A fair amount of the contemporary art that I find interesting is somehow illustration related. Here's some good ones.

Dina Kelberman does great little, simple yet striking, bizarre comics about everyday life and conversations. Generally highly amusing. If you click on "archives" at the top of her site, you could read some.

Tessar Lo paints really beautiful fantastical scenes of animals, natural elements, and young people/children. Very dream-like.

Yulia Yakushova is a Russian illustrator. Her work is pretty varied as much of it is commissioned, but almost all beautiful.

Maryanna has her work on display

Hello Everyone!
If you have any free time or need a doctor's visit you should check out Maryanna's art show at The Center for Integrative Health. It is located at a doctors office at 171 Mt. Paran Rd, Atl GA 30342. Maryanna put together a joint show that exhibits her work alongside local artist, Jane Ward's work. The show is called the Jane Ward Memorial Art Show, in memory of the late Jane Ward. All the pieces are for sale and proceeds go towards providing free health care for Atlanta's missionaries who can't afford their own care. I've included my favorite piece that's in the show. Check it out!
Heidi

atlanta botanical gardens

i dont know if anyone has mentioned this already but henry moore sculptures have been in the atlanta botanical garden all summer. i work in the cafe there and its been great to wander around and gain inspiration from these forms. they recently extended the exhibit thru december 31st so time is running out. i can attest that they are definitely worth seeing as well as the other sculptures the garden has accumulated over the years. the chihuly chandelier that used to hang in the orchid house has been cleaned and moved to a much better spot. look up as you are walking through the visitors center and you will see it in all its resplendent glory. for a closer look, walk up the stairs and view it from the balcony. aside from the sculptures, the flowers, frogs, insects, and trees of the atlanta botanical garden have been a huge part of my inspiration this year. im really glad to have constant unlimited access to this place, its really been keeping me sane. so yeah. if any of you decide to visit, be sure to come by the cafe and ask for missy, i will hook you up with something delicious.

Alejandro Jodorowsky

In the 70s, Alejandro Jodorowsky took film in a new direction with his groundbreaking works, The Holy Mountain and El Topo. While they were not widely released, Jodorowsky's films garnered a massive cult following, cementing him as one of the cornerstones of contemporary underground cinema. His influence has shaped visual and artistic culture from Marilyn Manson to Matthew Barney.


- Truett Dietz

diana cooper

a couple months ago i got to talking with an artist friend about our creative aesthetics and what kind of art we were attracted to. after explaining my love of nature, line, and interconnecting movement, he wrote down a list of artists i may be interested in. many of them have already been discussed here... like egon schiele, jenny seville, and daniel zeller.

one of my favorites is diana cooper. she incorporates intricate line work with both 2D and 3D structure. i loooove this stuff!

I don't know if you guys are familiar with this website, but it is fantastic. It's called Daily Serving, a blog that keeps current with all the latest in contemporary art; it is also very informative for keeping you up-to-date with what some of your favorite artists are doing, where they are showing, etc. etc. I've been following it since its inception in 2006.

From their website:

"DailyServing was conceived as a central site for art lovers to visit daily to find resources and updates on happenings within the Contemporary Arts. Designed to be a dynamic source of information sharing, directly leading to countless sources of exciting information about our daily features, DS is revolutionizing how art lovers interact with and receive arts information.

The DailyServing team is dedicated to providing these resources for free to readers world-wide so that everyone (regardless of location) can benefit from the abundance of artists, curators, galleries, exhibitions, residencies, schools, non-profits and museums around the world. The DS site is designed to consolidate information and educate by directing the viewer to endless resources while also cataloging that information in our archive for indefinite access.

The DS team relies on a small network of global contributors to bring up-to-date content to our site. We also invite all readers to speak up about work that they respond to and submit those artists, curators and exhibitions for consideration through our submit feature."
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You can actually submit an artist for consideration to be posted on their website for one full day and become part of that archive. Maybe one or more of us in this class will be featured someday.

http://www.dailyserving.com

I've posted some photos I took while rock digging last month. The rocks I got were beautiful with iridescent rainbow colors.

Dmitry Stepanoff

I like the process orientation of his work and the abstract apperance. I like that he uses a lot of colors in his work. Stepanoff describes his work as Space Electric Surrealism, which he says is the combination of a person's imagination and the possibilities of computer technology. He started out as a graphic designer and then began painting in 1991. In 1995 he started creating drawings. Here are some of his works...

My latest painting has made me think a lot about hands. I like the feeling of energy in the marks left by the artist. Once, the time honored practice was for the artist's hand to remain invisible.

Ron Hicks

I like his way of capturing moodiness through different grays. His style is inclined toward representational and impressionism. I personally look more into hues and value in paintings, so I guess I fit more into the impressionism or representational art. I like the way he sees things in shape. It seems to me I can connect my art with his.

Yoochung Hilliard

Eyedrum today

I'm in this show.

- Truett

Gerhard Richter Quotes

Quotes -"Gerhard Richter: The Daily Practice of Painting, Writing from 1962 - 1993,"

--The idea that art copies nature is a fatal misconception. Art has always operated against nature and for reason. 

--All we can represent is an analogy, which stands for the invisible but is not it.

