Known as the ‘Mother of American Modernism’, Georgia O’Keeffe is probably best known for her large, vibrant paintings of flowers, and her affinity for the southwest. She’s one of the most influential female painters of the 20th century.
Her landscapes aren’t as well known, but we think they’re stunning, and have a lovely calmness about them. Here are some of our favorites from Georgia O’Keefe.
Interpret them how you’d like, we think these Acid Fruits by artist Jose Berrio are just the right level of trippy. Black, inky exteriors that resembles outer space reveal wild, tiger striped fruit inside. Simple yet striking. Via Behance:
Painter Jess Franks is known for her beautifully colorful landscapes, using a palette that creeps into the realm of neon, from bright pink evergreens to glowing purple boulders. But her skill is keeping this color palette attractive and cohesive, fitting into the pleasing natural landscapes.
My Modern Met interviews the artist to find out more about her style and inspiration:
“I’ve been obsessed with color combinations since childhood, so for me, art has always been so much about developing palettes,” she tells My Modern Met. “I’ve found that by using those palettes in the familiar structures of landscapes, I’m able to make paintings that are unexpected, yet accessible.”
We love the irreverence of Eric Joyner’s art, who has a deep interest in an unlikely duo, robots and donuts. Indeed, Joyner’s large body of work is full of fun and inexplicable paintings of robots scaling donut mountains, mother and son robot exploring the farm and more.
Joyner came across his subject matter after years of painting, first settling on Japanese tin robots, and then finding their counterpart, donuts, after getting inspired from a scene in the film Pleasantville. Painting around 20 pieces a year, Joyner has sold art to the likes of George Lucas and J.J. Abrams, and his work has been used as set pieces in the show The Big Bang Theory.
It’s such an unexpected yet delightful subject matter, sure to bring a smile to your day. Explore more of his work on his website.
Joyner has a brand new exhibit at the Corey Helford Gallery, showcasing 18 new pieces. From official press release:
Machine Man Memories (consisting of 18 new oil paintings) is the newest series of fantastical paintings by Joyner, of Robots and Donuts fame. Joyner’s work, which has been licensed from the likes of Disney, Warner Brothers, and the hit HBO show Silicon Valley, depicts the tenuous conflict between children’s toys and adulthood as a portrait of another reality. His work is characterized by his playful and surrealistic style that creates harmony between the mix of cartoon characters, especially Japanese tin robots and colorful donuts (directly inspired by the film Pleasantville) inserted in all kinds of landscapes from the Age of Dinosaurs to the bottom of the ocean.
Exhibit details:
ON VIEW
March 7 – April 11, 2020
COREY HELFORD GALLERY
571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033
Evoking the luminescent world of Pandora in Avatar, or a vibrant version of The Jungle Book, Juliette Oberndorfer‘s paintings are rich and full of color, adding a bit of magic and intrigue to the forest scenes. Her color palette is beautiful and bold, but also shows great use of complementary hues, and the colors never clash or seem overdone. Created entirely digitally, Oberndorfer plans to open an Etsy store to sell these colorful works. Beautiful creations, via MyModernMet:
Jim Darling’s Windows series uses the shape of an airplane window as frame and canvas for his artwork. The perspective of 35,000 feet gives the paintings a nice aerial view, and his covers natural landscapes and cityscapes, just as you might see from a flight from Chicago to New York. Via Colossal:
Portland-based painter Betsy Walton has a thought-provoking and colorful exploration of her native Pacific Northwest through mixed media art. Lots of fascinating forms and metaphors emerge from her vibrant work, the more we examine them.
“I paint over old versions of images so that there is a kind of memory to the painting,” she explains to Colossal. “I like being able to create an image that slowly unfolds. My hope is that a person looking at the finished work is able to have a long relationship with the image—lots of nuance to discover over time.”
