Leo Villareal

Leo Villareal is an installation artist that most commonly works with LED lights and computer programming. Last spring he had an exhibit at the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia. Villareal's pieces vary in size and color. One of his biggest pieces is in San Francisco, called The Bay Lights. The Bay Lights is a visually stunning light show on the San Francisco bridge.

See the Bay Lights video, here

A T.rex Named Sue

This really cool exhibit for kids called, A T.rex Named Sue, has the largest and most complete tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found. This exhibit is super interactive so that kids can understand it better buy using the hands on displays to interact with it.  You ca even smell some the things that the T-rex would smell.

http://mommypoppins.com/newyorkcitykids/cool-new-museum-exhibit-for-kids-a-trex-named-sue 

The Gray Allegories: Cognition. Preliminary work of my graphic novel series.

 Cognition is the second of a four segment graphic novel series I hope to have published. Each segment chronicles a new era, each subsequent to one another, and changes the perspective around as far as which character(s) you follow. After the events of the first book, one character, Rain, is held captive and induced to a psychosis so to manipulate a neurological device he has permanently installed in him.
The second book follows Rain as he is forced into a psychedelic odyssey through his own mind, confronting embodiments and manifestations of his fears, past, and aspects of his persona. As he endures this fabricated landscape, the associates and friends of his underground community attempt to infiltrate the ward in which he is being held in, as well as the very realm of Rain's mind.
These illustrations and page layouts are my earliest attempts at fleshing the novel/imagery out. I already am 1000% more enlightened as to what I could do better since starting at SCAD and hope to bring a full story to a reading audience in the near future.

           

                    Page 7 of excerpt                                       Page 8 of excerpt

 

Page 14 of excerpt

This page is an example of my attempt to use color for representation. I'm currently planning to incorporate three other tones beside B&W, each hue meaning something different. In this case, the Violet color is to tell you that what you're seeing is back in reality (not in Rain's mind). Sometimes, there's a mix of imagery from both his mind and reality overlapping, and this helps differentiate the two.

Character demo: Rain and Lexi

Character demo: Atom and Redcinn

"Hysteria"

This last piece I painted in oils and is inspired by a particular scene from my novel. The imagery is supposed to be a humanoid figure (a "node" if you will) containing suppressed emotional energy. In the novel, there's fields of these guys, and one character, Redcinn, disrupts one, which causes a chain reaction and each 'node' begins releasing the energy in a storm like explosion...

I'm looking forward to refining and building upon what I currently have fleshed out as I progress in SCAD. Stay tuned for updates at flickr.com/phantomspire...

Mert and Marcus

Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot (Mert and Marcus) are a photographer-duo specializing in fashion photography.  The duo are one of the most sought-after and recognized fashion photographers of my time.

Mert, from Turkey, and Marcus, from Whales met in England in the mid-nineties.  While  one was a musician and the other worked in graphic design, the two had a fun group of friends that they would take photos of after going out to clubs.  Marcus originally was Mert's photography assistant, until they decided to join forces.

Mert and Marcus regularly shoot for magazines such as Vogue (USA and Italia), W, Numero, Dazed and Confused and designers such as Roberto Cavalli, Giorgio Armani and Fendi.

http://colonized-mind.com/2010/01/15/mert-alas-a-fashion-icon-interview-by-navo/

Alex Grey and Spirituality

Alex Grey is a spiritual and psychological artist. His methods of exploration in both the physical and spiritual realms of art are phenomenally unique and showcase not only a talent for intense detail but absolutely perfect tessellation as well.

His line work as well as his color schemes both blend together to create sonic landscapes of the inner human atmosphere. His influence has ranged from the gallery to the musical world as he has done artwork for the rock band "Tool". Alex Grey is a personal favorite of mine and I hope that you all enjoy him.

Light Play was built for Toronto's annul Arts and Creativity Festival, Luminato in 2008.  Light play is a take on a 1950's dance hall. The orbs react change color and react to the sounds of the audience and live music. Over 1,000,000 people attended the free festival and participated in dance lessons.

