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GOUACHE. He did this with gouache!? These are a few recent pieces from UK based artist Tom Butler. His delicate, tiny, wispy brushstrokes transform these proper subjects, on their vintage Albumen prints, into hair-covered wonders {that I’m quite sure Diane Arbus would love to photograph}. I found Tom’s beautifully bizarre work through Charlie Smith London.
Aaaaaand I’ve been transported to the desert… ok, except for that lovely mountain lake, but I had to include it! This is the vibrant work of California based painter Ariel Lee. These gouache on paper pieces (!?) are currently part of a two-person show (with ceramicist Maria Paz) at Hey There Projects in Joshua Tree, CA. The show, titled ‘Further Than I Can See’, runs until September 13, 2019.
Gasp! These oil paintings are the latest work of American painter Jennifer Nehrbass. I wrote about her collage-like paintings a few years ago, but when I stumbled across her most recent series, titled “Pioneer Project”, well, this post wrote itself. Hyper-real portraits living harmoniously with flat geometrics, colorful gradients, all on large-scale canvas (48″x30″) … LOVE!
I don’t usually suffer from FOMO, but I definitely wish I could see this show in New York! Summer Mixer, at Joshua Liner Gallery, features the work of some of my favorite artists… from Arno Beck‘s typewriter landscapes, Jen Stark‘s dizzying pieces, the gorgeous abstracts of Kathryn Macnaughton, and Mark Wagner‘s cut up cash to the colorful sculptures of Stephen Ormandy, Terri Loewenthal‘s vibrant photographs, and – of course – brand new funny and fantastic text paintings by Wayne White. WHAT? How can I possibly be missing this!? If you, however, happen to be in New York, you don’t have to miss it. Summer Mixer runs until August 23, 2019.
“This Time Will Be Different*: A 365 Painting Project” … and it was, because she just finished her last painting! This project is the work of American artist Megan Foldenauer. I’ve written about her candy paintings before, but I always love a good art challenge and, boy oh boy, she nailed this one. Each day of the week had a theme (a trick that kept her engaged and motivated). The pieces above are just a few of my favorites taken from “Junk in Your Trunk Tuesdays”, because seashells, mixed tapes, friendship pins and tiny pink Barbie shoes are my kind o’ junk! Here are Megan’s words about this series:
“In the past, I’d just wing my 365 projects and rapidly run out of ideas. Devising a new object every day becomes exhausting fast, leading to dread, and that doesn’t jibe with happy art-making. This time I’m out-smarting myself with several pre-emptive moves – a one-hour time limit per day for painting creation, creating the paintings a day in advance (so I’m not posting them the day-of at 11:59pm), a stockpile of 400 sheets of paper already “torn down” to the perfect uniform size, [themes for each day of the week], and a veritable cornucopia of references that I amassed before the project started.”
Very clever, beautifully painted, and ridiculously fun! Check out the other days of the week – including “Foodie Fridays” and “Taxidermy Thursdays” – on Megan’s site. ps. She will be having a ONE NIGHT SHOW… TONIGHT! Yep. All 365 pieces will be on display from 5-11pm, and you should go if you are anywhere near 108 Pearl Street, Ypsilanti, Michigan (aka Pearl Street Studios).
Oh my word… I have so many theme songs playing in my head right now. Sitcoms and art? Two of my favorite things brought together in washy watercolor goodness! These pieces are all from the, you guessed it, “Sitcom Series” by American artist Kelly Inouye. Here are her words about this work:
“‘Sitcom Series’ was inspired by the nostalgic relationship I felt toward the television shows I watched as a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, a bygone era that was not that long ago. The idea came about through conversations with co-workers and friends about why we remembered so many trivial details from these shows, yet frequently forgot more important things like social security numbers or impending deadlines. I started using watercolor in its loosest form to depict these characters in an effort to amplify that sense of odd sentimentality and test the boundaries of just how much information was needed to make a recognition. As time passes and these images become dated, their complexity and cultural significance evolves.”
Yes, yes they do. Sigh. Thank you for being a friend.
Sigh. I love absolutely everything about the portraits (some of friends, some self portraits) of Brooklyn based painter Jenny Morgan. I wrote about her years ago (2012), and have been watching her ever since… not in a creepy way, just in an ‘Oh my word – look at her insane painting skills, the vibrant color palettes and those haunting eyes that look directly into your soul’ kind of way. Happy Monday.
Yep, you always have to look a little closer when enjoying the work of American painter Amy Bennett… what seems like a lovely, quiet, small town scene often has a little something extra going on, just begging the viewer to build a narrative in their own minds. Honestly, as a lover of mysteries, I kind of wish each of her paintings came with an in-depth ’20/20′ episode so I could really get to the bottom of things. Her latest solo show opens TODAY, July 11 from 6-8pm at Miles McEnery Gallery {520 West 21st Street, NYC} and runs until August 16, 2019.
Gasp! As a lover of small, collected, special treasures this wall-mounted mandala, made up of 84 pieces of loveliness {oil on board}, is calling my name! This work, titled “The Under Glow”, is just one of the many reasons I love the very personal work of Australian artist Naomi Zouwer {including object “portraits” of her family}. Her portfolio is filled to the brim with beautifully painted keepsakes, which on their own might seem trivial, but together? Well, they become their own beautiful language.
[Naomi] focuses on small domestic objects that are part of daily life. They are a mixture of functional and non-functional items; precious in terms of memories, they are keepsakes, souvenirs, some are whole and some just fragments. Zouwer’s painting of objects enhances their quality and raises their status so that they become worthy of sustained attention.
Love.
Ah, the past and present beautifully brought together in these colorful, narrative, large-scale oil paintings are the work of Vancouver-born, New York based artist Delphine Hennelly. Earlier this year she did an interview with Two Coats of Paint, and talked about this body of work:
“For these paintings, I was looking at a lot of work from the French pre-revolution period. With the ubiquitous image of couple and dog I have been eager to pin down a certain feeling of unrest and sociopolitical anxiety. The costume would be a nod to the notion or warning, whichever way you want to look at it, “History here repeating itself” in a domestic scene in its most benign form.”
And the stories – I have questions! Who are those people and, um, is that blue/yellow sheep okay?
“I’m not trying to tell a story about my life, and there’s no real person that this represents in my mind. But then they also become weirdly real because it does enter my thinking. It’s unavoidable. I feel you can’t get away from yourself or your histories. This might sound silly, but I saw all of a sudden the guy in Country Matters kind of looks like my son Leo. He has the look of a grown-up toddler. In a way, this was my son growing bigger than me, and that would be me, and I’m mourning the loss of his childhood. Also in the same painting, I didn’t realize the sheep appeared dead until the painting was up on the wall, out of the studio and everyone was talking about it being dead. Meanwhile, the dog in the other paintings is not the same as the sheep. It’s about fidelity, partnership, companionship. The sheep is something else, and I am OK with it appearing as though it’s on its way out, so to speak. I think Country Matters is ultimately about loss of innocence. There is a bit of a sadness in that painting. The sheep is the harbinger of that feeling. More importantly, the fact that the sheep’s “death” is ambiguous, lends a kind of farcical bend to the narrative. And that would be where my intentionality would lie.”
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