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Pointillist Constructivism ?

2014-04-09T20:52:00.000-04:00

How do you categorize the beautiful and mesmerizing work of Chris Fennell? It's certainly Pointillist and Contemporary and I wonder if he ever gave that a thought; his concept seems to be full of newer ideas rather than old. Visit his Website for images and information.

Image is from The Drawing Center.

Out, damn spot !

2014-04-08T20:11:00.000-04:00

Adrian Navarro's spots come at you with a force that compels you to notice; burning their image into your retina (in a good way). His paintings almost shout "party time!" and they're a welcome relief from the doldrums of this past winter. This particular piece is from his Spaces Series. You can check out more of his work at http://www.adriannavarro.com/.

The image is from Spanish Tutor in London Updates.

Appropriated Feelings

2014-03-31T21:19:00.000-04:00

"to get 2 Have too keep"

For 12 years I've been going to Cape May, NJ for a late summer vacation with my youngest brother's family. Some nights we'd be on "our" beach and look across the bay and see the lights of Delaware. Well, the moment I first saw this picture in the NY Times, I could almost feel the wind blowing and it just took me right back to those summer nights. So I "captured" it by collaging it to the green background and it stayed like that for some time; always rekindling the memory. Then one day, a phrase came to me (the way it does with so many of my paintings) "to get, 2 have, too keep". After pondering the notion that this might tend to sum up our existence; what we do and what makes us happy, it just made sense to say it on this painting. Why does it say snake at the bottom ? Well, in the green abstraction, I saw a snake trying to gobble up the dream - so I gave him some white fangs and wrote "snake".

For me, this painting pretty much sums up how I think about and go about making my art.

Too Many Words

2013-12-03T20:28:00.000-05:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, what if you have a picture AND words. That's exactly what Thomas Zipp does: he combines a simple graphic and lots of words to give us a new hybrid that's lovely and readable.

You'll enjoy seeing more of these kinds of works on his page at Kaufmann Repetto.

Image from Kaufmann Repetto.

Pointillist Collage

2013-12-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

Each of Derek Cracco's pointillist collages has a specific theme that draws you in for a closer look. You can see more of these beautiful and interesting works on his Website.

Image is from http://derekcracco.com/home.html

Paint Pointillism

2013-11-29T19:59:00.002-05:00

I get the feeling that Zander Blom has a deep respect for paint and applies it right out of the tube to unprimed canvas so that the staining makes a natural backdrop to showcase all these "pieces" of paint. These simple and straight-forward works say so much in a very quiet way.

You'll enjoy the other paintings and installation shots from his Show at the Stevenson Gallery.

Image from Stevenson Gallery.

Aces

2013-09-05T21:40:00.002-04:00

"Aces"

Cowboys; we think of them as the ultimate icons of manliness, strength and stability. To see this "cowboy" putting on his brace at the rodeo was quite a shock. Suddenly the whole myth evaporated and I was faced with the fact that this is just another day at work for this man and he was doing what it took to get through it.

Artistic Lie-sense

2013-08-03T11:40:00.000-04:00

as in - if you lie down for a while, things tend to make a little more sense.
Am currently vacationing at Seashore Campsites in Cape May, NJ.

You've probably noticed that posting has become almost none existent. That's mostly because I've been spending more time in the studio and also because the initial purpose of this blog has been satisfied. I do hope that you'll peruse the Artists (links) in the right hand column. It will give you just a small idea of how pervasive these genres are. And I would encourage you to Google any Artists that have a broken link. For all the people listed, I have at least as many more that I've never posted about and discovering all this varied art work has been a tremendous inspiration and validation for me.

Golfing For Dollars

2013-06-30T20:00:00.004-04:00

Looks to me like this guy's got the perfect stance and perfect swing: so I'd say 2 plus 2 equals fore !
And check out the look on his face. This guy is going for the gold.

click on image to enlarge.

Titled "Your Shogunistic", this is my latest endeavor with dots and collage.

Disco Collage

2013-06-17T20:23:00.001-04:00

Ah, the Disco. Plenty of memories there . . . .
Just finished this painting titled "Preposition" and early on it seemed to echo the atmosphere at the Disco. And by that I mean the club that I helped furbish and then later did the light show. I was going to try to paint the lighting effects of a mirror ball with mauve, chocolate and blue spots on it but realized soon enough that I wouldn't be able to properly translate my mental visuals into paint. For me, this painting says plenty and so I decided to stop and pronounce it done.

Collage, acrylic, pencil and pastel on canvas.

Say It With Paint

2013-06-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

EJ Hauser is yet another artist who paints words or phrases.

This image is from his Website, where you can see more of his work.

TheCompositional Strength of Dots

2013-05-28T20:04:00.002-04:00

Although Tomas Nakada describes his works as referencing patterns that are created by microscopic cells, their growth and migration; I'm again reminded of the power of using dots as the sole compositional tool and how far we've come since the Pointillists.

He's represented by Gallery Paule Anglim, where you'll see several variations on this theme and you can visit his Website.

This image is from Moon River (Blog).

Bubble Dots

2013-05-16T19:38:00.000-04:00

Who knew bubble-wrap could look so luscious ?

