Moebius

Jean "Moebius" Giraud is a prolific illustrator created and influenced countless works within our fantasy and sci-fi culture today. He worked on preliminary designs for such films as Alien, Tron, The Abyss, Masters of the Universe, The Fifth Element, and Willow. He has been a direct influence for major works such as Blade Runner.

Concept art for The Diva in Fifth Element (1997)

The style of his illustration is known as well for his rich imagination as the superb color use and attention to environmental detail.


Moebius is renown for his comic strip "Fort Navajo" and spinoff "Blueberry", and also for teaming with Stan Lee to make the “Silver Surfer: Parable,” published in 1988.


Moebius unfortunately passed away last year while fighting an illness; he was 73 years old.

It's Arbus TIME!

Artist of the week: is the lovely Diane Arbus!

Famous black and white photographer, she used 35 mm black and white film to capture her subjects which consisted of bizarre portraits. She loved to take photographs of "outsiders" aka strange stereotyped people or emotions and events. She created silver gelatin prints of her 35 mm film. She had some harsh critics claiming she was just winging it, but I think that's part of the charm. 

I find her pictures stunning. She captures this unusual moment that makes you observe every detail. It's shame she committed suicide in 1971. I think she would have continued to create wonderful photographs. Or maybe she wouldn't have been able to handle this modern world? Either way, I'm glad she used film because it's a permanent way of remembering her. 

Lesseus Woods

Architect Lebbeus Woods (1940-2012)  was an architect that dedicated his life to pushing the potential of architecture.  Even though few buildings wear his name he had an enormous influence on the field of architecture.  Much of his work were drawings of free thought that included recognizable areas destroyed by natural disaster or war and renderings of future cities.  Many pieces of his work is to be shown at SFMOMA this year.  

MICHAEL HUSSAR-CREEPTASTIC!

MICHAEL HUSSAR- I had a book of his work about 3 years ago and sadly let someone borrow it, never to be seen again. I love his work for the obvious dramatic antithesis of fashion and beauty. All dressed up and nowhere to go. It's stands as a reminder that nothing is ever as it seems. There is always some ugly underneath that is not shared. Also, they seem to have a nastalgic feeling of times past with sexual and religious references like the old Masters. While working in a very classical style he comes off very contemporary with his added grotesque, emotional and dramatic and truly dark and sometimes suicidal themes.

Matt Wisniewski

There is not much about the Matt Wisniewski, besides the fact that he was born in Philadelphia in 1990, and therefore is as young as many of the students here at Savannah College of Art and Design, and currently lives in New York. In an interview with “Design Tonic” online, he discusses about his process and says that he enjoys layering on top of his image and lightening and multiplying in Photoshop. He then begins to clean things up and match and contrast various parts. Currently still a student at New York’s Rochester Institute of Technology, he prefers to work with Photoshop rather than working with a paintbrush, although he has the technique down- as he has told other interviewers. As he has said before, “Photoshop is a lot more forgiving than traditional media. I can easily fix mistakes or experiment with an idea and completely erase those changes if I feel they don’t fit,” he said in an interview with LightBox. 

I chose to use his pieces of work for the last entry because they have always inspired my projects, especially since they have some sort of metaphorical meaning behind them, in one way or another. They are beautiful, simple, natural, yet modern.

-Ally Parfene

Maurizio Cattelan

A myth is a foundational narrative that may be based in truth or fiction but either way it tells a story of who we are. Thus self-consciousness is constructed by a shared narrative and helps us to give shape and even name our identity. If we think of identity in the usual terms of religion or nationalism, some examples of these mythological narratives include the King James Bible or the story of George Washington cutting down a cherry tree. But in the art world, there are strains of mythology that are built on identity formations like artist, curator, or critic.
But Cattelan also challenges more traditional mythologies such as Christianity. His Untitled, 2009, a taxidermied horse on its side with a wooden sign reading INRI staked in its flank, was placed in a dark gallery of dreamy Magritte paintings. This obviously references the Latin acronym inscribed on Jesus’ cross declaring him to be king of the Jews. But placed on a dead horse, a symbol of foolishness, what does this mean? In the Menil’s comment book there were some Christian visitors that were very much offended by this work, assuming that is was heretical along with Untitled, 2007, a sculpture of a woman face down and crucified in a shipping crate.

http://dailyserving.com/2010/06/maurizio-cattelan-is-there-life-before-death/

Visions of McKean

Dave McKean is an English illustrator with style notable for its mass inclusion of drawing, painting  photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. Thus, his visual style can hardly be identified according to the attributes of any one medium. Often times, his work forfeits any grounded realism and instead abstractly depicts a mood or atmosphere by seaming together various imagery almost like a crooked quilt.


