Today marks the end of this week of special focused Magpie Monday posts, and I thought I’d end with some artists I’ve discovered (or rediscovered) of late. The title of today’s post comes from René Magritte, who said, “Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist,” so ponder that idea while you stroll this mini-gallery. Each artist’s name is a link to his/her website (where available), and some of the links are to other mini-galleries, so I hope you’ll click through to see more work from these artists.
◊ First up is Ben Smith, a painter who creates wondrously strange images. I think his work is great, and I find something so unsettling about his use of light, though I can’t put my finger on it. Of course, I like unsettling, so this is not a bad thing at all. Below I’ve shared two of his pieces, the first of which won the Amanda Phillips Emerging Artist Award at the Mosman Art Prize and the second of which was a finalist for the 2010 Redland Art Award. Via.
He Is of Uneven Temperament by Ben Smith
This Could Go Either Way by Ben Smith
◊ mental_floss shared the work of 9 amazing masters of hyperrealism, and I have to agree that these artists are amazing. Some of these pieces, like the one below by Carole Feuerman, I would have thought were photographs instead of sculptures.
Moran by Carole Feuerman
◊ I’ve been a fan of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison for a while (and have a copy of their book, The Architect’s Brother). I think you’ll enjoy their dream-like, surreal imagery. Via.
Turning to Spring by Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
◊ This made me laugh, but Tom Gauld usually does:
◊ I love this piece by Antoni Tudisco—full of energy and detail (detailed energy?). Via.
Antoni Tudisco
◊ The collage work of Valero Doval is a lot of fun; I’m particularly taken with the piece below. Via.
Valero Doval
◊ These wing sculptures by Susan Hannon, made from the pages of a Bible, are pretty amazing. She has a series of them, all numbered variants with the same title: You Get Me Closer to God, which Hannon says was taken from the song “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails. I approve. (Click to embiggen.) Via.
You Get Me Closer to God no. 6 (2011) by Susan Hannon
You Get Me Closer to God #6 (2011; detail) – Susan Hannon
◊ Check out these beautiful photographs by Brooke Shaden. Flavorwire shared a mini-gallery of her work, which is pretty phenomenal. Do check out Shaden’s website where you can see quite a bit more of her photographs.
To Be Prepared by Brooke Shaden
◊ And finally, something really, really cool: Manfred Kielnhofer‘s The Guardians of Time installation, watching over Berlin (click to embiggen). Since 2006, Kielnhofer, an Austrian artist, has been creating these life-size figures with either canvas constructs or sculpture—they pop up and then disappear, and no one knows where they’ll be next. And the Guardians have a Facebook page, too. Via.
Manfred Kielnhofer