Source material: http://www.contemporist.com/2008/11/14/light-play-at-luminato-by-michael-levine-and-kpmb/

One MIllion Bones

       The One Million Bones Project is a social art project started by installation artist Naomi Natale in 2009. The goal is to collect one-million handmade bones and display them on the National Mall in Washington D.C. later this year. This project was inspired by a necessary relief and awareness effort in response to genocide in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The reason I am posting this is the SCAD sculpture program is participating in this effort and had our first bone-making session this past Saturday.  We will be doing this again during another Saturday during the quarter and the effort is open to anybody interested.

www.onemillionbones.org

Broken Circle

Robert Smithson's Broken Circle

Completed in the summer of 1971, a little over a year after the Spiral Jetty piece, Robert Smithson's Broken Circle is an earthwork piece located in Emmen, Holland. In a similar fashion to the Spiral Jetty (and roughly the same size in terms of width/diameter), the Broken Circle is also set off the coast of a body of water.

INSIDE OUT

The article features the works of artist Clarina Bezzola. According to the article, her creation does not limit only to three-dimensional forms but she blends performance art, poetry, fiber sculpture and song to form a unique form of art. In addition, she stated that her works are representations of her feelings and human psychology with which she make visible through creating something that utterly describes it. Furthermore, she asserted that her art focuses primarily on giving colors to things which other people often miss to see, as well as express the inexpressible. Her focus on theatrical garments imbued with meaning and presence can be worn in performances or exhibited as sculptures. For Bezzola, disguising the body becomes an exaggerated and performing action that can be used to explore cultural and societal boundaries, examining issues of isolation, security, and identity. Similar to Nick Cave's 'Sound Suits' and how they reflect African American culture and are inspired by African ceremonial dress. Bezzola's armor-like apparatuses, composed of fabric or metal, acts as shields or barriers. INSIDE OUT

Marco Mazzoni is an amazing Italian artist, who was born in 1982. He uses almost exclusively colored pencils in his work. Mazzoni can tend to be both light and heavy handed. In really dark areas where one might think he is using ink, he is actually utilizing the burnishing technique, or pressing down really hard. Here is a link to his tumblr, I highly recommend checking him out if you think colored pencil is a very limited medium, or you simply like colored pencil drawings.

Baptiste Debombourg

AÉRIAL by baptiste debombourg

This site-specific installation titled Aerial is shown at the Abbey Brauweiler in Germany It took the French artist Baptiste Debombourg 420 hours and two tons of glass to accomplish. The description to this artwork is simple and clear: The mind is everything. The material is the servant of spiritual.

“Destruction, like construction, is a human expression and a paradox of life because it is can be both good and evil. My personal point of view is that destruction is inevitably linked to repair.” The French artist often utilises shattered glass and other elements of the sort in most of his works to play with the opposing ideas of construction and deconstruction. His installations are always eye-catching, larger than life and they are usually shown in galleries, outdoor sites and in public spaces. He also documents all the time and material spent creating each work, asking the rhetorical question, “What if I were the first artist to get paid by the hour?” 

I like how his works always strike to capture the typical moments which nature has so much control over and human beings seem so weak in comparison. He tries to re-create the beauty of nature's destruction with these mind-blowing artworks using human-made materials like shattered glass. To me, it is almost like saying us, human-beings, can be as powerful as nature but in a constructive way.

This lovely black and white image is a photograph taken by Sally Mann. She is an American photographer (still alive!). Her photographs were admired and scorned by spectators. 

      Most of her known works are black and white photographs of her children. The ones I will post of of her kids at her family's cabin. While most of these images do have a lot of naked kids running about, her intention was to capture their growth- that relationship where puberty takes you from child to adult and the awkwardness  She also captures the relationships her children have with other children and their parents (looking at their mother through the lens and a touching portait with their father). 

      So where does the scorn come from? Well, the Wall Street Journal did not take kindly to naked little girls being displayed and actually censored an image. She also got a lot of backlash for an image of her child's nosebleed. She was actually told by a lawyer to not carry more than 8 photographs or she could be arrested for child pornography (shock!) 

       Despite the random negative nancies of the world, I find her photographs beautiful. She managed to capture her kids in a light most wouldn't see- like a private moment but not invasive. Kinda hard to make puberty and growing up look beautiful in my opinion. I remember it being awkward but I see a light in her images that I don't recall. Maybe that's how my own mother saw me..... you know?

The Voice of Winds - Kazunori Matsumura

Accessed on Hifrustose.com

Accessed on Hifrustose.com

Since I love interactive art I chose to write about this installation at the  Post Design Gallery in Milan. I think this exhibit is meaningful and fun. Japanese artist Kazunori Matsumura designed this Tree shaped pipe that has great meaning, I loved what his inspiration was behind creating this piece. In my opinion much of my art work has been personal and I think this is very personal by him stating that primitive Japanese people believed that the wind was worshipped and sacred. He also explains that the tree shape makes it also look like animal bones.To make the piece in the shape of the tree gives it a natural feel and makes it interesting. I like the shadow that it makes while hanging in the air. The audio makes it feel like you are out in nature listening to the atmosphere around you. The fact that the public can interact/touch/feel/see/hear the piece also makes it very interesting. I wish I could go see it personally. I enjoyed watching the video. I'll be on his site to see more of his work. 

