Daily Art Fixx

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

Kristen Ferrell: Painting/Drawing

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Duality is the major theme of Kristen Ferrell’s work. The conflicting imagery of beauty vs. grotesque; innocence and rage; id vs. superego. Being raised in a quiet, God-fearing Kansas home, and being plagued with constant violent rebellious tendencies forced her to express internal conflicts through artistic outlets. Influenced by artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Goya, and Hieronymus Bosch, she voices her confusion with human behavior through classical symbolism, but in modern terms. Using the classical meaning behind the objects and animals represented in her work, she relays her reactions and observations to incidences in her own life – such as motherhood, neurosis, divorce, distrust, and the confusion that presents itself when dealing with others.

Kristen currently lives in Southern California with her husband and 12 year old son.  In addition to her artwork and gallery shows, she is the  owner and operator of Kristen Ferrell Clothing & Accessories – a clothing line based on her artwork and illustrations.

To see more, visit KristenFerrell.com.

Naoto Hattori – The Magic Caravan @ Dorothy Circus Gallery

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Japanese born pop surrealist painter Naoto Hattori has a new solo show – “The Magic Caravan” – at Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome, Italy.

“Hattori, the artist of the bizarre, reminds in a pop Surrealist way of Bosh and Arcimboldo. Fantastic creatures, animals and a world observed by thousands of eyes unveils the secret of a reality that is impossibile to define, and subject to a constant and fluid metamorphosis in which the eye is both author and witness.”

The Magic Caravan runs through May 31, 2011. For more information, visit Dorothy Circus Gallery or visit Hattori’s website www.comcom.com.

Naoto Hattori: Mini Prints

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Japanese born surrealist Naoto Hattori has released some new work in the form of affordable signed and numbered mini-prints.

Hattori studied graphic design in Tokyo before moving to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration in 2000. As well as painting, he works in editorial, CD and book covers, flyers, posters, skateboard and snowboard design.

To see more of Hattoris’s work, visit NaotoHattori.com.

Found on: Creep Machine

Joe MacGown: Mixed Media

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Joe MacGown (aka Neogothic-Jam) was born in 1964 in Maine and moved to Mississippi when he was ten.  His interest in art began early and as a child, he spent his time collecting insects, exploring nature, and drawing everything in sight. MacGown attended the Memphis College of Art for a while but it didn’t stick.  Instead, for a few years, he worked the night shift at a grocery store and did some freelance artwork on the side.  Since 1988, MacGown has worked at the Mississippi State Entomological Museum as a scientific illustrator and assistant curator.

MacGown’s true interest is in the “interrelationship of the environment and all forms of the animate and inanimate” and says “As I have studied nature over the course of my life, I have come to realize that every little thing we do affects something else, whether it be negative or positive. I greatly enjoy playing with positive and negative space, the juxtaposition of seemingly unnatural elements, and filling an area with as much as possible.”  MacGown describes his style as “neogothic surrealism or subconscious meandering…  a blend of fantasy, surrealism, and visionary art.”

To see more of Joe MacGown’s “semi-strange” art, visit JoeMacGown.com or check out his profile on Deviant Art.

Raul Oprea (Saddo): Illustration

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With Horns © Raul Oprea (Saddo)

Romanian born artist Raul Oprea (aka Saddo Jdero) graduated from the University of Art and Design in Cluj Napoca, Romania. Currently living in Berlin, Germany, Oprea specializes in bright, intricate, and surreal characters. His mediums usually include acrylic paint, watercolor, pencils, and marker pens on paper, as well as street surfaces and wood.

To see more of Jdero’s work, visit his profile on Deviant Art or his photostream on Flickr.

Daron Mouradian: Painting

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Born in 1961 in Yerevan, Armenia, Daron Mouradia studied at the Panos Terlemezian Arts College from 1978-1982 . From 1984-1990 he attended the Yerevan Academy of Fine Arts where he was awarded the prize of Excellence.

Mouradia has exhibited in Armenia, Paris, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and New York. His works are inspired by Armenian culture, combining the civilisations of the East and the West, and including memories of the the Middle Ages. “Mouradian’s world of fantasy is an ever-changing environment where the Bible and Mythology play a major role. He leads us to make an in-depth self-analysis, in search of our own roots, to be able to live the future with greater serenity.”

To see more, visit DaronMouradian.com or BelairFineArt.com.

