter of the original pictures. Seconds pass and our mind tells us there are complications. And so we go about solving these intellectually stimulating, visual riddles.
.
This image is from her Show at Ratio 3 Gallery.
You'll find other images HERE with a Statement about her oeuvre.
.
.

Forever Bright

.

.
.
Michael Burges does a smashing job of painting abstracts on glass and then showing us the reverse side. It's kinda tricky, actually to paint in reverse, but these are par excellence. Because the front of the work is glass that can be cleaned well, these will remain eye-poppingly fresh.
.
This image is from his Show at Galerie Lausberg. Notice the small blurry abstract in the third image down on the installation page. Then visit his Artists Page to see additional images and you'll be amazed how he worked his technique; but in reverse.
.
Now that you're primed, you're in for an even bigger treat - visit his Website.
.
.

A Certain Green

.
.

.
.
For me, it's still fascinating, sometimes even enchanting to find artists who find a niche and plumb it thoroughly. Jos Van Merendonk is obsessed with chromium oxide (green) and is doing just fine - thank you very much.
For more examples of his work, you can visit his Website or visit the slide show Here (click on the picture).
.
Image is from LiveJournal, where you'll find more images.
.
.

Abstract Expressionist Graffiti

.

.

.
A first impression of Katrin Fridriks' paintings is that you're witnessing a collision between graffiti, cartoons and abstract expressionism. To say that these look like a joyful outburst would be an understatement. It is eye candy, for sure.
.
To get a handle on what she's doing, visit her Website for many types of images(pdf) - I would suggest starting with the Museum Link (on the right), first.
.
Seventeen seconds of her lovely smile and a kiss here.
Watch this Video of her painting a Land Rover to see how she works with her paints.
.
You really much watch this Vimeo of the Group Launch of Future Tense. What a fantastic Gallery and Show. More images from the Opening here.
.
Image from Arrested Motion.
.

Deceiving Lines

.

.
When you find out that these wonderful paintings by Chris Finley are computer manipulations of other images, it's more of a "Duh !" moment than a disappointment. And you still appreciate these "line" paintings even though the source image might have been a portrait.
You can read about that Here.
Acme Gallery has 14 examples of his work and do visit his Website.
.
The image is from Artnet where you'll find 11 images of his sculptures and paintings.
.

Circular Emotions

.
.

.
These lacquered paintings by Rusty Wolfe have a fascinating story behind them, which you can pursue in the Press section of his Website, where you'll also want to check out his sculptures. But for larger images so you can get a real good look at these babies, visit Rice/Polak Gallery and Evan Lurie Gallery.

.

Image is from Rice/Polak Gallery.
.

Adjusted Abstracts

.

.
Look a little closer at this painting by Miranda Parkes and you'll notice she's deftly cut some circles and then rotated them slightly to doctor the composition. This is such a sly manipulation that you're really not prepared for how she man-handles some of her painted canvases into objects both beautiful and alien. The image is from her current show at Jonathan Smart Gallery where the text, along with 5 images of her work acts as a primer about her oeuvre. And seeing those pieces first makes you really appreciate and enjoy the much bolder and brighter creations at Gallery 33. Whether she's familiar with the work of  Steven Parrino or not really doesn't matter; she's definitely her own woman with a solid train of thought.
.
More about her and a delicious painting here and here.
.

Icons for Icons

.

.
The recent big art story that MOCA will have an exhibit of Dennis Hopper's work, curated by Julian Schnabel should prove to be a very interesting start to Jeffrey Deitch's tenure there. And judging from what I've seen, Schnabel is the perfect choice.
If you've encountered a blank space, hearing the name Dennis Hopper, THIS will fill in the blanks quite nicely.
.
The image is from Ace Gallery.
.

Abstract Baroque

There's something inviting and familiar about the work of Alisa Margolis. At once abstract and floral, they demand further inspection of their atmospheric playgrounds. She's represented by and this image is from Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf. You'll find two older works (2005) and some informative text at Vilma Gold.
.

Impasto People As Pointillism

.

Upon seeing a few works by Juan Genoves for the first time, I was convinced that these were aerial photographs of people in some unusual places or that the plazas they were in were painted for special effects. After further investigation, it seemed that in some of his work he must be using little army figures and then photoshopping or digitally manipulating them in some manner; the perspectives and dimensions of the 'people" were just too real to be anything else. It wasn't until I watched this Video of him painting in his studio that the light came on. Seeing that these were in fact acrylic paintings really got me excited and my appreciation grew even more when I visited his Website. His site presents his work by decades and you'll be amazed at the turns his oeuvre has taken. But that still did not prepare me for the shock that you too will enjoy when you watch the following video and get to see some closeups of the "people". It's just unbelievable.