“The Japanese primitive people recognized the wind as voice of heaven. The people worshiped the wind as sacrament and listened carefully the voice. The people thought that the wind has personality,” - Kazunori Matsumura 

http://hifructose.com/2013/01/28/video-kazunori-matsumuras-the-voice-of-winds-sound-installation/

If you would like to view more of his work this link below will direct you to his site. Enjoy.

Kazunori Matsumura

Seddlec Ossuary-Bone Church

 Seddlec Ossuary also known as the Bone Church or Church of Bones may seem like a regular Chapel from the outside but its inside will surprise anyone. It is located in the Czech Republic in the suburbs of Kutna Hora. It is decorated with over 40,000 human skeletons. It dates back to 1278 when the King of Bohemia sent the abbot of the Sedlec Cistercian Monastery to Jerusalem. When he returned he brought a jar of soil from the Golgothan. It was considered holy soil. Shortly after people from all over the world requested to be buried in Sedlec. Soon the Cementary had to be expanded. In the 15th Century a Gothic Church was built near the cementery. The bones remained there for centuries until artist Frantisek Rint was appointed to redecorate. He decided to  use them for chandeliers, wall mounts, columns, and altars. It is considered one of the top places to see and although it might sound like a macabre place it manages to attract tourist from all over the world year round. Critics today consider it a form of Conceptual art because of the story behind it. A sort of play on faith, hope and death. 40,000 people once wished to be buried there for its holiness and centuries later they make part of art and history without having any say so in it.

http://www.sedlecossuary.com/

Francesca Woodman

Many photographs capture your eye, but sometimes, the story behind the photographs seem to capture your heart even more.

Francesca Woodman, a talented young woman born to well-known George Woodman and Betty Woodman artists of Colorado found herself in the same line of work after attending many summers in Italy, Rhode Island School of Art, and eventually landing in New York City. However, she did not see her work ending up anywhere, and for that reason, depression and her first suicide attempt came about. Unfortunately, her second suicide attempt outside the windows of her loft in New York killed her at the age of twenty-two. The most dreadful part of it all is that her portfolio was a masterpiece. 

I am not a photography major, but her photography is much like poetry. Many have compared it to Sylvia Plath’s work, but in a visual form. 

http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/past/exhibit/4432

-Alexandra Parfene

Esao Andrews

Esao Andrews is my personal favorite artist. At 35 he lives in Mesa, Arizona painting regularly. He has created all of the album covers of one of my favorite bands Circa Survive. He combines Gothic grotesque, erotic subject matter and surrealism to really create an interesting subject matter. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York and claims that he works in his own movement. He calls this movement, Pop Surreal: Cartoon-Tainted Abstract-Surrealism. He is an interesting person but is set on doing his own thing and not following the crowd. In an interview by the NY Arts Magazine in 2007 he stated “…I'm afraid of becoming labeled. I'm young and I'm early in my career, but things have been picking up, and I've become obsessed with this issue. Like, I don't want to be known as one of those people that paint wide-eyed girls. I've been trying to diversify my subject matter and not necessarily always include funny elements like I usually do.” His use of color really is helpful in making each of his paintings very different in terms of color and mood. 

Below are a few examples of his work:

Burning Man-Populist Art

Burning Man was first put together to reconnect art and life with a crowd of 90. It has now grown into a large-scale venue for new art, now deemed Populist art that draws visitors from all over the world. It's every year at the end of summer and and has is a celebration that includes a Solstice ceremony, a fashion show, dj's and plenty of people roaming in and out of one another's camps doing God knows what. Well..........
Populist Art:  Lowbrow, or lowbrow art,^[1] describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s. Lowbrow is a widespread populist art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture, and other subcultures. It is also often known by the name pop surrealism. Lowbrow art often has a sense of humor - sometimes the humor is gleeful, sometimes impish, and sometimes it is a sarcastic comment.^[2]
Most lowbrow artworks are paintings, but there are also toys, digital art, and sculpture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man

Here a just a couple of the installations that have been done in the past. Go to Burningman.com to find out more about the event

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