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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Year End and Quick Picks

Dear readers,
We decided to cap off the year with your quick picks of artists who are burning up the scene and who we should watch in the New Year. The response was staggering thus we picked two from each city. We hope you enjoy!

Germany
Yutaka Makino. Extraordinary work, this young artist hands down received the most votes both from his Germany crowd and elsewhere. His work engages his audience by his multi dimensional use of music.  Usreihe  “Mr. Makino also uses installations and performances to explore the various dimensions of human perception.”

Stephanie Kiwitt. Ms. Kiwitt explores the visual of everyday life.  She works with recognizable imagery in found objects, interior furnishings, spaces, and still life. Galerie b2” Within the setting of interchangeable structures and monotonous urban forms, Kiwitt discloses distinctive situations, in which human presence and action interferes with the urban architecture and public order.” http://www.weingruell.com/index.php?/stephanie-kiwitt/

New York
Carol Bove. We’ve been familiar with Ms. Bove’s work for some time. It was no surprise to see her name come up again and again.  From her carefully structured drawings(Playboy vintage issues 60’s) to the sculptural aspects of her work she is constantly surprising and enthralling the viewer.  “Her work is not nostalgic,” says Shamim M. Momin, “It’s really a way of rethinking [that era’s] failed structures and strategies and examining how they’ve shaped our present.”






David Ellis.  Mr. Ellis’s familial background in his exposure to music is clearly evident in his work.  His work also focuses on the collaborative aspect of making art. All who recommended his work for a shout out referenced his prize winning work at Pulse "True Value (paint fukette)" (2011).  People went crazy for that piece and you will see why check it out on vimeo.

Boston
Karl Stevens.  It’s a gross understatement to say Mr. Stevens work is beloved in Boston. He’s been a Boston Phoenix artist/cartoonist since 2008. And he’s also published three books. His work is personal, reflective, and always engrosses the viewer. Comics Reporter “What makes this approach fun as comics is that you get to see those pages as work product, visual narratives themselves like the ones before and after them, or as a way to track what's on the author's mind that breaks with other parts of the story being told.” We applaud his body of work and look forward to more. http://karlstevensart.com/

Fredo Conde. Mr. Conde's work continues to enthrall New Yorkers and Bostonians alike. His work focuses on the marriage of painting and sculpture in articulating themes of consumerism, faux, and social hierarchy. His briefcase shown at Exit Art filled to the brim with bling watches was a favorite of the curators. Greg Cook “ Bostonian Fredo Conde's sculptures are like portraits of living-large America. There's a glib and shallow feel to Conde's art that perhaps echoes the society it portrays. "Scratch the surface and it's paste," this make-believe bling seems to be saying.” http://fredoconde.com/

 




All images copyright of artists showcased.

As always we want to hear from you on new topics, shows to see, thoughts to ponder, what you want more of, give us a shout! We know our readers aren’t bashful and we do respond to every email, comment, and carrier pigeon that comes our way. Look for our new format coming soon.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Buy local!

We hear this often buy local, please buy local, support your local community. But do we apply this to buying art? Now this discussion has come up many times over the course of the last few months. Particularly since it is the so called holiday season and we should all be shopping to help bring the economy back to its glory.

But what I have learned is that in reference to buying art we buy it when we travel outside of our local communities. Now I can almost see the collective head nod of "no not me". This is a fact that you wind up in another city see some great work and then snap it up. The reality is you are then back home and don't have the cash to spend on your local artists.

So please buy local art and support all those hard working artists.

Art Basel Miami, Fountain Fair, Aqua

Highlights of the fairs in no particular order

Guerra de la Paz, this was my first intro to this collaborative duo Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz. There was a monstrous tree which was made up of a mish mash of recycled clothing and was spectacular. I look forward to exploring their work further.

Vaughn Bell had a site-specific installation in a large closet that played footage shot out of airplanes. This piece was cerebral and many of us kept going back to it.

Carlos Betancourt’s His work had a bit of everything and I mean everything. Layering, sculpture, and color and more color. Ultimately we found it fun and engaging. His work clearly is soaked with Pop-Culture!

Bernar Venet, 70 yr old artist who can rock it out with the best of them. His massive metal sculpture seemed to want to scoop everyone up.  His work exudes vibrancy and strength.

Check these folks out and explore some new terrain.