Todd Sargood

"Versailles (Profligacy Hybrid IV)"  mixed media on masonite  48" x 48"

"Thermopylae"  oil on canvas  60" x 48"

"Manassas"  oil on canvas  48" x 60"

"Hastings"  mixed media on masonite  192" x 83"

"Stowe" installation detail  mixed media on masonite  84' x 8'

 Art history no longer has a single through line. It used to be thought that new forms of expression made previous ones obsolete. Pop art was supposed to have been the demise of abstract impressionism. But as Todd Sargood points out, artists like Cy Twombly and others didn't get the memo. Fortunately for us. And artists like Todd Sargood carry on the tradition, demonstrating that while it may no longer be the avante-garde, abstract expressionism still carries loads of potential and has plenty to say. Todd Sargood's paintings and installations have all the energy and frenetic excitement that is the primal state of drawing itself. Hovering just beyond the boundaries of representation they embrace chaos while at the same time contain within themselves the components of order as if meaning might emerge from them at any moment. His titles, which often reference famous battle sites, may elicit the tension and unleashed energy within the creative endeavor, or they may simply be an endless source of dissociated names. Either way it is the work itself that matters. And fortunately for me this is work being done in my own town of Portland, Oregon, so I'll actually be able to go see it in person (a rare treat for me).

To see more check out the artist's website: http://toddsargood.com/

(PS: a note from the artist let me know that the titles are not just battles, but also sites of historic peace accords and other  situations where two cultures came together, which still conveys the idea of tension and resolution without necessarily evoking violence.)

Nuala O'Donovan

"Teasel Chrysanthemum #2"  High fired unglazed porcelain  2010

"Teasel"  High fired unglazed porcelain  2009

"Teasel"  detail

"Grid" based on drawings of Radiolaria - a microscopic organism

from "Pinecone series"

Nuala O'Donovan is an Irish sculptor whose work reflects and builds upon natural forms and structures. One of her obsessions has been taking the basic structure of the teasel plant and allowing it grow and morph into ever larger and more complex forms. Her slow and painstaking method echoes natural processes where pattern and design interact with randomness and variation, and in so doing elegantly captures the delicacy and beauty that lie in tiny details all around us. Go to her website (www.nualaodonovan.com) and look through more of her work. You'll be glad you did. And when you've done that go outside and look at all the crazy beautiful little things that you never noticed before.

Kristin Kwan

"Cherry Blossoms" watercolor

"Dinner Party"  watercolor

"Golden Fish"  oil on paper

"Red Bird"  oil on paper

"New Growth"

Kristin Kwan (or Kristin Elder) is an artist and illustrator, especially of children's books. Her personal work reflects this but adds to it an element of humor and even sometimes of horror that might be lost on younger viewers. The balance between the cute on the one hand and a peculiar solemnity on the other add to the artist's undeniable technical skills to make this work a notch (or two or three) above others of it's ilk. She is also, quite clearly something a naturalist, an artist who cannot resist rendering birds and trees for their own sake. The appearance of very real creatures in mythical milieus gives these fantasies an atmosphere of solidity and substance instead of mere trifles. At times it creates the kind of fantasy one imagines you could walk into and live in for a while.
You can see more work plus her illustrations on her website: kristinkwan.com
Skethches like "New Growth" (above) can be found on her blog.
thanks to www.neatorama.com/art/

Philip Govedare

"Excavation #4"  oil on canvas  70" x 64"  2010

"Excavation #5"  oil on canvas  48" x 90"  2010

"Excavation #6"  oil on canvas  66" x 59"  2010

"Project #3"  oil on canvas  70" x 64"  2010

"Tundra"  oil on canvas  19" x 80"  2010

Philip Govedare's paintings describe vast open alien landscapes, the kind of thing one expects to see beamed back to us from low orbiting satellites sent to Io or Ganymede. But for the hinted ribbon of a road here and there they could be just that. But scenes of mountain top removal in West Virginia or the Canadian tar sands can seem equally strange, and despite the grim message of their existence there is something awesome and fascinating to them as well. These paintings, largely imagined, capture that sense of awe struck wonder and appalled disbelief at what we are capable of, transforming the very surface of the planet on which we live. They are a fascinating meditation on what a landscape means.
To see more go to: www.philipgovedare.com