Art Hound

Beau Chamberlain is a Brooklyn-based artist whose semi-abstract paintings are rooted in biology and infused with kaleidoscopic color and sci-fi visual punches. Beau is originally from Portland and has lived in Brooklyn for the past 10 years.

How would you describe your work?

Fantasy based semi abstract landscapes.

I’m super critical about my work so it’s hard to pick a painting that I like for very long after I finish it. I’m just happy that I have continued to make work through this market slump and that the work seems to be really moving forward. It sounds a bit cliche but not doing 3 art fairs a year has allowed for growth and experimentation in my work, that might not have occurred otherwise.

Tell us about the biggest risk you’ve taken as an artist.

Really need to take more risks in my work. I’ve been messing around with sculpture all of which have failed up to this point.  Still planning on exploring that avenue soon.

What do you love most about Portland/ Brooklyn?

I grew up in Portland and moved to Brooklyn 10 years ago. In Brooklyn I am within walking distance to almost all my closest friends, studio, and a ton of restaurants. It really has a kind of  provincial feel to it. You get to buy your meat from the butcher and bread from the bakery. You are in the city but your neighborhood is where you live. Most of all I have a really great group of friends that are very supportive.

What makes Portland/ Brooklyn such a great place for independent art?

There is really just so many people making art in both these cities, that it just makes you want to produce. Especially in Brooklyn I feel like the type of people that make the move to live here are a little more motivated type personality. You can’t help but feed on that energy. It makes it so much easier to keep working when you are surrounded by close friends that are also making work.

Don’t miss this week’s Portland artist, Trish Grantham, on Habit of Art!

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SAY you’re not super knowledgeable about art, but you do know you love _______ (enter famous artist here). You may have observed that your love of Picasso or Klimt won’t do you much good in the pursuit of living with art; the truth is you probably aren’t going to fork over millions to park these artists’ paintings in your den. However, with a bit of guidance, you can draw on these preferences as a means to develop your taste on current (and affordable) art.

This series will help you do just that: each week I’ll match a major artist of the 19th or 20th c. (e.g. Henri Matisse, Mark Rothko, Keith Haring) with current independent artists who share the artist’s style, subject, color palette, etc. Although there’s nothing wrong with enjoying print reproductions of famous artists, now you’ll have other enticing options to consider.

Please feel free to leave suggestions for future artists. Thanks!

If you like O’Keeffe’s flowers…

…then you might just like the work of Faith Evans-Sills, Rachel Ann Austin or Yellena James.

If you like O’Keeffe’s abstracts…

…then you might like the work of Julie Evans, Sophia Brueckner or Serena Mitnik-Miller.

And if you like O’Keeffe’s architectural work…

…you might like work by Laura Marie Walker, Ryan Kapp or Kari Maxwell.

This week’s Brooklyn artist, Dan-ah Kim, was born in Korea and attended local design powerhouse, Pratt Institute. Besides working as an artist and designer, Dan-ah also does freelance work in film. In March, Kim will be in Year of the Tiger, a group show at funky Los Angeles gallery, GR2. Dan-ah lived in Mexico, LA, New Orleans and Florida before settling in Brooklyn seven years ago.

How would you describe your work?

Narrative, slightly surreal experiences and adventures that are interested in exploring the world.  Whether the character in a piece is lonely, mischievous, or dreaming, I’d hope the emotion comes across as honest.

What are, in your opinion, the greatest challenges of being an artist today?

Staying focused on creating genuine work without giving in to a successful formula, especially in years where it is such a struggle to make a living as an artist.  It’s hard to not put your own self worth into how well received your personal work is, but to do so is a dangerous hole to fall into.  For me balancing artmaking with the rest of my life has always been tricky- Once I get into that place in my head I get careless about everything else.

What accomplishments/works of art are you most proud of?

There are some pieces I’m particularly fond of.  Ones that were a struggle to get through, or ones that started evolving my work into something a little different.  I’m always very happy to be part of a film crew and proud of our sets.

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Tell us about the biggest risk you’ve done taken as an artist.

To be honest that’s something I need to work on-  Other than moving to New York deciding to be an artist feeling like it was such the risk, I could use some getting out of my comfort zone as an artist and experimenting more.

