I enjoyed going back to this thread in the RMMB day. Basically, this thread is to share artists (sculpture, painting, whatever) and one's theories on aesthetics. Be aware, some stuff may be nsfw. Focus: Share links to your favorite artists. Try to explain why you like them. Alt Focus: Discuss what you think it means for something to be "art." Scott Sinclair has been a favorite of mine for over a decade now. If it looks familiar, you may recognize his work from doing many album covers for Hot Water Music. Incredibly cool perspective and I always feel like each painting is a narrative in itself.
One of my favorite paintings, I just like what Renoir did with his lighting here. I also like what he did with depth of field. I gotta throw down some Rubens here, guy did some really amazing Baroque work.
Russell Mills is highly prolific and very eclectic. His work over the years has been very progressive yet never fails to impress me: Alex Grey has a brillantly coloured psychedelic-mystic them that is a gorgeous feast for the eyes and mind. If he ever comes to your town, don't miss it. Bring mushrooms... Most impressive sculpture I have ever seen:
Since this thread doesn't have much going on... Paul Cezanne's "Pyramid of Skulls" (1901). Cezanne is often reffered to as the bridge between Impressionism( Van Gogh) and Cubism (Picasso, Matisse), his style is characterized by small brushstrokes. Spoiler His move towards Cubism is more evident here, in "Bathers"(1904) Spoiler
And now for some more contemporary stuff... There's definitely some cool work going on, I'm just a fan of the new Realism. Jonas Burgert Richard Estes Carl Dobsky Jeremy Mann
The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole is pretty cool. It's a 5 painting series that depicts the rise and fall of a civilization from carving a city out of a forest to the same city's eventual decay: Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler
This is a great thread, but I don't have time to post everything I want to right now, but I will later. Until then I would recommend checking out Asymbol Gallery. It's a gallery that Travis Rice started that's all about art with a good story behind it, and most of it is done by artists that are in some way connected to the snowboard/skate industry.
http://www.antonygormley.com/#/sculptures/chronology Found this on the Awesomer. I think it's pretty cool stuff, even though I'm usually not big on sculpture.
Arthur Mirzoyan - He did this pretty wicked steampunk rough animation of Odysseus vs the Cyclops. I would honestly watch this if it was a feature length. Click on the URL if you click his name and here's a youtube version. Spoiler He also has a blog here and an official site here.
I have two favorite paintings; The first is "The Insane Woman" by the French Romantic painter Theodore Gericault; Absolutely stunning. You can actually feel the woman's madness and essence leaping out from the image, and even moreso when I saw the physical painting itself. She was a meaningless individual who died almost two centuries ago, but somehow, Gericault captured her very being with this work. The second is "Knight at the Crossroads" by Russian painter Viktor Vasnetsov; Unfortunately, this is one I haven't seen in real life, but it's hard to look at without being emotionally affected. The sense of isolation, past events, and just how incredibly epic and badass the knight looks in that setting are overwhelming. Incredible.
Russell Mills (again, I like the guy) has an ever-changing style. He's gone from richly coloured and layered "item art" like the following, called "The Tooth and Salt Trail" (the CD case cover of NIN's The Downward Spiral): ...and has recently gone to gorgeous, bombastic (and oily) illustrations like this:
Here's a new museum from one of the better architects of this generation, Shigeru Ban. It's the new Pompidue Centre-Metz. This isn't one of them, but he has done amazing things with cardboard in the past. This is probably the biggest commission he's ever had or probably will ever have. He beat a couple of major big dogs for this one. I was fortunate to see his building at the 2000 world fair in Hanover, Germany in person and see a lecture he gave in DC about 5 or so years ago. He's refreshingly simple in regards to his inspirations. With this building, it happens to be the form and structure of chinese hats. Yet his execution is remarkable and quite deep. The building also pays homage to the original architect in some material and form of the main Pompidue Centre, Renzo Piano, who is also a brilliant architect. This "hat" creates a very light feel and from the architect, is meant to blur the lines between inside and outside and to create interesting, light interstitial spaces, again, both inside and out for people who want to experience the art within and those who are just interested in hanging outside under the roof. His work is very sculptural and very very technical, without feeling forced. Everybody is always riding Frank Gehry's nuts, but I think Ban's work is so much more fluid and graceful, and I think does a better job of evoking, "Wow, what is that? I want to experience what's inside there." without being cartoonish and comical. All the previous art has been paintings, etc. and some people might disagree, but I very much consider architecture a strong form of visual art. I tend to lean towards much simpler forms and structures and am very much minimalist in my preferred aesthetic, but there's something beautiful about Shigeru Ban's work. My favorite museum design of all time is the dia beacon in New York, which is as minimal and perfect as they get, much much simpler than this, but I'd love to see this new Pompidue Centre in person one day.
Kinetic sculptures (video) - http://m.wimp.com/videos43ll/80e7fd6598d1f0b82eaa1038e45b1bbc_sculpture.flv.blackberry.lq.mp4
I was introduced to this painting in a class on Modernism. I like it because it's kind of weird. It's supposed to be Mary and Jesus (Jesus is the fetus in the corner.)
Only a year late to the party. I'm a huge Caravaggio fan. His Doubting Thomas is ugly. The men's brows are furrowed hard, their skin pallid, their clothes are torn. You can smell them. You can feel the finger go through Christ's torso into the jelly inside. Completely visceral. Hits so many senses and it's just oil. Also, nobody does lighting like him. Spoiler Calling of St. Matthew. Look at the lighting. Also like how he uses the same models in a lot of works. Spoiler Odd Nerdrum. Norwegian guy that blends surrealism and Baroque style. The subject/theme of his work is a tad out there, like Dali. But either way he makes you look. And, yes, the painting titled "Twilight" is a girl shitting in the woods: Spoiler Spoiler Hieronymus Bosch. Pre-Renaissance Flemish. Everything in his oeuvre deals with the wages of sin, ecclesial corruption, all wrapped up in surreal imagery with monsters and brimstone. Huge uses of symbolism and imagery and old Flemish proverbs. Pretty cerebral even though it looks like a Rob Zombie movie. His technique isn't bad (great for the era and region), but nothing compared to the above. Except when it comes to manipulating light. Phillip II was a significant patron, which is why El Prado has the biggest collection of Bosches. Garden of Earthly Delights, his most famous. Also incredibly huge. Spoiler Lastly, Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa. My favorite sculpture. I find it hard to believe a human being could turn a hunk of rock into something that looks in motion, and alive. It looks like a sex scene. She appears suspended in air and her robes are billowing around her, and an angel is about to penetrate her with God's fire. Spoiler
I don't know why, but I keep going back to this piece. Spoilered for size: Spoiler Also, does anyone watch Work of Art on Bravo? I'm actually surprised it got a second season, but I'm kind of glad. Yeah, a lot of it is pretentious nonsense, but how often do you get to hear a rich Frenchman say "And how are you today, Sucklord?" Plus every episode has at least a piece or two that I really like.