Pablo Garcia Lopez (present)

Pablo Garcia Lopez of Madrid, Spain combines neuroscience and art to create some of the most unique works today. Lopez has an impressive resume as he holds a B.A. in Biology from the University Autonoma in Madrid, a PhD. in Neuroscience from the University Complutense of Madrid, and an MFA in sculpture from MICA. On his website, Lopez writes that he is "interested in making associations between both disciplines to popularize the discoveries related to the functioning of the brain, trying to create a more humanistic culture." One of his sculptures is titled "39 Brains Forming a Flower." In this piece, Lopez silkscreened paper. The piece is shown below. Here is a link to his personal website: http://pablogarcialopez.com/home.html

Christo (present) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009)

Christo, Bulgarian, and Jeanne-Claude, French, have created many works of environmental installation art together since 1994. Prior to that date, works were only credited to Christo. Since Jean-Claude passed away in 2009, Christo continues to create environmental installation art. They are well known for covering up well-known environmental and public areas for specific amounts of time so that people may appreciate that area when it is uncovered. They also place objects in areas for specific amounts of time. Below is their work called Surrounded Islands, Miami, FL (1980-1983). In this work, they wrapped 11 island in pink flamingo fabric. Here is a link to their personal website: http://www.christojeanneclaude.net

Taizo Yamamoto (present)

Taizo Yamamoto is a Bachelor of Architecture and has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree as well. He received his education from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has also received a Piano Performer's Degree from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. This multi-talented artist also creates extremely detailed drawings. Most recently, Yamamoto's shopping cart drawings have been displayed at the Pendulum Gallery in Vancouver, Canada. From my own interpretation of Yamamoto's shopping cart drawings, I believe he is trying to send a political message about consumerism in contemporary, developed societies. Here is a link to his personal website: http://www.taizoyamamoto.com

Here is one of the twenty shopping cart drawings that Yamamoto has completed:

Escif (present)

Escif, a street artist, was born and lives and works out of Valencia, Spain. (His last name is unknown.) Escif describes his work as "contemporary mural painting." His inspirations are various paintings, comic books, daily life, and movies. He does his work to provoke thoughts from his viewers, not for the viewers to find his works aesthetically pleasing. Escif has gained a lot of fame in Spain for his artwork even though 90% of his paintings have been painted around the city without authorization on the walls of abandoned buildings. According to an interview he had with a worker from FatCap (www.fatcap.com), police rarely make him leave once he has started a new work. 

Escif's Flickr Page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/escif

Takashi Murakami (present)

Takashi Murakami was born in Tokyo and received his BFA, MFA, and PhD from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. His work has been displayed all over the world. Murakami's work varies a great deal, as he is a multi-talented artist. His work ranges from paintings to pop art-resembling sculptures to giant inflatable balloons. Currently, Murakami's giant sculptures are being displayed at the Chateau de Versailles. 

Tribute website for Takashi Murakami: http://www.takashimurakami.com

More about Murakami's display at Versailles: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/news-/events/expositions/murakami-versailles-en

At the Chateau de Versailles: 

Adam Friedman (Present)

Adam Friedman was born in Nevada and attended the University of Oregon. He currently resides in Oakland, CA. In his personal statement, Friedman brings up the fact that in the roughly four billion year timeline that the earth has been here, humans have been a very small part of it. He mentions how the earth was here long before us and how it will be here long after us. He takes comfort in this and dismisses humanity's arrogance that we can simply destroy the earth or that there will be an apocalypse. Friedman uses acrylic paints, screen printing techniques, and collage on panel. In his works, Friedman compacts millions of years in time into a single moment-- one of his images. His works show that any damage humans may have made to the earth has long since been left behind. Mountains disappear, rocks bend and grow, and time is shown in a completely new way. In the words of Friedman, "I strive to present an era that defies human intervention in the landscape. An optimistic view of the natural world, post human presence." You may visit his personal website here: http://www.artbyadamfriedman.com

Patrick Winfield (Present)

Patrick Winfield grew up in upstate New York. He attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia and the City College of New York. His works consists of collage and polaroid composites. Winfield has grand fascination for nature and that is his main subject matter for his polaroid arrangements. Aside from his art, Winfield works professionally as a graphic designer. You may visit his personal website here: http://www.patrickwinfield.com/portfolio.html

Joshua Petker (Present)

Born in Los Angeles, CA, Joshua Petker now resides and works from the same location. Petker pursued a non-art related major at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, but was inspired to pursue a career as a fine artist after completing a study abroad program at the Lorenzo de'Medici Institute of Florence. Petker has displayed his painting in both California and Washington with the most recent location, in 2010, being Bristol, England. In his paintings, Petker portrays women in vivid colors. You may visit his personal website here: http://www.joshuapetker.com/

Adam de Boer (Present)

Adam de Boer, who was born in Riverside, CA, now works as a painter out of Washington, DC. De Boer graduated with a BA from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His paintings have been displayed all throughout the United States. His newest collection of paintings is titled "Memory Meets Imagination Halfway." De Boer paints things he remembers from his past and adds more meaning to them through symbolism. The work displayed below is called "Goat Slaughter." This is a memory the artist had from Mallorca, Spain. The goat slaughter is supposed to represent an ancient ritual while the casually dressed white male is supposed to represent the contemporary. His head and arm are doubled, which is supposed to show the viewer that this is not real time. You may visit de Boer's personal website here: http://www.damdeboer.com/home.html

Sasha Prood (Present)

Sasha Prood attended Carnegie Mellon University and currently works as a graphic designer out of Manhattan. Prood has designed for many big names such as J. Crew, Wired magazine, and MTV. She currently works in Manhattan for PR Design Products. Her work is inspired by the natural world and is evident in many of her designs and typography. You may visit her personal website here: http://www.sashaprood.com/

Lauren DiCioccio (Present)

Lauren DiCioccio is a NY based artist and attended Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. DiCioccio makes different sorts of installations and social commentary works. One thing in particular that she makes are embroidered New York Times newspapers of mass media figures. By doing this, DiCioccio makes a social commentary that mass media has drifted mostly to television and we do not get us much from newspapers anymore. Thus, she embroiders visually powerful images of mass media figures onto the newspapers, such as Lady Gaga who is shown below. She has displayed her work in galleries all over the US. You may visit her personal website here: http://www.laurendicioccio.com

Oliver Herring (Present)

Oliver Herring is an experimental artist from Heidelberg, Germany, but he is based out of NYC and does extensive traveling across the US. Herring creates different sorts of art. He makes styrofoam photo sculptures, knits mylar, makes videos, and stages participatory performances. His participatory performances are called Task Parties and I was lucky to be a part of one at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At a task party, all people at the party write tasks for others to complete and throw them into a huge bucket. Anyone at the task party can pick out a task and must complete that task. Once the task is completed, it is thrown into a separate bin for completed tasks. There are many tasks going on simultaneously and Herring goes around recording these tasks. Herring does not have a personal website.




I’m crowd-surfing in this video at around 8:53. :)


An artwork by Herring: 

Judith Baca (Present)

Judith Baca both was born and works in Los Angeles, CA. Baca is known for her massive murals as well as being the director of the creation of one of the largest murals in the world, The Great Wall of Los Angeles. Baca uses her works to express political commentaries. She is currently a professor of fine arts at the University of California, LA. You may visit her personal website here: http://www.judybaca.com/now/index.php

Jansson Stegner (Present)

Jansson Stegner was born in Denver, CO and work in NYC. Stegner is known for his figurative paintings with exaggerated limbs. He paints elegant, pastoral colors and compositions that are reminiscent of artists of the past and paints contemporary human beings, such as police officers. His works look surreal and idealized. Stegner's works have been displayed all over NYC. Here is his personal website: http://janssonstegner.com/home.html

Peter Coffin (Present)

Peter Coffin is an artist based out of New York City who challenges common perception with his artwork. His artwork greatly varies. From stimulating photographs to large gallery installations, Coffin knows how to challenge established interpretation. Coffin received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis and his MFA at Carnegie Mellon University. His work has been displayed in galleries all over the world including France, Sweden, Italy, and London. Coffin does not have a personal website.

Boris Anrep (1883-1969)

Boris Anrep was a Russian-born artist who worked and displayed his art in Britain. Anrep originally studied law at St. Petersburg University, but turned to art after the influence of a sculptor and painter friend named Dmitrii Stelletskii. After this strong influence, Anrep traveled to study mosaics in Greece and Italy. After much traveling and training from different places, including Britain, Anrep displayed some of his work in London. To this day, Anrep's works are beautifully displayed National Gallery of London and other locations throughout Britain.

Iassen Ghiuselev (Present)

Iassen Ghiuselev is a Bulgarian illustrator who is best known for his pictures in classic stories such as Pinnochio, Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist, and Don Quixote. His personal drawing techniques are inspired by the Renaissance and thus, often feature strong contrasts between light and dark. Ghiuselev got his initial artistic training at an art school in his hometown of Sofia, Bulgaria. He received further training at the National Academy of Arts, which is also in Sofia, Bulgaria. Ghiuselev is a very prominent modern day illustrator who does a lot of cover art and illustrations for the magazines Vanity Fair and Vogue of Italy. You may visit his personal website here: http://www.iassen.com

Illustration from Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin

Angela Laich (Present)

Angela Laich is an artist who was born in and exhibits her work in Germany. She is best known for her classical figurative sculptures. She is a rare breed since there are few classical figurative sculptors around during the present day. It is not an easy career to make a living out of. She was trained at the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design in Germany and then got further training at the Berlin University of the Arts. Laich has also traveled all over Europe to perfect her sculpting skills. You may visit her personal website here: http://www.angelalaich.de/cms/

Krištof Kintera (Present)

Kristof Kintera is an artist of multiple skills who comes from Prague. He makes sculptures, drawings, and many site-specific installations. He puts objects together and alters them in strange ways, so a viewer may notice right away that the object deviates from the usual and produces a reaction to the work. Many of his works are a commentary on consumer culture and inspire humor. Kintera's works have been displayed all over the world. You may visit his personal website here: http://kristofkintera.com

Brie Ruais (Present)

Brie Ruais was born in S. California and earned a BFA degree from New York University. The best way to describe her artistically is that she is a sculptor. She uses many materials around her to tie a work together. From embroidery thread to plexiglass to dyes, Ruais creates works that unfold a series of events with their accumulation of details. Ruais' work has been displayed in galleries all over NYC, as well as Tokyo. You can visit her website here: http://www.brieruais.com/

"Untitled (Vampire)", 2007. Embroidery thread on linen. 40" x 35"

"Made in India", 2008
Embroidery thread, fabric, silk thread, chalk, butterfly, dried flowers, pencil and shavings, stones, shells, ceramics, bangles,
glass beads, holy beads, crystals, petrified wood, wooden shelf. 33" x 67"x18"