You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Fine Art’ category.
I was doing research on my Design 101 final project and somehow, I thought that maybe I could use bubble wrap for my project. After changing my concept several times, I realized that bubble wrap wasn’t going to work. Nevertheless, I did find some interesting things that people have done with it and wanted to share with you all.
People have used bubble wrap to create texture effects while painting.
A company has turned bubble wrap into a calendar. Rather than crossing out calendar dates, you can simply pop it. I wish I came up with it.
Marshall Dines did this piece by individually painting each bubble. He has mad painting skills.
Bubble wrap in the shape of things that it is supposed to protect. By Todo Design.
Volkswagen has an ad featuring bubble wrap. I can’t remember how old this ad is but I think it’s brilliant.
OMG, Don Suggs was my freshman painting instructor at UCLA. Back then I knew nothing (well very little) about art and did some got awful work. Luckily Don was understanding about that. I remember he wanted me to use more brown/neutrals in my work. I hated that idea at that time…I just wanted to make things look happy. According to my friend, it was “Yay” art.
He’s a great guy and a great instructor. He was very hands off (as is most contemporary painting instructors) and let you paint whatever you want. I remember spending my Saturdays in the studio painting all day and crying over how I couldn’t hammer in a stretcher bar. It was his painting class (since it was the only art class I took) that made me fall in love with the practice of art making.
As for Don’s work, I actually never got the chance to see it when he showed it in lecture since I overslept that class (hey it was an 8 in the morning class). I never realized how colorful his stuff is.
Another artist affiliated with Martin Puryear; this time Christopher Kurtz was supposedly Puryear’s shop assistant. Kurtz’s work is similar to Puryear and can be described as organic minimalism. It seems a lot of his work is based on organic curves and nature imagery.
While looking for images of Martin Puryear’s work, I found a website showcasing one of his former students. Yuriko Yamaguchi’s work can be described as elegant and delicate. Her style is very much like my own (and maybe why I like it so much). She uses wire, resin and wood to create delicate organic shapes that repeat themselves until they take a cloud like form. Another reason why I love her work is her use of lighting and how light and shadows are cast against the tangible forms of her sculpture.
While rummaging through my school’s library, I found a catalogue on Martin Puryear’s work. This catalogue was based on an 2009 exhibition held at SFMOMA (which sadly I missed because I didn’t want to pay the entrance fee). I actually like his work a lot because of it’s understated minimalist design. Below are some of my favorites:
Every time I go to Utrecht on Montgomery, I have to walk by the Academy of Art’s student gallery. Of all the art schools in San Francisco, the Academy is known as a for-profit school. Hence anyone can apply and get in as long as they can afford the tuition.
In many ways, I like their policy because a portfolio entrance requirement may deter many potential candidates (like me). However, the Academy is notorious for having a high attrition rate because many students didn’t know that art/design school is actually a lot of work. Hence, after a year or two of an intense art education, many students begin to drop out once they realize art/design isn’t for them.
So I always question the quality of the education at the Academy. However, whenever I walk by the student gallery, I usually notice a student or two whose work really stand out. I guess those students are the stars of the school.
It seems to me that Daniel Ochoa is one of those students. His figure paintings remind me of the drawing style that is typical of the Academy (academic realism). However, his style, leans towards figurative expressionism. I love his loose, painterly brush strokes; I find them evocative, expressive and haunting. And his color palate, with the warm browns and oranges remind of Lucian Freud and Jenny Saville.
Abluelo Portriat
Cara and Face
Here and There en el Cuarto
Ross
Seated in El Noche
I first discovered Lorene Anderson’s work when she exhibited at the SFMOMA Artists Gallery in Fort Mason, and I quickly became a fan afterwords.
Her work can be described as an abstract representation of systems and networks. She paints with layers of caesin, acrylic, ink and mica and allows gravity to influence the painted forms on her artwork. I particularly love her use of color and how she uses layers of white to soften the appearance of her work.
Her works on paper are equally as fascinating as her paintings. Here, Anderson dunks a marble in ink and allows it to roll around on the paper. Thus, her process is influenced by both chance and gravity.
Paintings
Belt(way)
Colony
Gloaming
Works on Paper
Station
Zenobia
Reflex Arc
I encountered William Swanson’s work while running to Kinkos and making photocopies. I was walking by a random office building on Market Street when I noticed that there were these paintings hanging in the lobby. Swanson is a local artist in the Bay Area who I am now a fan of. He paints images of sparse futuristic landscapes defined by geometric shapes and flat vibrant colors. Doing a google search on him, I found an interview he did with myartspace awhile back and is represented by Marx & Zavattero in San Francisco and DCKT Contemporary in New York.
When I first saw Brandi Strickland’s work on Etsy, the first thing is said to myself was “OMG I love it.” I love Brandi’s use of flat colored rays converging in perspective and her collage aesthetic that is reminiscent of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. It reminds me a lot of my own designs.
MrBokChoi 