Quite an attractive painting by Matteo Callegari: it draws you in because you're curious - "is that texture ?" When you look at the installation shots of his show at Ramiken Crucible, you really don't have a clue; but visit the artist's Website where the backgrounds are close-ups and you suddenly "get it". They are amazing.

Dot Sampler

2013-04-07T20:10:00.000-04:00

A while back when Gagosian was doing the Damien Hirst Dot Extravaganza, a Blog named All About Art decided to do a Sampler, of sorts. There's more than a few pleasant surprises here and once again we're reminded of how so many different artists have their own take on any given genre.

If this has whet your appetite for all things, dots, you'll get some real satisfaction from checking out the artists in the far right column under the headings of - Paintings With Dots, Post Modern Pointillism, and Dottillism.

The image above is Joanne Mattera's "Cera 34", 2000 encaustic on panel, 24X24 inches; courtesy of Arden gallery via All About Art.

Man Of Few Words

2013-04-01T20:31:00.001-04:00

. . . or not.
Marcus may or may not be saying anything in his paintings - but he's not saying. By that I mean that he doesn't explain what the words say or do, other than to mention that his works incorporate "graffiti-esque" elements. Either way, I really like what's going on here and the way he treats language in his compositions.

The image is from Craighead Green Galley, but you'll find more images and more info at Markowicz Fine Art.

To The Bitter End

2013-03-24T19:47:00.000-04:00

I experienced a lot of different emotions while watching this video of Jean-Jacques Pigeon painting in his studio. It starts out interestingly enough with this artist working on a good sized canvas in a small studio space. But just when you think he's about finished with it, things take a dramatic turn and slowly I felt saddened by the waste of a good painting and paint. Thankfully I hung in there. The result is surprising. In the end the look on his face is worth the price of admission. And as for the painting - BRAVO !

You can come to your own conclusions.
Oh, and the music's really cool.

Dizzy Dots

2013-03-05T19:49:00.001-05:00

Michiko Itatani is yet another artist who uses dots to anchor their compositions. This simple rendition might bring a smile to your face, but study her other works and series and you start to get a sense of how seriously she takes these geometrical marks and how they play such an important role.

The above painting is from her Website, and in the Cosmic Theater Series.

Dot Your i's

2013-02-14T19:18:00.006-05:00

"Roman", 2013

What's different about this, my latest painting is that I formed the word Roman by putting blue masking tape on the under painting and then cutting to-shape with a razor blade. When the surrounding dots were finished I removed the blue tape to reveal the markings underneath. So far, the reactions have been favorable.

Pause or Finish

2013-01-27T19:40:00.000-05:00

Each artist tackles their paintings differently. Some have a master plan and work on sections at a time, others, like myself advance the piece in a general overall manner. And in doing so, there are "pause points' - times when one can sit back and thoroughly enjoy the visuals as they are and take one's time considering the next move.

At the moment, this particular painting with the working title of "run" is giving me great pleasure; so much so that I'm tempted to pronounce it "done". But there have been times in the past when I've been too anxious, and later regretted varnishing a work when further changes could have been made.

So I think I'll just take my time and enjoy this little number while it cures.

Martian Venus

2013-01-12T23:06:00.002-05:00

"Martian Venus"

Sometimes a little glare goes a long way.
In my rush to tweak this painting for a Show, I had it photographed before it was varnished. The lovely blue-glitter effect that you see is glare on the gloss medium from the extra lighting for the photo shoot. And I must say IMO, that it adds a lot to the painting.

Welcoming A New Year

2012-12-31T20:02:00.002-05:00

Wishing all of us a wonderful, Happy New Year !

Enjoy the peaceful fireworks in my painting titled "The Really Truth".

(click to enlarge)

Curing A Painting

2012-12-27T11:59:00.000-05:00

Something amazing happens to paintings over time; they actually seem to cure. At least it would seem that way and I'm not completely convinced that it's all mental. While sorting through the images of all my paintings, I came across this picture of "Dream Canon" (the painting above), done in Georgia in the late 80's. Newly created works are always more harshly critiqued by the artist. But let a good bit of time go by and the emotional connection with it changes and it becomes easier to see and appreciate it in a new way.

The original under-painting was some sort of landscape with collage that I had circled areas of particular interest and then turned on it's right side and proceeded to cover with dots. I put the effort into building and painting a frame for it and remember thoroughly enjoying what I had accomplished. But seeing it now in this new context - well, I'm rather amazed by my own style and content.

Cacophonous Collage

2012-12-26T18:45:00.002-05:00

Does this look like "yelling' to you? This sure is some loud painting and collage by Despina Stokou and it gets your attention. Yet another example of words being the sole subject matter in a contemporary composition.

Image from Elemeno P Blog.

Merry Christmas 2012

2012-12-24T21:52:00.001-05:00

The end of the year goes so quickly; so many things that need to be done. The title of this painting is "Donny Bonn Donny Johnny" and the look on his face closely portrays my current attitude of trying to stay focused in the final surge in the year.

Wishing each of you a wonderful Christmas.

Connecting The Dots

2012-11-30T20:43:00.002-05:00

Presenting us with thoughts, topics, names, etc and their connections is not new, but it's one more way that Paule Hammer gets his point across. Visit his page at the Galerie Jette Rudolph to see his word painting, paintings with words, installations and some just plain weird stuff too.

Image is from Galerie Jette Rudolph.