Eric Joyner

"Lunch Break"

"Catfish"

"All Wrapped Up Again"

"Home Away From Home"

"Jungle Trek"

It's odd. This morning I suddenly had a craving for a donut. I don't eat donuts all that often often. But I like them. Only I'm at work and there's no place nearby to get one. So instead, I thought it was high time to revisit the work of Eric Joyner. He has turned donuts and toy robots into his personal iconography. Armed with a real talent for traditional realism, an exuberant sense of humor and a wry taste for nostalgia he has created what can modestly be described as a unique body of work. I can imagine someone saying that this isn't really serious art. To which the only reply could possibly be, hooray! Serious art can be great, don't get me wrong. But sometimes it's all just so... well, serious. It can give you a headache after a while. The perfect remedy for that sort of thing might be right here. Of course you can't fill up on donuts all the time, but every now and then they're just the thing.
His website is very complete and includes full galleries for every year going back to 2000. So go, and enjoy: ericjoyner.com

John Brosio - 4

"Bride in Headlights"

"The Last Hot Dog"  oil on canvas  24" x30"  2013

"BFF" 27" x 36"  oil on canvas  2012

"Breaking News"  oil on canvas  18" x 24"  2013

"Dinoaurs Eating CEO"  oil on canvas  55" x 60"  2013

It's often hard for me to get back to posting after the holidays. Habits are like flywheels. It doesn't take much effort to keep them going but once they grind to a halt it's a real bitch to get them started up again. Which why I'm thankful that Mr. John Brosio is out there making new paintings for me to get excited about... AGAIN. This is my fourth post of his work (Nov. 2008, Mar. 2010, May 2011). And I really don't have much to add to anything I might have said before. All visual art ought to speak for itself. It's visual after all, and any art that requires explication for appreciation is missing the point if you ask me. John Brosio's work speaks directly to my love of dark narratives with a pitch perfect blending of painterly realism and surrealist fantasy, sci-fi and horror. Throw in a dash of humor and you're off to the races. After all, I would probably fall in love any painting titled "Dinosaurs eating CEO" no matter what it looked like. It helps that it looks looks as good as its title.
you can see more at www.johnbrosio.com
or get the latest at his Facebook page.

Jonathan Wolstenholme

title unknown

title unknown

"Two Old Tomes"

title unknown

"Secret Life of a Crime Writer"

John Wolstenholme's love of old books is obvious, and clearly matched by his wit and talent. Each of his carefully crafted watercolors is a kind of portrait, of readers, of writers, of critics, of whole genres of books. Despite the antiquarian details,(nothing in his work appears to be any more recent than early twentieth century) they are distinctly contemporary in their surrealist humor. There really is not much more that needs to be said about these, for they speak quite clearly for themselves without any need for explication. One only needs to see them to appreciate them, and to recognize that just as there is no end to the art form of the book itself, Mr. Wolstenholme is unlikely to run out of material for his tremendously entertaining and engaging work. You can see just few more through his representatives at: portalpainters.co.uk
and one or two more at: hifructose.com
I don't know about you but I would love to see many many more.

Bijijoo

"Jacqueline and the Dragonfly"  oil on panel  24" x 38"  2012

"Alex and the Pill Bug"  oil on panel  36" x 24"  2012

"Alex and the Pill Bug"  detail

"Preparation for a Demonstration of a Pick-Axe"  oil on panel  13" x 19"  2013

"Ghost no. 1" oil on panel  24" x 36"  2012

Bijijoo is the presumed pseudonym of an artist in Portland, OR who is apparently obsessed with giant insects, decapitated celebrity heads, and people holding hams, just for starters. Not all of these obsessions are represented here - you'll just have to look through the rest of his work yourself. He is also, it turns out, a Ph.D. chemist (trained as a biophysicist), and quite possibly a satanist. Oh and a clown and a collector of broken dolls too. This is all as a way of pointing out that his art goes beyond the paintings and strays into areas of conceptualism and avant-garde humor. Have you ever heard of the giant goose that some claim haunts old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest? No? Well you can read all about it here. Did you know an episodes of the TV show "30 Rock" featured characters holding hams, and that the entire concept behind this was unfairly stolen from the mind of bijijoo? No? Well you can follow the course of his litigation here. The world of Bijijoo is a complex cascade of satyrical humor, where nothing is quite what it seems, or perhaps it is but also something more. But in the end it is the paintings, various series that operate around conceptual premises (Presidents holding hams, still lives with celebrity heads, etc.,) that are at the center of his creative enterprise. And the paintings have steadily matured over time allowing his dark humor to haunt the viewer with disturbing realism
visit his website: bijijoo.com.,
And for plenty more go to www.flickr.com/photos/bijijoo

John Kenn

Okay, so these are not pretending to be high art. The artist actually writes and produces children's television shows in Denmark, and confesses that these are merely doodles done on office supplies during brief moments of respite on busy days. So you'll never see these on a gallery wall, or be able to buy a limited edition print. At least I don't think so. Although I do think they are easily worthy of both. They breathe with some of the same dark humorous life that inhabits the work of Edward Gorey. Perhaps the power of the internet and sudden worldwide acclaim for an exceptional doodler will convince him to find something slightly more archival to scribble on in the future.
All pieces are pen on post-it notes and untitled. You can see many more on his blog: johnkenn.blogspot.com
The blog header says Don Kenn so It's impossible to be entirely sure which is correct.

