Remedios Varo

Thanks to Jonathan Gray on Facebook, I was introduced to Remedios Varo's various works. It's really hard to choose favorite ones. Her entire collection is of a high quality.

There is this mystical, enigmatic quality, unsurpassed charm... You know a work of art is great if it makes you think hard for the just right diction. 

[Contemporary Art] Paintings by Andrew Crane

Facebook is just one of those things that connects you to *alive* artists.
Here are some paintings by Mr. Andrew Crane of UK.

It's been such a pleasure viewing his updates!
And I felt it was time, I shared them with the *world* outside of Facebook webz!

[ V a l k y r i e ]

oil, house paint and graphite on paper

14 x 15½ inches | 2014

[ blue sky ]

oil and acrylic on paper

21 x 32 inches | 2014

[ 21 or 22 maybes ]

oil and house paint on canvas

48¼ x 38 inches | 2014

[ Jonas gets things moving ]

acrylic, house paint and chalk on paper

12 x 12 inches | 2014

[ alleluia ]

plaster, paint and graphite on paper

13 x 20½ inches | 2014

[ cement sketch ]

cement and paint on canvas

20 x 24 inches | 2014

* * *

What I appreciate most about his works is a kind of Evocation that takes you on a journey towards your stored memories. The markings are territorial yet transient. They are about identities or entities emerging - disappearing - fading - lost.

It's also a genius combination of colors that one will not tire of, but the deceptively translucent quality skimming the surface of the canvas scape seems to make mockery out of the heaviness or somber quality of the tonal values.

I can actually imagine each one of these paintings on a Tshirt... :-P

I for one would LOVE to wear these, if they were well proportioned with the right level of texture and fabric weight.

I think the last four would definitely look great as Tshirts. I should probably be my *cheeky* self and ask Mr Crane if that would be OK with him?

They remind me so much about my upbringing...

Much love to you, Inspirati companions!

xoxo

Flatshoenista

The Most Beautiful Thing Ever Filmed

Plastic bag scene from American Beauty

Yoshitaka Amano

http://www.elevenland.com/amano/amano.php3

Emily Noelle Lambert

I saw her work in Seoul, September 2008.

I wanted to hang these in my Living Room.

I think this was the image that was used for the Invitation Card.

I felt so *alive* standing in front of her colors.

They were magical...

I love the primal screams raging through her canvases...

They make me connect to my core self...

http://emilynoellelambert.net/home.html

Statement

Process drives my painting; uncovering and peeling away material, meaning, and ultimately my self.
This new body of work includes paintings and sculpture made within the past six months. This was a process of purging as well as cultivation. The sweet switch of duality of creation and destruction plays back and forth; wiping away, erasing, and then the rekindling. With this work, I am intuitively exploring my experiences by extracting them, both consciously and subconsciously, from a visual language of impressions, recollections and desires.
The sculpture and paintings came into being through the impulse for greater physicality, more muscle and fight, a yearning to see thought made tangible. Cross-pollinating between 2-D and 3-D, the pieces lean into one and inform one another.
The undercurrent of the challenges of life, death, love, and change, are woven through each piece. I have a desire for control of each piece but consciously allow for a lack of control¬ — the drips of paint sliding down the canvases and constructed forms are a testament to the uncontrolled. The melding of paint, net, glass beads, and monkey fur result in a clash of meaning and making. I am aligning my artistic process with the process of living, seeking meaning, lyricism and striving within both.

http://www.priskajuschkafineart.com/artists/Emily_Noelle_Lambert/statement.php

Two Unforgettable Arias from Movies

Above: Aria scene from The Fifth Element

Above: Aria scene from Shawshank Redemption

At Leeum: Francis Bacon, Arshile Gorky, & Rothko

Earlier this year, my friend introduced me to the wonderful Starkness, a kind of Terror in Francis Bacon's art. This little image doesn't do it justice of course. This is something that has to be experienced at the gallery...

