If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away---Henry David Thoreau

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Alex Gross: Pop Surrealist

Alex Gross is a painter working in LA. He attended Art Center College of Design, the school I used to visit in 1968-69 and dreamed of attending. Gross was an honor student there and received two faculty grants.

Gross' paintings have a classic realist look, but with a juxtaposition of odd subjects with themes of globalization, technology, Victorian photography, and Christianity.











Monday, December 20, 2010

Joe Coleman: A Disturbed Painter

Joe Coleman painstakingly paints his visions with a one hair brush using jeweler's magnifying glasses. His detailed Heironymous Bosch style paintings are often filled with grotesque images and "storyboards" of outlaws, serial killers, movie stars, self-portraits, friends and family, as well as religious images. Coleman thinks of himself as his own Jesus Christ. He is obsessed with the gross, violent, seamy side of life and collects disgusting items, such as body parts and artifacts from killers, for his Odditorium. To look at his paintings is like watching a circus sideshow or having a nightmare of the apocalypse or hell. We are dealing with a disturbed individual with a talent for painting the macabre.











Monday, December 13, 2010

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Gary Houston and Voodoo Catbox

Gary Houston is a graphic and poster artist located in Portland, Oregon who has been doing posters for many years. I saw his posters at a Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland and love his designs.



















Saturday, November 27, 2010

Ernst Fuchs: Visionary Artist

Ernst Fuchs is an Austrian visionary artist and one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (1948). He converted from Orthodox Judaism to Roman Catholicism in 1956. Christian themes can be found in many of his paintings. Fuchs is also a draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, poet, and singer. He was a friend of my favorite artist of all time, Salvador Dali.












Friday, November 26, 2010

Kre8: Airbrush Artist

Had Thanksgiving yesterday at my nephew's house in Scio, Oregon. He rebuilds old cars. Since I'm an artist he thought I might like to see the hood of a silver Chevy Impala he's working on. It was the artwork of Kre8 a 29 year old airbrush artist from Spokane, Washington. The detail was impressive. You can find his work at: http://www.kre8airbrushstudio.com/