Ryan Mrozowski

Ryan Mrozowski's work reminds me a bit of the work of Ian Davis who I posted just over a month ago. They both use relatively simple, graphically strong painting and drawing styles to depict idiosyncratic and largely social narratives. Like Mr. Davis, Mr. Mrozowski pursues a series of themes, the most prominent being audiences. Whether the setting is a classroom, or a theater, or a lecture hall, each anonymous gathering is witness to some largely inexplicable display. The prominence of spectacle and entertainment in our culture, and the dubious point of so much of it, may be in question here. But in other paintings the inexplicable takes place elsewhere, seemingly hidden from public view, as in a collection of space suits (or possibly astronauts?) hanging from the rafters of a large storage shed. Either way the scene is one that is incongruous, unlikely, but not perhaps, impossible. It seems intentionally to be both jarring and intriguing. It is by balancing these two reactions that a whole slew of contemporary artists attempt to coerce the viewer into some kind of participatory role with the art. For my part, I think Mr. Mrozowski's work succeeds splendidly.
See more at his website www.ryanmrozowski.com
and at representatives www.pierogi2000.com


















"Vast Black Dogs" 2010, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 36 x 46 inches






















"The Cloud" 2010, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 24 x 26 inches


















"Sharp Shooters" 2010, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 42 x 50 inches


















"Parlor" 2009, Acrylic on Canvas over Panel, 22 x 28 inches






















Title unknown


Thanks again to the folks over at artistaday.com for bringing him to my attention.

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.

Gideon Bok

A lot of artists work in a studio and a lot of other artists work on location. Gideon Bok does both at the same time. The setting for a lot his work is, that's right, where he works (and it's a very impressive studio if I might add). It's a big enough space for he and his friends to engage in his other interest, music, and that comes into the paintings quite a bit too. What's particularly fascinating about his work is how it records time. The structural environment of the scene is solidly established but the figures ebb and flow over the course of creating the paintings as the people in the studio also come and go. He paints in thin gestural washes that pile up like a crowd of ghosts giving us a time lapse view of not just the activity that takes place in front of the artist but also of the artist's process as well.
His work can be viewed at his gallery's website (alphagallery.com)and on his blog (gideonbok.blogspot.com)
There's also an informative interview at paintingperceptions.com



















"King of Nails" 70" x 79" oil on linen 2006-2010










"Day Triptych" 35" x 96" oil on linen 2010









"Night Triptych" 35" x 96" oil on linen 2010
















"Velvetandynewpornstones" 2008






















"Stephanie Pierce Playing Ma's Mango" 20" x18" oil on linen 2010

Seth Clark

Seth Clark is an artist, a designer, a manic doodler, collector and collagist of images. So as one might expect there is a lot to look through on his website: sethsclark.com. But all I want to show you here are his portraits of derelict buildings. There have been quite a few artists lately working with similar subject matter and I don't want to belabor the whole housing crisis issue. At any rate ruins have always been aesthetically interesting. By which I mean abandoned buildings are kind of cool. And there's a certain meditation on one's own insecurity and mortality implicit in their depiction. But aside from all THAT, these are great drawings from a guy who's not afraid to make a lot of different kinds of marks to get the feeling he's after. There are some wonderful detail images on the website that I encourage you to look though.

















"Roof Top" 26'' x 40''
pastel, charcoal, graphite on paper























"Fort" 22'' x 30''
collage, oil, colored pencil, pastel, charcoal, graphite on paper























"Abandoned IV" 30'' x 21''
collage, colored pencil, pastel, charcoal, graphite on paper
















"Abandoned VII" 42'' x 60''
collage, colored pencil, pastel, charcoal, graphite on paper























"Abandoned V" 30'' x 21''
collage, colored pencil, pastel, charcoal, graphite on paper


I cannot recall now where I first saw his work but it was on one of these two sites which both recently featured some of these same drawings:
www.booooooom.com
www.freaksonline.co.uk