Cover for Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman"

His work has been used for numerous book covers, and was notably seen in comic books such as Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum.


McKean's portrayal of Joker in "Arkham Asylum"

In 2005, he directed his first feature length film, MirrorMask, produced by Jim Henson Studios, with screenplay written by Neil Gaiman.

Scene from McKean's 2005 "MirrorMask"

He is currently writing and directing a new film, Luna, stated to be released early this year.

Corey Barksdale

Corey Barksdale is a local Atlanta artist who uses great textures and colorful elements. He mainly focuses on jazz and dance and creates paintings from normal canvases to huge murals. 

Joanna Zjawinska

Joanna Zjawinska was born in Poland where she began to paint at the early age of six. She earned her B.A. degree in 1972 from the School of Architecture in Warsaw. To follow her own dream of being an artist, Joanna then studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts where she perfected her unique style of oil and watercolor painting. In 1978 she was awarded a masters degree in Graphic Design with honors in painting from the academy which is one of the most prestigious school in Europe. In 1979 Joanna came to San Francisco with her husband, Mark, and daughter, Sonia, and formally launched her career.

Joanna’s paintings transport us to worlds of fantasy and elegance in images that explore complex, passionate relationships. Inspired by artists such as Vermeer, Degas and Sargent, Joanna expresses her passion for life, her family, her homeland and her adopted home. Her world is feminine and seductive.

Where her early paintings were filled with beautiful and chic people, theatrical scenery and voyeurism, her current work tells a simpler story. Still influenced by cinema, fashion and music, Zjawinska strives to create beauty in face and form, in landscape or abstract setting, and this theme remains integral to her work. She relies on strong composition and a deeper palette to create visions of mysterious women who seek and reveal passion.

http://angelakinggallery.com/joanna-zjawinska

Brett Manning

Brett Manning- I was first introduced to her work in Blue Canvas magazine. What drew me to her was the hair,  the beautiful textile designs and the overall feeling of home and comfort. She captures soulful moments in dreamlike  over tones. In an interview in Blue Canvas she said that, "the textures and patterns represent all that I love about life. They are comforting and warm, suggesting something warm, suggesting something to wrap yourself in, reassuring and repetitive but also ever changing."

"SLEEP SWEET"

"TIME DOES NOT EXIST"

 

Marc Quinn Planet

Now on permanent display at the Gardens by the in Singapore.  The sculpture was created in 2008 and is a depiction of Quinn's son as a sleeping baby and appears to hover above the ground.  The sleeping child fabricated from painted bronze and steel, designed to give the impression of being weightless and suspended in mid-air - despite the fact it weighs seven tons and 10 meters in length.

 

Giuseppe Licari’s Humus 2012

Humus 2012 by Giuseppe Licari
Ceiling construction, trees' roots, halogen lamps - dimensions variable 

Giuseppe Licari’s Humus 2012 presents these chandelier-like objects in a modern room filled with society in which these people can observe the root of the problem, literally. The installation is titled ‘humus’ because it “refers to the soil layer that is essential for the growth of trees and plants” which Licari said when asked. Typically when invited to view a presentation of artworks, the pieces are placed against the walls or even on the floors, however, in this case- the viewers had to flow about, trying to view the roots from above. It was as if they were trying to view this underground secret lair. This has much to do with the relationship between humankind and nature, and viewing the growth between the two and our relationship with nature itself. 

-Ally

-Bruno Zhu-

My search on random artists has brought the photographer Bruno Zhu to the blogging world of class ARTH 340.

He is a current photographer- based in London. He takes pictures of ordinary things in hopes of capturing something more like a pattern or something unexpected. He blows them up to a large C-photo print. It almost looks like a documentary- except the artist would disagree. His claim is he isn't too concerned with timing or location. He tries to see something in the mundane. Whatever you see, this is his artist statement and more of his images. 