What do you love most about Brooklyn?

I love how Brooklyn is its own experience.  The buildings, places to eat and drink, parks, interactions on the streets, cats in backyards, everything contributes to the energy and lifestyle that’s particular to here.  And the bad days, weather, moments make the good ones that much sweeter.  It’s balanced yet always changing.  Manhattan and all of it’s perks are close by, but people who live here seem to have a special affection and pride in calling Brooklyn home.

What makes Brooklyn such a great place for independent art?

Everyone is seeking an alternative lifestyle.  There are so many creative people here and everyone’s got a story.  You feel supported and surrounded by people just as strange as you.  There are endless resources and venues to see various forms of art, and Brooklyn itself always inspires just with its scenery and characters.

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This week’s Portland artist is crafter, Stephanie Congdon-Barnes, who you may know from her 3191 project with Maria Vettesse. Check out Stephanie’s interview and lovely photos here.

I’m thrilled to present the work and interview of Berlin designer, Manfred Naescher. Manfred is originally from Liechtenstein and attended art school at Emily Carr and RISD before settling in Berlin. He has a host of amazing personal projects, including the zines below: The Endless Summer, Fighting and Conte de Printemps, inspired by the eponymous films. What I admire most about Manfred’s work is that his watercolors are peppered with modern themes such as ambiguity, ugliness, rage and joy, all while depicted in such a traditional medium. Naescher’s zines are available here. Contact the artist for inquiries about originals.

AH: How did you get into art? Did you always know you wanted to be an artist/illustrator?

I started art school at the ripe age of 29. Before that I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life because I had a serious interest in many things, like music, writing, linguistics, literature, comics… So I took a lot of time to acquire an odd variety of skills and knowlegde, without mastering anything really, except how not to enter a traditional career path. I was a radio and TV show host in Liechtenstein, worked at a newspaper, played in bands…

I did draw a lot as a child, and I never really stopped drawing, so in that respect I got into art in a somewhat conventional way. I made multi-page comics and wrote stories as a preteen in the 80s that I stapled together (zines, really, but I didn’t know that then). I made posters, flyers and other kinds of design for punk bands as a teenager and in my twenties. I later was a university newspaper cartoonist, and, to make a long story short, that job lead me to the Emily Carr Institue of Art and Design (now Emily Carr University), from which I graduated as a designer. I also did an exchange semester at the Rhode Island School of Design.

AH: Your zines are inspired by movie stills. Why movies? Are you a film buff?

I’m interested in film as a visual language and as a vehicle for storytelling, and some filmmakers have simply created evocative imagery that I’m drawn to, or situations or moments that speak to me. If I’d be forced to decide on a favorite art form, it would probably have to be film. My film knowledge is pretty fragmented, so I’m certainly not a well-rounded film buff, if I’m one at all.

I do have some favorite directors, periods and genres, but preferences are always shifting, and I don’t want to fetishize films, I just want to be engaged and inspired by them. Having said that, current favorites would be early French New Wave films (especially Truffaut), Film Noir, Hitchcock, Lang, Jacques Tourneur, Vittorio de Seta (not to be confused with Vittorio de Sica, who’s also great!), Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Eric Rohmer, just kind of the regular cinephile canon, mostly films from around 1920 to around 1960. As for new films, I totally enjoy big popcorn movies like “2012” on their own terms, or films by Gus van Sant or the Coen Brothers, and I thought “My Winnipeg” by Guy Maddin was one of the best films of the past few years. I’ve recently discovered the work of Owen Land, and particularly his film “Dialogues” (2007-9) made an impression on me. I also like the social aspect of watching movies together. I’ve run film clubs in the past, and right now I run a private bi-weekly film club that only shows french noirs, mostly from the 50s. (more…)

Pia Bramley’s work is marked by a deliberate simplicity that belies its startling beauty and uncanny depiction of people in everyday activity. Her work is packed with so many telling details, imperfections that reveal much about these people on an intensely human level. It’s what I love about this kind of humble art.

Tonight I came across the work of Caroline Wright via Art Milk and it stopped me cold. I guess you could call that the visceral affect of art- when it hits you on a deeply emotional level and it’s hard to explain precisely why.

