Daily Art Fixx

visual arts blog, painting, drawing, sculpture, illustration and more!

I Wayan Sudarsana Yansen: Abstract Painting

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Born in 1970, in Surabaya, Indonesia, I Wayan Sudarsana Yansen currently lives and works in Bali, Indonesia. Working in oil on canvas,  Yansen “follows the little voice from my heart as I follow in ceremonial Bali. It’s kind of a meditation and the media are colors and canvas……..lets dance to the mystery of imagination.”

Yansen has exhibited in numerous group shows in Bali and had his first solo exhibition entitled “The Joy of Light, Dance, and Mystery” at the Indonesian National Gallery in Jakarta in 2010.

To see more of I Wayan Sudarsana Yansen, check out his profile on Satchi.

Images via: Escape Into Life

Dale Frank: Abstract Painting

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Born in 1959, Australian painter Dale Frank’s career spans more than twenty years. Frank’s work has been exhibited around the globe in numerous solo and group exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (1984), Sydney Biennale (1990), and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2000). His paintings are held in every major public collection in Australia and in numerous private and corporate collections in Australia, Europe and the U.S. In 2005 Frank won The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize at the Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria. A major monograph on Frank’s work “So Far: the Art of Dale Frank 2005-1980”, was published in 2007.

Frank’s paintings involve the merging of numerous vivid colours together on one surface. “These colours collide and separate from one another with dramatic effect, taking on the appearance of cut-marble or reptile-skin patternings. His painting process is not one that is quick or unconscious. Canvases are titled at different angles every fifteen minutes, allowing the paint to move and leave its mark until the varnish is set and the desired image is achieved. This can take anywhere from six to twenty-four hours of continuous attention to one painting.” (from Gow Langsford Gallery)

To see more, visit Roslyn.Noxley9Gallery.au.

John Chamberlain: New Sculpture – Gagosian Gallery

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John Chamberlain is currently exhibiting his new sculptures concurrently at 24th Street gallery in New York and the Britannia Street gallery in London via his new representation with Gagosian Gallery in New York.

Chamberlain is best known for his distinctive metal sculptures constructed from discarded automobile-body parts and other modern industrial detritus, which he began making in the late 1950s. His singular method of putting these elements together led to his inclusion in the paradigmatic exhibition “The Art of Assemblage,” at the Museum of Modern Art in 1961, where his work was shown alongside modern masters such as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso.

Visibly emphasizing the original seams as well as the physical trace of his sculptural manipulations, he emphatically constructs assemblages that unite seemingly disparate mechanical elements. Crumpling, crushing, bending, twisting, painting, and welding the metals to form individual objects, which may be further sprayed, he combines them into aggregations, often on a monumental scale. The new works are made of metal taken from mid-century American and European cars. (from Gagosian Gallery)

The exhibition runs through July 8, 2011. Chamberlain is also showing his work from the 1980s – 2000s at Pace Gallery in New York. (through July 1, 2011)

For more information, visit the gallery links above and DAF’s previous feature here.

Images via: Gagosian Gallery

Ali Smith: Abstract Painting

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Born in 1976, Long Beach, California based painter Ali Smith has a B.S in Studio Art from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and an MFA from California State University.

“Smith uses the canvas as an open space of exploration; an empty landscape that serves as the starting point for investigation into abstract terrains. The recurring visual trope of Rococo-like excess and abundance performs a celebratory re-assertion of the endless possibilities available to the painter. Smith weaves together fleeting thoughts, moments of time, the fine lines between fact and fiction and subjective desires within her canvases, which in turn present the hopeful attitude of the artist, in the face of the realities of life and experience.”

Smith has had solo exhibitions in New York, Houston and Los Angeles. She has been included in numerous group shows, including the Laguna Art Museum (CA), Irvine Fine Arts Center (CA), as well as shows in Boston, Tokyo and Basel. Her work is included in the collections of the Laguna Art Museum (CA), Frederick R. Weisman Foundation (CA), Progressive (OH) and the Chaney Family Collection (TX).

Ali Smith is represented by Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, visit AliSmith.org.

Esther Barend: Abstract and Portable Art

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It’s been over a year since I last caught up one of my favourite abstract artists – Netherlands based Esther Barend. Since that time she has been busy moving to a new studio, exhibiting in numerous solo and group shows, and creating a series of new paintings and portable art bags.

Barend’s vivid paintings are created by mixing the paint colours on the canvas with a lot of layers both thick and thin, resulting in a spontaneous, intensely coloured,  yet balanced form of personal expression.

