Artist 50: Audrey Kawaski

This artist uses the same technique as one of my friends (who is more of a local artist and so doesn't qualify for the blog even though she's amazingly talented as you can see). She paints on wood panels and lets some of the wood tone come through in her paintings. This artist often uses it for skin tones. In general, it also seems to add an element of warmth to the paintings.



Which in this case helps to balance the weirdness of the subject matter. She paints girls that look to me like teenagers, but in very erotic way. Their poses and even their facial expressions are extremely seductive. It deals kind of with our ideas of innocence and the reality of teenage sexuality. It really feels upsetting just to look at them. But I think that's the point.

I also think that the wood complements her style in a really interesting way. Her style is very graphic almost like anime. Again it looks a lot like the style I used to draw in middle school. Most people who use this style would never paint on wood. But if there was too much shading and other stuff going on, the wood grain would get lost and it would all be too busy, and the wood grain adds an element of texture and warmth to round out the style.

Here is her website.

P.S. I'm done!

Artist 49: Laurent Seroussi

I have clearly saved one of the best for second to last. (That statement loses so much strength with all of the modifiers).



But seriously, I really like this photographer. He does a little bit of everything and it all seems to come out fantastically. A lot of it focuses on costuming and makeup which I always like. It also tends to have a surreal quality which is a winner with me too. But there's also a fairly strong conceptual aspect as well. With the costuming and the surrealism. For example, the bug series. The artist merges photos of women and photos of bugs which although still pretty creepy and frightening, draws attention to the beautiful patterns and intricacies of bugs. Something that most people don't really notice otherwise.

He has another series called seaties, which blends seascapes and cityscapes, in a way that helps the viewer to appreciate the complementary nature of both. The thing that most struck me about this series was the compositions. The two different kinds of landscapes balanced each other really well. The cityscape gave the pieces lines and movement, while the seascapes served as a kind of breath of space within or between the cityscapes.

Here is a link to his site.

Artist 48: Roland Morin

Ok, so I'm fairly sure this artist isn't internationally well known. But he does have shows across the country.
And I just like his art. And I like his style.

And because I know a lot of the point of this assignment is to learn how the art world works. Here are a couple reasons why he probably won't become internationally famous.

1. He says of his art, "I aim to make my message simple, something that speaks to the heart without having to negotiate lengthily with the head." I think this is a very lovely thought, but most of the more recognized contemporary artists do create pieces that are meant to draw you into a certain concept and baffle and confuse you until you've spent a ridiculous amount of time staring at one piece and thinking through that concept from every possible angle. This is a good and powerful thing. It's silly but really I think art can change the world, a little at a time. However, looking at these on a regular basis is exhausting. I definitely think there's a place for something that is just beautiful. That just makes you happy to look at it.

2. This one is actually an even bigger deal. He doesn't seem to be very prolific. It seems to be important, especially in the beginning to just produce as much art as possible. And having your own website helps too. This makes you accessible. Just like in music when you're starting out it helps to have a grass roots fan base behind you, the same is true about art.
See! I've learned so much already.

But now look at the paintings and see why I like this artist a lot. His style is very unique and uncomplicated.

Artist 47: Mona Hatoum

This artist works in installations. And her focus is one of my favorite things in the whole world: color!

This artist uses color associations to tell stories. Often, she plays on the dualities of the color's meanings. Irony is common. She uses the installation format itself as part of the storytelling often as well. The story adjusts as the viewer moves in and out throughout the installation based on changing assumptions and perceptions.

Her works often have political and social meaning as well. She is a Palestinian woman born in Lebanon and exiled to Great Britain. So, if anyone would have a lot to say about political and social issues, I imagine it would be her. And really her unique perspective adds a lot to her pieces.
I have to say globalization has done a lot for the development of contemporary art for sure.

Here is one web page I found with some information on her.

Artist 46: Jasper Johns

Because well, it's Jasper Johns.

I was lucky enough to see an exhibit of his at the Modern Art half of the Smithsonian once in high school. And back then I really didn't get it. Now that I'm a little older and wiser, I understand that he's kind of a big deal.

Johns paints things that are extremely familiar, like numbers and letters and the American flag. In that way, he was influenced by the da da movement. I guess, in that way, his work was also kind of similar to my last artist post. He takes something that is way overdone, common and ordinary, and paints it in a way that gives it a new life as art.

The exhibit I saw had a lot to do with the primary colors. There were pieces where red, yellow, and blue were written in different colors which also has psychological significance. It's a common psych trick to show someone a color's name in a different color font, and ask what color the word is written in. The person will usually instinctively say the word spelled out even though they know that actually it's the other color.
It also had sculptural elements to it, which at the time was my favorite element. Now, I find it confusing to the concepts he's exploring. He has hands coming out of different pieces. I think one of them was a target. Anyways, I'm not sure what that has to do with the conceptual meaning of the pieces, but I guess it is all as arbitrary as da da anyways so what does it matter, right?

Here's the PBS page on Johns.

Artist 45: Arkadiusz Makowski

This photographer intrigues me.

He takes a simple overdone idea like photos of butterflies, and explores it and expands it.
Some notes. The lighting in these photos is amazing. Often the light is filtered by one of the butterflies' wings. Or reflecting off the delicate petals of a flower. It gives them such a magical quality.

Also, the colors are amazing. So vibrant. Often the backgrounds are pastels, while the colors in the foreground tend to be slightly darker and more neutral, which emphasizes the stuff in the foreground.

Finally, the focus. It varies so dramatically from the foreground to the background. It gives it almost that painterly quality in the back where lots of pretty pastels kind of blur together while the butterfly and the amazing lighting on the flowers are super crisp and lovely.

I'm pretty sure it has to do with HDR, but it just goes to show something cliche can be great if it's done REALLY well.




Here is a link to his site, but good luck with the Polish.

Artist 44: Marco Mazzoni

This artist works in colored pencils. That just seems super ambitious to me. I liked colored pencils once upon a time, in middle school. But around when I discovered sharpies and painting I gave them up, because it is a time consuming medium. Mind you, I say that but one of my best friends loves to work in colored pencils, too and hers are amazing too. But really so time consuming and if you're going to make a serious piece it requires so much planning.

Anyways, this artist makes colored pencil portraits that just seem rich to me. I think it's something about the chiaroscuro and the hints of colors and the details and the lines. It just reminds me of an avant garde fashion show. But it has flowers and birds coming out of a person's mouth and covering their eyes so that they're almost part of that person's face. 

Some critiques. All of these birds and flowers look foreboding and dramatic and beautiful, and I'm sure there's some symbolism behind it, but I'm also sure I can't even figure out what themes it's dealing with. I'm also noticing that they're all very similar. Like basically seeing a few is enough to have the idea of them all. Like if he had a solo show I'd probably be there for five minutes and get bored. Which is a shame because his work is beautiful, and if he'd branch out more, I'm sure some of his symbolism would be more meaningful.

Here is a link.