The Art of Aniela Sobieski

Aniela is currently pursuing an MFA in Painting at Syracuse University.  Her works are small yet spectacular, painting dreamy and surreal scenarios. Although her portfolio is young, every piece speaks of the subtle sureness of a direction and style. Little girls ponder big thoughts and happenstance with poetic seriousness. Illustrative meets fine art in her special mixture. Some images here, have been cropped and the sphinx, (below) is “unfinished” - yet it looks beautifully finished to us! To see more works, than are on her website, check out her FB page. 

    ARTIST LINK     FB LINK 

This was originally published on the homepage of Eclectix,  in the "Pretty In Pink" issue, March. 2012

For the "Pretty In Pink" online exhibit, click here.

Eclectix Interview With Lara Dann

Our newest artist interview is with the fatanbulous Lara Dann, click here for the entire interview and a gallery of her works.  

New Mark Ryden Vinyl Arts

News from the Mark Ryden site:

On Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 8:00 am PDT, Porterhouse Fine Art Editions will be offering the following item:

"YHWH - Red, Gold and Blue Edition" are vinyl figures created in conjunction with Necessaries Toy Foundation after the central figure in Mark's painting of the same name. The figures are cast in Red, Gold and Blue vinyl with inset, high-quality eyes, and each comes in an elaborately designed, gold-embossed box. Also included is a certificate of authenticity and a special, numbered mini print.

YHWH - Red, Gold and Blue Edition figures are available individually for $200 each or as a set of all three for the discounted price of $500. 

Please click this link for more information and ordering options.

Edition Size: 100

Size: 16.5" x 9" x 1.75"

Box Size: 16" x 4" x 4"

Porterhouse Item Number: P066-RGC

Individual Price: $200

Set Price: $500

Irresistibly Idiosyncratic at Distinction Gallery

Eclectix was able to visit Distinction Gallery on a recent trip to San Diego for a benefit. Their current exhibit is titled Irresistibly Idiosyncratic and it runs through April 7th. It is a group show of three artists, a complementary mix of styles including the artists Dan Barry, Joka and Mike Bell. 

Dan's work (above) featured anthropomorphic botanicals with a beautiful mixed media approach. Layers, spills and drips contrast with tight, fine pen and ink.

Joka's work (above) is all incredibly detailed pointillism, painted with just a toothpick! They are pop images with a twisted sense of humor and a snapshot feel. 

Mike's work comprised many tiny, pencil portraits of pop icons, on matchbook covers. We've run across other artists who work on matchbooks - most notably Jason D'Aquino. The memorable trait of Mike's work is his great sense of personality he injects into the actual matchsticks themselves. Each portrait had the perfect gesture, feel and/or addition for the particular subject. Check out the posture of Mick's hands (above) - so perfect!

(There is a lot more to Distinction Gallery which Eclectix will cover in a future post.)

Judith Schaechter Is Doin' Time in Philly

Judith Schaechter’s killer new series, The Battle of Carnival and Lent, are being exhibited at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA.  It consists of 17 stained glass windows - inspired by the prison’s dark past and installed in historic skylights throughout Cellblocks 8, 11, and 14. 

The Battle of Carnival and Lent responds to the penitentiary’s narrow skylights and arched windows. The imagery, which Ms. Schaechter describes as “addressing in a non-religious way the psychological border territory between ‘spiritual aspiration’ and human suffering,” is evocative of theology but secular in purpose. The figures depicted are literally confined by the unnaturally tall and skinny apertures of the window frames – squished, cropped, straining, and reaching – as a representation of the types of incarceration that are basic to the human experience. Ms. Schaechter balances them with more traditional, cathedral-esque stained glass windows. Her intention is to draw an association between the prison’s original purpose – to provide an environment conducive to self-reflection and, ultimately, penance – and the harsh realities of solitary confinement.

Ms. Schaechter’s past work has almost entirely been installed in museums and galleries as panels over lightboxes. The Battle of Carnival and Lent is unique for both its response to a specific environment as well as for its use of full-spectrum light to illuminate the windows. 

