Art and Me

Check out German painter, Cornelius Quabeck's new work at Stephen Friedman Gallery, currently on view (through March 6th). In his second solo show "Short Straw," the artist displays intuitive paintings and figurative compositions. While Quabeck's older paintings portray portraits of rock stars and fictional characters, his new works focuse on the natural world (inspired by a recent residency in Marin County, California).

Quabeck's style lies somewhere between abstract and figurative, and his works combine explosive tonal planes with fractured depictions of wildlife. His overlapping painting technique and fragmented brush strokes allow layers of paint to bleed into one another, creating a unique kaleidoscopic fusion of color and tone.

See what else is going on in London's thriving Art Scene

New York City's PaceWildenstein is currently displaying a group exhibition titled "On the Square" (through February 13, 2010)  that combines modern and contemporary work from sixteen of the most influential and talentented artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These artists include Josef Albers, Tara Donovan, Tony Feher, Dan Flavin, Alfred Jensen, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, Agnes Martin, Louise Nevelson, Ad Reinhardt, Lucas Samaras, Joel Shapiro, James Siena, Keith Tyson and Corban Walker.


The exhibition pays homage to the square, an elemental shape that has helped define the shape and practice of contemporary art. As a recent article from ArtDaily notes,

In the late 1960s, Sol LeWitt famously articulated the value of the square’s (or the cube’s) “uninteresting” form: “Released from the necessity of being significant in themselves, they can be better used as grammatical devices from which the work may proceed. The use of a square or cube obviates the necessity of inventing other forms and reserves their use for invention.” Indeed, “the square,” perhaps the most stabile, enduring, and neutral form, a New York art critic argued in her homage to this elemental form in 1967, provides a universal standard that is as attractive in its precision and neutrality to the space age as it was to early philosophers and theologians.”

From deconstruction to reconstruction, creation and re-dissolution[1], for the artists included in this exhibition, the square and its permutations have served as a frame for formal invention. Josef Albers, Alfred Jensen, and Ad Reinhardt used the square as the basic organizing framework for their systems of color theory. Albers once explained that he “prefer[red] to think of the square as a stage on which colors play as actors influencing each other—a visual excitement called interaction.” The arrangement of squares within Albers’Homage to the Squarepaintings and prints were “a convenient carrier” for his color “instrumentation”—a “container for and a dish to serve [his] cooking in.”

Visit PaceWildenstein at 32 East 57th Street to see how the artists utilize the square's form in creating their interesting and varied sculptures and paintings.

The work of Mexican artist, Gabriel Orozco, is somewhat of a fascinating mystery. After his sparsely-loaded displays of the 1990s, (at the MoMA and Marian Goodman Gallery) renowned museums around the world seemed to want a piece of him. He became the subject of admiring (yet scrutinizing) critiques and generated praise from many young artists, who saw him as a role-model. Almost a decade ago Orozco presented a career retrospective at LA's MOCA, and he is currently displaying an updated survey at the MoMA. It is perplexing to wonder why the artist has garnered such noise among the art world, but as a recent review from the NY Times reports,

He learned what he liked and didn’t like. He was turned off by the big, expensive painting that defined a bloated 1980s market. He was attracted to the spare, idea-driven, Dada-inflected art of older figures like John Cage, Joseph Beuys and Piero Manzoni, and Brazilian conceptualists like Cildo Meireles and Lygia Clark. Dodging commitments to mediums or styles, he took improvisation as his baseline method, and turned personal quirks into assets. Studios made him antsy, so he did without one. Instead he wandered, poked around, made art from what he found, often where he found it. Sometimes he created, added to or tweaked a situation. He photographed the results: a mist of warm breath on a dark wood surface; a pattern of circles traced by wet bicycle wheels; oranges, like little celestial bodies, placed, one per table, on a receding line of tables in a outdoor market.

Some of these photographs were in the 1993 MoMA show, along with the ball of soft clay that Mr. Orozco had rolled through Manhattan streets until it was black with grime. He hung the hammock in MoMA’s sculpture garden; anyone could use it. The fresh fruit? He arranged oranges in neat rows in apartment windows across the street from the museum. You looked up and there they were: bright dots connecting art and life.

 

The article also talks about Orozco's ability to invoke strong reactions from viewers (perhaps why he is so admired). At the artist's 1993 contribution to the Venice Biennale, he presented a single empty cardboard shoebox thrown on a gallery floor in order to display modesty, vulnerability in openness and to invite criticism. While other political and social connotations could also be considered as reasons why Orozco chose to display the lone shoebox, he succeeded in his goal of stirring reactions and discussion, as crowds gawked in delight and confusion at the display.

