Archive for October 18, 2013

Artist of the moment…….Nicole Eisenman

Nicole Eisenman was born in Verdun, France in the year 1965. The artist moved to the United States and attended college at the Rhode Island School of Design located in Providence, Rhode Island. The artist earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree. Eisenman works in many mediums including watercolor, oils, and sculpture.

Many works are taken from her own life experiences. One work that was well received by critics had to do with a person when they have their braces removed.

Price range information: Works range from $3,000 to $30,000.

The artist enjoys portraying women as super independent and strong. In this regard she reminds me of the American painter Hilary Harkness. Harkness many times will paint a ship or submarine that is operated by an entire female crew. Below an example of Harkness’ style.

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The artist was featured in her first solo show in 1992.

In this clip we meet up with our friend James Kalm and visit a show featuring Nicole Eisenman from 2009:

Eisenman is based out of New York City.

The artist has been part of two Whitney Bienniales.

In this clip we visit another show from 2012 with James Kalm:

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Artist of the moment…….Vito Acconci

Vito Acconci  is an American artist born in Bronx, New York in the year 1940. Acconci is a very versatile artist working in many mediums including sculpture, painting, and performance art. For his collegiate education Acconci attended the College of the Holy Cross located in Worcester, Massachusetts. Acconci went on to do his postgraduate studies at the University of Iowa. The artist has completed many public sized commissioned works.

The artist studied writing and poetry for his master’s degree. Acconci didn’t began to produce visual art until the very late 1960s.

For much of his work the artist uses his own body.

Price range information:  Non public sized smaller works and prints range from $3,000 to $50,000.

Acconci also has become renown for some performance art work. One such work titled Seedbed involved the artist arousing himself sexually and talking to himself whilst loudspeakers echoed his words and the viewer walked above the artist.

Acconci was one of the first artist to work with recycled and found materials. The artist has built a reputation for designing fine furniture from these materials.

In this clip from the Tate Museum we learn that the artist thinks of himself as an art doer, rather than just a visual artist per say. Like other performance artists, for him its about the process not just the end result. A worthwhile interview:

The artist was the co-founder of an architecture company that designs public buildings and various works.

Acconci has also been part of many great teaching institutions including Pratt and the Art Institute of Chicago.

The artist is based out of Brooklyn, New York.

I found out that this artist has a huge outdoor public work around 30 minutes from Denver in Arvada, Colorado.

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Artist of the moment……Gladman Zinyeka

Gladman Zinyeka was a first generation Shona artist born in Zimbabwe in the year 1962. His father was a painter and some siblings also went on to become artists, they will be profiled shortly. Some themes of the artist include the family and also the balance and harmony that we strive to exist between man and nature.

Some works remind me of some Inuit artists who blend the two human forms together in a very abstract manner.

He first experimented with sculpture by attempting to carve birds. He would watch other older artists, and then invent his own technique.

Gladman Zinyeka was able to start his own hoe studio in 1994.

The artist was an important member to family members and anyone looking for help in the art world.

Price range information: Sorry none available.

Gladman Zinyeka passed away in 2000.

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Artist of the moment…..Junichiro Sekino

Junichiro Sekino was a Japanese artist born in the year 1914 in Aomori, Japan. Sekino was a prolific painter and printmaker associated with the sosaku-hanga movement that specialized the importance of the artist, far more so than any period of time before in Eastern art. The artist drew from a wide mix of artists to develop his own style including the great printmaker Albert Durer and of course Hiroshige.

Price range information: Works range from $1,000 to $8,000.

A childhood friend was the renown artist Shiko Munakata. Munakata would become known as the “Japanese Picasso.”

Junichiro Sekino found his greatest success after participating in a show backed by the government. It was remarkable for such a young artist to be invited to the show yet alone win a prize. This show was in 1936. Three years later the artist would move to Tokyo, Japan to study with the artist seen as the founder of the sosaku-hanga movement Koshiro Onchi.

The artist was renown for his work with the landscape and architecture. In this clip we see many examples of his work in this genre:

And some fine examples of Sekino’s work with the figure:

I enjoy the landscapes of the woodblock artists the most. My favorite landscape of this artist is the last in the gallery, titled “Night in Montmarte” the work was produced in 1959.

Junichiro Sekino passed away in 1988.

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Artist of the moment…..Street Artist Chris Johanson

Chris Johanson was born in the year 1968 in San Jose, California.  Johanson is renown for his cityscapes and also works with cartoons. He has worked with many subjects over his career and more recently has blended a great sense of color with rather abstract flat shapes painted in acrylics. He began drawing at a young age inspired by comic books. Johanson didn’t attend college or have any formal art training.

Price range information: Works range from $4,000 to $45,000.

Johanson gained recognition as an artist by designing skateboards.

The artist also plays in a band called Tina Age 13.

The artist moved to San Francisco and became involved in the San Francisco Mission School. This was a group of graffiti artists who were looking to make social and political commentary in their work.

Chris Johanson was involved in Whitney Biennale that took place in 2002. An installation by Johanson received great reviews from the critics.

In this clip we visit a show with the great James Kalm featuring the work of Chris Jensen and some other artists. Chris Jensen’s art is the first to appear in the segment:

He is now based out of Portland, Oregon.

When he was living San Francisco he won an award from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for his artistic talents. A brief interview with Chris Johanson talking about an installation work:

What a fun and humorous street artist that has found great commercial and gallery success!

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