Random Tidbits

Mark Ryden is opening his new show at Paul Kasmin Gallery in NY next week and I'll be there schmoozing it up and taking pics for Hi Fructose. This little piece might actually be my fave out of the whole show! You can see more images here. He will be exhibiting some large paintings, some graphite/watercolors, and a bunch of drawings.


Wow!



And then there is this amazing new piece by James Jean. His work continually hits me like a punch in the heart. This is called "Pestilence".

Sad Lambs

Here are more examples of artists inspired by the same image in their works. This one is the "Lamb of God" image. I hate this image with a passion actually. I suppose it's to be looked as an allegory about Christ but it it also makes me think about man's cruelty to the creatures of the world. I suppose my repulsion also fascinates me...


Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) "Agnus Dei"

and then a couple of contemporary works:


Michael Hussar "Lamb of God" 2002


Glenn Brown "Spearmint Rhino" 2009


Pretty horrible, eh? Let's imagine that the lamb went to a happier place...


Lori Earley "The Wish"

Nicola Verlato

Occasionally, I'll see paintings that just make me exclaim "Jesus!" out loud when I first see them...I mean that in a good way, in that I'm shocked and delighted how powerfully and masterfully they are created. I don't love all his works, but when Nicola Verlato nails it, he has no rival.

Jane Kenoyer

Last year I gave a lecture in Reno and met Jane Kenoyer, a young artist who subsequently came and interned for me at Roq La Rue for several months. At the time she was doing beachy paintings that looked like old vacation stills on blown out and faded film. After her submergence into the Pop Surrealism scene her work has taken an edgier, more fantastical feel. She has a solo show in Reno. I think her new work looks really terrific.

Jessica Joslin

I don't think it can really be categorized as rogue taxidermy, but I sure love Jessica Joslin's steam-goth (sorry, I had to) sculptures made of bone and metal. It's amazing to me that she can build a metal skeleton out of found metal parts and have it have the same shape as a real skeleton but also capture the fluidity of the creature in motion. She has a new show at Lisa Sette Gallery and I seriously covet the hornbill pieces.

Jean Pierre Roy

Just a little update about painter Jean Pierre Roy- he is exhibiting in a group show in New York- his gorgeously and ambiguously apocalyptic landscapes are starting to generate some serious buzz. I had a solo with him in 2008...but unfortunately I nuked my old site so the show is not online. You can see it on his site however (The Soletta Show)...

Mark Ryden at Work

Speaking of Ryden- he's just posted a time lapse of the creation of his painting, "Incarnation". Dig it.

New Hi Fructose Coming Soon!

Well, Hi There!
I haven't posted for a zillion years, maybe I'll get back into it. I've just had other things going on but I do miss the old blog. Anyway- first order of business is that the new Hi Fructose is coming out, with the effervescent James Jean on the cover. I have a pretty low profile this issue- my interview with one of my favorite artists, Chris Conn, got expanded and pushed to the next issue...but I do have a mini-interview with Mark Ryden discussing his new show at Paul Kasmin at the end of the month. I'll be there, will you?