Wim T. Schippers

After being around art for a while, you find that some of the weird stuff isn't so weird anymore. This certainly hold true for me with Wim T. Schippers. He was born in 1942 and is a Dutch performance artist, conceptual artist, sculptor, comedian, writer, voice actor, producer, as well as several other short-lived professions.
His most notable art installations include a piece in the Fodor Museum where he covered the floor of an entire room with a layer (almost 4 inches thick) of salt, and several tons of broken glass. Another notable installation was a nearly 14 foot high purple chair that Schippers placed in the middle of Vondelpark, Amsterdam. The philosophy behind his art is,

"in principle everything is meaningless and absurd, but is therefore worth the effort nevertheless."

His art work has been fairly unknown, at least in america, but he is drawing a lot of attention with his "Peanut Butter Platform" installation. This piece is exactly what it sounds like; it's a platform made out peanut butter. It is approximately 45 x 13 feet, and apparently blends into its surroundings, aka. the floor. Because the museum doesn't think a fence isn't "beautiful enough," there is nothing preventing museum-goers from stepping in/on the piece. Apparently when that happens (and it does happen), the 'vandals' are expected to pay to repair the damage. Stinks for anyone who can't afford to repair a peanut butter rug- I wonder how much the museum can actually charge for that?

(Kind of looks like a rug to me too)

Annette Messager

Annette Messager is a French artist who specializes in installations that incorporates photographs, prints, and drawings. She is also known for using children's toys, household objects and netting. Her works are based on a sense of identity, collective and individual. She uses fractions of photographs and prints to make up a whole; using netting, cropping, and placement of the pieces to have a "half hidden, half revealed" sense to the piece. Some of her pieces also explore the home as a "microcosm, a world in reduction." That idea is what her art seems to stem from; a world in reduction. Through this reduction and then magnification of details is what makes her works so compelling.

Slinkachu

This street artist is 28, from the UK, and is re-approaching typical "street art" by placing 'miniatures' interacting with their environment. Slinkachu says that his "Little People Project"
"It is both a street art installation project and a photography project. The street-based side of my work plays with the notion of surprise and I aim to encourage city-dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings. The scenes I set up, more evident through the photography, and the titles I give these scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works."

Sam Taylor-Wood

Sam Taylor-Wood is a British artist known for her conceptual filmmaking and photography. Her film career is what she is best known for in the art world, but I would like to focus on her photography series "Self Portraits Suspended" (2004). This is a series of eight photographs where Taylor-Wood actually suspended herself in her studio (later editing out the wires) to capture what she called "a moment of absolute release and freedom." 

She followed her original "Suspended" series by "Bram Stokers Chair" (2005), and "Escape Artists" (2008).

Dale Chihuly

If you have never heard of Dale Chihuly... prepare to be impressed.

The first time I saw his work was in the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. It blew my mind. It feels like a million different colored jellyfish are about to descend on you. But they are all glass. Check it out:

I thought it was awesome and he has been one of my favorite glass artists since then. He uses light and color in a very similar way to old stain-glass artists, but in a new and modern way. Unlike the past few artists I have explored, Chihuly had extensive art training including a Bachelors of Arts in Interior Design, a Master of Science in Sculpture, a Master of Fine Arts and he studied glass in Venice on a Fulbright Fellowship. What I also love about him is that he was successful in creating art that people actually wanted. Just check out his Wikipedia Page to see how many permanent collections, as well as Exhibitions he has around the world.

To me, he takes blown glass to a whole new level from just a craft to a full blown art form. What I think makes this difference is the fact that early on in his career he actually lost the ability to blow the glass himself. He said that "Once I stepped back, I liked the view." He was able to see his craft as something bigger within itself, and that vision is what makes his installations so incredible.

Nyo Win Maung

Nyo Win Maung is an artist from Myanmar (Burma) who is also self-taught. He started as a painter, but then moved to installations, performance, and video art. I originally was drawn to him because of his installation called "Gloomy Globalization" that uses rubber gloves and trunk of a coconut tree as a "pressure roller." The concept behind the piece is that 

"All humans are traveling through their lives from beginning to end, together. Meanwhile, some are running over others rights and oppressing others atmospheres, minds and bodies."

I find this interesting because the nature of many Asian societies is traditionally collectivist, but with the influence of globalization, many cultural practices are being left behind in the name of advancement, individualism, and global economic competition.

Uma

In my search for new up-and-coming artists, I found an artist by the name of Uma. She is a self-taught artist  from Europe who started painting her dreams. Some of her works employ that "dreamlike" essence of surrealism, but her newest work is more organic, fluid (sometimes geometric) forms infused with color. She works a lot in pattern and movement, with an emphasis on the use of color. Her works range from simple to complex, but they are very interesting to me the way she uses line to convey motion and energy.

Cosmic Disorder

"Most of my paintings reflect my spiritual and life's experiences, 'strive to be unique and individual'

in the same way our souls have been created." -Uma

The Uncertain Journey

Jose Manuel Merello

"Everybody asks themselves what art is.

I think that art is any creation

that is able to lift the spirit to a higher plane

of emotion and wonderment."

As I looked at Merello's paintings, I realized I was drawn to them because of their striking resemblance to Picasso and Matisse; two of my all-time favorite artists. I also love them because of their heavy Spanish influence. Upon researching Merello further, I found out I was right, he is a Spanish artist, who draws most of his inspiration from Picasso and Matisse. His vivid use of color and his gestural strokes are what really define his work, like a modern "Woman with a Hat." But what also drew me to him was how he capture the flair of the Spanish culture; fast-paced, full of life, exotic and charming. I have been to Ecuador and Brazil, and although they aren't Spain, they hold a similar energy. When I see Merello's landscapes I instantly remember the Brazilian favelas, and the vibrancy of the marketplaces in Ecuador. So for me, Merello brings back the energy and charm that Brazil and Ecuador had for me, while simultaneously incorporating the two styles of Picasso and Matisse. Plus, Merello's works are fun; another characteristic of my favorite works. 

Nicole Dextras

For my first artist, I'm looking at Nicole Dextras, a Canadian fashion designer, artist, and environmentalist. It would be pretty hard to argue that her work is difficult to accomplish; making outfits out of plants, but her work also carries a message. If you have every heard a Tyra-Banks-rant on "ANTM" about the cutthroat nature of fashion, you know what a brutal industry it can be, but Dextras takes it a step further. Through her works, she is making a statement about the unsustainable practices of the fashion industry. These "weedrobes" as she calls her pieces are made from plants that will ultimately decay and rot, but the message it to make clothes that are capable of being reused instead of filled with chemicals. As Dextras puts it:

"The Weedrobes philosophy is based on being a free thinker, creating one's own sense of style while also raising awareness about the impact of industry on our eco-system. Our most effective tool for change is for consumers to demand more equitable products. It may be impractical to wear clothing made with leaves, but our future depends on the creation of garments made from sustainable resources."

I personally like her because she uses art, fashion, and flowers (three of my favorite things) to comment on the fairly serious side of consumerism.