Travis Louie - 2

Travis Louie just posted a few new pieces on his Flickr page and that to me is as good a reason as any to post an update on this unique artist. I first posted some of his work in June, 2009. Each of his exquisitely drawn portraits comes with a short narrative written by the artist. The general idea is that these are actually photographs of odd characters from a century or more ago and the narratives are brief bios of their peculiar lives. It is an easy thing to let an hour or more slip by looking through these extraordinary portraits and their accompanying stories.
His website (www.travislouie.com) is as good a place to start as any but for the most complete and up to date collection look through the aforementioned Flickr page. You can also keep track of all things Louie on his blog www.travislouie.blogspot.com.
I'm including a couple of the narratives below to whet your appetite for more.






















"The Myth of Floaters"
"The best stories about this myth come from North Dakota, where the hairiest floaters reside. In those stories the floaters are said to hover over people’s heads and sprinkle seeds which germinate and sprout herbs and foliage. One man claimed to have grown a full head of ferns atop his mostly bald head."






















"The Toad Prince"
"After years of approaching young women with the promise that a kiss would turn him into a prince, he finally convinced a young lady with strange hair to kiss him on his moist lips. Unfortunately, she was afflicted with the “bad hair” and the toad merely turned into a larger human-size toad. He became much smellier and developed a taste for single malt scotch and sausages. His dreams to be a prince dashed, he became a criminal lawyer, croaking his way through court room trials for the next 40 years."























"Monster Man"






















"Pals"


And here is an unusual look at an unfinished piece, a prequel of sorts to the piece directly above.






















"Pals before the bet"

Richard Hall

Richard Hall is a straightforward (though I can't say no nonsense) realist painter. His technique and compositional approach are very traditional and very formal. Which may sound fine and dandy but is in fact an approach filled with the greatest of pitfalls. Without exceptional skill and vision, work of this sort generally falls into the vast and endless pool of somewhat boring but pretty good art that litter art markets everywhere. Mr. Hall is more than just pretty good and his some nonsense approach pushes his work into a subtle category of its own. The tension in this first painting stands out as a brilliantly executed piece of visual humor. But (and I'm sorry to have to say this Mr. Hall) I can't even bring myself to use the title. The wit and elegance of the painting is self evident, but the title/puns are a little much for me. But while a title can add something to a piece I don't think it can subtract. The titles have absolutely no hold on the work itself which is quite simply, exquisite and I anxiously await the appearance of new pieces on his blog. richardhallfineart.blogspot.com
Also make sure you check out his website: richardhallfineart.com













"Breakfast Special: Ham'r and Eggs" 22" x 36"























"Chirp off the old Block" 12" x 24"























"Apple Cobbler" 24" x 24"














"Leave it to the Professionals"

I'd like to thank artistaday.com for bringing this artist to my attention.

Marc Da Cunha Lopes

Marc Da Cunha Lopes is a commercial photographer/photoshop artist who has a curious little website. On it he displays some of his commercial work (which is very slick but, let's face it, very commercial) as well as some of what certainly appears to be his own personal work. If it isn't, then bravo to the client. The reason I am uncertain about this is that the website has nothing else on it BUT these images. No information on how to contact the artist. No statement or CV. Just some very strange compelling photography. There are several different series, including more images from the two themes represented here. There are is also flesh eating zombies, robot gigolos, a little girl and her giant rat friend, and more! If that doesn't at least get you to look then you may be a little too high brow for this blog.
www.marcdacunhalopes.com
















































































Thanks to Tunacan Jones at FHN for the heads up.

Laurie Lipton

Laurie Lipton has been creating disquieting, disturbing, horrific, and sometimes viciously funny black and white drawings for over 30 years. Every piece is a reaction to fear; fear of the monotony of modern technology, media and society, fear of the impersonal and banal infecting us and slowly removing our souls, fear of passion being replaced by mere process, and of course, fear of death. But if all that sounds awfully heavy and rather pretentiously ponderous, just let me add that her reaction to that fear is generally one of insane, maniacal laughter. These are painstakingly rendered drawings that clearly required hours upon hours of meticulous craftsmanship, and yet, all the while that insane cackling must have been going off in some distant corner of her brain. This may well be a prime example of art as therapy, and I would not be the least bit surprised to discover that Ms. Lipton is a perfectly pleasant and well adjusted person. On the outside.
You can wade through all 30 years of her images on her website: laurielipton.com

I would like to thank the folks at freaksonline.co.uk for introducing me to her work.














The Dead Factory - (2009)
83 x 132 cm - charcoal and pencil on paper
















The Dead Factory - detail























Facelift - (2005)
53 X 40 cm - pencil on paper

















Reality TV - (2009)
82 x 104 cms - charcoal and pencil on paper
















Reality TV - detail























On - (2008)
124 x 92.5 - charcoal and pencil on paper

...and here's a piece from much earlier in her career:
















Last Night I Dreamt that I Murdered Mommy - (1980)
63.5 x 91 cm - pencil on paper

Dennis Harper

Humor aside, I also enjoy his reference to and love for far older artistic styles and techniques.
www.dennisharper.com


















"Untitled (Encounter in a Foyer)" 2007 24" x 20"
get this: Egg tempera, silverpoint, and gold leaf
over casein on panel




















Detail for "Encounter"






















"Jesus Nightlight" 1995 11" x 9"