Author Archives: Aaron Berger

Josh Orion Kermiet Finds the Breaking Point

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Portland artist Josh Orion Kermiet creates mixed media, collage, and video/animation works that provide a sense of being right on the brink. With swirling, interwoven texture and color, Kermiet illustrates that transient, awesome “breaking point” period when we are able to sense both planes of existence; when the tangible material of earth is propped right up against  dark matter and shadows. The artist creates images that testify to the beauty of the moment right when everything begins to fall apart. Perhaps it is only in such moments that we are able to experience the clarity derived from simultaneously envisioning what things once were, and what they are going to become.

In 2011, Kermiet released Free Spirit, a collaborative zine with Jeff Kriksciun and Raf Spielman (of Portland label Eggy Records) through Container Corps.

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Sif Itona Westerberg- Conjured Nostalgia

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Sif Itona Westerberg, working out of Copenhagen,  crafts organic, twisted sculptures and nostalgic textile work infused with elements of delicious 80′s hardcore. And for good measure, she also renders tributary graphite drawings in a cemented, clear-cut vision; you know, just so we stay on the same page. She’s recently exhibited such work within immersive gallery installations that economically work toward the creation of an overall effective, dripping ode to the last two decades of the twentieth century (she pulls off the backlight).

But what business does Westerberg, born in 1985, have in the composition of a body of work based on iconography and experience that had all but died by the time she reached her teens? Perhaps, a good amount. This work is a wonderfully executed exercise in the common experience of conjured nostalgia- pining for experiences you never had. For through the process of remembering that which you don’t actually remember , you are able to present an account much more infused with spirit and holism. When did facts ever help anyone, anyway?

Sif Itona Westerberg is currently showing a series of collaborative work with Asbjørn Skou (Armsrock) at MOHS exhibit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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James Reka

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Just because everyone and their mother is doing graffiti and “street art” these days -rendering the talent pool watered down and chunky like a hasty batch of kool-aid, doesn’t mean the form has reached its peak and the guys who actually know what they’re doing should hang up the gloves. James Reka, of Melbourne, Australia, knows what he’s doing. Reka just killed a solo show at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne, and released “Pissing in the Wind”, a book of risograph prints documenting the life and times of the Aussie artist. Hope to see him in the ‘States soon.

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James Moore Does It All

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In today’s environment, it’s often hard to get noticed if you only do one thing. Even if you do it very well. It seems, sometimes, you just gotta do it all. NYC resident James Moore seems to have his fingers in almost every mode of expression imaginable. And he’s not afraid to get them dirty. Really nice to see a guy who’s bringing as much raditude to his graphic art as he is to mind-blowing sculpture and installation work. Moore is fresh off a great group show at Kunsthalle Galapagos in Brooklyn, and my eyes can’t get enough of his new work.

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Matt Bahen- Life in Death

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Toronto artist Matt Bahen creates thick oil paintings of desolate scenery and, often, dogs. Tweaked just right, the lighting in Bahen’s work almost renders itself the subject in each respective canvas, creating a sense that the elements most “alive” in his world are not, in fact, animate. Scavenging dogs and dying foliage or crops are often the only living organisms depicted in Bahen’s most recent work. And though a veritable source of  action, these elements often serve more as secondary, blended, narrative connections than primary statements. In keeping with the aesthetics of B/D, this body of work presents a perfect opportunity to  draw as much life from the dead as from the living. Bahen is currently showing at LE Gallery in Toronto in a solo exhibition entitled “After Wolves.” If you’re up that way, do not miss out.

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Nicholas Alan Cope’s Motion And Texture Photographs

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Nicholas Alan Cope is a photographer based in Los Angeles. Aside from heavy commercial engagements, he creates wonderful, stark pictures that turn the mundane into extraordinarily arresting figures of motion and texture. He’s recently collaborated with Dustin Edward Arnold (see above image), and the results are mind-blowing. See Cope’s personal work and more Arnold collabs after the jump.

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Matt Relkin

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Matt Relkin, of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, possesses a strong graphic sense, and uses it to create paintings full of impact and wonder. He has a piece in a Brian Eno tribute show, “Another Green World,” at Beep Beep Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Video Watch: Hennessy Youngman’s “Art Thoughtz”

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NYC via Philly-based artist, Jayson Musson, (previously), has periodically posted videos to Youtube for about a year now under the header “Art Thoughtz.” In the videos, Musson assumes the identity of satirical figure Hennessy Youngman, a hilarious HipHop head-cum-fine art critic.  Youngman’s brand of satire is the best there is: “make fun of everyone and everything.” So far, Musson’s taken on art world figures as varied as Damien Hirst, Kehinde Wiley, and Marina Abromović, and applied his unique logic in lampooning concepts like institutional critique, surrealism, beauty, and socio/political art. Watch the latest “Art Thoughtz” after the jump.

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