If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I have a bit of a weakness for saturated color mixed with bold graphics. I don’t know what it is about this combo, but I am completely unable to resist. The colorful abstract collages of Charleston, SC artist Sarah Boyts Yoder had me at hot pink.
Magenta Bun, collage on paper, 14×18
I am completely enchanged with those heavy black lines reminiscent of a child’s coloring book.. Often the lines are left partially “colored-in”, a playful nod to their childlike quality.
Bun With Yellow, collage on paper, 17×18
Ear Collage 1, collage on paper, 13×16
And I love the way Boyts Yoder seems to take two disparate compositions and layers one over the other, creating a game of visual “peek-a-boo”. I want to peel back each layer to see what’s hiding underneath!
Striped Listen, collage on paper, 13×17
To see more of Sarah Boyts Yoder’s work, please visit her website. Her work can be seen in Charleston at the Michael Mitchell Gallery.
Today seems to be the day for posting childhood memory-inspired works of art! I am a firm believer in public art that serves to delight and inspire any viewer. Public art should appeal to the public, you shouldn’t need to be versed in art history or elements of design to appreciate and admire it. The Bubblegum installation of artists Merijn Hos and Renée Reijnders perfectly demonstrates the ability of public art to enchant and amuse.
Bubblegum, day
Bubblegum, night
Bubblegum, night with people enjoying the scene
The installation could be seen floating above Weerwater Lake in the Netherlands in 2010. Check out the websites of Merijn Hos and Renee Reijnders to see more images and what they’ve been up to lately.
Hiya Artsies! Oh boy, so many exciting things happening ’round these parts! Feel like I’m all over the place in the best sort of way. This week, I have a guest post up over on the Image South blog. If you’re not familiar with Image South, they are a publisher of fine art prints offering beautiful work at affordable prices. For my guest post, I took one IS print, Essential Line #4 by Mitra Ghaffari, carefully chose versatile Larson Juhl framing and then showcased it in three very different spaces. Head over to the Image South blog to check it out!
As much travelling as Mr. Forager and I do, we have yet to venture outside the US. But we have big plans to do so and I can. not. wait.!! Recently Artsy Forager fave artist, M.A. Tateishi, journeyed to a dream destination of mine, Turkey ( read all about it on her blog here ). While she was there, M.A. experienced the most amazing looking installation, Revolution Revelation, created by artists Arkin (Mercan Dede) and Carlito Dalceggio. I was especially struck by the style of Dalceggio– so modern Byzantine meets urban graffiti! So I’m featuring his work on my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today. His works feel like an escape into the intricacies of Moorish architecture in a delightfully twisted way. Nothing but love from this Artsy.
Portrait of Jean Michel Basquiat ( RWD ) by Carlito Dalceggio
While living on a lake in Northern Idaho this summer, I swear I have never seen skies soooo blue. Every day around lunch time, I take a break from blogging work and walk outside to text my hubby ( danger of living in the boonies, spotty cell reception ) and almost every day as I look up above the canopy of trees and into the sky, it is the most impossible shade of blue. A blue so deep and saturated and perfect that it would be impossible to capture, at least for this amateur photographer. New York artist Eric Cahan seems to have a similar obsession with sky, but where my own limitations keep my from even trying, his skill and talent beautifully capture the simple magnificence of the expanse above us.
Bridgehampton, NY Sunset 7:48pm
His work focuses on the pure joy of color that the sky and landscape affords, breaking the vast space and complexity of the natural world into simple gradients of color.
In his sculptures and photographs alike, we are left to revel in the pure liquidity of color and environs. We forget the chaos on the earth below and are transported to the space above.
Gardiners Bay NY Sunrise 6:28am
To see more of Eric Cahan’s work, please visit his website. Eric represents just one of the many talented artists and photographers I’ve found via Pinterest. It’s not just shoes and recipes! Check out the Artsy Forager Pinterest board, Artsy in Living Color, for more found photographic talent.
I have always been a voracious reader, nerd that I am. Summers were often spent with my nose in a book and summer reading contests were usually won handedly. These days, with so much time spent reading blogs and articles online, I don’t pick up a book nearly as often as I’d like. When I do, sometimes it’s an artist biography or other art/art history related tome, with the occasional fun & easy fiction read thrown in. Since some of my artsy reads might be of interest to you, I thought I’d begin posting my thoughts on my latest conquests.
Tom and Jack: The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock by Henry Adams
While I’ve always admired Thomas Hart Benton’s work for its sweeping nature and subtly satirical voice ( though it is still widely criticized by many as too provincial ), I’ll admit my main draw to the book was Pollock.