Fascinating series of painting/photo work by Ukrainian artist Alexey Kondakov shows classical style painted figures in mundane contemporary settings. Riding a city bus, attending a rave, hanging out on the street, we see figures that are normally in 16th century settings, transported into 21st century settings. It’s a jarring juxtaposition, both humorous and strange, but makes us re-examine art styles that are so often locked in one type of setting. Via Colossal:
São Paulo, Brazil-based artist Fernando Molino paints in a bright, expressive manner, with elongated bodies and a strong use of feminine motifs. We like the street-style fashion and use of gritty texture that adds dimension to the art. Via OurCulture:
Using a thick daub, paint stroke style, self-taught artist Joseph Lee has carved out a unique look all his own. After leaving his sushi restaurant job, Lee decided to pursue a career in painting. The style he adapted explores the ‘parallel between external reality and internal process’.
We love the way his faces are obscured, yet retain a physicality and depth. The colors also add to the way the faces showcase a range of emotions, no matter how veiled by abstraction they are. Fascinating work, via Bored Panda:
Joseph Lee is a self-taught artist who studies faces and the emotions that inhabit them. Lee focuses on the parallel between external reality and internal process by manipulating everyday faces and objects through segmented brush strokes, color choice, and volume, converging them into a complete and balanced whole.
Russian artist Dudnikova Eugeniya has an outdoor series where she fills natural knot scars in trees with miniature works of art. Her paintings are scenes of exploration and action, and she lovingly fills the tree scars with the colorful art.
It’s a simple project, but adds color and emotion to the surroundings, and we have a feeling the trees don’t mind so much. Via Behance:
We like these dynamic paintings, using a sharp-edged, palette knife style. They’re the work of Ukrainian artist Denis Gonchar. They capture colleagues in various poses, from working to relaxing to celebrating. Nice use of exploded color to give the paintings even more life. Via Behance:
Canadian painter Laura Bifano paints landscapes in warm tones, but puts her own geometric spin on them, creating a look and feel all her own. Inspired by hiking her native Canada, but also by the geometric backgrounds from video games, we really like the style of her art, and the gem-like rock formations. Via IG:
Paris-based artist Daniel Forero has a clever and lovely little series called “Killing my Darlings”, where he quickly and methodically paints a simple wooden horse, with no planning, touch-up, or overthinking. He then photographs the horse, and starts all over again, painting over the existing design, with an entirely new style and execution. An exercise in experimenting and not over-thinking, we really like the process, and the final results are fun and beautiful. Great work, via Behance:
Duane Michals once said:
“I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody’s face in a photograph”
With that in mind, this series of faceless portrait photography by Andrea Torres Balaguer succeeds in feeling both provocative and coy, composed yet also lighthearted in it’s paint stroke addition. The richly colored clothing and backdrops adds a sense of sophisticated depth to the imagery, while the emotional void of not connecting with a subject’s face make it feel distant and opaque.
That a portrait photograph should only tell you a one-dimensional narrative is something that Michals has worked his entire career to challenge. Similarly, Balaguer’s images are shrouded in mystery and ambiguity — it is up to the viewer to interpret who the woman is, what kind of life they lead, where they may come from and so on. This preoccupation with mystery has remained a constant in Balaguer’s photography — her past work being dominated by the subconscious and the limits of dreams. Balaguer’s background in fine arts also greatly impacts her work. ‘The Unknown’ and ‘Moon’ are expertly framed; the composition of colors and positions adding meaning and depth to her photographic approach.
When you think of a 3D painting, you might think about the way the paint strokes are slightly raised from the flat canvas. With this series of extraordinary paintings by Chris Dorosz, you’d be wrong. His work takes 3D to a whole different level, suspending individual strokes of paint on string, creating a truly dimensional work of art.
Seen from an angle other than straight-on, his work appears like abstract squiggles and daubs. But when viewed from head-on, the portraits appear, almost like magic, aligning to create a beautiful, almost traditional abstract impressionism style. His work is on display at the Muriel Guépin Gallery in New York. Via Colossal:
From the artist, on his interpretation of the paint drop:
“a form that takes shape not from a brush or any human-made implement or gesture, but purely from its own viscosity and the air it falls through, as analogous to the building blocks that make up the human body (DNA) or even its mimetic representation (the pixel).”