In the years since, Orozco's creations have become more complex and clever (such as a Ping-Pong table with a lily pond in the middle and four bicycles welded together, going "nowhere fast.") His current show at the MoMA depicts works that resemble those of early modernism (think Mondrian and the Bauhaus School). Again, his exact reasons of creation and the ideas behind his works are foggy - but that may be his point. The artist continues to draw attention and amazement, and the show is a "must-see."   

   

Ai Weiwei, regarded as China's most famous living artist, has faced his share of first hand opposition from his nation's notoriously controlling government. While preparing to testify at the trial of a fellow political activist, the artist (and well-known domestic critic) was punched in the face after men - claiming to be the police - pushed their way into his hotel room and violently attempted to quiet him. In addition to the scary display of China's shady justice system (or maybe just a ridiculously crazy coincidence), a month later, the artist was rushed to a Munich emergency room where he needed immediate brain surgery. While the famed Chinese artist has had his fair share of traumatic experiences, he probably has more to be happy about and thankful for than most artists could ever dream.

The 52 year old is a celebrated architect (and a co-designer of Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium), an installation artist and a documentary filmmaker. Most of Ai's work deals with themes of destruction and recreation in addition to depictions of global icons (noteworthy international people and places).


Also known for his harsh criticisms of the Chinese government and bold political views (which seem almost suicidal in a country like China, where harsh penalties are common for political dissenters), Ai Weiwei is an intriguing man with much to say about his country and the world - and best expresses himself through his unique art.

To read more about China's "Impolitic Artist" (including biographical information, a chronology of his life and art, and his political views and impacts, click here.

In a recent interview, painter Carroll Dunham sits down with Brooklyn Rail reporter Phong Bui to discuss his exhibition at the Gladstone Gallery in Chelsea. The artist's exhibition showcases his recently created fanciful paintings that are rich in color and line - relaying a somewhat childlike and storybook-esque sentiment. As Bui points out, Dunham is known for not putting eyes on the people in his paintings, which Dunham attributes to his stylistic developments.

The artist says,

...it isn’t precisely that they’re blind—it’s just that they never developed eyes [laughter]. There is no particular metaphor about blindness in my mind; it’s just that when I tried to draw characters in my work with eyes they didn’t feel comfortable as part of the image, so I had to eliminate that feature altogether. What it means psychologically or how one might extrapolate a story from that isn’t on my mind when I’m working.

The interview continues as the artist discusses his experiences at Andover Prep School and Trinity College. He talks about meeting various people who attributed to his desire to paint and his ultimate success as an artist as well as what his life was like during the 1970s and 80s.
Dunham answers a question about many of his paintings, including his "Wood" paintings, stating,

There was a return of interest in Surrealism that was shared by a number of artists at that time. Although it took different forms, my interest did perhaps lean a bit more towards the automatistic part of it. There were others like Peter Schuyff, whose work was more connected to the hyper real, Tanguy side of Surrealism, while George Condo was maybe somewhere in between. Basically I think you go through a period where you’re trying to shed interests and influences that you think are trivial and take onboard the ones you think are more profound. This involves throwing a lot of babies out with the bathwater when you’re young, and then maybe you go further into your work, and you get a little more clear on what your territory is, and some of those earlier interests can come back in another form.

To read the entire interview and learn more about Dunham's experiences, influences, and multifarious artistic styles, click here.

Apparently the Frieze Art Fair in London is experiencing some better than expected sales and a definite increase in confidence regarding the art world. While sales have not returned (or even come close) to what they were in 2007, spirits are higher than they were last year, and buyers and sellers are becoming more confident. One exhibitor, Jose Freire of New York's Team Gallery  (which is selling work from Dawn Mellor's solo show) is delighted with the unexpected outcome. As noted in an article from the Art Newspaper,

“This is the best Frieze we’ve ever had," said Freiere, reporting sales of 11 paintings portraying a bloodied Charlotte Rampling, Helena Bonham Carter, Kristin Scott Thomas and other beauties. The paintings sold by Friday afternoon, priced around £5,500 apiece. This was a drastic improvement from Frieze’s last edition. Autumn 2008 was not kind to Lehman Brothers, and certainly not to many Frieze exhibitors. “Last year was an unmitigated disaster,” said Freire of the 2008 edition of Frieze. “We lost our shirts.”

