Jessica O’Hearn

I found Jessica O’Hearn when browsing around the web for artists to use on the next Friday Spotlight. She had recently shown her work at the Grey Matter Gallery here in Milwaukee and like my last Friday Spotlight, I was sad that I missed it. I need to be more on top of these things, but either way I was glad to get to know her work for this post. Her work deals with contrasting natural and man-made elements that come together in a unique balanced harmony. She is a professional artist and her work has been shown around the country. I was drawn to her work after seeing the first image of her carpet and shelf creations and can’t wait to see them in person some day.

Read her Artist Statement Here:

“I do build my sculptures in a very organic way, slowly building around structures without much of a preconceived idea of what the form will look like. Since there is so much available to consumers to simulate nature in and around the home, I like to play with the idea that these synthetic materials can actually ‘grow’ and overtake a stable material.” –JO I love her concept that even non-natural objects can seem to grow around us. She does not always go into a sculpture knowing what it will become. She embraces the materials she has found and uses them to show that even synthetic materials can seem to grow over and take over stable materials. I love that I can relate with her on how getting older in life changes your views on your own work. In an interview with Glasschord, she talks about getting older and having less control on life and letting that be in influence in her work. She embraces letting go of the controlled aspects of her work. I often feel life is so serious, that my personal work and my large scale paintings are the only opportunities I have to let go from all of my plans and to-do lists and just let things happen in the most impulsive way.

While a lot of her work takes the 3D form, she also works with 2D mixed media drawings, which are also very lively. I have been able to see these works in person at a past gallery night. They are really organic from a distance and seem more structured as you near. I love the attention to detail in the drawings and really appreciate her time she spent. That is a concept I find myself being drawn to more and more in other artists–time spent with the work. I am also pursuing this in my own work. My hope is that people think of presence of the artist when viewing my work, my larger pieces in particular. When I spend hours with a tiny paint brush doing a pattern over and over again, I want people to feel a connection with the me and the pattern. In Jessica’s drawings, you can tell she must has spent a lot of sweat and tears to get the paper collage portions to seem so effortless. I like thinking of her work ethic and patience while I enjoy her beautiful creations.

Below are other sculptures she has created that seem much more on the natural side, even though they are made from cardboard, vellum or paper. These seem more decorative then the works above, without the man made elements next to the natural you loose a lot of the conceptual contrast. But I would still really enjoy and probably find hours of viewing enjoyment from owning a piece like the ones below.

Installation: “Untitled” 2011
corrugated cardboard

Currently you can see her work at two University of Wisconsin Shows:

University of Wisconsin-Madison Class of 1925 Gallery
800 Langdon Street Madison, WI
February 1 – March 5 2013

University of Wisconsin-Waukesha Fine Arts Center Gallery
Waukesha, WI
January 28 – March 29 2013

Here are some great articles and interviews with Jessica:

Glasschord.com/jessica-o-hearn/public-series/

Arthound.com/2012/02/artist-crush-jessica-ohearn/ –I love that this is another artist like me who has “artist crushes” instead of Friday spotlights
All images taken from either jessicaohearn.com or from the articles listed above.

Enjoy!

Tony Matelli

Tony (b. 1971) is originally a local midwesterner form Chicago, IL, currently living and working in New York. I found his work when looking through recent exhibitions that came to The Green Gallery here in Milwaukee. He got his BFA right here in Milwaukee at MIAD and went on to get his MFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. He has shown is work all over the world from Switzerland to France to Spain. His mediums range from acrylic on canvas, to mirrors, epoxy and even bronze sculptures. His work tends to be very detailed and create really interesting narratives or scenes. One article from artnet.com called wrote, “Tony Matelli is what you might call a Magical Photorealist, making sculptures that have the uncanny veracity of a dream”. I personally am in love with his bronze work and in realism, and that is mostly what I am featuring here. The work at the top is titled Josh, 2010, silicone, foam, steel, hair and urethane. Source: Leo Koenig Inc.

Arrangement, 2012
Painted bronze, marble
70 x 20 x 28″

“The work has taken on a more philosophical position with a more open presentation,” he says. “I think I have grown to require more room for interpretation in my work.” I am really sorry I missed his show here in Milwaukee. I really wish I could have seen some of these sculptures in person from his arrangement series. In photos they seem super realistic, like you just happen to catch an odd moment in time, where a vase of lilies just happen to be thrown on top of a pedestal upside down. When asked what his art for, Tony replies with a philosophical answer: This is an unanswerable question. Art’s openness is its virtue. I wish more artists would think that way. There does not always have to be a purpose for creating art, it can just be brought into this world simply for the aesthetic and purpose of bringing more art into the world for people to see, explore and question.

When Tony was asked by Milwaukee’s Jacob Muselmann from the Journal Sentinel, what is your favorite breakfast food, he responded with “A Bloody Mary at The Pfister hotel. When I’m in town I try to have one everyday”. I thought that was pretty unique that after many years of being in New York he still holds Milwaukee close to home. Tony has many talents and is also an author and writer, you can find out more about his books at tonymatelli.com/books

Abandon,
Installation at Kusthalle Wien
2003, Painted bronze

Also in painted bronze

All photos taken from tonymatelli.com or from a recent blog post on Art City’s blog.

I just found Yellena on Pinterest, and fell in love with her colors, line work and compositions. She creates drawings and paintings using a variety of materials, usually in a square format. She has been showing her work around the country since 2007 in group and solo exhibitions. To go to her personal gallery Click Here. If you want to find about her current shows, view her blog Here.

This is how her work is described on her blog:

“Preferring pens, inks, markers and acrylics, she combines complex abstract forms into dazzling images which take on lives of their own. Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi. Each intimate world she creates seems to posses its own ethos and its own special ability to radiate emotion.”

Check out my favorites here, I hope you enjoy:

A Banksy Film

Through word of mouth my friend Milwaukee artist Lindsay Marx and her boyfriend Jim recommended I watch this movie created by the famous street artist, Banksy. After watching it I was not only laughing and loving the film, I also had a great appreciation for street art around the world. The film is overflowing with famous street artist from Shepard Fairy to Space Invader all playing their role in one man’s (Mr. Brainwash) multiple year journey to capture the rise of street art behind the lens. But there only catch is he is not a film maker and maybe possibly nuts.

Check out the film here: Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film

Here is some of Banksy Work.