First of all I would like to thank last months featured artist Marco Mazzoni; if you haven’t seen the feature yet make sure to check it out (here). This months featured artist, or at least the end of February and rest of March, is photo-realist painter Jeff Ramirez. We sent over 5 questions that Jeff was kind of answer, and are featuring 24 paintings.
On February 11th, Last Rites Gallery in New York held the first part of the ArtFusion Charity event with a live painting day, and on Feb 25th will hold the gala and charity auction. ArtFusion bring together a over 15 talented, diverse, and well known artists to create collaborative works of art which will benefit The International Children’s Art Foundation (ICAF). Work by Ana Bagayan, Angie Mason, Annie Owens, Anthony Pontius, Billy Norrby, Brian Despain, Brian Murphy, Buddy Nestor, Chris Mars, David MacDowell, David Stoupakis, Dan Harding, Ewelina, Fred Harper, Genevive Zacconi, Jason D’Aquino, Jason Levesque, Jason Limon, Jennybird Alcantara, Mia Araujo, Michael Mararian, Paul Booth, Scott G Brooks, Vincent Castiglia, and many more can be seen during this event. The gallery sent out 15 canvas panels to be sketched on, which were then in turn painted by a group of selected artists to be collaboratively painted on.
If you head to the galleries homepage you will see the finished painting, as well as the drawing that was originally made. I love collaborative works, and this show has some outstanding examples of how great they can be. For example Dave MacDowell’s “Paul Booth” drawing painted by Scott G Brooks and Mark Elliot, as well as Chris Mars’ drawing painted by Paul Booth & David Stoupakis.
Check out the rest of the works: Last Rites x ArtFusion
Birdbath Publishing has just released two new prints by Michael Hussar. Its been quite a while since any new prints have been released, and these new ones are well worth the wait. The first print is Modern Devotional, and was first seen at Last Rites Gallery in 2008 for the 13th Hour Group show. The print is 8.5″ x 11″ on 100% cotton rag paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 88. The next print is a self portrait, and is based on a drawing. Not only is it rare when a new print by Hussar is released, but even more so when its a drawing such as this. The print is 15″ x 19″ on 100% cotton rag paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 44. Both prints also come with a certificate of authenticity.
Get em here: Birdbath Publishing
This past Saturday, no matter how cold it was here in San Francisco, we headed over to the Modern Eden Gallery for the reception of Menagerie, a group show dedicated to animals. Each artist donated a portion of their sales, from 20-100% to the San Francisco SPCA. The show featured works by Akira Beard, Peter Adamyan, Bradley Platz, Lacey Bryant, Renee Castro, Aunia Kahn, Lee Harvey Roswell, Corey Benhatzel, Leilani Bustamante, Robert Bowen, Grant Gilliland, and many more.
I loved the idea that all the work in the show were dedicated to animals; as well as being an art fan I am a fan of those that care about animals as well. There was not only a good amount of work in the show, but a wide variety of styles. Akira Beard submitted a watercolor or ink work that I believe was on yupo paper (below). It was not only textural and energetic, but shows the artists ability to capture a subject such as two dogs on a white background and make it look amazing. The show will be up until March3rd, so if you are in the area make sure to stop by. Otherwise check out the art on the Modern Eden homepage.
Opening this Saturday, February 11th at the Katherine Cone Gallery in Los Angeles, is the latest solo exhibition by Sean Cheetham. Entitled Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams this new show features 16 figurative paintings. As stated in the press release, Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams is way of saying one should have the best of everything although we know that this isn’t always true, and quit often it seems like life deals out more black eyes than it does Mai tais (pun). The lead painting in the show (first below) shows the artist with a black eye and that overall look of weariness that comes with a life less than fantastic. This feeling continues through the works, as does the intense style of painting and color that Sean is capable of. For those interested in his painting process, there is some great videos on Youtube, and Artist Daily has a good article about his use of the “mud palette” here.
Sean Cheetham @ Katherine Cone Gallery
Godmachine has just released a new limited edition screen-print to his online shop entitled “Spider Baby”. The print is 18″ x 24″, signed and numbered in an edition of 50 for just £20. If you take a look at the shop you will notice some original drawings have been up for sale, and sold out very quickly, but its worth it to keep your on the site. Also consider signing up for the Godmachine mailing list, along with news there is promotional sale codes given out once in a while.
