First off is Amy Bennett. This original perspective has me just bleeding out the ears with envy as a painter. The evening time suburban melancholy is something I understand from many mid-western winter nights looking up into the blank and frozen sky. I was looking up at Amy.
Josh Keyes was in one of my painting classes at the Art Institute of Chicago with teacher Mary Lou Zelazny. Josh was always into science but his exploration has taken him into techniques of scientific illustration with a school-book feel that has socio-political comment. Amazingly original. I'm just not a good enough writer to press upon all the buttons he pushes. I just love it.
Next on the bookmark list is art star John Currin. Impossible to find a website of his complete works because there isn't one. There is, however, an expensive book coming out. In his paintings there is a hint of the Juxtapoz popularized "Big-Head Big-Eyed" figures, but much more. I applaud his ability to change styles. He's got a thing with the pin-up girls of the 70's and the 1700's. He's keyed into the subtle qualities of sexiness in each age. Looking closer, there are comments about sexuality, as well as the sadness in this kind of display. The topless Bea Arthur is a hoot!
Ok, this is old but it's just amazing. An entire wall sized image using spools of thread like pixels in an image. Go see Devorah Sperber.
Sex, drugs, super-models and the party scenes we can only imagine from bits and pieces of the tabloids. Terry Rodgers is pure decadence. The realism makes me weep. The fact that I'm not beautiful makes me weep. You can't help but to be drawn into this secret world.
Daniel Martin Diaz is a local Tucson artist. We have the Catholic thing, we have the old church thing, we have the Spanish Gothic Royalty thing. Daniel has it all. You may see it other places, but be sure that Diaz was the first and most authentic.
For my finale I have a real treat. I've been stalking this book for years and lost an Ebay auction recently for it by $5. In the 70's, Luigi Serafini, an Italian architect, published a book called the Codex Seraphinianus. It resembles a handbook for navigating another world including geology, physics, botany and social political aspects. But get this: it's written in different language with a completely unknown alphabet that code-breakers haven't been able to break yet. One of the most bizarre things I've seen, and one of my most treasured ideas I've coveted.
