NIGEL COOKE

I have always really liked NIGEL COOKE's work, I love his balance of abstraction and realism ,'he works on an epic scale but dwells on the minutiae of decay and dissolution, he paints with scientific accuracy but creates scenes that could never exist. '

Jacob Dahlgren

I love this guys work..I came across this artist last year when I was researching for my sculpture, I lost his name but rediscovered it today. Jacob Dahlgren is a Swedish painter, sculptor, and conceptual artist who works to a large extent with unconventional materials. Finding abstraction in everyday objects, he creates dynamic interactive installations and performances.

How clever is this performance piece by him (Performance with 300 people dressed in striped T-shirt in a shoppingmall in Stockholm 2005)

Marcel Dzama

Marcel Dzama is a contemporary artist who lives and works in New York. His work has been exhibited internationally, in particular his ink and watercolor drawings. Dzama also works extensively in sculpture, painting, collage, and film. The artist is also known for his intricately conceived dioramas and large scale polyptychs that draw from his talents across a range of media. Dzama works in multiple disciplines to bring his cast of human figures, animals, and imaginary hybrids to life, and has developed an international reputation and following for his art that depicts fanciful, anachronistic worlds.

Couple of new paintings

I have been engrossed in spy movies (and tv programs) lately, taking inspiration from the look and feel of them I made these paintings.

'on the run'
25x35cm

'tourist'
25x35cm

Michaël Borremans

Michaël Borremans is a Belgian painter and filmmaker who lives and works in Ghent. His painting technique draws on 18th century art as well as the works of Édouard Manet and Degas. The artist also cites the Spanish court painter Diego Velázquez as an important influence. His earlier drawings, many of which belong to the collection of fellow painter Jan Van Imschoot, are often used as a basis for his later paintings. In recent years, he has been using photographs he has made himself or made to order sculptures as the basis for his paintings.

Shepard Fairey/ATP coverage on NJ TV

Shepard Fairey Paints Asbury Park from Adam Worth on Vimeo.

Spotted this short via Jonathan LeVine Gallery. It's by Adam Worth... features Shepard Fairey and Jonathan LeVine discussing their recent exhibition REVOLUTIONS: The Album Cover Art of Shepard Fairey, presented in association with All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) I'll Be Your Mirror music festival in Asbury Park, as well as a series of murals the artist created on site.

Nicholas McLeod

Nicholas McLeod......(via ebandflowgallery)

'My work is concerned with exploiting the tension between subject matter and the application of paint. I am interested in exploring how different techniques and painterly styles can affect the overall atmosphere and mood of the painting.
I am intrigued with photographs of abandoned places, crime scenes and wastelands and feel that the ambiguity and banality which I see in them is a potential for painting. When these elements are taken to painting they are drawn into a conflict between the ordinariness of what is being depicted and the monumentality of what may have occurred there.
I see the poured paint as a kind of curtain or veil which acts as a device by which the forms are hidden, distorted and bleached out. The decision process then begins to revolve around what is revealed and what remains hidden. These attempts to de-stabalise the image are intended to disrupt the work and bring me closer to the tension and discomfort I hope to achieve.'

Fiona Rae

Fiona Rae's bold works evolve from the loosest of blueprints, making the flexibility of oils central to her process. Via the The Observer she says.....

What I love about painting is that it embodies a series of thought and feeling processes. It's all there on the canvas as a record. I can put something on the canvas, consider it, adjust it, remove it, replace it, add to it, conceal it, reveal it, destroy it and repair it. I can be in a good mood, a bad mood, a cheerful mood or a destructive mood - it's all useful.

I came across this video of her in her studio, I love when artists talk about their practice with such conviction and passion.

Matthew Lyons

I came across this illustrator Matthew Lyons via Juxtapoz . I'm really into his work...the textures and colour he uses work wonderfully.

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth..one of my favorite painters. I would love to behold one of his actual paintings.

Stefan Kürten

While doing a little research on Stefan Kürten I found that he exhibited here in Dublin in the RHA and I missed it..I hate when that happens.
Kürten's works are distinguished by a striking tonality that is achieved through the use of a gold or silver base coat at the beginning of each painting. Images of suburban houses, gardens and yards such as Spellbound and Weites land are outlined in black before the different elements are painted in. Increasingly the artist has also used the repeating pattern of domestic wallpaper or carpet in his paintings, the contrasting flourishes accentuating the rigid lines of the suburban home.

Yo La Tengo - Our Way To Fall

What a tune....this came on my itunes when it was on shuffle...Yo Le Tengo will always be a huge favorite of mine.