Andrew Carr

Andrew Carr is still pretty young, having earned his BFA in '06. His website is an eclectic gathering of works by an artist who is still trying to figure out what he wants to say. But it's clearly there. Somewhere between his darkly humorous portrayals of youthful indiscretion and his poignant meditations on loneliness there is a voice as clear and candid as Holden Caufield's. His website (www.andrewcarr.net) also features what may be the best artist bio I've ever seen.













"Round 'em up Cowboy" oil 21" x 36"






















"Thin Envelope" oil 24" x 20"












"School Bus" oil 22" x 40"

















"The Laundromat" oil 30" x 40"

















"Bonfire Jump" etching 9" x 12"
(from a series of etchings depicting the college party scene)

Simon McWilliams

Simon McWilliams paints the bones of things like they were flowers. Sometimes He paints flowers too. But his favorite subject seems to be iron and steel; scaffolding, girders, the skeletal forms of half finished high rises. Other architectural subjects crop up as well; gates and staircases and greenhouses and chandeliers. His ability to apply brilliant color in an expressive painterly manner to these otherwise austere images can be a fascinating juxtaposition, especially with the buildings, which normally we would perceive as bleak eyesores. Instead there is a kind of fascinating triumphal quality to them. Like Breugel's take on the "Tower of Babel", we know that all this crazy construction might be a bad idea, but damn if it isn't really really cool.

There is quite a lot of work on his website www.simonmcwilliams.com



















"Arc II" oil on canvas 29" x 35"























"Red Apartments" oil on canvas





















"Traffic Lights II" oil on canvas





















"ESB Gas Turbine Power Station" oil on canvas




















"Mist in the Palmhouse" oil on canvas

I'd like to acknowledge Skotia Gallery in Santa Fe, NM for introducing me to his work

Ericailcane

The name is signed as one word so I'll go with that and leave the question as to whether it is Erica or Eric undetermined. At any rate the work of the artist extends beyond drawings to include numerous large scale murals, installations and video, but at the heart of it all is the drawing; wonderfully charming, cryptic, sometimes dark, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, but always alive. I'm really not even sure what else to say about them. They have no individual titles on the website, and frankly do not need them. They have a life of their own which is quite complete without any verbal clues as to their meaning or context. Go to the website www.ericailcane.org and look through them all! When you get to the bottom of the page make sure to click on the word "older" and keep going.

Michael Schall

Looking at the gallery website representing Ryan Mrozowski (my previous post) I came across this artist. Michael Schall creates enigmatic narrative scenes of colossal human exuberance. There is an ominous tone to all these visions and while some depict clear warnings or criticisms of our hubris, I also get the distinct impression that he's impressed and awed by, and almost giddy with excitement about, the sheer scale and absurdity of human endeavor. His work is often, though not always, suggestive of some possible future and that future may be both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.
He works in extraordinary detail in graphite, so much of what these pieces must convey in person is lost in an online format. The detail images here are really important. I wish I could include just one that was really close up to see the meticulous individual pencil marks themselves. The black and white format also serves him well as it removes us one step from the almost overwhelming realism and heightens the pure drama of it all.
See more great stuff at www.michaelschall.com
and some more at www.pierogi2000.com
















"Remaking the Night Sky" graphite on paper 41.25" x 59.75" 2008

















"Remaking the Night Sky" detail


















"Mist" 2008 Graphite on Paper 12" x 16"

















"Pool of Light" graphite on paper 22" x 30" 2009






















"Pool of Light" detail
















"Rebuilding the Quarries" graphite on paper 40" x 60" 2008






















"Rebuilding the Quarries" detail