Arts of the West ( 1932 ) by Thomas Hart Benton
Remembering back to my earliest forays into art history, I wasn’t especially intrigued by Pollock. At the time, I was drawn to the more feminine abstractions of Georgia O’Keeffe and Helen Frankenthaler. It wasn’t until I came face to face with a Pollock canvas during an Abstract Expressionism show at The Cummer Museum of Art in Jacksonville. I was completely blown away.
Convergence by Jackson Pollock ( 1952 ), oil on canvas, 155×93.5
The texture, the seemingly randomness that once you really stare at it, is not so random, the thick build-up of paint.. I was now officially hooked. The book details the rise of Thomas Hart Benton, paying special attention to his influences, as these would trickle down to ultimately influence Pollock. Benton’s theory of “the hollow and the bump” becomes especially important to Pollock’s artistic growth. Once studied side by side, it’s interesting to map how Pollock went from devoted student of Benton’s to the development of his own unique, groundbreaking style while still utilizing theories taught to him by this mentor and father figure.
I confess, this one took me several library renewals to get through.. The first half of the book, which focuses heavily on Benton and his contemporaries is a bit of a challenge, perhaps because I was more interested in Pollock. But once you begin to see it all culminating in the explosion of Pollock’s career, the transition from the Modern movement to Abstract Expressionism and the shifting of the center of the art world from Paris to New York, the book is impossible to put down. Yes, there’s plenty of speculation regarding Pollock’s alcoholism, mental and emotional battles, but the focus comes back to how he dealt with those demons through his work. A fantastic read if you are at all interested in modern art, abstract expressionism, Benton or Pollock. I just wish I’d bought it instead of checking it out of the library!
Anyone else out there read this book? What were your thoughts?
I’ve been having some pretty weird and vivid dreams lately. One night’s sleep involved a marriage proposal from The Office’sMichael Scott ( admittedly, I do have a bit of a Steve Carell crush ) AND an actual wedding to George Michael circa his Wham! days ( and yes, 80s girl that I am, I had a huge crush on GM back in the day ). So it isn’t any surprise that as soon as Welsh artist Laura Redburn emailed her work to me, I was instantly drawn to it.
Gannex, mixed media
The Truest Thing We’d Ever Known, mixed media
Her mixed media work, constructions of things and images that inspire her, reminded me of my own dreams. The scenes are familiar and usually friendly, yet slightly so ever askew.
In the Warm July Sun, mixed media
Messenger in Disguise, mixed media
Redburn’s collages unearth old memories, finding them perhaps not quite as we remembered them. Which is sometimes a bit unsettling, but there is a bit of freedom in the renewal of memories in an unfamiliar fashion.
Keen, mixed media
To see more of Laura Redburn’s work, please visit her website. You can buy her prints of her work ( and other cool goodies, too! ) at Society6.
There is nothing I love more than being out & about and coming across a fabulous piece of street art or public sculpture. Something I’ve noticed lately is a wonderful propensity for decorating public staircases. Here are a few of my favorite examples from around the world!
Beirut, Lebanon steps by Strictly Dih-zayhners
Piano Steps, Valparaiso, Chile
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Painted steps, Valparaiso, Chile
Yarn bombed steps oustide Helsinki Cathedral, Finland ( photo by Peter Norris )
Who knew Valparaiso, Chile was so full of street art goodness? Definitely on my list of places to visit now! Have a favorite pair of artsy stairs? Share ’em over on the Artsy Forager Facebook page!
I love the way some artists are visual archaeologists. California based artist Amadea Bailey takes a journey of exploration and excavation each time she works a canvas.
In the Pink, mixed media on canvas, 53×89
Out of the box, mixed media on canvas, 60×80
Like other “excavation” artists whose work I love, such as M.A. Tateishi and Christina Foard, Bailey builds her work, layer upon layer, eventually unearthing treasures as they resurface.
La Dolce Vita, oil on canvas, 38×54
Her large canvases are worlds unto themselves, images appearing out of the chaos, like mirages in the desert.
Free Fall, mixed media on canvas, 54×62
The Little Prince, acrylic and oil on canvas, 62×78
To see more of Amadea Bailey’s work, please visit her website.
Good afternoon, Artsies! I’m happy to announce that beginning today, I’ll be writing a monthly feature for the UGallery blog! UGallery is an online gallery featuring affordable & accessible original artwork. I’ve been pinning to UGallery’s group Pinterest board, Artful Rooms, for a few months now and you may remember Kurt Yalcin, Community Manager for UGallery, popped in to do a little Guest Foraging for me while I was on vacation earlier this month. We’ve been enjoying our collaborations so much that Kurt offered me a regular feature on the UGallery blog!
Curated Persona will run once a month and with each new post, I’ll introduce you to a new “personality” and curate a collection of work from UGallery’s fabulous stable of artists especially tailored to that persona. Head over the the UGallery blog to check out the first installment of Curated Personas: The Romantic Sophisticate!
