February 14th, 2011 · 2 Comments
It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these, but the other day I was looking at a print by Yoshitomo Nara, and it occurred to me that he would be the perfect choice for an Artist Cheatsheet. Seriously… why didn’t I think of this before?
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The Japanese artist has dreamed up, and for many years been adding to, an alternate universe of puppies and doll-like girls who remain forever innocent in the confines of his idiosyncratic realm. The girls are achingly- cute, if ever such a thing existed, and convey a lot of spiritual allure despite their alien-ness. And while many artists depict children and try to convey the pleasures of childhood, Nara is really the grandfather of this theme in this day and age. His influence runs far and wide but here are some of my favorite artists whose work embody his youthful spirit.
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Ashley G
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Juri Ueda
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Nancy Mungcal / pretty little thieves
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Yosuke Ueno
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Trish Grantham
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Lisa Marie Godfrey
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About the Artist Cheat-Sheet Series:
In this series I match major artists of the 19th or 20th century with current independent artists who share the artist’s style, subject, tone, etc. By introducing you to artists similar to your favorites, you’ll no longer have the excuse of not knowing any modern day artists you like!
Rene Magritte
As soon as I was introduced to Rene Magritte back in high school, I was drawn to the Belgian Surrealist’s work. Here were world-famous paintings that, unlike all others I’d studied, had a modern visual language and were loaded with wit and irony. It was a classic teenage reaction of excitement seeing an adult (Magritte) thumbing their nose at other grown-ups. This was good stuff! I thought.
I still love Magritte for the same reasons- how he flagrantly subverted cultural norms and perverted people’s sense of propriety. The brilliance of his work lies in the Freudian, surreal mise-en-scenes which riff off of familiar, ordinary contexts. The following are six artists who are, in one fashion or another, following in Magritte’s path…
. Ben Kehoe
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Ben Kehoe
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Langdon Graves
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Langdon Graves
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Robin F. Williams
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Robin F. Williams
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Zachary Rossman
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Zachary Rossman
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Emma Tryti
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Emma Tryti
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Florencia Temperley
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Florencia Temperley
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Other Artist Cheat-Sheets: Frida Kahlo – Keith Haring – Wassily Kandinsky – Roy Lichtenstein – Gustav Klimt – Georgia O’Keeffe
About the Artist Cheat-Sheet Series: Perhaps you’ve lamented the fact that your love of Picasso won’t help you in the pursuit of living with art, but with a bit of guidance you can start to develop your taste on current art based on your preferences of “famous” art.
In this series I match major artists of the 19th or 20th century with current independent artists who share the artist’s style, subject, tone, etc. You’ll no longer have the excuse of not knowing any current, affordable artists you like!
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter from the first half of the 20th century who I consider a feminist artist. Her work is highly personal, exploring the often female subjects of pain and immobility (from a devastating streetcar accident at age 16), love, loss, infertility and heartbreak. Frida was a communist and was highly involved in politics during her lifetime (she even notoriously had an affair with political refuge, Leon Trotsky). Her life was full of drama, passion and physical and psychological pain, and these themes underscore much of her work as an artist.
Current artists whose work is reminiscent of Kahlo’s…
Common themes: nature, primitivism, love, ceremony.
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Common themes: women, symbolism (heart, snakes), body parts as living entities.
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Common themes: traditional women’s work, gender roles.
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.Jennifer Parks
Common themes: vulnerability, adornment, masks, death.
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Common themes: vulnerability, our relationship with personal possessions.
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Common themes: nature, the exotic, primitivism, sadness.
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Common themes: motherhood, life, the human body.
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Common themes: Women’s complicated relationships with each other, adornment (patterns).
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Common themes: love, heartbreak, femininity, memories.
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Common themes: dreams, the ornamental/symbolic (flowers, cake).
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Common themes: traditional women’s work, gender roles, female suffering.
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Common themes: the female body, everyday life.
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Explore previous Artist Cheat-Sheets:
Keith Haring
Wassily Kandinsky
Roy Lichtenstein
Gustav Klimt
Georgia O’Keeffe
Here are the results from the Artist Cheat-Sheet poll. Thanks to all who voted!
Explore previous Artist Cheat-Sheets:
Keith Haring
Wassily Kandinsky
Roy Lichtenstein
Gustav Klimt
Georgia O’Keeffe
Perhaps you’ve lamented the fact that your love of Picasso won’t help you in the pursuit of living with art, but with a bit of guidance you can start to develop your taste on current art based on your preferences of “famous” art.
In this series I match major artists of the 19th or 20th century with current independent artists who share the artist’s style, subject, tone, etc. You’ll no longer have the excuse of not knowing any current, affordable artists you like!
Keith Haring is a major artist of the second half of the twentieth century who died of AIDs in 1990 at the age of 31. Haring was an iconoclast throughout his career, from the onset when he took to New York City subway walls as his “laboratory” to his unapologetic depiction of homosexuality in his art to his decision to open a retail shop in Soho selling his t-shirts and ephemera.
There are too many facets of Keith’s work to write about here so I’ve chosen a few key themes shared by Haring and what I’m referring to as the “Haring-esque” artists of today. More than any specific theme, these young artists’ fearlessness and dark humor all remind me of the late artist.
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Big themes in Haring’s work…
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1. Chaotic, overstimulating graphics
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2. Drug-addled, cartoon-like style
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3. Political, religious and pop-cultural satire
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4. Violence and oppression
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5. Explicit male sexuality
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6. Grotesque creatures and vignettes
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Current artists whose work shares these themes…
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Previous cheat-sheets: Wassily Kandinsky, Georgia O’Keeffe, Gustav Klimt, Roy Lichtenstein
