Swiss artist Daniele Buetti’s light box constructions feature punctured holes that emit light from beneath the surface of the image creating a glowing highlight to the images of the distressed models and adding poetic text and musings to her provocative works.
San Francisco basked photographer Kelly Nicolaisen’s boldly colored images splash electric colors into everyday scenes and mundane situations. Creating quirky narratives that range from the playful to the absurd, Nicholaisen’s fresh takes on life create a sense of irony and humor by reversing the usual gestalt expectation that the figure is always at the foreground.
For his first solo exhibition in the United States, Belgian artist Jan De Vliegher creates a series of monumental paintings which reference the artist’s obsessive hunt for otherwise overlooked porcelain plates. United in their ritualistic and repetitive compositions the series of circular abstractions reveal De Vliegher’s fascination with the painting experience while also speaking to broader themes of contemporary collecting.
Like a cultural anthropologist, De Vliegher meticulously documents his varied sources of inspiration in their traditional museum context. The lush colors, dramatic brushstrokes and overpowering scale of his work, however, starkly diverge from the otherwise controlled subject matter. The subsequent rush-infused paintings transcend their representational qualities and assume the commanding presence of contemporary abstractions. In the same way Baselitz’s act of turning his paintings upside down avoided a literal and linear interpretation, De Vliegher ignores the differences within the distinct plate genres—from French Rococo to Qing dynasty—and imbues the work with a palpable essence that is reflective of the artist’s unique, energetic input.
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Min Hyung’s elaborate paintings and sculptures include every material under the sun. Never one to shy away from experimentation and unconventional mediums, Hyung mixes wrapping paper, oil paint, spray paint, puzzle pieces, metallic paper, fabric, and even something called “sparkling paper” into her densely painted narrative paintings. Old master painting, science, history, fashion,and pop culture references all work their way into her work as a way to introduce familiarity and entry points into her thick and gooey works that tell the tale of unseen worlds.
Chris Jones creates sculptures composed of fragmented images from magazines and used books that are beautiful, frightening, and exquisitely detailed: a macabre headless horse, a 19th century stagecoach, a disheveled TV.
For his recent solo show at Marc Straus, Jones worked in New York and was interested in the history of the Lower Eastside and this specific gallery space. Based on his impressions, he created a fantastical trading post replete with sundry items such as shovels, bear heads, and lamps echoing this area’s early 19th century and this building’s evolution from a tenement to a store for varied immigrant trades. It is also an homage to THE STORE that Claes Oldenburg opened nearby in 1961, selling his food-like handmade Paper Mache objects.
Jones’ work mimics the way in which we assimilate and process the world using our own personal histories and memories as a base to develop new connections. Jones has called on his own memories (through an art historic lens) and the viewers are in turn prompted to call upon their past to create their own personal stories as they relate to these wondrous pieces.
You may remember Michelle Matson from the second season of Bravo TV’s Work Of Art reality series. Most of the artists work on the show was mild at best but I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon Matson’s website recently while following a never ending path of artist website links.
Created out of thousands of cut pieces of paper, lots of glue, and a dose of comedy, Matson’s grotesque figures are busy shooting chains out of their behinds, having their faces melt off, hoarding animals, and hanging off disco balls in the club during a very complicated dance move. All these works and more can be seen after the jump.
Emilio Gomariz creates gorgeous videos using simple experiments with digital media. Manipulating software’s such as Quicktime and photoshop, keyboard shortcuts, and various saving and opening patterns Gomariz makes transcendental videos that will make you think “Why didn’t I think of that?”More videos after the jump.
is a printed book series and daily art blog with a focus on experimental, grotesque, and groundbreaking art.
hat methi: these pictures are very... hat methi: these pictures are very...
pepa prieto: Thank you very much ! Amir+...
easton: Genius. I do not throw that term...
Ben: Awesome and devastating….
mark: they remind me of R. Crumb drawings
Amy gee: I love the softness of this art
Sadie F: perfection.
bill: cool images, nice interview!
Kris Bazen: These are INSANE!!! Made me...
