When animals attack

Something primitive is being explored, an open mouth and showing teeth...aggressive actions occurring all over the picture plane...a shallow space is explored in this piece by Aaron Johnson...A blue backdrop moves the eye around the piece...pinks, greens, oranges and reds combine in high chroma with intensity, alluding to Asian tattooing...

Strong complimentary color scheme and large scale of the hippopotamus' open mouth is the central image, a focal point, moving the eye up and to the right across the tiger and around the head to the left and down to the left and over to the bottom right...The vibrations of the active figures, leaving the viewer with a sense of unease and intensity.

The air between

I first saw works by Jacob Hashimoto a couple of years ago at Art Basel, Miami...I was enthralled by his precision in execution and the overall decorative qualities of these multiple circles, pentagons and octagons...this layering of paper covering light wood armatures...it reminded me of thousands of floating kites, gently hovering above the earth....

The way they combine is visually interesting and complex, because of the relationships set up by their proximity...like the works of Seurat, dots of pigment separately convey one idea visually, but put a green dot next to a red and see the vibration...optically, colors together react in our brain, attempting to unify...this work is about shallow space, relationships between tint, tone and hues and organization...a symphony of expression...most beautiful...

The effects of imagination

Angularity and moving lines make this photograph by Julie Blackmon a very interesting image...the eye moving across all the angles, along the floor, up the back of the chair and over to the off kilter portrait down the window to the radiator, on to the cushions and back again.

The boy and his reaction to his environment adds a interesting conceptual dimension to the image...reinforcing the scattered nature of the room...hyper and out of control, the image and the emotion of the photograph...these are the remains of his efforts, how children change their environment when they are in their imagination.

Master and servant

Natural mythology...narrative and reality meet in an odd sadistic world...animals take on human characteristics, cruelty and dominance the genus and species are all combined and recombined, the most appealing visual and textural components have been genetically extracted, connected and contained into these museum quality sculptures.

They feel so real, Enrique Gomez de Molina has done an amazing job not only assembling seamless animal forms but he adds to the narrative by chaining another pet/servant insect to its wrist...the posture and attitude is not of a caged animal but of a dominant, free range master, controlling with purpose its slave. These forms act as metaphors, carrying the great burdens of our human existence.

Circular textures

Found objects, recombined in a decorative way, referring back to Baroque and Gothic imagery...I am always attracted to decorative....maybe we are like birds looking for sparkly bobbles to bring to our nest...we are visually seduced by the colors, textures and sheen...this piece by Alfonso Ossorio utilizes repetition in color and shape to move the eye around the picture plane.

Artists visually calm the eye in this sea of activity through strong symmetry and larger areas of monochromatic color usage...they eye needs areas to relax otherwise it becomes overwhelming...it negates the beauty and decorative qualities and just confuses the mind. The circular forms are repeated and carry the eye over the circular picture plane.

Taking a stand

Another nice image/poster by Shepard Fairey...the pixil-ated surface is commercial in nature because of digital imagery and reproduction, what separates these images, in my mind are the simple details...elements that move slightly away from the glitz...the off white backdrop, instead of the clean and sterile white margins...the loss of visual information, it is not necessary to complete the image in a glossy way (in line with Warhol's silk screen portraits) and the over spray and looseness of the exterior line quality...these visual suggestions tie back to street art.

He does a good job of making the noncommercial, commercial which I feel many creative individuals miss, DON'T compromise on the work to be more commercially viable, but utilize the marketing and commercial tools to take what you do and get it out there...it's a numbers game, if you want to be successful you have to knock on more doors and get your images out there...in this way Mr. Fairey is dominant in the market place.

Tranformation of a snap shot

In honor of my meeting with Shephard last night, I wanted to explore some of the reasons I enjoy his work...we talked briefly about the case pending with the Associated Press over this image and I have been thinking about the case for a while...art, as a discipline, generally does not prescribe to this notion of complete and utter ownership of an image...we realize it may be possible that nothing new has been created for a very long time and we re-present similar images and ideas over and over, but in a slight and subtle new way, incorporating the modern individual and her or his own experiences...nothing is entirely unique but everything is infinitely new...new to the artist and new to A viewer...this digestion process changes the parts and makes a new whole...

I won't get into the legalities of the situation but let's just look at what this image did the the AP image could not do...the structure may be similar, but with the color, divided background, the simplification of shape and line...these significant changes transformed a likeness into work of art that moved, empowered, motivated and changed our country. The other point I would like to make is that the AP had every opportunity and still does to sell the "original" likeness, yet no one wants to buy it, why? They are a big company with deeper pockets, more opportunity to market and sell this image, yet is still remains meaningless to most people. Is that what's really relevant here? It's a different image, it is a work of art and not just a snap shot...