--To believe, one must have lost God; to paint, one must have lost art.

--I prefer the 'naive' photograph, with a simple, uncomplicated composition. That's why I like the Mona Lisa so much; there's nothing to her.

--Being able to do something is never an adequate reason for doing it.

--Theory has nothing to do with a work of art. Pictures which are interpretable, and which contain a meaning, are bad pictures ... It [making good pictures] demonstrates the endless multiplicity of aspects, it takes away our certainty, because it deprives a thing of its meaning and its name.

--Talk about painting: there's no point. By conveying a thing through the medium of language, you change it. You construct qualities that can be said, and you leave out the ones that can't be said but are always the most important.

--Now that there are no priests or philosophers left, artists are the most important people in the world.

--I do know that painting is not without an effect -- I only want it to have more of one.

--Painting is total idiocy. [On why he continues painting, despite lack of effect]

--Not bankruptcy, but always inadequacy. [On the limits of painting]

--Surely you don't think that a stupid demonstration of brushwork, or of the rhetoric of painting and its elements, could ever achieve anything, say anything, express any longing.

Reading thoughts from famous artists somehow makes them more human.  I think the idea of a successful artist is not the fact that one painting sells for $13 million or more, but that he or she has found a way to achieve a level of insanity and obsession with the creative process.

Jessie

Dear Prof. Joe: I saw the Radcliffe Bailey show at Solomon, and was fascinated by the installation there. I had to be told that the piano keys were the ocean, but once I saw that, I could see the waves and the flowing water. Loved it.

The panel discussion was interesting to me, but the personal message I received and really am applying it, is to keep working; also, it gave me the gumption to apply to shows and galleries.

thanks so much
Betty

mark tobey

hey pascal check out mark tobey.

his work reminds me of you..

For Fun:

Stephanie Davidson
via Brainbow

BFA fall exhibition

The BFA Fall Exhibition for the graduating class of this semester is December 7-11th. The following artists I know that are contributing for drawing and painting are....
Jennifer Clark
Eric White
Whitney Cummins
Robin Gillis
Rachel Cronan
Erin Xenos

rachel

William Wegman

This image is somewhat of what I have in mind for what I am doing with the images I am collaging into my painting so I thought I would share it.

Renee

CALL FOR WORKS

This is a pretty big event in NYC that is held annually and sponsored by Visual AIDS-a great organization founded in 1988. From their mission statement, it was launched as "a response to AIDS and as a way of organizing the art world towards direct action, Visual AIDS has evolved a two-part mission. 1) Through the Frank Moore Archive Project, the largest slide library of work by artists living with HIV and the estates of artists who have died of AIDS, Visual AIDS historicizes artists' contributions while supporting their ability to continue making art and furthering their professional careers. 2) In collaboration with artists and organizations, Visual AIDS produces contemporary art exhibitions, publications, and events to spread the message 'AIDS IS NOT OVER.' "

For those of you who are not familiar with Frank Moore, you should look him up. He was an artist whose work was largely steeped in surrealism, and he designed the AIDS ribbon logo before succumbing to the illness himself. Last year this event was held at Metro Pictures Gallery, which is where Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo, Jack Goldstein, etc., have shown.

More information:

Postcards From The Edge
Visual AIDS is excited to announce that our next Postcards From The Edge benefit will be hosted by ZieherSmith on January 8-10, 2010.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
The 12th Annual Postcards From The Edge benefit for Visual AIDS
Hosted by ZieherSmith in their new space at 516 West 20th Street, NYC

PREVIEW PARTY
Friday, January 8 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

BENEFIT SALE
Saturday, January 9 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday, January 10 from 12 noon – 4 p.m.

Postcards From the Edge is a Visual AIDS benefit show and sale of over 1500 original, postcard-sized works of art by established and emerging artists. All artworks are sold for $75 each, on a first-come, first-served basis. The works are signed on the back and exhibited so the artists' signatures cannot be seen. While buyers receive a list of all participating artists, they don't know who created which piece until purchased. All proceeds support the work of Visual AIDS.

Deadline is Thursday, December 10, 2009. Directions for submission can be found HERE: http://www.thebody.com/visualaids/current/postcards2009_artists.html

Visual AIDSutilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving the legacy, because AIDS is not over. http://www.visualAIDS.org (I tried to make these into links but it is not accepting my tags. sorry!)

Visual AIDS
526 W. 26th Street #510
New York, New York 10001

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I think that everyone should submit and participate in this event; it is for a great cause, and it will look great on your C.V. or resume. If you want the chance to gain exposure outside of Atlanta, this is it. I think it's also wonderful that the artworks will be by anonymous artists until the buyer purchases it; that way, they are not biased in their decision making. My friend and I are talking about even taking a trip up to NYC since school doesn't start until January 11th, and attending the preview party and benefit sale.

xo Jennifer

David LaChapelle

As you know, I've been on a quest for good surrealism this semester. I was at a friends house last week and I saw a coffee table book that pretty much blew my mind. Its not paintings or drawings. Its actually photography, but it inspires me nonetheless. David LaChapelle is an American artist whos work includes video, commercials, ads, fashion and fine art photography. His use of digital editing is breathtaking. His website includes an impressive slide show.
This is the book i saw

a few other examples: