Randy Pijoan

Art Appreciation

I came across a painting by Randy Pijoan while thumbing through The Essential Guide Santa Fe & Taos titled "Night Crew, Zia Diner."

The realistic painting is of the night crew outside the  mission-style building getting ready for their shift. Zia Diner is a restaurant in Santa Fe known for its comfort food.

Pijoan is known his innovative art genre he calls "Phrasism," which is the capture of people's actions in everyday modern life.

You can see more of his wonderful work HERE.

Night Crew, Zia Diner via The Essential Guide

Adobe Bar Rendezous via dreazine

Festival Girl via riocostillaart

Sources: http://www.randypijoan.com/; http://dreazine.blogspot.com/2010/12/color.html; http://riocostillaart.com/randy-pijoan-painting/; http://www.fourcornersgeotourism.com/content/the-studio-of-randy-pijoan/fca4F58BB1C7758F5063; http://www.mutualart.com/OpenArticle/Visual-poetry/2C6522E86BC33CC9; http://issuu.com/creativeindustri.es/docs/essential-guide-2011-2012; http://www.artilluminator.com/?page_id=12

Boris Mikhailovich Lavrenko

Art Appreciation

Russian realist painter, Boris Mikhailovich Lavrenko was born on May 6, 1920 in Rostov on Don, which is a port city located in Southern Russia.

While serving his country during World War II, he documented the war by sketches and drawings.

Mikhailovich Lavrenko died on June 7, 2001 in St. Petersburg.

Bibi Hatim Mosque, 1961 via Wikipedia

In the Maternity Hospital via iamachild

On the Elbe River, 1968 via Wikipedia

Sources: http://ussrpainting.blogspot.com/2012/06/here-are-some-soviet-era-paintings.html; 
http://iamachild.wordpress.com/category/lavrenko-boris-m/; Wikipedia

Gustav Klimt

Art Appreciation

I came across Gustav Klimt from a book my dad had bought me as a present.

Born on July 14, 1862, the Austrian symbolist painter, Gustav Klimt, was considered a leader of the Viennese Art Nouveau movement. Paintings during this movement had decorative designs incorporated in their images.

You can see more of his wonderful work HERE.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907 via Wikipedia

Judith I (1901) via Wikipedia

The Kiss (1907-08) via Wikipedia

Sources: http://www.gustav-klimt.com/index.jsp; http://www.iklimt.com/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt; http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10673597.htm; Buchholz, Kaeppele, Hille, Stotland, Buhler, ART: A WORLD HISTORY, 2007

Alberto Mielgo

Art Appreciation

A few months ago, I came across a youtube video of a young artist working on a painting of former porn actress, Belladonna. Naturally, this caught my curiosity, and I wanted to learn more about the artist.

Spanish-born, Alberto Mielgo is recognized not only for intimate portraits and nudes, but he is also known for his contributions in comics and animation, such as Tron Uprising, which received an Annie Award in 2013.

You can see more of his paintings HERE. Also, check out pinkman.tv for his animated works.



Gon via hifructose



Belladonna via klimtbalan



Untitled via klimtbalan

Similar Artists:
Jennifer Balkan

Sources: http://www.albertomielgo.com/; http://albertomielgo.blogspot.com/; http://hifructose.com/2010/12/01/alberto-mielgo-the-inspired-life/;
http://motionographer.com/2010/02/24/modern-rebel-alberto-mielgo-pinkman.tv/;
http://klimtbalan.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/alberto-mielgo/;
http://conceptcentral.blogspot.com/2010/04/artist-profile-alberto-mielgo-aka.html


 

Jasper Johns

Art Appreciation

Americans will be celebrating Independence Day this week, and what better way to celebrate the American spirit than with a portrait of Old Glory.

Flag (1960-66) via Wikipedia

This encaustic painting, which was painted in 1954, is by influential contemporary American artist , Jasper Johns. The idea to paint this iconic image came to him in a dream.

Johns, who was born on May 15, 1930 in Augusta, Georgia, primarily worked in painting and printmaking, and is also known for his close relationship with Robert Rauschenberg.

You can read more about the artist HERE.


Sources: 

Miles, Frank J., "Partners in Love & Art," LstyleGstyle Magazine, September / October 2012, Page 27 

http://www.jasper-johns.org/index.jsp 

http://artsnapper.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/jasper-johns-birthday/

John Neil Rodger

Art Appreciation

As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I'm an aesthete who appreciates most types of art.

My personal favorite mediums are oil pastels and ink, and I appreciate impressionism and realism and don't care much for cubism. I enjoy looking at paintings that are realistic or have a somewhat "dream-like" feelings.

I came across John Neil Rodger, a South African-born artist, while researching realism art. Like other realistic artists, his work, which are primarily of farm animals and the female form, captured my attention.

You can see more of his work HERE.

Onagadori Rooster via eldibujante 

 

Appaloosa Stallion via catherinelarose 

Reclining Nude II via conchigliadivenere 

Similar Artists:
Sergey Marshennikov
Spartaco Lombardo



Sources: http://neilrodger.co.za/?m=1; http://conchigliadivenere.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/john-neil-rodger-1941-south-african/; http://filipinofestival.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/john-neil-rodger-south-africa/; http://iamachild.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/john-neil-rodger-1941-south-african/; http://eldibujante.com/?tag=john-neil-rodger; http://catherinelarose.blogspot.com/2012/10/neil-rodger.html; http://www.vgallery.co.za/2000article26/vzine.htm


 

Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer

Music Appreciation

I remember watching the music video to Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer when I was about ten years old.

At that age, the music video was captivating with its stop motion animation of trains, paper airplanes, bumper cars, and dancing oven-ready chickens. For its time, the music video was not only innovative but cool and fun.

But what's the song's meaning?

I've tried to look it up and get an idea of its meaning. Many commenters on Songmeanings.net think its a song with many sexual innuendos. A few think Peter Gabriel was singing about the music industry--nothing new to musical artists (see my previous posts on other artists HERE and HERE).

Songfacts.com quotes Peter Gabriel regarding the song, "Sometimes sex can break through barriers when other forms of communications are not working too well."

So, while my parents sheltered me from Rate R movies, I was filling my head with sexual innuendos and lyrics of phallic symbols. This explains a lot, now.





Sources: 

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/13038/

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=773

Wikipedia