On October 6th, the WWA Gallery in Culver City opened a group show entitled “The Noise In the Basement”. Overall the work in the show is good, however what stood out the most for me was the art of Joka. I have seen his work for a while now but was really taken with these new pieces. Every painting by Joka is created with the use of toothpicks, so in the style of the pointallists during the late 1880s, Joka goes even further and uses toothpicks in a technique he calls “hyperpointallism”. The works are colorful and have multiple layers. Pointallist works tend to blend smoothly when you are at a certain distance, and then break into the dots that create them, but with Joka’s work the closer you get you see the dots, but there is so much more there that it ends up creating this dense texture. In a way it reminds me of the grain found in certain types of films with a high iso. It looks amazing. Head on over to Joka’s Homepage for more, and then over to the gallery for the rest of the show.
The Art of Spencer Mann
After living in San Francisco for just under a year, I have now realized there was so much art that I missed out on. Besides the galleries, there are nightly events, meetups at houses, and even some artists such as Spencer Mann that you might just run into while checking out the Haight. Spencer’s work is filled with detail, color, and texture. Coming this Thursday, July 26 in San Francisco, Spencer will have some work on view at Mixology, an event by RAW. If you head over to the link, you can even purchase tickets through Spencer’s artist profile page, which will help him out. Also, make sure to check out his Flickr page for more works.
The Sculptures of Roger Reutimann
Swiss born artist Roger Reutimann started at a young age with art playing classical piano, and even competed in piano competitions. Later he would gain some notoriety for his award-winning, handcrafted, and limited edition lamps. Reutimann has been painting and sculpting his entire life, although it has only been since 2007 that he has dedicated more time to it. He has an amazing style. Make sure you head on over and check out the rest of his work.
The Art of Falk Gernegross
Born in Marienberg, Germany, Falk Gernegroß`attended the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, and studied painting under Arno Rink and Neo Rauch. His work has been compared to the Magic Realism movement, that included such artists as George Tooker and Alex Colville, as well as references to the Renaissance and Romantic periods. The figures in his paintings have a slight Mannerist feel to them, and the color palette along with the polished look of the paintings, aids in the mystery often attributed to Magic Realism. Take a look at the preview below, and then head over to the homepage of Galerie Kleindienst in Germany, where Falk is currently represented.
The Surreal work of Patricia Ariel
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Patricia Ariel received her Bachelor’s in Art Education at the Rio de Janeiro State University before moving to the US. It was here in the States that she decided to spend more time on her fine art work. She is influenced by the “theater and ballet to Eastern Art, from the Art Nouveau and Jugendstil to contemporary Pop Art, including occult symbolism, Tarot, Astrology and metaphysics.” Patricia is also a member of the Energy Art Movement which aims to capture energy in artworks with form, color, and composition. As you can see from the images below, her work is not only colorful, abstract and surreal, but very figurative. Just as there is a variety of elements in her paintings, they are also made up with a few types of media such as acrylics, oil-based pencil, and water-soluble pencils. I really love the blend of monochromatic flesh tones, and the vivid, colorful, backgrounds that surround the figures in her work. Each painting is loaded with color, texture, and motion. Take a look at the preview images below, and then make sure to check out Patricia’s homepage for more.
The Art of Ali Cavanaugh
Ali Cavanaugh received her BFA at the Kendall College of Art and Design, and was in the New York Studio Residency Program in 1994. In 1996 she founded the New School Academy of Fine Art in Grand Rapids, Michigan before relocating to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was after her relocation that she developed her watercolor technique that is seen throughout her current portfolio. Painting on clay panels, Ali is able to achieve what she refers to as “neo fresco secco” and uses “small controlled strokes of overlapping colors to create depth while letting the white clay surface illuminate through the pigment.”
While her paintings are amazingly photo-realistic, you can see brush strokes creating a slight texture if you look close enough, something that is very reminiscent of egg tempera style paintings. I would love to see one of these in person to really study this technique she has developed. Take a look at the preview images below and then over to her homepage for more.