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is an extraordinary, innovative British artist whose collaborations with nature produce uniquely personal and intense artworks. Using a seemingly endless range of natural materials—snow, ice, leaves, bark, rock, clay, stones, feathers petals, twigs—he creates outdoor sculpture that manifests, however fleeting, a sympathetic contact with the natural world. Before they disappear, or as they disappear, Goldsworthy, records his work in suburb color photographs. His pieces are really something beautiful to look at and experience.

Gavin Taylor

Depicted is an ancient african sculpture from 2,000 years ago.  It was discovered in the mud and made from terracotta.

choros

Choros, a short film by Michael Langan and Terah Maher, is an amazing piece of visual art. The short fill has all these fluid movements and they are all done by one dancer. The way that the film is edited reminded me of photographs by Edward Muybridge. The repetition is a really nice effect.

http://vimeo.com/langanfilms/choros

I Talk White

Rashid Johnson’s I Talk White, 2003 made quite the “talk”. His unique black and white photography work touched on a lot of race and racism and the importance of where the colors in the photograph sometimes do not literally mix in real, true life. The large scale photograph was sold at an auction on October 25th, 2008. 

The photograph itself looks as though someone took paste and went ahead and wrote “I TALK WHITE” on top of the photograph as if they were a two year old, and that is how the subject matter relates. It is a subject matter that we should not even have to deal with at this age. Minority should not even exist, but it does because we bring it up, and because we make a big deal of it. That is the only reason behind it all.


-Ally Parfene

On a current spanish artist fix!

My research paper is on Doris Salcedo (a columbian artist). So I thought why not research another spanish artist who is alive, still kickin' AND still making art? So I present:

Jose Merello!

A self taought artist, he is from Spain and was inspired by the Prado museum (PICASSO! Can you tell from his work?) I immediately saw influences of Matisse and Picasso in his artworks. Most of his subjects are women (oh that romantic spanish man lol) and he actually claims his chice of subject is due to his spanish nature! His artist statement is "The painting does not need so much circus not so many intellectual pretension. She must sprout of the clean soul of the man.”

It is a modern expressionism in my opinion and you can see that this is a current (as in the last 10 years) art piece. His color palette speaks to me since I love color and try to use it as often as possible. 

Theresa Brazen- Un/ Becoming Beautiful, 2006

I want to introduce Theresa Brazen. You may or may not have heard of her since she is from here. I have kept up with her though out the last 10 years and have watched her progress and grow as an artist. I enjoy her use of color, exaggerated features and text to explore intimate human emotion in her paintings and her willingness to explore the raw emotion that make some people uncomfortable and run away from.

If you go on her website you will experience videos that will show her pushing the boundaries of the human spirit. What is beauty? In the video Un/Becoming Beautiful, Brazen shows the everyday concerns and insecurities that women have. As she puts on more make-up to become the commercialized idea of beautiful she still says to herself that she is not beautiful. Then as she begins to aggressively take off the mask she reveals the true beauty that is her.

In 2011 Brazen, with no words spoken, she skillfully portrays the communication or the lack of between two people in Open House. I the video you watch the pain that happens when one's affections are misunderstood and then the blissful happiness when then his affections are reciprocated. 
www.brazenart.com/about.htmL
CHECK HER OUT! lI Lost My Appetite For You, 2007
UN/ BECOMING BEAUTIFUL,2006- VIDEO

Love

 


















A prominent artist of the pop movement was Robert Indiana. He called himself a sign painter, he incorporated symbols, signs and letters throughout his art. Indiana created poems, sculptures, paintings, silk screens and posters. His most famous sculpture is called Love and it was created in a time when the United States was consumed by the Vietnam War and it was more a symbol of Peace as well as one of the most celebrated works within the pop art movement around the world.