This is Arshile Gorky's work Study for Agony. It's so fresh and sophisticated, playful and serious.

Then, there is Rothko of course. If a prayer ever got painted, it would most likely be a Rothko.

Ross Bleckner

What can I say. Pure pleasure would look like this.

I first came across his work when I was an exchange student in Paris.

ENSBA's library had a big book about him.

I saw two of his paintings at a small gallery in Paris, and then at

a biennale in Korea.

I like to think of him as a true visual poet.

I see him as an equal rival to Hiroshi Sugito.

They both know how to create Beauty.

.

Australia's Aboriginal Art

One of the most amazing visual experiences for me in Australia was the aboriginal art. I don't know how they did it but I could literally feel the heat and energy of Earth from their paintings. Some of the paintings had actual dirt in them and it worked wonders.

Below are some images I pulled from the internet.

If you like this type of art, you can check out some more at: http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au and http://www.japingka.com.au/exhibitions.cfm

Or you can also Google "Pintupi" for more information.

La Patience by Balthus

1943

The Echo by Paul Delvaux

The Echo (1943) by Paul Delvaux.

I love Delvaux's body of work and how he kept to a persistent theme in most of them. You can see one and immediately tell that it is his work and no-one else's. I also feel some injustice that Magritte has stolen the lime light and is hailed as a father figure of the genre Surrealism (along with Dali), when the true source of Surrealism began with de Chirico.

As far as I know, Delvaux is a descendant and heir to the Surrealist movement. But I think he deserves merit for creating such a distinct and focused body of work that are unmistakeably his.

I found a blog post on him here --> http://tatagetman.blogspot.com/2011/04/nudes-femmes-surrealism-larchitecture.html

Richard Diebenkorn

I heart the colors and level of abstraction of his work.

Henri Rousseau

* Rousseau is known for his jungle theme but I appreciate some of his lesser known works because it gives helpful clues to how he arrived at his own system of painting. I think this particular piece is very typical of his works - with their well arranged elements, attempting to flatten the space, with the more decorative parts such as the tree that are rendered with a little more brushwork, and the sky reminiscent of some Japanese print the way the colors blend so subtly in a gradual manner. 

Found on: http://www.thecityreview.com/s02cimp2.html 

Ellsworth Kelly

At first they just look like flat planes of colour;

but when you really begin to look at them,

there's a whole world inside those overly simple shapes.

It's mesmerizing...

Edward Hopper

A true master, IMHO...

The one above was so mesmerizing;

it was so surreal and yet so real

at the same time!

I don't know how he does that...

Ben Shahn

I fell in love with this painting at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, last summer. It was hung above a staircase.

Because of its narrowness that completely matched its surroundings, it really struck me visually. I just loved the facial expressions of the three gentlemen. I don't know why but it just made me laugh!

Like the guy in the middle looks like he hasn't gone to the bathroom in three days! So, when I returned home to Seoul after a long family trip, I looked him up. And discovered that his name was Ben Shahn.

I was quite surprised that this painting was in response to a social issue at the time, and that Shahn was quite politically aware and active.

Personally, I do not care so much about the political message of the painting. At the time I fell in love with the visual and its witty vibe, all I cared was that this was a painting I'd love to hang in my future dream kitchen!

And here's another one by Shahn, that I discovered in a monthly Illustration magazine in Korea. The image speaks volumes to me. And on quite another level compared to the above image.

This one is a lot graver and more haunting, I'd say.

Anyhow, I think these works confirmed once again, the kinds of images I continually find myself choosing over other works.

So, I am just grateful that they will help me articulate my unborn visions, trapped in my mind some place.

And I pray to God that some day, I may be able to give birth to them, and give articulate forms and substances that they so deserve.

Over and out.

de Chirico

The second picture above haunts me, always.
I found the other two paintings and fell in love
with them both! For some reason though,
I much prefer his earlier works to his later works.
(Interesting that I feel somewhat similar to Picasso's oeuvres...)

Haunting is *awesome*!