Rob Licht

"Aquifer" stainless steel  17" x 16" x 15"  2003

"Heart of Gold"  steel, plaster, gold leaf, velvet  5" x 8" x 16"  2009

"The Landing"  stainless steel, steel  17" x 14" x 3"  2009

"The Landing"  detail

I apologize for my lengthy absence. I spent 4 weeks at a residency in south central Oregon called Playa Summer Lake. One of the other artists there was Rob Licht, a sculptor and teacher from Ithaca, New York, whose work is generally some kind of response to the physical environment, either in the form of poetic reflection and appreciation of the landscape, or commentary on our increasingly dysfunctional relationship with it. His heart series, of course, deals with an inner landscape. While his range and interests extend far beyond what you'll find on his website it's a great place to start: roblicht.com
You can see a bit more at his gallery: www.tappanzgallery.com

But I hope you'll spend a bit of time looking through his blog. He'll be at Playa for another 4 weeks. I'm anxious to see what new ways he'll find to react to the wide open spaces of this Basin and Range landscape, so different from the wooded hills of upstate New York. Below are a few of his examples of what kept him busy while I was there.

"Space available"  charcoal and graphite on paper  2012

"Reversal of Scale"  rocks on ice  2012

"Reversal of Scale"

"True North"

"Walking a Grid"

Valentines Day and an apology

Last week was hectic and my only post was a bit late. Sorry about that. Worse yet I will be unable to add any more posts until March 12! I'm heading off to a remote bit of Oregon for an artist residency where there will be very limited dial-up internet access. So in the meantime, here's a Valentine collection for 2012 culled from posts since last year's collection. I hope you enjoy these and I promise to pick things back up when I return. In the meantime check out some of the other art blogs listed below, and enjoy the art out there!


Frank Gonzales

"Passing Thru"  24" x24"  acrylic on canvas

Jeremy Hush

"Nettled" 2011

 
Kristin Kwan

"Cherry Blossoms" watercolor

Steven Tabbutt

"Incident"

Steven J. Yazzie

"Intrusive Relationships"  oil on canvas  66" x 48"  2011

Theo Ellsworth

"First Contact"

Vincent Desiderio

"Couple", 2009  Oil on canvas  14 x 11 inches

Dan Witz 2

The last time I posted work by Dan Witz I showed only his painting (Oct. 13, 2009). Which is amazing. But there is another side to the man that has been a constant in his work. That is his street art. Over the years, even decades really, it has taken many forms but always there has been a combination of subtlety and wit that one does not usually associate with art imposed in guerilla fashion upon public spaces. Add to that mix a healthy dose of the macabre and you get... well... see below. The next time you take a stroll down the rough streets of a city, keep your eyes open for the furtive figures who may be lurking behind seemingly innocuous grilles and wire mesh gates.
In the meantime, check out his website (www.danwitz.com) and this short video about his most recent work in Norway.

"King Baby" project, Stavenger, Norway

"King Baby" project, Stavenger, Norway

Katowice, Poland

"Do Not Enter"  Brooklyn, 2007 - From The Man of Sorrows collaboration with the Butoh artist, Ian Caskey.

Gabriel Neale

"Figure in White Landscape"  oil on canvas  140cm x 220cm  2007

 

Untitled  oil on canvas  140cm x 150cm  2011

"Run Scared"  oil on canvas  220cm x 140cm  2008

"Haunted Man"

"Cafe"  acrylic  140cm x 220cm  2005

Gabriel Neale is a British artist born in 1978. And that's about all the biographical detail I can muster. Some folks just keep a low profile on the internet. But you can see his work, which has evolved dramatically over the last seven years or so. It began as graphic illustration-like work depicting bleak interpretations of daily existence in modern England, with stylized figures echoing the work of Egon Schiele . It has since morphed into a hyper-horror show of the human body in which sex, birth and death are all equated as a grotesque parade of bodily transformation. His work is not for the squeamish. And yet, that graphics look still still lingers, giving the work a certain degree of playfulness that attracts the viewer even while the subject matter repels. The result is compelling.
Most of his work online can be found at: www.numasters.com
A few additional pieces can be seen  at: www.saatchionline.com