I remember seeing one of Jason Holley’s illustration a few years back in one of the Communication Arts Illustration annuals. I bookmarked the page and kept referencing it for inspiration. As far as I know he only recently put up a website. His work continues to inspire.
Brooklyn based photographer Kevin Cooley has a flair for making the world captured through his lens look ‘other worldly’. The stark color in his contemplative imagery equates to photographic art and his attention to craftsmanship insures a spectacular result.
I remember seeing Antony Micallef’s work a few years ago on the cover of one of the Semi Permanent books. I only recently finally stumbled across his website and was just completely blown away by his work. It’s sincerely amazing.
Quoted from Wikipedia:
“Born in Swindon, England and a graduate in Fine Arts from the University of Plymouth, some of Micallef’s work illustrates many contemporary cultural aspects and connects them with the human experience. His use of neutral colors and depictions of the human form delve beyond pop culture and bring to the surface many of the things that operate underneath the cultural construct. Aspects of Micallef’s work examines our dichotomous relationship with consumerism, questioning how we can despise multi-national brands yet still allow ourselves to be seduced by them. He frequently uses the union of two opposites to make an intriguing chemistry. Micallef’s practice has been summarized as ‘critical pop’, exposing the darker side of our consumerist society and the human condition.
His painting style has been compared to Francis Bacon and is seen as an amalgamation of influences from the old masters such as Caravaggio and Velázquez to more modern contemporary photographers and graphic artists. His depiction of the human body and mark making echo his teachings from John Virtue, who in turn was taught by Frank Auerbach. The rawness of expressionistic painterly marks is a stark contrast to the more graphic elements which surfaces throughout his work.”
Nicholas Bohac live and works in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco. He works with printmaking methods and acrylic based media to create his paintings and drawings whose subject matter is the ecological climate that we live in today.
I recently received an email regarding an upcoming exhibition curated by Transmission for the Sci-Fi London Film Festival. 21 excellent artists/designers/illustrators/photographers were tasked with submitting their vision of life in 2050 for the show including Universal Everything, Build, Mario Hugo, Alex Trochut, Will Sweeney, Jason Tozer, Panda Yoghurt, Graham Carter and Hort. The exhibition will take place at the Chapter One Gallery just off Carnaby Street in London, during mid April. One space is being left available for public submission. You can enter your submission and learn more about the exhibition at the Life In 2050 website.
The brilliant people behind It’s Nice That have published a book detailing the process involved in creating each individual project for the 4th annual If You Could Collaborate exhibition currently showing at the A Foundation Gallery, Rochelle School in London. Included are original sketches to the final pieces exhibited.
Contributing collaborators include: Anthony Burrill, Fred Butler, Margaret Calvert, Alison Carmichael, Marion Deuchars, Sara Fanelli, Karl Grandin, George Hardie, Hellovon, Mario Hugo, Riitta Ikonen, Oliver Jeffers, Max Lamb, Chrissie Macdonald, Michael Marriott, David OReilly, Damien Poulain, Praline, Rob Ryan, Timothy Saccenti, Leonardo Sonnoli, Julien Vallée, Craig Ward, Job Wouters, Roel Wouters and Ian Wright.
You can purchase a copy of the book here.
I can’t much confess to ever being into the toy craze but I do love me some 123 Klan, and they have just released their own little geo-graf-inspired versions of vinyl fellas. They are cool to look at but the price tag is definitely for the serious collector.
Photographer Julia Galdo seems to have a fun personality that shines through in the biographical section of her website. She was originally interested in marine biology but somehow found her way to photography. Thankfully so, as there are some beautifully composed fashion shots in her portfolio. She considers herself lucky but I think talent might be playing a small role.
Pie is a New Zealand based quarterly creative newspaper/zine that looks really nice and has some equally quality content to read. It’s also very reasonably priced. Inspiration served.
Canadian artist and illustrator Tara Dougans has some unusual pencil work in her Flickr folio of some piercing characters spilling personality right off the page.
Yu Cheng Hong is an illustrator, concept artist and motion designer based in Taipei, Taiwan. Although I can’t claim to be a fan of the Flash portfolio, there are large scale images at his site and his illustrations are incredibly elaborate and remarkably imaginative. It’s all well worth checking out and sitting patiently through any preloading.
I originally posted his work last summer but he has since updated with both a new site and some exceptional new work.
I can’t tell you much about Alecio Braga Junior other than I am guessing he might be Brazilian and I am loving some of his pencil work in his Flickr-folio.
Minchi is a rather inexplicable Japanese artist/illustrator who combines hand crafted illustration techniques like acrylic painting, gouache, oils, etc. with digital production. The subject matter is a bizarre mix of internal organs, food, sadomasochism and ocean life. Like I said, inexplicable.
Painter Nicole Gordon’s work is obviously influenced by Northern Renaissance painters like Bruegel and Hieronymus Bosch. Her paintings utilize surrealist environments to communicate the concept of sin. The mashup combination of old world inspiration with modern day subject matter manifests a particular tension in her work.
Her artist statement claims that her apocolyptic visions reflect hope and a possibility for change in an era where the destruction of the environment is par for the course in a post industrialized world that puts economy before ecosystem.
Norwegian illustrator Esra Røise has a large portfolio of attractive pencil and watercolor illustrations that are influenced by fashion.
Paris based photographer Ruben Brulat is only 21 years old and picked up a camera only 2 years ago. It became his passion almost overnight and he has not put down the camera since he first picked it up. His work is about capturing humanity and he is “fascinated by places where the beauty of human beings has gone”. I think these ideas are most evident in his series entitled ‘Primates’. The human form is almost lost within the natural landscape but when it is discovered it appears frail and childlike cradled by the serene yet harsh alien landscape. The imagery is extremely contemplative and it would be a thing to behold at a large scale in a gallery setting. Considering his young age, Brulat is someone to watch because he is a remarkable talent who will no doubt continue to grow.
Australian artist Ricky Swallow is able to achieve his work in both 2D and dimensionally via sculpture. That’s a rare ability and Swallow is highly capable at both. I lean more toward his sculptural work but his loose brush strokes still lend a sense of sculptural form to his subjects. Regardless of preference his talent is inarguable.
Russian illustrator, artist and photo retoucher Grape Frogg is responsible for some remarkable images that really spark the imagination. Frogg is a multi-talented and you can see an interesting array or work in the Frogg Behance-folio.