Because of the economy, Frieze attracted less exhibitors and in some cases a reduction of asking prices by 40%. To disguise these factors, Frieze organizers transformed a section of the fair into "Frame," a platform for younger dealers show casing cheaper art by less well-known artists in solo shows. As Matthew Higgs, head of the New York non-profit White Columns space stated in the above mentioned article,

“Frame is a good move to introduce new voices... Dealers were pleased with the results."

“People who are on top of things came here," said San Francisco dealer Claudia Altman of Altman Siegel (R25). “Plus, prices are low." Altman featured Trevor Paglen’s poetic images of US surveillance satellites priced $6,000 to $9,000. She sold three.

The Israeli artist Guy Ben-ner has slowly becoming more and more recognizable among the artsy crowd over the past few years. His charming and poignant videos have catapulted him into exhibitions at places like MASS MoCA, Postmasters, and the Hayward. Here's a random sampling of some clips of his work:

The self-taught contemporary artist Maurizio Cattelan born in Padova, Italy in 1960.









He's best known for satirical and controversial sculptures such as:

La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour)- You can see below it's the Pope John Paul II struck down by a meteorite



His humor is apparent in his art and the way he conducts himself. For instance, he's infamous for persuading his art gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin to walk around in the costume of a giant pink phallus.....for a month.


Emmanuel Perrotin in costume

He also did a sculpture of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in an open casket for the public to see. He is presentable and looks exactly as people remembered him before the assassination.




Currently there is an exhibition entitled "Maurizio Cattelan is Dead: Life and Work, 1960-2009" a humorous exhibition at Triple Candie pretending to highlight his art and work as a deceased artist. The exhibition doesn't actually contain his artwork but photocopies, printouts, and wall text to support the exhibition. Although his artwork won't be displayed, this is definitely in Maurizio's style.

According to NY Art Beat the wall text of the exhibition starts with:

Maurizio Cattelan (Italian, 1960 - 2009) was a con-artist and a populist philosopher whose art embraced what might be called comic existentialism. He began his career in a small city in Northeastern Italy, worked briefly as a furniture designer before turning to art, and in a very short time built an illustrious career through a mix of savvy resourcefulness and puckish deceit. His career took off in the mid-1990s; in 2004, one of his sculptures sold at auction for three million dollars. When he died, he was living in New York City.

Forbes Magazine coined the Indian artist M.F. Husain as the "Picasso of India."  He is one of India's best known artists and was born in 1915.

A Brief biography from the 20th Century Museum of Contemporary Indian Art:

A self-taught artist, Muqbool Fida Husain was born in 1915 in Maharashtra. At an early age he learnt the art of calligraphy and practiced the Kulfic khat with its geometric forms. He also learnt to write poetry while staying with an uncle in a madrasa in Baroda, an art that has stayed with him through his life. His early education was perfunctory but Husain's love of drawing was evident even at this stage. Whenever he got a chance he would strap his painting gear to his bicycle and drive out to the surrounding countryside of Indore to paint the landscape. In 1937 he reached Mumbai determined to become an artist, with hardly any money and lived m a cheap room in a by lane inhabited by pimps and prostitutes. Initially Husain apprenticed himself to a painter of cinema hoardings which he would paint with great dexterity perched on scaffolding sometimes in the middle of traffic.



The Prophet Man- M.F. Husain

He is primarily a painter but also has produced several films such as Through the Eyes of a Painter winning him awards.  In 1967, this short film won him the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

However, he is best known for portraying Hindu deities in the nude or in a sexually inappropriate manner, which has caused a lot of controversy among the Indian population.

The artist Marlene Dumas was born in Cape Town, South Africa and studied there until she moved to Amsterdam, NL when she was 23 years old and where she currently resides.



A NYT article describes Marlene Dumas in her Amsterdam studio:



"She can customarily be found in her studio at 2 or 3 in the morning, and her desire to record experience in its most extreme forms — she paints birth, sex, death and violence, for starters — has failed to bring her one inch closer to observing or recording the famed Dutch light. Tellingly, she does not like to travel, even across town."






She seems to be devoted to her paintings and her studio, as if being visited or visiting the outside world would interfere with her favorite place- her mind - where she can reflect at peace. This is very different from the artist who seeks exterior 'life experience' for inspiration or source material.


Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave is an exhibition that traveled from Los Angeles and to New York displaying her career's artwork. The NYT articles goes on to state, "one trademark of the artist’s work is her ability to conjoin nerve-racking subject matter and elegant brushwork. She is one of contemporary art’s most compelling painters, taking people from newspaper photographs and turning them into agents in a psychological drama who might shut their eyes on us or look out at us with a gaze that says, 'Don’t go.' "

A blog post by Laura Lark on Marlene Dumas asserts "You don’t view a Marlene Dumas painting; you are confronted by it"

She was also considered the world's most expensive female artist for a while according to art auction results. However, Louise Bourgeois is now the world's most expensive female artist. 



"A Dumas painting is easy to recognize. It typically shows a face or a figure in dramatic close-up, isolated against a neutral ground. Put another way, the people in her pictures are not sitting in a cafe or strolling the avenue, and they seem to have sprung from some infernal realm where personal memories are constantly colliding with public traumas. Her subjects include her daughter, her mother, terrorists, drowning victims, hanging victims, Emily Dickinson, the South African poet Elisabeth Eybers and the model Naomi Campbell. In addition to her oil-on-canvas output, she is prolific on paper and specializes in inky watercolors that use a meltingly sensual style to conjure disturbing scenes, among them strippers standing with their backsides shoved at us or the impassive heads of blindfolded male prisoners who may or may not be alive. " - NYT



Not only is she proficient in beautiful oil paintings, but her ink drawings are equally compelling:


Her life's achievement can be viewed on a Marlene Dumas Timeline, which lists articles and art exhibitions of her artistic career.

John Currin was born in 1962 in Boulder, CO. He received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA from Yale University. Currin now lives and works in New York.  It seems to me that John Currin's talent for provoking and shocking people is his most valued power for discourse in art:

According to Michael Kimmelman, "His (John Currin) work leaves you alert to the affectations that pass for civil discourse in well-heeled circles. He is a parodist of suburban social deceits who has invented his own funny, freakish race of people with variously disproportioned bodies, and heads that are much too big or small."

"He came onto the scene during the heyday of political correctness as a contrarian, using the discredited (in fashionable circles) medium of painting to make not only weirdly arresting portraits like 'Mary O'Connell,' based on campy and debased subjects, but also pictures of middle-aged women and of pin-up models with preposterous breasts -- supposedly no-no subjects for men. 'Boycott this show,' wrote Kim Levin in The Village Voice about his solo debut at the Andrea Rosen Gallery in 1992. Mr. Currin hit a bull's-eye."

Who is Charlie Rose?

"Acclaimed interviewer and broadcast journalist Charlie Rose engages America's best thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, scientists and other newsmakers in one-on-one interviews and roundtable discussions."

What interests me is that part of these 'best thinkers' include artists, and he's done many interviews with these fascinating people so we can really try to get inside their minds and figure out what they're thinking and seeing.

The show generally broadcasts around 11pm Monday through Friday on over 200 PBS affiliates throughout the United States. Programs are one hour and may differ according to location.

Recent interviews with artists include

Photographer Brigitte Lacombe




architect Frank Gehry



Painter, Chuck Close


Other artists include Shepard Fairey, Francesco Clemente, Max Gerber, among others. He also does more than just artists, he covers areas of the art world such as museum curators and dealers who participate in discussions on specific artists, time periods, and topics which enlighten the listener and viewer on understanding art.

It's a god resource to really view the artist as if you were in the discussion room, view their expressions and body language that goes with their thoughts and dialogue.

Julian Schnabel is both painter (at heart and he very much works in this manner) and film director the public can see from his various films such as:

"Basquiat" (on the New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat)

"Before the Night Falls" (a look within the life of a Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas played by Javier Bardem which was his groundbreaking role)



"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby the trailer of this award winning film



He was also the interior designer of the Gramercy Park Hotel which is a luxury hotel in New York City. It also contains works by contemporary artists such as Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, and Julian Schnabel.

But as an artist painter his work is simply amazing as well- what a well rounded perception. Check out his work inspired by Gaudi's use of mosaics, ceramics, and scraps to build and create works of art. Schnabel uses this idea to create a painting. There are no limits and he's one of the first to use materials in this manner

Some of his "Plate Paintings":

      

"Hope" by Julian Schnabel where encaustic art methods were being used (which uses molten wax to manipulate at the discretion of the artist)



To know more about Julian Schnabel check out this video with intervieCharlie Rose





"Follow your own heart and don't be too myopic about your own desires!"

Rather than posting about an artist, today I'm going to introduce a useful art resource website that all art world interested individuals will find amazing! It's called MutualArt.com and I like to use it to search for information about artists and events upcoming in my city- New York (but this can also be used worldwide which makes it so cool!)

