Posts Tagged ‘california artists’
I’ve been following the work of Tim Biskup for some time now. Born and raised in Southern California, his work is colorful and abundant. I was especially impressed with his 100 Paintings book, filled with “his bizarre world of oozing monsters, delicate birds and abstract flourishes”.*
Joey Chou is a multi-talented artist who produces imaginative and beautifully rendered illustrations. His artistic style is extremely happy and cute, so it’s no surprise that he’s done lots of concept work for companies like Disney, most recently illustrating the “It’s a Small World” book. His range of characters and themes is impressive to say the least.
Mindy Shapero is an artist based in Los Angeles who creates sculptures and installations that are filled with funky shapes and forms evocative of elements one might find on another planet. Mindy is extremely talented at composing surreal forms that have a captivating organic quality about them.
“Painting I think is one of the great human miracles, in that it attempts, in my view, to make alternate little worlds which are in some ways made parallel to worlds which may be close to the world, but finally which are little worlds in themselves. This gives us when we think about it, like literature, like other forms of art, a kind of expanded world that we can inhabit as well.”—Wayne Thiebaud, in a conversation with Susan Krane of the San Jose Museum of Art
[ image via SFMOMA ]
Love these interesting paintings by Natalie Zigal from her series Dissections of Mythological Beasts. Originally from the Bay Area, Natalie now lives in Culver City, California where she works as a content artist for Mattel.
[ via kotterpin.blogspot.com ]
L.A. artist Mark Bradford’s abstract, large-scale mixed media paintings are big, colorful compositions to behold in person, loaded with all kinds of funky organic shapes, metallic paints, and glue remnants from peeled away surfaces, as a result of layers and layers of paper manipulated with nylon string, caulking, and sanding.
Mark hails from Leimert Park in South Central Los Angeles, where he used to create signs for his mother’s beauty shop. He went on to study art at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and now maintains studio space in the same building that once housed his mother’s hair salon.
“I always made stuff but never thought, I’m going to be an artist. I was in charge of painting signs at the beauty shop (PRESS AND CURL $25; JHERI CURL $45). I did home movies. About the time I was 7, I got really into black-exploitation films, so I made my own Wonder Woman, but I made her black.” —Mark Bradford via nymag.com
Mark’s work is currently on view until October 10th at:
Wexner Center for the Arts
The Ohio State University
1871 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43210
The exhibition will also travel to the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
[ via wexarts.org and sikkemajenkinsco.com ]
Barbara Kelley is a painter and printmaker who runs Moon Catcher Studio, located right by the Pacific Ocean two hours north of San Francisco, in Sea Ranch, California. Her paintings have a dreamy, ethereal hint to them, and her vibrant colors pack a powerful punch of energy. When describing her art practice, Barbara lists the following among her arsenal of unique printmaking supplies: “salt, vegetable oil, alcohol, antique laces, embossed papers, and found objects such as leaves, sea weeds, bird feathers, nests from birds and wasps, and even the skin shed from a Pennsylvania Black Snake.” Barbara’s work can be found in collections in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States.
When asked about her artistic influences, Barbara recalls: “My work is influenced by many things, including places I’ve lived or traveled to, Alaska, New Mexico, Washington, China, England, among others, or images and ideas from a good book or troubling or joyous events. The colors and shapes in paintings and prints become the visual language reflecting those experiences.”
Visit Barbara’s website to learn more.
Sandy Ostrau’s wonderful paintings are filled with lush splashes of colorful energy. Composed on location, Sandy paints iconic Northern California landscapes, adding her own distinct artistic zest. As a result, Sandy’s paintings have an indescribable magical element about them. Light spills dynamically down dizzying hillsides, telephone wires are braided together with thick brush strokes of sky, waves swallow tiny chunks of rock, and the sea and sky duel for dominance over the horizon line.
Culture Vixen’s Gayle Wheatley caught up with Sandy to discuss art and creative inspirations.
Gayle Wheatley: How did you get your start as an artist?
Sandy Ostrau: Even as a kid art was my thing. I drew and painted on everything through high school and into college studying Art History. I started selling hand painted furniture, clothing, and ceramics in the 90′s and had a contract for my designs with Nordstrom department stores selling silk screened designs as wearable art. My line was selling well but I was spending too much of my time on sales and business and less and less time on art so I closed up shop and began taking oil painting and drawing classes at the Palo Alto Art Center. I fell in love with oil, a very forgiving medium, and began to focus on plein-air landscape painting.
GW: What are some of your artistic inspirations?
SO: I found two fabulous teachers, Brigitte Curt and Jim Smyth and studied painting with them. Over the years I was influenced by Bay Area artists Seldon Gile and the Society of Six artists and many of the iconic artists of the Bay Area Figurative movement including Richard Diebenkorn and Elmer Bischoff. From this influence I have developed my own style of modern landscapes.
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Artists have long been inspired by the dramatic landscapes of California, giving The Golden State a unique and rich artistic history. Among the many art movements to develop out of California over the years, I’ve always been in love with one in particular: the Bay Area Figurative Movement. Initiated at the height of Abstract Expressionism in the 1950′s, the multi-wave movement sought to abandon non-objective abstraction, seeking a return to more figurative painting, specifically characterized by the colors and light indicative of California’s landscapes. Some of my favorite artists are those who pioneered this movement, namely Richard Diebenkorn, and Wayne Thiebaud. Spanning multiple decades, the movement continues to inspire contemporary California painters.
(Click Here to Read More About Dana Hooper…)
Born in Marina del Rey, CA, Jesse Wood also lived in New Mexico, Georgia and Massachusetts, before returning to New Mexico to paint. His iconic compositions recall elements from each of the places he visits.
[ via platformart.com ]
