Not my usual post

Okay, this isn't the usual post format...an artist, an analysis...but I have been seeing some patterns in current artists and their work that seem a bit disturbing. I like my comments to be positive and hopefully insightful, but as in the minds of all educators and evaluators, criticism creeps in...And I despise the role of the critique, not for their "insight" into the works but for the self-absorption and personal "flair." And for some reason many media outlets have taken on this "entertainment in a news wrapper" format...but I digress...here are some quick bullet points and rhetorical questions that I have pondered over the last several months...

• What happened to having a background in art? Is there some stigma with actually using that space? When did it become taboo to consider the atmosphere around the central character???


• When did it become high fashion to do a copy of a copy of a copy of a tattoo that was a cartoon character???


• How did drawing from something other than a photograph become a sin???


• Was appropriation of an image always steeling or is it that artists today seem to be taking most of another artists image instead of thinking of something on their own???


• Why is it that dealers and artists think it's practical to piss off the actual people who love visual art and then wonder why no one is buying?


• What happened to art history???

Not your traditional landscape

Baby blues tie this intensely colorful piece together by Damon Soule...Blue is also used to visually describe the boxy, geometric forms with stand in direct opposition to a mainly organic painting...acting as both the antagonist and glue for the overall piece it creates a vibration...

The central image, owl form, is nicely placed off to the side adding to the level of interest, forcing the viewer to reconcile and continue to move around the picture plane...the organic branches of color move us to the front and to the back of the space...obliterated colors fade off into the distance like an extended landscape, tightening up and becoming clear as the forms come into focus.

White pop black

Script on patinae surface...the compulsion to say it again and again, again and again...what is left is often white noise...but what if you harness that noise and push visual language to embody those obsessions? How can you make it beautiful and rich?

Jose Parla creates this luscious and engaging environments with his works...using street graffiti and intricate lettering he makes this compelling paintings...the feel like flowing textures placed in an asymmetrical composition to create visual interest...they are organic without contrast, so he must use value variation, placement and exuberant mark making to attract us and hold our interest. The background is dark and primarily neutral, with hints of cool colors to visually push the space back and contrast the pop of the white marks.

Overlay cityscape

Layering of the new over the old, a fearful enterprise...the city is covered in paint....silk screened over a photographic image...only the tops remain, a comment on change and the environment...Alex Lukas makes a statement on the battle of man verses nature...again and again.

He does a great job of playing with the horizon...breaking the illusion with the ripped page from the book...the city scape is consumed and violated by the water...with transparency we see the world below, but cannot touch it...we live above it all, but only for a moment...impermanence and anxiety are the overriding emotion behind this collision of mediums.

Pretty flowers around dark journeys

The repetition of the flowers in the background...patterned and shallow, the space creates overall visual unity...I like the decorative and narrative quality of Mel Kadel's work...The female character appears consistently in her work and works through and against the picture plane...

She is wading through thick black ink...her expression is of exasperation, looking for a quick end to this journey...her black and white patterned clothes and dense black lake contrast nicely to the pastel flowers...the hope and despair of our days...we are up and we are down, but we hopefully, continue to move forward.