Ms. Schaechter is often asked which architectural setting she sees as ideal for her work, and her response is always the same… Eastern State Penitentiary. Explains Ms. Schaechter, “ESP is precious to me. It’s my hometown. It’s my place.”

The installation will be on view from April 1st through November 30, 2012, with a reception on May 11th. We sure wish we go!

For Judith's site click here.

For another Eclectix post on Judith visit here.

For the Eclectix interview with her click here.

Featured Artist: Kelly Reemtsen

We just love the juxtapositions in Kelly’s paintings, the good girl meets hardware. Her background in fashion design is obvious with the 1950’s and 60’s era puffy dresses. But the way she pairs these fabulous dresses with other objects is the clincher. Well mannered women posing with tools, hardware and clipping shears. Threatening the viewer with vacuum cleaners and mops, she twists the image of women’s work in a wonderful way. Her latest ladies just seem to be falling, helplessly fashionable, to their demise. ARTIST LINK

This was originally published on the homepage of Eclectix, 

in the "Pretty In Pink" issue, March. 2012

For the "Pretty In Pink" online exhibit, click here.

Oleg Dou’s Beautifully Creepy Digitals

“I am looking for something bordering between the beautiful and the repulsive. I want to attain the feeing of presence one can get when walking by a plastic manikin...”

  ARTIST LINK

This was originally published on the homepage of Eclectix, 

in the "Pretty In Pink" issue, March. 2012

For the "Pretty In Pink" online exhibit, click here.

Sue Coe: Double Parked On The Highway of Life

Born in Britain, Sue Coe moved to the US in 1972 and immediately began work as an illustrator for the op-ed page of the New York Times. Coe has an unerring instinct for anticipating significant issues, her works are dark, intense and harken back to German Expressionism. Moving images usually of a political and shocking nature - the defense of animals in industry, racism, poverty, women’s rights, environmental and class struggles. Her dedication to animal rights began early- she grew up in a house adjacent to a slaughterhouse, with all of its associated sights and smells. Her book How to Commit Suicide in South Africa —about the death of Stephen Biko and other student organizers in South African prisons—became an anti-apartheid organizing tool used on college campuses to persuade investors to divest themselves of South African stock. Her most recent book, Sheep of Fools, details the horrific conditions of the sheep industry. Sue describes herself as "double parked on the highway of life." 

LINK - To some great images of Coe’s work she did for The X Files, TV show. 

Sources - DavidWintonBellGallery, KatarinaThorsenArtBlog, 

LINK - To Sue Coe’s art site, books and prints

This was originally published on the homepage of Eclectix, 

in the "Pretty In Pink" issue, March. 2012

For the "Pretty In Pink" online exhibit, click here.

Todd Schorr's Neverlasting Miracles

Another must-see show opening in LA, is Todd Schorr's Neverlasting Miracles. His eclectic imagery is a barrage of highly detailed surreal characters - from comics, fables, toys, pop culture and/or politics. Large scaled works which involve the viewer in narratives of countless shenanigans - Todd's flawless technique pulls the compositions together in mind blowing ways. At Merry Karnowsky Gallery, the show opens on March 17th and runs thru April 14th. 

To get more of Todd, visit his site here.

Camille Rose Garcia's Snow White

Camille has a slew of new works, based on Snow White, following on the heels of her last show - Alice in Wonderland. The show opens March 15th at Michael Kohn Gallery in LA, along with a book release and signing.  Camille's works are always enjoyable and beautifully captivating; this group appears to be no different. A must-see exhibition if you find yourself in the LA area, it will be on exhibit thru April, 2012.