Carrie Ann Baade: Painting

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Carrie Ann Baade is an internationally exhibiting artist whose surreal oil paintings are rich with allegorical meta-narratives inspired by literature and art history. She has been awarded the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs Individual Artist Fellowship, the Delaware Division of the Arts Fellowship for Established Artist, and a nomination for the prestigious United States Artist Fellowship. Exhibiting widely with the Pop Surrealists and her paintings have been featured in Metamorphosis, a survey of the top, contemporary Visionary Surrealists and will be included in the upcoming exhibit Suggestivism curated by Nathan Spoor, at the Grand Central Art Center in California. Baade received her Masters in Painting from the University of Delaware where she expanded her knowledge of materials and techniques under the guidance professors of art conservation.

Baade received her B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago that included one year of study at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy. Her work has been reviewed and the subject of features in the NY ARTS Magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Austin Chronicle, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Albuquerque Journal, and Philadelphia Today. Recent solo exhibitions include: the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, the Rosenfeld Gallery in Philadelphia, Billy Shire Fine Arts in Los Angeles, and the Ningbo Art Museum in China. Currently, Carrie is an Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at Florida State University accompanied by her polydactyl cat. Her work is represented by Pop Gallery in Santa Fe and Rosenfeld Gallery in Philadelphia. (bio from artist website)

To see more, visit CarrieAnnBaade.com.

Alex Gross: Painting

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signals-alex-gross

Los Angeles based artist Alex Gross has a BFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He has had five solo exhibitions at various galleries and participated in dozens of group exhibitions across the globe. In the summer of 2007, Gross’ first retrospective museum show was held at the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, California. Gross is a recipient of the prestigious Artist Fellowship from the Japan Foundation, and several faculty grants from Art Center College of Design. In 2006, Chronicle Books published The Art of Alex Gross, the artist’s first monograph. “Discrepancies”, Gross’ second fine art book was published by Gingko Press in 2010. It features an introduction by LA Weekly art critic Doug Harvey, with over 50 new and recent images including oil paintings, mixed media work, and sketches.

Discrepancies will be released in conjunction with Gross’ solo exhibition at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York which runs from September 11, 2010 – October 9, 2010.

To see more, visit AlexGross.com.

Leszek Andrzej Kostuj: Painting

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friends_from_magic_valley_by_frodokPolish artist Leszek Kostuj. Kostuj graduated from the Pedagogy and Art Department at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.  Although he prefers oil and acrylic painting, Kostuj’s mediums also include drawing, and traditional and digital graphics. Starting from small realistic drawings, Kostuj’s paintings are inspired by surrealism and figurative abstraction.

“My art is in constant change, I am in search of the forms of artistic communication that would be optimal for me. When I begin to paint, it is quite frequent that I do not ponder over the final effect. Only when on the surface of the painting, the emerging patches, lines, colours begin to coalesce, the imagination rouses and provides an impulse to further artistic release. At this stage of creation, what begins to appear is ideas, visions, and concepts – all in order to create a work that is a fulfilment of my artistic and aesthetic needs”

To see more of Leszek Kostuj’s work, visit his profile on Deviant Art or his website at Kostuj.com

Bird II © Kostuj Grassland Shaman © Leszek Kostuj Forestman © Leszek Kostuj

Rob Sato: Painting

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the-hatchery-rob-sato

Born in Sacramento, California, Rob Sato is a painter, illustrator and comic book artist. Sato has a B.F.A. California College of Arts & Crafts and currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

“The driving force behind his work is the compulsive desire to see a joke fleshed out. In setting out to make a painting, he begins with a cartoon, a story if you will, to build a world for a joke to live in. As the piece develops in layers of imagery with settings – both mundane and fantastic – a tiny little world emerges full of side stories, tweaked symbols, disguises, traps, tricks and the occasional red, white or blue herring. All bits fight harmoniously under a smokescreen of meticulous line work and magnetic watercolor. In his successes we are faced with a lifetime of undying visual investigation, never ending stories and constant brain food.” (from GalleryRevisited.com)

Sato is currently exhibiting at Copro Gallery in California.  His show “Muscle Memories” runs alongside Naoto Hattori’s “Super Bionics” through August 28.

To see more of Sato’s work visit Rob Sato.com.  There is also a great in-depth recent interview with the artist at ErraticPhenomena.com.