Neil Dawson- Horizon

Neil Dawson's sculpture here is displayed at Gibbs Farm along with many other site specific installations in New Zealand. He studied at Canterbury University School of Fine Arts, Melbourne. Dawson produces large sculptures made from welded and painted steel. This one specifically is called Horizons and was produced in 1994. The beauty of this sculpture is that from afar it looks like a simple painting done in the sky and almost looks unrealistic because of it's simple yet unique beauty. Horizons was one of the first works commissioned for the Gibb's Farm. Also it sits on one of the highest points of the farm making it possible to see from the road. It has a tromp l'oeil effect that "fools the eye" from a distance. It is ironic that something so mechanical and so sturdy can look so gentle, flowing in the wind.

http://gibbsfarm.org.nz/dawson.php

Daft Punk - Make Love

I have noticed that there has not been a lot of information up on the blog about music. It is as important to artistic creativity as well as the entire creative process. I felt it was necessary to post some information on the band Daft Punk. These 40 year old guys began gaining popularity in the 90's and decreased in the 2000's until the past little while when the techno era emerged again in popularity. Although now there is a vast difference of techno music and the different styles that came with it. Daft Punk is still one of the most original and artistic bands that can really help you work diligently and efficiently. Especially for me working as a VFX student here at SCAD. I am always behind a computer and I constantly need something to keep me working diligently. Daft Punk keeps me on beat while not distracting me with pop lyrics. The long song lengths also help to get you into a working rhythm. I hope you all enjoy this song remix called Make Love.

Daft Punk - Make Love - HLM Remix

RIP Richard Artschwager

I'm kind of seeing a morbid theme to my posts.....
Another artist bit the dust this year-

Richard Artschwager died 2013

He died on February 9th to be exact. He was a 60's artist who dabbled in paint and sculpture (I guess a bit of pop art and conceptual?). 

I would best describe these as weird versions of art furniture. He played with perspective and shape playing with his viewers perceptions. Shame he died, his stuff looks interesting. I wonder what prompted him to play with these odd shapes and why furniture like pieces? Is he challenging our thought and physical space of what we see as a chair?

Tara McPherson

Tara McPherson is one of my favorite illustrators, I actually just wrote a paper on her for another class. One of the reasons why I enjoy her work so much is because jest blends the world of fine art and graphic art so beautifully, and a lot of her has a modern version of surrealism to them.

McPherson has her BFA in Illustration, but she also minored in Fine Art when she was in college. I think this is one of the reasons her style is such a great mix of fine art and graphic art. She has her foot planted in the communication art world as well as having a grasp on amazing painting and drawing techniques. She is simply amazing, and I highly recommend checking her out if you like clean and beautiful artwork, that is a little strange at times. x

Judy Chicago - Power Play Series

Judy Chicago was born in Chicago on July 20, 1939. She considers herself an "artist, author, feminist, and educator" and has had her books published in foreign editions because of the fact that she exhibits her work all over the world such as Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Her Power Play series was created from 1982-87 and took on the role of a criticizing feminine standpoint on masculinity. The series consisted of drawings, paintings, weavings, cast paper and bronze relief. They are confrontational pieces that force the viewer to realize the issues of power and powerlessness that she is trying to get across between the male and female genders. Some of the pieces involve objects like guns or sexual dominance or abuse, but mainly they are faces of men portraying different emotions. The emotions are mostly anger, weeping, or a struggle for power.
She does a lot of disfigured male faces, and the way Chicago portrays them is very unpleasant, obviously stating in her work that she is a feminist artist.

http://www.judychicago.com/gallery.php?name=PowerPlay+Gallery

Jose Guizar

This project is called “Windows of New York.” Every week, Jose walks the streets of his city streets in New York and documents the neighborhood windows. After picking out windows of interest, he takes them into illustrator and makes magic happen. In his own words: ”I’m into all kinds of visual things, sharing good stuff with great people, and apparently, staring creepily at windows.”  According to his website, the artist states that the project is a product of countless steps of journey through the city streets, this is a collection of windows that somehow have caught my restless eye out from the never-ending buzz of the city. This project is part an ode to architecture and part a self-challenge to never stop looking up.  From SoHo to Hell’s Kitchen all the way up to the UES, New York City’s different flavors are all captured in Jose Guizar’s Windows Of New York series.  This artist was so fascinated by windows his hometown that he decided to keep track of them in a visual diary.  Each week a different window highlights the spirit of various Manhattan neighborhoods, and stirs our curiosity as well. left, 94 Bank St. in the West Village. As his website says, "I am a young Mexican graphic designer in New York City. Driven by curiosity and a constant desire to learn and evolve –among other more material things, of course–, I'm a devoted pursuer of the well-rounded designer utopia. I strive to create playful, clever, yet strong messages that let others communicate, and let me play entertainer."