Friday, December 30, 2011

BEAUTY: Painting--Lars Elling

I have a crush on Norwegian artist Lars Elling. Not only is he a talented artist, he is also a playwright (and quite handsome as well)!

He creates marvelous, compelling, dream-like--sometimes nightmarish--scenes that blend a sense of nostalgia and memory with the psychological processes of the mind. His images are unique and absolutely fascinating: one wants to study the collision of time and place in each one to unlock the puzzling narrative on the canvas (at least this one does).

Top to bottom: Oppenheimer's Garden; Mother's Day; Initiation; Eclipse; Director's Cut; the artist at work in his studio.

Elling is represented in the U.S. by Nicholas Robinson Gallery and in Norway by Galleri Brandstrup.

http://www.larselling.no/

BEAUTY: Painting--Graham Durward

Scottish born artist Graham Durward now lives and works in New York. His images often feature figures with obscured faces, a technique of many modern artists, which I mentioned here in a previous post. Other artists use the technique as a reference for psychological states but I feel Durward uses it to emphasize a certain feeling of anonymous sex... and in fact, he ofen uses sexually charged photos from the internet for inspiration. For Untitled (Man With Fruit), the last piece show here, he used a model he found from the internet. In this way, his work speaks more to the voyeurism of the viewer than it does to a hidden mood or state of mind of the subject.

I can't find a dedicated website for him, but I did find him at the Saatchi in London and he is represented by a gallery in that city as well.

At the Saatchi Gallery:
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/graham_durward.htm

At the Maureen Paley Gallery:
http://www.maureenpaley.com/artists/graham-durward

BEAUTY: Mixed Media Art--Ronald Cueppens

Belgian graphic artist Ronald Cueppens uses many different materials to create his evocative assemblages including fabric, leather, thread, paper, feathers, wood, and ceramic.


Top to bottom: Appelpitjes Gegeten II; Bloedneus; Dream Child I; Entre-nous; Extra Hearts

http://www.ronaldceuppens.be/

BEAUTY: Men--A Beard Keeps You Warm

A beard keeps you warm...

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Finally...

I have been in the Midwestern Unites States this week where it has been a decidedly UN-White Christmas, with an odd complete lack of snow. But we woke this morning to a beautiful, soft snowfall.

I threw on my coat and boots and scarf and ran outside with my camera to take these shots...


All photos by JEF

Seen In The Midwest...


All photos by JEF

Monday, December 26, 2011