Julian Duron

Julian Duron makes bright and strange landscapes that look like a train-wreck of the natural world. Mountains look like jeweled stacks of crystals, logs resemble stovepipes or pieces of a Braque work. It's an imaginary world, but it's colors and forms give it great energy. I like his work for these reasons. Here is a statement from his site: "Landscapes and other works shown on this site have evolved based on the places I have lived, and the people that I have met utilizing simplistic and minimal use of color in my earlier work to more complex palettes and rigorous processes which can be seen in my most recent collection."

(via the Post Family)

Kathryn Blochowiak

Katie Blochowiak is a Chicago painter using bright colors and outlined figures. Her forms are broadly drawn, but the color provides so much information here that it fills in what the drawing doesn't provide. I like the bold, pop feeling of her work.

Shara Hughes

Shara Hughes is a RISD graduate who works and paints in NYC. I love these domestic interiors-- romantic and full of context without being too specific. You can imagine this room as something you've seen before, a memory of a place you've been. And because there are no people, you can believe this is a place for you to be-- it seems waiting for you. Well, I like her work very much and love the art / illustration technique of mixing paper cut outs with paint, or adding a Jackson Pollack floor to a pink bathroom. And I see Hockney here too, one of my favorites. I really like these paintings.

Takashi Iwasaki

I am fascinated by this artist. Creating works in collage, drawings, paintings, he also hand embroiders pieces-- a labor intensive but visually arresting method. He says it's important for him to work in various media to keep his thoughts and ideas "fluid and flexible." I love his forms, the balance of color and white space, and the excitement these pieces have. See more of his art at Takashi Iwasaki online.
From the top: Nyokinyokinijiirokousen (embroidered painting, 2008), Direction (mural painting, 2006), Gemmidakosasnouzu (painting, 2008).

Scott Johnson

Johnson is a Chicago artist I've watched with interest who is currently in two shows, one at Flatfile Galleries and one in association with Around the Coyote Select, in the Flat Iron building. I like his style-- the mix of painterly techniques with the abstraction of few details. From his site: "Upon retreating to observe a large group of people from a distance, individual sentiment will dissolve into the abstract patterns of a crowd." See more on his site.

Tauba Auerbach

Wow---I really love Auerbach's work, and would love to have one of her pieces in my home. Sadly, that home needs a new roof, my kids must go to summer camp, and we're considering a bathroom remodel. (It's time.) But I love her work, I'm compelled to look at it again and again. I love the artful approach to type-- the dominance of letters in her work. Look at this letter A. That's ink on paper. Beautiful. A new favorite for me. See more.

Jason Rohlf

New York based artist Jason Rohlf is known for his densely worked surfaces. Our friends Cam and Heather introduced me to his work a few years ago. His abstract, geometric paintings "are very musical in their play with rhythmic patterns. Elements of collage and drawing are embedded in layers of varnish, obscuring lines and shapes." I like that you can see part of his process on the surface-- layers of paint, collaged pieces, etc. At Tory Folliard Gallery.

Sean Bennett

Sean Bennett created these graphic patterns for Habitat’s Art Group, a print-on-demand art service. I like these bold geometrics, and also the idea of an artist database that you can browse and then customize your selection. Such is the joy of digital printing. Pick a design and they print it for you at the size you want. Great idea and nice patterns. (Images from the Art Group.)

Elizabeth Peyton

I went to the library to browse and picked up a book I've wanted for a while: Elizabeth Peyton's paintings. I could look at these all day long. She is able to create what seems like a quick sketch with paint. And knowing my love of David Hockney's work, you can imagine how I love the color and drawing style of Peyton. This is one of the artist I would collect if only I had that extra million.... Maybe I'll start a virtual collection!

Jenny Bowers

A member of the Peepshow Collective (see Luke Best posting here), Bowers work reflects her “love of drawing, cutting, and sticking.” I like her use of bold color with the simplicity of her drawing style. Bowers on Peepshow.

LUKE BEST

Best is a London freelance artist and illustrator creating “work that celebrates the unseen and find magic in the everyday.” His style reminds me of Hockney’s early drawings, which I find remarkable, and his combination of complete and incomplete images is really a visual pop for me. From his website:
“By avoiding a specific way of working Luke’s output takes on a diverse range of formats including video animation, self published books, designing t-shirts and making home-made spacesuits. Since Graduating from the RCA Luke has worked in a Music video directing patnership known as Rosco & Best, a freelance Illustrator represented in London and New York by Heart Agency and is part of the Illustration Collective Peepshow.”

David Shillinglaw

David Shillinglaw is a UK artist whose work really appeals to me. I've always found the mixture of text and images especially interesting, as they typically reveal multiple meanings. Maybe this is why I find pop art and even advertising (ala Paul Rand) so intriguing.

David works as a freelance artist making a continual body of drawings, paintings, objects and books. His work has been applied to a variety of contexts, including illustration, graphic design and theatre set design. David describes his work as:

"somewhere between the representation of a thing, and the thing itself. I am interesed in double meanings and contradictions. I enjoy the human touch and all the mistakes that come with it. I often work directly onto objects I find, therefore I am not always in full control of what I make, this is very important to me, and I see this as a dialogue between myself and the ever changing environment around me. My work changes day-to-day and is influenced by a multitude of things. expressing ideas and the environments and conditions in which the ideas exist."

Go to david's website.