Let's take the example of Jeff Koons from my last post. If I want to know more information about Jeff Koons I type it in the general search and I get everything I need from recent and past articles written about Jeff Koons, exhibitions that have occurred and featured his work or on-going exhibitions such as the current Popeye Series in London as well as other artists I might enjoy.

Now this is for a general search on artists. What makes MutualArt.com special is the ability to create your own personalized profile (I definitely have one because it keeps me up to date on contemporary artists and events.)

The way it works is you sign up for an account, then you specify your preferences by stating what city you live in (for me it's New York City), but say you're traveling then you can include other cities and be updated on arts events happening there like Miami. Then you click your favorite medium, genre of art (I'm mostly into contemporary artists as you can see on my blog) and you can even specifiy which artists (everytime I blog on an artist I add them to my preferences like Jeff Koons). Everyday I get articles, events, or suggested artists I might like according to my preferences. I absolutely love it because now I can really be on top of things and know about art events on time!

Jeff Koons is known as a controversial artist for his outrageous sculptures of balloons that have sat up high on the Metropolitan Museum of Art Terrace overlooking New York City, to shocking the French by displaying his contemporary artworks in the Chateau de Versailles. He is also the world's most expensive living artist and once married to an Italian porn star maybe politician known as La Cicciolina.

Puppy At Bilbao, Spain


Video Showcasing Jeff Koons in Versailles.


Koons tried to imagine what the sun king, Louis XIV would have liked to see in his garden or palace. Something extravagant, flashy, large, sensual, and this is what Jeff Koons was trying to accomplish.

Time Out London has provided a recent interview with Jeff Koons asking him about what he aims to do  and accomplish with his art. It gives a better idea of whether he does work in a factory style, what he thinks about the high auction prices his works tend to go for, and what makes him upset when people don't understand his work.

Do I just call you Jeff?
‘My real name is Jeffrey Lynn Koons, but I’ve always liked the simplicity of Jeff.’

Why is this your first public show in London? Is there something about you that we Brits just don’t get?
‘I have wonderful friends in England and have always participated in group shows here. I like to think of myself very much as an international artist, but I also know my own cultural history.’

But your work still polarises people, like Marmite in the UK, or Dr Pepper in the US…
‘I’ve always dealt with my work in a very honest manner, and so whenever someone responds that they don’t get it, I feel like I lost that person.  Every time you do or make something you do it for that singular moment of communication. It happens one person at a time, but you want it to be effective. We all have the same pleasures and desires, I just think that some people are more protective and shelter themselves from their experiences, especially if it’s sexuality, the foundation of our life experience.’

You talk about acceptance, but your work still has an edge, whether it’s a porcelain model of Michael Jackson with Bubbles or images of you having sex with your ex-wife.
‘All my work tries to embrace visual power, and acceptance does not have to be all warm and cushy, there’s also a violence to acceptance. I was a painter until I left art school, when I started to deal with things outside the self.’

For the rest of the interview to get to know Jeff Koons better see the rest of the article.

Jeff Koons continues to proliferate in the global art world and his most recent work can be found at the Serpentine Gallery in London on the "Popeye Series" from July 2 to September 13 2009

Bruce Nauman recently received considerable critical acclaim and success at the Venice Biennale, some dubbing him as “Almighty Bruce.” True to the nickname, he was awarded the Golden Lion for the best National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, signifying that Nauman isn’t going anywhere. He established the contemporary art scene back in the 1970s and has been performing strong ever since. He currently resides in New Mexico near Santa Fe, where he avoids being seen in the public eye, preferring to work on his ranch rather than to go to openings and exhibitions. In a rare interview, he explains much of his motivations and thought process.


Double Poke in the Eye, II
1985

Nauman's frequent use of the neon lights is insired from what he absorbed through the envrionment. He recalls a neon sign advertising beer that hung in the window of the studio. "...it was the idea of using the sign which you could read from the outside but see also inside out," the artist clarifies.

Some of his other works...


One Hundred Live and Die
1984


Room with My Soul Left Out, Room That Does Not Care
1984

In terms of the pavilion, he comments, "I like the way that the spiral interacts with the building." To see his works on view at the Biennale, check out this site.

His influence on the contemporary art scene is undeniable; influences can be seen in works of artists such as Kiki Smith, Tracey Emin, Tony Oursler and Rachel Whiterread. As the article summarized, "Walking around this year's Venice Biennale and its many off-site events, it is clear that Nauman's influence is everywhere."

For more on Nauman including his other works, essays and video interviews, check out the Art21 website.

