Brian Dettmer

I recently visited this year’s installment of the US Artists show, which took place at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Basically a way for galleries, local and national, to showcase their best and most interesting works that were up for sale. Ranging from colonial to contemporary there was quite a range on display including some amazing paper cut sculptures by Brian Dettmer. Using materials like books, maps and other printed ephemera, Brian carefully constructs astounding worlds and visions with incredible depth and composition. The pieces I had a chance to see appeared to be carved out of single books, like dioramas constructed out of nothing but hundreds of sheets of paper. Amazing stuff to see up on screen, but even more fascinating in person.

Visit Brian Dettmer’s portfolio here.

Agustin Surai – Inventories

If you’re a designer like me (which I’m assuming most of you are), then you are well versed in all things Adobe Illustrator, and if you use AI like I do, then after a vigorous designing session your artboard surrounded your creation tends to look like a whirlwind of colorful ephemera and bits and pieces of discarded materials. That’s exactly what I though of when I first saw Agustin Surai’s Inventories series of illustrations. These pieces are like snapshots of a debris field in a hurricane – tree limbs, animals, electronics, clothing…all flying around independent of each other. Other pieces in the series seem to tell a story or collect a narrative of sorts using only the handful of objects on the canvas.

See more artwork by Agustin Surai here.

Scott London – Burning Man 2011

Take a look at this great set (100 in all) that photographer Scott London took during this year’s mother of all freak-fests, Burning Man. I’ve never been myself and honestly, I still haven’t worked up the courage to spend that much time out there in the desert without all the modern amenities I’ve grown accustomed to, but it’s amazing to see such a large group of people creating huge structures, machines and other artwork in the vastness of that terrain.Maybe next year…maybe…

See Scott London’s Burning Man photos here.

Design Philadelphia 2011

Just got my promotional mailer officially announcing Design Philadelphia 2011. Now in it’s 7th year, Design Philadelphia is a ten day long city wide umbrella of events, speakers, exhibitions and workshops in many mediums include graphic design, fine art, fashion, photography and more. I’ll be trying to hit as many highlights as I can (last year’s Light Drift installation by artist Meejin Yoon was fantastic) through the Oct. 13-23 timeframe.

Follow all the upcoming Design Philadelphia events here.

And be sure to check out Mike Smith‘s excellent posters designs (like Participate above) promoting Design Philadelphia here.

(postcard design by Paragraph, Inc.)

Shane McAdams – Ball Point Pen Paintings

These “paintings” by Shane McAdams remind me images taken with an electron microscope of paramecium or algae strands. I say “paintings” not with disdain, but because they are actually all produced using various common ball point pens on a resin surface. The compositions are excellent and I love the layered and unfocused quality the resin gives to some of the strokes and lines.

See more of Shane McAdams’ works here.

Philip Govedare – Excavation paintings

Landscapes, along with portraits and still lifes are the holy grail of traditional painting. So to see a classic format using the same tools but so obviously created in a more modern fashion seems like a revelation. Mapping man’s persuasion on his terrain, Philip Govedare‘s series entitled Excavation, takes a macro approach to it’s landscapes – giant, sweeping washes of color that appear almost like abstract color studies at first, are in fact attempts to showcase the enormity of our destruction and ability to reform our world to our whims. What I found most impressive is the perspective, as if you are peering down from an airliner in mid-flight, thousands and thousands of feet above the ground, a view earlier landscape artists never had the pleasure of knowing.

See more of Philip Govedare’s artwork here.

Ricardo Gonzalez Garcia

Patterns, structures and environments come crashing together in the surrealist aftermath paintings by Ricardo Gonzalez Garcia. Ricardo describes his works as a meeting ground of multiple dimensions and I couldn’t agree more. Rooms and architectural elements dissolve into flat, 2D spaces inhabited by color swashes and detailed ornamentation which gives the works a woozy, dream-like quality.

Visit Ricardo Gonzalez Garcia’s portfolio here.

Richard Barnes

I stumbled upon Richard Barnes’ photography and this set in particular really struck me as beautiful. To me they form a visual bridge of sorts between the museum behind-the-scenes images of Klaus Pichler and the suspended formaldehyde sculptures of Damien Hirst. Perfectly framed beasts, frozen, seemingly caged for all time.

Visit Richard Barnes’ portfolio here.

Robert Josiah Bingaman

Artist Robert Josiah Bingman plays with the night like a photographer would with long exposures. Light saturates and spreads across the darkness, from glowing pools and radiating neon, or distant skylines, creating tension and mood from nothing more than shadows and reflections. His newest series, The Race, seems to imagine night as day, as if the sun never existed, with rich, deep, dusky tones and twilight backdrops.

Be sure to also check out his Nocturnes series, large scale works with rising structures and back lit landscapes that resemble matte paintings from science fiction films.

Visit Robert Josiah Bingaman’s website here.

Carly Waito

I love these works by Carly Waito for several reasons. I love her ability to capture the luminous qualities in the rocks and gems. I love that the works are small (some around 5 or 6 inches tall). And most of all, I especially love that these are paintings. I tried to keep that part a surprise as long as I could. In seriousness though, Carly’s paintings are beautiful, and I love the little peeks into her process, like here on her blog. Smudges and dots of paint form together to create fantastic photorealistic geological wonders. Makes me wish I hadn’t slept through all my geology classes in college!

Visit Carly Waito’s portfolio here.