Must SEE Artists

This month, after a season of flashing Christmas lights and garish mall decorations, I thought it would be nice to relax your eyes with the work of some artists that have been recommended to me over the last little while. Just this week, I was introduced to the work of Korean artist, Lee Bul, who creates futuristic work of cityscapes and full-sized cyborgs.  His pieces look like something out of comic books that have been brought to life.

Next up is Banks Violette, an American artist working in a variety of media including drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance.

Noticeable in his restrictive use of only black and white, much of his imagery comes from music subcultures, such as heavy metal and goth. For instance, his installation of a burnt church made of salt was based on an image on the cover of a black metal record.

This artist often makes the elements that typically surround performance, such as the stage, the lighting, stands, cases, etc., the focus of his piece. By stripping these elements down and isolating them, he references minimalist art.

Architecture and decay has always interested me, and these recent sculptures, called Buildings, by Damián Ortega certainly fit the bill.  Made of stacks of bricks and mortar that have undergone erosion, they look like both organic forms and weathered buildings at the same time.

These freestanding works by Tony Cragg also deserve a second look. At first they seem like fully abstract pieces but closer inspection reveals faces and profiles that have been twisted, stretched, and repeated to create the pieces.

Cast and carved from a variety of materials, some natural, some synthetic, Craggs’ sometimes remind me of Chinese Scholars’ Rocks, but the unnaturalness of the repeated forms gives them a contemporary edge that is very interesting.