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Sometimes you just need to take your paintings outside for an evening stroll… hm, maybe they’re jealous of the murals. These warm geometric landscapes are the work of Santa Fe / Bay Area artist Madeleine Tonzi. She’s currently working on pieces for an upcoming show at Hashimoto Contemporary {San Francisco} in November… but I couldn’t wait that long to write about her work!
Prolific. From what I can tell, American artist Daisy Patton is never NOT painting. These are just a few of the pieces she’s created in 2020… yeah. In a time when so many of us feel stunted by the state of the world, Daisy puts her head down and keeps on adding magenta washes, flowery wallpaper, and meticulous patterns to LARGE scale found images. There are so many things that get me all charged up when I look at Daisy’s work… first, there is so much female power in every single piece – a sisterhood, if you will. And secondly, they make me want to make really big things! The vibrant palettes, the combination of materials, and the scale… love, love, LOVE. Here is part of Daisy’s 2020 artist statement for this ongoing series, titled “Forgetting is so long”:
“By mixing painting with photography, I seek to lengthen Roland Barthes’ “moment of death” (the photograph) into a loving act of remembrance. Bright swathes of color and the use of painted floral patterns underline relationships and connections to the natural world and beyond, adorning and embellishing these relics with devotional marks of care. These nearly forgotten people are transfigured and “reborn” into a fantastical, liminal place that holds both beauty and joy, temporarily suspended from plunging fully into oblivion.”
Sigh. So good. And clearly, I have to show you the scale of some of these beauties, right? Right:
Damn.
My teeth hurt just looking at these beauties! I thought these ridiculously sweet oil paintings were a perfect way to usher in a new week. This is the work of San Francisco based artist Ingrid V. Wells, and all of these treats are part of her ongoing series, ‘Spectacle’. Here’s a little morsel from Ingrid’s artist statement:
Her work fancies the fantastic and humorous in theme and the charming, the kitschy, and the celebrity in subject. Wells’s paintings investigate the world of gendered consumerism and the ethics of fascination.
Now, who wants chocolate cupcakes for breakfast? YUM. ps. Ingrid’s work is available via Voss Gallery {San Francisco}.
These breathtaking portraits {oil on canvas} are the work of Ghana-born, now Portland-based artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. The scale, the color choices, and those stare into your soul gazes… chills. Here is Otis’ artist statement:
Otis Quaicoe’s figuration is built upon a palette where color becomes its own language of transformation, be it social, political or personal. These are images of empowerment and redemption, sophistication and humility, curiosity and quietude. Each figure becomes a symbol of the reclamation of cultural dignity, embracing the idea of origin and personal narrative as it relates to gender and race dynamics.
Neatly folded, pattern-covered, gouache shirts… uh, YES, PLEASE! What a brilliant way to approach a regular old rectangular panel! This is the work of UK based artist Hannah Knox, and I’m considering filling my entire closet with these beauties instead of actual clothes. If you feel the same, contact Hannah at hlknox@hotmail.com to inquire about purchasing… but FYI, she’s got a waiting list. Not surprised at all.
Acorns! Yep, I thought I’d just jump right in with the answer to your question of, “Wha?”. This is just one of many, many, many installations by American artist Julie Maren. It’s part of an ongoing series, titled “Biophilia”, and was installed in 2018 at Walker Fine Art {Denver}. How many acorns, you ask? Just over 800 acorn tops, each one filled with colorful paint! LOVE. Here is Julie’s story about this work, and how it came to be:
“Biophilia is a metaphor for interconnectedness. Each Biophilia (acorn top filled with material) represents an individual, beautiful and complete on its own. A group of Biophilia represents the synergy of a community as a whole.
Acorns, as seeds, are symbols of growth and unlimited potential. Just as one seed can grow into a massive oak that can plant a whole forest, the acorn teaches us about our own potential and what/ how/ who we share with the world. Through this metaphor, Biophilia provides a reminder of this relationship and our interconnectedness with our larger community and world.