The New York Times described him as “one of the most celebrated of India’s Modernist painters, whose work broke auction records...” On a more personal level, a fellow painter, Vrundavan Solanki told the Times of India, “Mehta was a very humble and simple man…he worked silently in the world of painting but had a huge impact.”


The artist in his studio

Mehta died Wednesday at the Asian Heart Institute Hospital in Mumbai at the age of 84. His health had been failing for the past two years, according to his friends. He is survived by his wife, children, and grand-children.

The artist is credited for bringing recognition to the Contemporary Indian Art largely due to the record-setting sale at Christie’s in 2005. The Painting, Mahisasura, sold for $1.58 million, marking the first time a Contemporary Indian work was sold for over a million. Later, another painting of his would sell for around $2 million.


Confident, painted in 1962, sold for $2 million at Christie's

Despite the sudden fame, the artist never worked from commission as he frowned upon the association between money and art. In fact he continued to work steadily and quietly. His aesthetics seem deeply rooted by his early-life experiences, when he entered the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1947, the pivotal year when India declared independence from England and the partition between India and Pakistan was enforced. He witnessed many haunting cruelties, such as a man being lynched by a mob; by 1952, when he left the school, his motif had been established: “falling human figures , bulls trussed for slaughter and the buffalo demon being crushed by an all-powerful divinity.”

He went on to receive many prestigious awards including the Padma Bhushan by the President of India, and the Dayawati Modi Foundation Award for Art, Culture and Education. 

He is most comfortable as a recluse painter, however. “I have always been a loner, and am quite still a bit of a recluse. My happiest moments are spent with myself and my art,” the artist said.

Jenny Holzer, an American conceptual artist, caught the attention of the public during the Whitney Biennial 2009. As a graduate of RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), she began as an abstract painter, though now she primarily deals with text and its placement in space.

I’m not a big fan of text art (which I mockingly call word art). It makes art way too cerebral, and it eradicates the instinctive dialogue between myself and the work. How am I supposed to respond to the work when I have to think about what the word means and how it affects (and is affected by) the space around me? Even with my skepticism, I found entranced by Holzer’s LED lights; perhaps because of the superficial attraction to bright lights, but I liked the fact that it wasn’t subtle.


Truisms, 1977-79


Purple Cross, 2004

For that reason, her works successfully depict consumerism and the world of advertising. But through her words a certain expectation is broken; the aesthetic is familiar but the text forces us to dig deeper.


Xenon for Berlin, 2001


Xenon for Bergenz, 2004

Check out Holzer’s official website. Also, read interviews and watch videos at Art21.


Wish List Black, 2006

Agnes Martin is a Canadian-born painter who was considered to be a minimalist, though the artist thought of herself as an abstract expressionist. She often utilized a rational grid system in her works then superimposed “a network of penciled lines and later coloured bands on fine-grained canvas stained with washes of colour in such a way as to reconcile these apparently antithetical elements.” As a result are delicate, moving, and ambiguous ghosts of images.


Tremolo, 1962

Martin studied at Columbia University and the University of New Mexico, where she would reside for many years. The artist led a recluse life, denouncing “intellectualism” that swept the art world but instead focusing on the spiritual. In addition, she was deeply influenced by Eastern philosophies; the artist’s hand was a crucial component to her works.


Mountain 1, 1966


The Tree, 1964

Her works are quiet but powerful. Definite tension exists between elements in her pieces, as if individual lines are vibrating. To see more of her works, visit the MoMA on-line collection.

Neo Rauch, 49, recently received a lot of attention when Brad Pitt bought one of his paintings for approximately $1 million. Etappe, completed in 1998, was showing at Art Basel in Switzerland.

Etappe, 1998
 

The German artist, who lives in Lipzig, Germany, credits Surrealist artists such as Giorgio de Chirico and Rene Magritte as his influence. In his own works, he seems to incorporate some Surrealist elements with a vague narrative and architectural, geometric elements.

 

His biography states that, “His harsh, industrial colors and heroic, 1950s-looking workmen and sturdy women, depicted with almost cartoonish realism, are elements Rauch has retained from the Socialist Realist aesthetic of communist East Germany, where he grew up and received his artistic training.”

 

Sekte, 2004


Grotte, 2004

His works seem to be infused with magical qualities or a feeling of weightlessness. But because of his harsh colors and metallic palette, you walk away with a foreboding sense of a futuristic work.


Vorort, 2007


Jagdzimmer, 2007


Goldgrube, 2007

 

To view more of his works, the MET has an online collection of his works.