At the 101/exhibit in Miami is an exhibition featuring a dynamic painter from Angola. His name is Jorge Santos and for most of his life he has been a full time artist creating surreal scenery and groups of people not quite from this reality. Born in 1959, Santos was raised in the then Portuguese colony of Angola. After his family escaped the political turmoil that ensued after Angola became independent, he headed over to America where he settled in 1982. For the past 25 years, he has exhibited his works in galleries all over the world. [Read more...]
A Bizarre World of Morphing Forms
It’s a strange world where, from one moment to the next, nothing familiar is quite as it seems. Warm handshakes turn into mingling horses before our eyes; slicing into a frosted cake is shockingly like slicing into a brain; and what appears to be a sailing ship from above, is actually a stout rhinoceros down below. Some are amusing combinations and others will disturb, but each of these fanciful drawings are fascinating to explore and decipher. [Read more...]
Life Repeats Itself: A Funny, Looping GIF Per Week
In each of these clever animations a stick figures takes center stage, humorously acting out a looping scene in a colorful cartoonish world. Whether the figure is floating away under balloons or falling off a church roof, he never quite learns his lesson. Where does each animation begin or end? It’s hard to say… and that’s what makes each example so addictive and watchable. [Read more...]
Faceted Sculptures in the Urban World
A gigantic face emerges from the pavement, its features faceted into sharp geometric forms, its color various shades of urban gray. With unseeing eyes cast upward towards the sky, it dwarfs passerby like a sleeping modern day giant born of the city. This is the work of Brussels based David Mesguich, an artist who has been working with polypropylene plastic to build impressive sculptural forms. His work blends the aesthetic of street art with that of the digital world, bringing something that appears computer generated to life before us. [Read more...]
Mysterious Forces Pull Buildings Apart
One word that comes to mind when first observing a Ben Grasso painting: dynamic. Just about every piece of his large scale work is in motion – either being blown outward by an explosion, being blown away by a hurricane-force wind, or in many examples, moved by a mysterious energy beyond explanation. Much of his work features classic wooden buildings from the American plains – their timber frame details, long strips of siding and even surrounding foliage moving quickly in divergent directions. It’s a chaotic sight, but one filled with a surprising amount of beauty. [Read more...]
Ink Illustrations on Vintage Book Pages
Beautiful faces peer from the pages of discarded vintage books. The printed word forms horizontal patterns in contrast with the curving forms of lips and hair, while giving each figure a certain fragility… “as if the wind may blow them away at any moment.” These are the ink drawings of Loui Jover, a Queensland Australia based artist who has been perfecting his craft since childhood. [Read more...]
Victorian Era Freaks Take Formal Photos
Perhaps we shouldn’t call them freaks… these are just normal citizens trying to fit into everyday society. Or are they? From the Edwardian era to the Victorian, these characters are all a bit odd, but they’ve shown up to have their formal portrait taken in their finest clothing; with their hair and beards neatly combed and their individual characters written all over their face (even if that face has only one eyeball). Where did these creatures come from? [Read more...]
Sticky Street Art Made From Masking Tape
One of the biggest problems facing street artists has always been the legality of painting on unauthorized walls. While many people cheer for a more art filled city, there are always those (including business owners) who decry the practice of using the urban environment as a canvas. Enter Aussie street artist Buff Diss, a man who uses masking tape to create his uniquely linear works of art… and in doing so makes works which can please everyone. Don’t like it? Simply peal it off. [Read more...]
The Body in Nature: Unusually Beautiful Photographs
Photographing the nude is just about as old as the camera itself… from cheesy pinups to surreal body landscapes, the form has been explored in just about every way imaginable. That’s why, when I ran across the work of Arno Rafael Minkkinen I was truly blown away. His work is filled with almost magical abstract forms created using just creatively positioned figures in the landscape and his well placed lens… nothing more. Each photograph is a revelation, something to decipher for its mysterious form and appreciate for its lyrical beauty. [Read more...]















