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ahhh, i love the internet! i just got "invited" to attend the online launch of TV books, a brand, spanking new website. (it's like minutes old peeps!) founded by tim barber of tinyvices.com, TV books is an independent publishing house based in nyc, offering printed on demand books, limited edition prints and original artwork. check it out here.
i just got liam devowski's killer zine no friends forever in the mail. i was delighted flipping through it. liam's rendition of 'seventies graphical saddness' is pretty sweet. turning the public broadcast service into 'pretty bummed & sad', being a child born into the 70's and then loving emo to death this decade, well, you know that really buttered my toast. the zine also comes w/ fold out mini posters. i can't decide if i want to take mine apart, hang 'em on the wall and cry on my bed while i listen to morrissey or if i just want to hold the zine forever and call it my new bff. available through neon gray.
i first saw anthony pontius' work on kirsten anderson's blog (the owner and gallerist of roq la rue) right some good. i was immediately mesmerized by anthony's work. it was dreamy and dark and had this cute, lopsided panda like thing in it. it was beautiful. beyond the simple word beautiful, there at two reasons i find anthony's work interesting. the first, is his use of splashes and dabs of colorful paint. colors like periwinkle, bubblegum pink, teal, and purple live harmoniously w/in the darkness of anthony's paintings. their placement is perfect. second, is his combination of cheerful imagery like the aforementioned panda, a video game or a hare w/in an apocalyptic backdrop. anthony blends them seamlessly. w/ all those combined, make anthony a favorite of mine and most definitely an artist to keep watching. i asked anthony recently to tell me about his work:
"i want to evoke a thought or an idea that seems to need an answer...the answer though never comes to mind, in turn new questions arise. the need for a solution fades with the freshness of those new thoughts. this is relevant to how i perceive life. the paintings cause me to examine all aspects of life, whether it is good/bad or ugly/beautiful, and accept it as a part of my experience. i would say i paint histories. these things are murky layers of concise moments that can only now be interpreted as a union. just like life, the paintings are in flux, moving from just on the tip of your tongue to the "ah ha" part of the brain..."
pretty good, right? the boy knows what he is doing. i couldn't have described his work any better. anthony is super busy, check out his myspace page where he regularly writes blogs about his current and upcoming shows.
i just want to get this out of the way right now, i am not a professional. nope. so, often times when i email an artist to ask if i may use their work on this here bloggy, i have to rein it in. i have to put on my professional hat as it were. but every now and then, i get a little slap happy. i get over excited and silly about the work i am inquiring about. take for instance my recent email to michael c. hsiung where i told him i wanted to marry his work, i liked it so much. err, it was a slip of the keyboard, an over exertion of an inspired, happy soul some could say. luckily michael was too kind and forgiving, following my email up w/: "that is very sweet of you to say that you'd marry my work. some would find that odd. haha." such a gentleman. so w/ out further ado i give to you a few images of michael's that i just can't stop looking at. michael's clean, super fine lines of mythical beasts, in fact, do indeed make me love them so much i want to marry them. i mean, come on, we all need more mermen and centaurs in our lives. michael has a show coming up at gallery revisted in june. for more info check out his website. prints of michael's can be found through his shop, gallery revisited and our fav little paper planes.
this is all i know the etsy store of amanda blake is filled w/ her wonderful, old timey paintings. i use the word 'old timey' because each seemingly tells a story from another era, yet when looking closely it's hard to tell when that specific time period is. amanda's work has real warmth, despite her subjects often having a forlorn look to their eyes. her use of color, pairing deep w/ light so easily really pulls me in. her oil paintings tell a rich story. besides amanda's work, i'm particularly found of her current obsessions: "imaginary friends, snow, little mammals, folklore, superstitions, fortunetelling, wildflowers, wallpaper, cloudy landscapes, the colors of faded polaroids, and other peoples family snapshots."
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