"Camille Rose Garcia's wholly original interpretation of the classic tale of Snow White is 

underscored by her dark and whimsical style. With a stylistic nod to the watercolored animation backgrounds of early Disney movies, Garcia references the golden age of early animation as well as vintage German fairy tale books. Garcia adds back the darker elements present in the original Brothers Grimm text, inverting the Disneyesque paradigm of simplistic happy endings and everlasting halcyon days into something closer to the original macabre German folktale." - Via Michael Kohn

Art Herstory: Sculptress Camille Claudel, 1864-1943

Fascinated with stone and soil as a child, as a young woman Camille studied at the Académie Colarossi. In 1882, Claudel rented a workshop with other young women. Alfred Boucher became her mentor and asked Auguste Rodin to take over the instruction of his pupils. Around 1884, she started working in Rodin's workshop. Claudel became a source of inspiration, his model, his confidante and lover. She never lived with Rodin, who was reluctant to end his 20-year relationship with Rose Beuret. Knowledge of the affair agitated her family, especially her mother. As a consequence, she left the family house. In 1892, after an unwanted abortion, Claudel ended the intimate aspect of her relationship with Rodin, although they saw each other regularly until 1898. 

After 1905 Claudel appeared to be mentally ill. She destroyed many of her statues, disappeared for long periods of time and was diagnosed as having schizophrenia. She accused Rodin of stealing her ideas (which may be true) and of leading a conspiracy to kill her. In 1913 at the initiative of her brother, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The form read that she had been "voluntarily" committed, although signed by a doctor and her brother.

There are records to show that while she did have mental outbursts, she was clear-headed while working on her art. Doctors tried to convince the family that she need not be in the institution, but still they kept her there. Her mother forbade her to receive mail from anyone other than her brother. The hospital staff regularly proposed to her family that Claudel be released, but her mother adamantly refused each time. Rodin's friend, Mathias Morhardt, insisted that her brother, Paul, was a "simpleton" who had "shut away" his sister of genius. Camille Claudel died in 1943, after having lived 30 years in the asylum at Montfavet and without a visit from her mother or sister. 

- Edited from Wikipedia, LINK

This was originally published on the homepage of Eclectix, 

in the "Pretty In Pink" issue, March. 2012

For the "Pretty In Pink" online exhibit, click here.

In The PInk With Edith Lebeau

Edith is a wonderful Canadian artist and none better to start off the Pretty In Pink issue with. She has many pretty women painted with a pink & rosy palette. Her women are strong and real with character, never relying on the half nude, prepubescent, big-eyed look of current art trends. They invite us into their world, telling stories with just a gesture or expression. Some with witty humor, pensive imaginings, tattoos, wildlife or Victorian hairstyles - they all radiate soulful intelligence. 

 LINK to Edith’s Website

This was originally published on the homepage of Eclectix, 

in the "Pretty In Pink" issue, March. 2012

For the "Pretty In Pink" online exhibit, click here.

Neon Knights Opening at Minna

Henry Lewis

Henry Lewis & Lango Oliveira are the "Neon Knights", two tattoo artists who came together for the current exhibition up at 111 Minna Gallery.  This show comprises solo works by both and a few collaborations - many massive, dominating pieces and some small, intricately presented ones. They are stunning works in mainly a black and white palette - a heavy metal mix of tattoo art, street art and ancient Asian watercolors. Dragons, grim reapers, feathery birds of prey, babes, tigers and knights in armor - with a little science fiction fantasy thrown in.  This impressive show is up through the month of March and very worth laying your eyes on.

For an interview by Ransom Notes and look at more of Henry's colorful works click here.

For Lango's Website and works click here.

For Women's Month - Eclectix Gets Pretty In Pink

To help celebrate March - Women's History Month 2012 and the feminine eye, Eclectix has just released their new issue, "Pretty In Pink". All female artists and related posts. The pretty, the pink and the not-so-pretty or pink. Strong women’s art, new feminist visions and rockin’ chick works of surreal & contemporary artists. This week we spotlight the fantastic paints of Edith Lebeau. (above) New related features all month long (and then some) on the Eclectix homepage and a great online art exhibition. 

For the Eclectix homepage, click here.

For the online exhibition, click here.