Stephanie Brown is an artist and tattoo artist working out of Chicago, Il. She completed her apprenticeship at Metamorph Studios, and is now tattooing full time. When it comes to her traditional work she is a fan of mechanical pencils and watercolors. Looking through Stephanie Flickr page (here), not only does she have more work that is featured on her homepage, but you can also see that she uses Moleskines for her sketchbooks. In an interview with The Tools Artists Use, she states that “The tone and weight of the paper are perfect, and they put up with the ridiculous abuse I put them through.” Take a look at the preview images below, and then head over to her homepage for more work.
On January 14th, the Shooting Gallery opened the first solo show in San Francisco by local artist Charmaine Olivia. Entitled Ritual, this show features new paintings inspired by the themes of mythology. Each one of the large oil paintings feature a female deity created by Charmaine, and the entire gallery has been transformed into a temple. The installations features magical items, and smaller works of art in dedication to the central figures. The show closed on February 4th, and I finally made my way to the gallery and caught it on the last day. I was told that the reception was pretty amazing, and free prints were even given out to the first group of fans. I wish I could have seen the show the reception night, but I am happy I at least was able to see this show before it was taken down. Along with this review/photos, I also made another video walkthrough, the longest one yet at almost 10 minutes. Click the read more for the full review and video.
Prior to this show I had only seen a painting by Charmaine in person one time, at Spoke Art Gallery, however I missed the show she participated in there alongside Tatiana Suarez, Handiedan, and Craww. I was interested in how Charmaine would use the entire space over at Shooting Gallery for this new show, and was blown away at how she not only used the space in order to create a new world for this show, but completely owned the space. There was so much to be seen, so many details and tiny elements that all culminated together to allow the viewer to understand and feel the mythological beings the artist created. Since there was so much to see, I not only took more photos than I usually do, but also made a longer video than normal. I hope the video gives an idea of what seeing this show in person was like.
continue reading «Review: Charmaine Olivia “Ritual” @ Shooting Gallery SF»
If you haven’t done so already, head on over and check out the Creep Machine Facebook page. Along with news featured on the site here, we also feature print releases, studio visits, and news from a wide variety of art sites. There are also random contests such as the one going on right now, in which fans can win a limited edition canvas print by Chris Peters (shown below).
Opening tonight, February 2nd, at Spoke Art in San Francisco is the first solo show of Texas illustrator and print-maker extraordinaire Tim Doyle. Entitled Unreal Estate, the show features prints based on locations found in pop culture such as Arrested Development, The Simpsons, Sopranos, and more. Along with the standard prints there will also be variants, and for those that started lining u early, there will be a a free print based on All in the Family given to the first 100 people. I imagine the line is already making its way down the street, so if you want to grab that free print, or just make sure you get one of the other prints head down there now. The reception is from 6-10 PM. Otherwise you can see the full show online over at Spoke Art. There is also a great writeup about the work in this show over at Nakatomi Inc.
Opening this Saturday, February 4th at Thinkspace Gallery in Culver City, is a new solo show by Ana Bagayan entitled There Is Time To Kill Today. The show features ten new oil paintings, new drawings, and new series of charcoal works on canvas. I love the idea that there is a variety of mediums in this show, and even some really affordable drawings that will only be available the night of the reception from 5-8 PM. Here is what Ana states about this new series of works:
“Although theres no unifying theme to this show, the inspiration for the work comes from the metaphysical- ghosts, spirits, intergalactic space creatures, anything that hints at the idea that we are just a small part of the unimaginably vast universe. Some of the works are based on hypnosis sessions of people who believed they had been abducted by aliens. I’ve created human/alien hybrid creatures based on the experiences these people described. All of the works, I feel incorporate the inherent beauty of interpreting both the known and unknown.”
If your in the area, make sure to stop by the show and see these works in person. The full show is now online to view.
Thinkspace Gallery
Pressure Printing has just released the first print for the new year. Sarah & Emmett by Travis Louie was first seen at his solo show @ Copro Nason entitled Strange Grooming Habits. Pressure Printing went all out for this print, and not only embossed and stained the paper, but also took into account how Travis’ work looks like under domed glass. So they used a $1000 domed brass plate to help add a bit of the feel from the original into this print (see the whole process). This 9.5″ x 13″ intaglio print is on handmade Twinrocker paper, antiqued with walnut ink and watercolors, embossed, and signed and numbered in an edition of 50. Each print also comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Get it here: Pressure Printing
