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I've always been a fan of Philip Guston. His fearless move from Ab-Ex to "Cartoon Commentary" at the height of his early career took serious balls. Existential angst expressed in a cartoon context with nice, juicy paint - pretty powerful combo, imho. But maybe that's just the kid in me who was weaned on Warner Bros. cartoons! That, along with my love of paint, might be why I like to imagine the aftermath of some of Guston's kkk thugs going into a Thiebaud bakery and bustin' up the joint...
Ivan Albright perfectly captures life's entropy that we all hate to acknowledge. Most of his images portray the ravages of time.The beautiful clutter, exquisite decay and perfect neglect evident in his work - especially those like Poor Room (above, middle) - become repugnant, even horrific. But, like the proverbial car wreck, we just can't look away. It all seems like remnants of a nightmare but I'm pretty sure Poor Room actually exists in one of Dante's Seven Circles. We naturally get a little creeped out by Albright's work but, hey, check out that pretty great still life he did early in his career!
Good ol' Rembrandt Van Rijn. He's the reason the term "lifelike" was created. I saw the group portrait above in person wherein the figures are lifesize - I began to feel like I needed to leave before I got shot by one of them... Check out the "Portrait with Two Circles," especially the hat - Who says Courbet, Manet, Monet, el al were the first impressionists?
Who doesn't like Chuck Close? A few ab-ex painters or conceptual artists who failed their life drawing classes, maybe. From airbrush to paper pulp to fingerprints - you name it - Close has consummate control of any medium he chooses. I think the guy could sneeze into a napkin and produce a recognizable portrait. And talk about perseverance after his paralysis? I'd still be weeping in a corner somewhere...
Mark Tansey is an absolute genius in my book. Some people look at his paintings and think they're just visual jokes, and one-liners at that. Of course, they're missing the point entirely of these complex allegories and scenarios.. Tansey's work deals with so many things at once: perception, art history, philosophy and even ontology. As someone who's work deals with metaphor and image associations, I just gaze in awe at his references and connections. Tansey uses a monochromatic approach that reads like a Polaroid snapshot in an alternative reality. This device allows the viewer to focus on the complex, subtle associations and references in each work. But using so many different colors from painting to painting says (to me, anyway), "Hey, color is so powerful, each can be isolated and enjoyed individually." It's sort of a Rothko sensibility but with an interesting narrative thrown in. In my opinion, Tansey's not only one of the greatest living representational painters, he's one of our greatest living artists.
What's left to say about this guy? When you can make viewers feel and even "see" the air itself in your work, you're destined to be a visual artist. If I had half as much fun doing my own paintings as I imagine I would've had just watching him work, I'd never leave my easel...
Speaking of fun, I completely understand the smile on Jackson Pollock's face above. I can't think of an artist who worked more freely or physically. To me, he was as much a conceptual artist as anything else. The "aesthetic beauty" of the action paintings themselves may be debatable (certainly they have an impeccable visual balance), but the beauty of the method is not. The idea of paint flying from one's fingertips onto a canvas as one moves around every side of it in space seems like creativity from a higher plane. It might be something only another artist can understand (so, nyah!). Such a shame about his premature passing. It would have been interesting to see his next move, if any, after the action painting.
James Turrell is an artist that blows my mind with his "outside the box" sensibility - like a box made of pure light, for example! I feel a bit puny when I think about our respective mediums - I work with linseed oil and pigment on canvas. Mr. Turrell, on the other hand, uses transverse, electromagnetic waves and volcanoes. No matter, Roden Crater is still on the bucket list, for sure.
Hans Holbein the Younger (pictured above, left) was, imo, one of the two or three greatest portrait artists of all time, along with Rembrandt and Sargent (maybe Ingres and Velasquez as well). Ok, top five, for sure. He's probably best known for his portrait of Henry Vlll, but if you're ever in London and can get to the National Gallery - run, do not walk, to view his double portrait, popularly titled The Ambassadors (above, top middle).
With sincere apologies to PETA, let me say: the animals who gave their lives so that Holbein could paint fur-lined garments, decidedly did not die in vain. Finally, if you ever wonder who inspired Chuck Close and the photo realists, check out the portrait above with the inset image - yes, that's meticulously rendered stubble on his face...
With sincere apologies to PETA, let me say: the animals who gave their lives so that Holbein could paint fur-lined garments, decidedly did not die in vain. Finally, if you ever wonder who inspired Chuck Close and the photo realists, check out the portrait above with the inset image - yes, that's meticulously rendered stubble on his face...