“Impulsions and Thoughts – Running Through My Head” (the featured image above) actually has four sides. The image shown here  is Esther’s favourite.  “It reflects the vortex of impressions, impulsions, and thoughts running through my head, together with the feelings running through my heart.  The world literally is getting smaller every day. There are positive and negative aspects to this.  The negative ones give me feelings of sadness, powerlessness, and sometimes anger. Often they confuse me because I cannot comprehend what people are capable of doing to each other. I prefer to focus on the positive aspects which warm my heart and give me the necessary wings to keep going. That is why the main colour of this painting is red.”

Barend has also created a new series of her fantastic one-of-a-kind art bags.  “These art-bags are much more wearable, functional, and durable than the first collection. Although they are unique pieces of art, valuable and vulnerable, you can still walk in the rain without having to worry!”

Esther’s next exhibition is at Gallery Tatiana Tournemine in Paris starting at the end of January 2011.

To see more of Esther Barend’s work or to inquire about her art bags, visit EstherBarend.eu.  You can also check out her blog at EstherBarend.Blogspot.com.

Leslie Wayne: Mixed Media

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shift-and-flow-detail-leslie-wayne-2009Born in 1953 in Germany, Leslie Wayne currently lives and works in New York. From 1971-73, Wayne studied painting at the University of California Santa Barbara, College of Creative Studies. In 1984, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from Parsons School of Design in New York.

Wayne’s work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the U.S. and Germany. She is in many public collections including Neuberger Museum of Art in New York, The Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Wayne’s current solo exhibition “One Big Love” runs through July 16, 2010 at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York.

For more information, see Wayne’s profile at the Jack Shainman Gallery.

Esther Barend: Spontaneous Art

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Sea of Love © Esther Barend

Sea of Love © Esther Barend

I love StumbleUpon.  With the endless amount of information on the net, how else could I have come across the wonderful abstract paintings of Esther Barend.

Barend was born to an artistic family in Eindhoven, in the south country of The Netherlands. After finishing her studies, she worked and lived in Paris and Amsterdam and  established herself as a jewelery designer. Several years later she studied at the Academy of Arts in Arendonk, Belgium, where she developed her unique style of painting.

Barends paintings are mostly autobiographical in nature. She is inspired by her rich and complex inner world, by her current emotions, and by contemporary events. Influenced by the free expression of artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Gerhard Richter, Barend’s paintings are characterized by spontaneity, dynamics, details and intense colours. “Standing in front of a white canvas,” says Barend, “, I follow my feelings. Often I start with a few lines or forms of my imagination. The colours are mixed on the canvas and I work with a lot of layers, thin and thick, which causes a beautiful raw structure. By mixing invented and spontaneous forms the result is well-balanced.”

Producing mainly abstracts, Barend works with acrylic paint combined with glue, charcoal, pieces of pastel chalk, paper, sand and other materials to create paintings that come to life with vibrant colour, contrast, energy, and movement, that keeps the viewer looking.

To see more of Esther Barend’s work, visit EstherBarend.eu.

The Tide of Events © Esther Barend The Love Within © Esther Barend Happiness © Esther Barend

All images are copyright © Esther Barend

Sources: Esther Barend, Babel Art


Jean Hélion, 1904 – 1987

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Born in Normandy, France on April 21, 1904, Jean Hélion is recognized as one of the leading abstract painters in Europe during the 1930’s. Hélion moved to Paris in 1921 where he worked as an architectural apprentice until deciding to become a painter in 1925. He became a member of the Groupe Art Concret in 1929 and co-founded Abstraction Creation in 1931 – an international association of artists who advocated pure abstration.

Hélion moved to the United States (New York, and Virginia) in 1936 and continued his abstract work until 1939 when (much to his admirer’s disappointment) he began to paint in a figurative style.

Hélion returned to Paris in 1940 to serve with the Armed Forces.  During this time, he was taken prisoner and help captive until 1942 when he managed to escape.  He published a book on his WWII experiences called “They Shall Not Have Me” in 1943.

Hélion returned to America for a short period but then went back to Paris in 1946 where he continued his work painting scenes of everyday life.  When asked by a journalist about his abandonment of abstract art, he said the war was an influence on his return to figurative painting. And that “A man who has been locked up for a few years knows the value of reality”. ⑴

Jean Hélion made Paris his home until his death on October 27, 1987.  Today, his works can be seen at the MOMA and other galleries in the US, as well as the Tate Gallery in London and many Museums in France.

Sources: Wikipedia, New York Times 1981, 1989, Centre Pompidou