Elia Mauceri

There is no information about the artist on his Flickr site. Most of the paintings are untitled. On his profile page under hometown he has written Fanculo, which is italian for "Fuck off". Under profession: fancazzista. You get the idea. So.... I figure he's probably from Italy. The only other thing that I know is that his aggressive mixed media portraits are raw, immediate, and at their best, disturbingly powerful. He has only been posting since December 2008 but his work has evolved dramatically in barely over a year. It's an interesting and rather exciting progression. It would be nice to have a little more information on many of the pieces, sizes and materials, but regardless I'll be looking forward to seeing where he takes all this in the future.






















"Daria" (March 2010)























untitled (February 2010)























untitled (February 2010)























olio su tela 100 x 100 cm (December 2009)
















Figure 3 80 x 90cm (January 2009)

John Brosio 2

I was very excited to see new work on the website of John Brosio, whose work I posted back in November 2008. What's even more exciting is to see an artist tackling new material without missing a brushstroke of the quality that made his earlier work so powerful. Ruts are powerful things. When an artist gets really good at something there are all kinds of pressures to just stick to that one thing. And John Brosio had created an extraordinary body of work depicting the power and eerie beauty of tornadoes. There's really nothing else out there quite like them. But I don't suppose he really wanted to be known only as the tornado guy for the rest of his life. Earlier pieces had hinted at other directions and a few humorous figure studies indicated the itch to move on. Here's some of what he's posted so far. There's a pop-surrealist bent to the "Fatigue" paintings, but he tackles them with his masterful realist technique leaving all the eye-winking irony behind, so that one is simply left with a sense of wonder. That, after all, seems to be the theme that runs through most of his work; awe and amazement at the bizarre and unlikely world that surrounds us.
I really recommend spending a little time looking through the galleries on his website. It is very difficult to single out individual pieces for attention above the others.
www.johnbrosio.com



















"Fatigue" 48" x 60" 2009






















"Two Earthlings" 48" x 48" 2009


















"Fatigue 2" 36" x 48" 2009

and here's some of those tornadoes I mentioned:





















"Jerk in a Field" 36" x 29" 2008




















"Rapture" 72" x 84" 2006



















"Edge of Town 8" 35" x 42" 2007

Emma Walker

I don't post too much abstract art. It's not that I don't care for it. Not always. But as a died in the wool representationalist myself, I'm not sure I have the tools to write intelligently about it. Sometimes though, something just appeals to you. That's the way art is. We know there is good art and we know there is bad art. And there are reasons why one is one and the other is not. But in the end it is the subjective personal reaction that matters. For me these exhibit a charm that I cannot put my finger on. So I will not try too hard. See more at her website on www.visualartist.info

















"A lifetime of moments dispersing" oil and mixed media on linen 2009
















title unknown










"The rising" oil and mixed media on linen 2010

My wife showed me these on this unlikely source:
planethomeandgarden.com

Todd Schorr

Here's some pop-surrealist madness for a Monday morning. Todd Schorr has gathered a headful of mid-twentieth century pop cultural ephemera and mixed it up with equal portions post nuclear apocalyptic hysteria and Dali-esque dream imagery to create a unique body of work. While it definitely exists within the framework of a larger genre, most of the other artists working along these lines cross cuteness and black humor with a knowing wink. Todd Schorr lowers the cute factor a notch or two, leaves the black humor in play, and revs up the neuroses with just enough realism to give you the distinct impression that he is, after all, quite serious. His work is a dazzling portrait of at least one aspect of the American psyche and if it all seems a little crazy, well, that's no accident.
There's plenty to look at on his website: www.toddschorr.com


















"Ape Worship" 96" x 120" acrylic on canvas 2008
















"Ape Worship" - detail
















"Parade of the Damned" 72" x 96" acrylic on canvas 2005
(with a nice nod to Pieter Breugel the elder "Dulle Griet" 1562 )




































"Sweet Tooth" 24" x 18" acrylic on canvas 2005























"Antidote for a Worrisome World" 10" x 8" acrylic on panel 2006