Marks make the men

Interesting mark making with flowing, repetitive lines across the picture plane...the motion of the leaves moving the eye diagonally and up, red cross hatching carrying the eye up and over to the electrical pole, the red lines moving down through the walk way into the lower right hand corner...your eye connects to the lower left hand corner, up the tree and all over again...The viewer sees the entire picture plane in a great use of space and movement...

Visually we group the reds, the verticals and the yellows...similar sizes, similar shapes and colors, attaching together optically and conceptually...the marks make an "x" through the picture plane...Andrew Schoultz is an excellent draftsperson...using layered and percise marks to create an exciting world in motion.

Decorative and agressive

The definition of object and atmosphere is blurred in this skilled work by artist Jesse Reno...the mythological man/animal forms happen often in his works, they have a beautiful, decorative quality to them, which carries into the background...this complex, sweet, simple world with a dark, twisted figure...the face is broken, bruised...maybe just happy to be fixed in a space for a moment...I like that this animal form rests on a circular base...it grounds the form but increases the complexity of the picture plane...The space is tight, with the animal form in the foreground, a muted middle ground containing tinted pastel colors with an enveloped head with two sets of arms and finally, a dark backdrop the references the beginning...the round, red pad, the monster walks on...

Jesse's use of texture and automatic drawing is interesting and decorative; it makes a nice contrast to the more visually aggressive faces...the body of the main character references these decorative qualities through repetition of flowers and stars/asterisks. The mark making is consistent, stylistically tying all the forms together into one frenetic picture plane.

Flesh and stone

The mountain and the figure are one...I believe that is the way Native Americans intend it to be...part of the universe, attached and indivisible...Monica Canilao does an incredible job linking pieces of the past and present to create a world loosely defined and artistically rendered...

The tee pee reference in the triangular shapes at the base in the middle, top in the picture plane in shape and the cloth forms, dangling from the edges...this repetition moves the eye around formally, but also fixes the narrative conceptually...The color choice is muted and aged, contextually like old tintype photographs...sections of slightly different colored papers are drawn on and draped for continuity. These works not only define a space, they embody a story and a history.

Automatic Kentridge

William Kentridge's drawings are beautifully executed and welll done...he is an artist that knows how to draw well...the way that he allows the charcoal to be what it needs to be, it is such a perfect union of Kentridge's skills with the qualities of the materials...It is loose and diverse in it's mark making...

He uses mostly black and erased marks, exposing the paper...with color spread in small but strategic areas, the color emphasizes those conceptual elements that carry the narrative, but also to move the eye around the picture plane and effectively unifies the composition...

Fluidity and sequence are the keys to the animations of William Kentridge...attached is a link to on of his animated drawings. They are not conventional animations, like children's cartoons, but are truly artistic, incredible displays of skill and emotion. See the attached link below that shows an example of his amazing work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmvK7A84dlk

A simple request

Emily has always shown a commitment to her personal history...an unwillingness, an inflexible mission to find her way through cultural landmines...this body of work chronicles her acceptance as an ambassador for her people...a messenger doing the simplest of tasks in the most difficult of circumstances...Palestinian friends and acquaintances request Emily to express their freedom through specific actions outlined in the note above...going back to Palestine, Emily attempts to accomplish each request. A documentation process follows and it is presented in a creative and artistic way...

These events are personal, and also mundane to those who are free...in her very real world, these tasks are not easy to ex-patriots...The fact that she can do them and her people cannot presents a real opportunity for guilt and regret...these works may be an outward expressions of these feelings...I have had the benefit of knowing Emily Jacir in my past...She is a strong and passionate individual who can take responsibility and act when others only stand and stare...