The Art of Ivan Alifan
Ivan Alifan is an artist currently living in Canada. He attended the OCAD University in Toronto, Canada, and is son of the very talented Russian painter Anna Razumovskaya. Ivan recently participated in the Los Angeles International art fair, and had his work shown alongside Malcolm Liepke and Jeremy Lipking. Whether it is beautifully rendered charcoal drawings, of the colorful, brushy, and energetic paintings, Ivan is an extremely talented artist. Too see the rest of his work, and keep up to date with news and upcoming shows, check out his homepage and social media profiles.
The Art of Stephanie Brown
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.
The Art of Yuri Leonov
Artist Yuri Leonov is an up and coming New Contemporary artist who recently graduated from the School of Visual Arts’ Illustration program. He’s been painting since he was 13, thus his skills with a brush are exemplary to say the least. Moody and thoughtful, his work explores his “inner conflicts and fluctuating surroundings” via series of paintings that are heavily planned out.
About a year ago, Yuri joined forces with some of
his peers to put together an artist collective called Artillery, which has been working with galleries and alternative spaces in New York and Brooklyn to put up a group show about once every six months or so. Artillery is about to put up its latest exhibition, Love and Other Drugs, at a new store on the Lower East Side’s Orchard Street, Grit N Glory.
Check out Yuri’s site here and, if you’re in New York come to the opening of Love and Other Drugs on February 10th. [edit: The opening has a mandatory RSVP. Please check out Yuri's website for more info.]
The Art of Laura Lucía Ferrer Zamudio
Laura Lucía Ferrer Zamudio (also known as Kikyz 1313) is an artist working out of Queretaro, Mexico. In 2010 she received her BFA from the University of Queretaro and has since been in a few solo and group exhibitions. Her drawings are created with graphite, ink, and sometimes a wash of color from maybe watercolors or watered down acrylics. The content deals mainly with the idea of humanity and death, and through Laura’s impressive drawing skills and use of texture as seen with the cross-hatching, each image is not only delicate but surreal.
If your like me and plan on keeping an eye on the work of the very talented Laura Lucía Ferrer Zamudio, make sure you check out her homepage which also has links to her tumblr and other social profiles.
The Art of Jose Luis Carranza
Jose Luis Carranza is an artist working out of Peru. He attended the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes del Peru, a school which is known for sticking to the more classical side of art training. Along with this technical training, he has also spent years studying the work of Peter Paul Rubens and Francisco Goya. In 2009 the French embassy in Peru held the National Passport Contest, and after having won this contest, Jose studied in France and was able to further dissect the work of European Masters. Of course like all good artists Jose is not just looking at the past, modern artists such as Dan Schutz and Neo Rauch are also great inspirations for his work — most recognizable in the way the Jose applies the paint. His work talks about the idea of religion and politics and the state they are in, and the belief that we are born into a world of violence. The paintings have a foreboding quality to them, and even though their may be multiple characters in one piece, there is this sense of isolation to them.
The most striking thing to me about Jose’s work, is the style in which he paints as well as the eyes and visage of the characters. These figures are meant to be everyman, and the choppy style of paintings the faces is meant to symbolize that the figures are not fully formed yet. While the paintings already have this unnerving feel about them, the eyes drive this feeling to the very core of the viewer. The gaze is piercing, and in a way looks as though the figures in some of these works are scrutinizing the viewers as opposed to the other way around. Take a look at the preview images below, and then make sure to head over to Jose’s website to see more and keep up with new work and events.
Jose Luis Carranza



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The Art of Matthew Wade
Matthew Wade is an artist currently working in Hollywood. He received a degree in animation from the Vancouver Film School, and has had his work featured in Computer Arts Magazine and CMYK Magazine. His site not only has his animation and film work, but also some outstanding illustration works. Each piece has the nice graphic feel of digital art, but if you look closer you see this stippling effect with adds the traditional feel as well. Add in some really surreal scenes and you have some great art. Some of the prints are available on his Etsy site so make sure you check that out as well.
























