“Biophilia” wall-sculptures are the result of my journey to take my paintings out of the confines of traditional square and rectangular canvases. I found paint filled acorn tops to be the perfect vehicle to transcend the omnipresent dot patterns in my paintings, indicative of space and time—and transform them into expansive, multi-dimensional murmurations of color and shadow—like coordinates on a three-dimensional grid.”
Community, unlimited potential, and hundreds of colorful ‘dots’… could I love this more? Nope. {You have to watch that speedy install video above. So. Many. Acorns.}
This is the work of German artist André Schulze … and three other artists: an unlisted artist who clearly loves horses, W.Engelhardt 1930, and J.Vahlert 1928. That’s right, these originals are painted on other originals. A lot of artists who work with vintage landscapes typically use mass-produced prints, but not André. Perhaps that’s because he has expertise in this area… yep, he’s also in the business of repair and restoration! He really knows what he’s doing… and then from time to time he turns your grandmother’s painting of a horse into a flamingo! I wrote about his work, that doesn’t have others’ work underneath it, way back in 2016, but when I found those horses I just had to show this ‘Vintage’ series. Here’s what Andre says about it:
“In my ‘Vintage’ series I am concerned with the restoration and remodeling of old paintings from the period between 1900 – 1960. I change the content of the picture with the utmost respect for the artist’s work and create a new work of art. It is particularly important to me not to destroy the work, but to enrich it. I am fascinated by the traces of aging and painting technique of my original works, which I also like to consciously leave in the picture. It is important to me to keep important areas in the original painting and to keep them visible.”
So good. Now, if you’d rather not have a smiley cruise ship entering your fjord, just go for the cleanup package… I, however, will take that cruise ship, an aqua cottage, and at least one or two flamingos.
Sigh. This dreaminess is the work of South African artist Leila Fanner. Quite a few of these pieces are oil on canvas, but you might also find pastel, acrylic, and gouache in there too. Most of the paintings above are from Leila’s ongoing ‘Picnic’ series… ahhh, drinking tea in a South African, flower-filled garden? That sounds perfect. Also, perfect… Leila’s enthusiasm. Literally. Here is part of her artist statement on the subject:
c. 1600, from Middle French enthousiasme (16c.) and directly from Late Latin enthusiasmus, from Greek enthousiasmos “to be inspired or possessed by God, be rapt, be in ecstasy,” from entheos “divinely inspired, possessed by God”
“The dominant focus as I work is the quality of my thoughts and the connection to emotion during the creative process. I always try to create from a place of inspired action or enthusiasm. Often, negative and painful thought patterns can come to the surface as one works, because art creation is a deeply cathartic experience. Solitude also evokes deeply held memories and emotions. Keeping my focus clear, honest and joyful is a discipline similar to meditation. This is the unseen ‘art’ that comes with each piece of work. My subject matter is either figurative or abstract representations of the ‘dream or unseen’ world, filled with versions of South African flora and fauna.”
Yes! Happy Monday… may your week be filled with “inspired action and enthusiasm”.
Weird. Portraits. Women … these are a few of my favorite things! These paintings are the work of Minnesota based artist Aniela Sobieski. I was going to describe them as dreamy, but depending on how you feel about birds on your face, some of them might be bordering on nightmarish. Anywho, you can find a few of her originals through Tory Gallery, or pick up a print in her shop.
“David Shrobe creates multi-layered portraits by repurposing everyday materials that he finds in his Harlem neighborhood. He disassembles furniture, separating wood from fabric and recombines them as supports for collage, painting and drawing. In doing so, he excavates history to create fragmented portraits that relate to his family history. Many of his works are oval in shape, and with their use of fabric, they bear a faint relationship to early daguerreian portrait photography, especially the early images of Frederick Douglass. By combining the found and repurposed materials of Harlem with the photographic history of African Americans, Shrobe produces new narratives that feel intimate and personal without being anchored to a specific time or place.”
Brilliant! David’s latest show just opened last weekend. ‘WALK THE AIR’ is at Steve Turner Gallery in Los Angeles from July 25 until August 29, 2020.
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