.

.

.
The image is from m.publico.es and the video is from his Website.
.
Originally spotted this artist on Avery McCarthy's Blog.

.

Speaking of Newspaper . . .

.

Artist Gordan Cheung uses the Financial Times stock listings as the ground for all his mixed media works. You can find out why, in an interview at myartspace. When you visit Gordan's Website, there's a nice video from one of his shows. His site provides plenty of images of his work, but it's nice to see the works in-context.

.

Lines, Dots, Flowers & Stripes

.



.


You need to experience the ever evolving oeuvre of Thierry Feuz for yourself. Just one or two images doesn't do him justice nor does it begin to relate how he feels about color and form. In the top image from his interview at DE51GN, we're not sure if what we're seeing is micro or macro. There's plenty of line, gesture, color and contrast in this lacquer and acrylic on canvas from his Gulfstream Series and it reels us in and causes us to ponder. Although it makes so much sense, you'll be surprised by the different directions he chooses to explore. Visit his Website where he's divided his work into 6 categories or Series. And reading the interview/reviews at these 3 Links from his site gives insight into his personality and work.

He's represented by Limn Art Gallery, with images from his exhibition.

Six images at Une Gallery.

And Kashyahildebrand New York has some installation shots of his stripe paintings.


Top image from DE51GN.
Bottom image from Limn Art Gallery.
.

Intense Painting

.

Kazuo Shiraga gets pretty physical with his paint. He'll even swing from a rope so he can paint with his feet.

The top image is from Artnet's coverage of the June, Modern & Contemporary Mallet Japan Auction and it sold for $11,218.

He's represented by, and you'll find some interesting images of his work at Annely Juda Fine Art. Just click on Gallery Artists and then his name.

.

This sweet little number by Kazuo will be coming up at auction; Christie's Rome: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 [Lot 140]Contemporary and Modern Art.

I make a habit of keeping up with the art auctions on Artnet - whether I'm perusing the catelogues of Upcoming Auctions or checking out what sold for what on their Recent Auction Results. It's quite an education !

.

.

Careful Contemporary Painting

.
If you're unaware of the work of Tomma Abts, it's high time you did some remedial work in your contemporary art studies; she commands a very special niche in our Art World.



But if you're like me you've seen and admired her work before and are amazed at how she just keeps on doing her very special, quality thing. The following quote is from a post in Horses Think, about her Show at the New Museum in '08. quote "I develop something without any preconceptions of what it is going to look like, so, to give it a meaning and sense of self-evidence, I try to define the forms precisely. They become, through the shadows, texture, etc., quite physical and therefore “real” and not an image of something else. The forms don’t stand for anything else, they don’t symbolize anything or describe anything outside of painting. They represent themselves."
-Tomma Abts in conversation with Peter Doig from 2004. unquote

Both images are from a Post in Contemporary Art Daily about her current Show at Giti Nourbakhsch. She's represented by David Zwirner Gallery and you'll find tons of images from her Exhibits at GreenGrassi from 2006 and earlier.

And for your convenience here are Image Search results from;
Google, Clusty and Yahoo.
.

Applied Paint

.
.

You'll have a ball exploring Marina Kassianidou's oeuvre. And just when you think you're getting a grip on it, she changes things a bit. Very interesting. This woman is obviously not doing realistic watercolors, here. When you visit her Website, check out Research to find out where she's coming from. It was way over my head, but who cares with entertaining work like this ?

.

You'll find 15 images of her work at re-title , Here and Here that are slightly bigger than what's on her website - makes it easier to see what's going on with the paint.

.

Scolloped Color

.
There's impasto painting and then there are these luscious creations by Wil Jansen which stun the senses. You'll find that she takes her work seriously and I'm sure there's forethought, but in general the feeling they convey is joyous abandon.

She's represented by and the top image is from the MDZ Art Gallery. The lower image is from her Website, which you'll want to visit to see all the variations of her beautiful oeuvre. Too bad there's not any information on her thought process. It's always nice to have a Wall Text or Artist Statement to explain the concept, but in the end, all art has to stand on it's own and I think this is pretty outstanding work.

.