So… I’ll keep it simple: I love the colors and the celebration of beauty in the imperfect, which Wright achieves using the simplest of forms.

Prints of Wright’s painting, Migration No. 14, are available through ArtMuse.

Jacqueline Bos: illustrator and designer originally from Portland, OR currently living in Brooklyn, NY

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Habit of Art interview with Portland illustrator, Kate Bingaman-Burt!

AH: How would you describe your work?

JB: It’s a visual journey. I think it’s narrative in nature, and by using collage to combine elements from modern pop culture and photographs from the past, creates it’s own special dimension, I hope that as a body of work, it’s like going on an adventure in an imaginary world.

AH: What are, in your opinion, the greatest challenges of being an artist today?

JB: One of the biggest challenges is maintaining a unique voice with the amount of work being shared and copied because of the art community’s online presence. Online art sharing is something that is completely new for this generation of young artists, things spread quickly, and ideas get mixed and remixed often because of the ease of access.

AH: What accomplishments/works of art are you most proud of?

JB: I am so excited about finally self-publishing “I Heart the Arctic”. The process for the book started out with an illustration series well over a year ago, and it sort of evolved into a more streamlined collection of illustrations over the summer. I’m still doing the brainstorming stage for a follow-up book, there are so many topics I want to explore!

AH: Tell us about the biggest risk you’ve taken as an artist.

JB: Moving to New York from Portland to “chase down my dreams” was such a huge leap of faith. I really enjoy the time I’ve spent here, but leaving my tribe of friends/family was dumb.  In New York — more than anywhere else I’ve been — it is of paramount importance to have that loving support system in order to make it through. I am so thankful that all my close friends have been overwhelmingly supportive of my little adventure. In the process I’ve gotten to work on projects I never would have dreamed of, encountered famous people (always fun) and feel like I have experienced an entirely different side of the art world.

AH: What do you love most about Portland/Brooklyn?

JB: Brooklyn is awesome. It smells like crap, but the energy is indescribable. I love that there are always new things to explore, new places to go. Even when revisiting a familiar venue, it always feels like new.

Portland is awesome too. It smells crisp and mountain fresh. I love that Portland has more teahouses than I can count, and being an indoor kid, I love the rain, and boy does it rain.

AH: What makes Portland/Brooklyn such a great place for independent art?

JB: The creative community in Brooklyn is really diverse in terms of media. I’ve met artists making sewn animals, championing their own fashion labels, working as traditional painters, design gurus, and everything in between. I think Brooklyn has this crazy energy because it’s so close to the city, but at the same time it’s much more laid back and nurturing for creating.

Portland is like a small town disguised as a city. As such, the community, especially the art community is very supportive and tight-knit. There are so many exhibition opportunities, co-op working spaces, and constant skillshares going on.

As part of the Out of the Mainstream series, we invite readers to join the dialogue on Portland and Brooklyn’s art communities. Both cities are considered epicenters of the independent art scene, but how do you think the two art communities differ?

After many weeks of planning, I’m thrilled to introduce Art Hound’s new series, Out of the Mainstream: Brooklyn meets Portland with Cathy McMurray of Habit of Art. (Maps via Ork Posters!)

You may have noticed that both Cathy and I blog about a ton of artists based in Brooklyn and Portland. It’s clear to both of us that these cities (our cities) have incredibly strong creative communities, and this project developed out of our desire to share our ongoing dialogue with all of you.

So… every Monday for the next six weeks, Art Hound and Habit of Art will each feature a local artist who embodies the city’s independent art community. These artist interviews will include the artist’s latest work, reflections about their experience as an artist and their take on the Brooklyn/Portland independent art scene.

The Out of the Mainstream series is intended to be an open dialogue so we invite everyone who has an opinion about local, independent art to join the conversation.

Tyson Anthony Roberts is a talented Seattle-based artist who studied both studio art and biology. His abstract urban and rural landscapes have a modernist feel from the reduced color palette and flat, pixelated brushstrokes. A distinguishing feature of Roberts’ work are the paint drips, which result from his use of watered-down acrylics. Roberts’ print The Gardens is available via 20×200, and his paintings are available starting at $125 through the artist.  Art Hound’s interview with the artist is below.

AH: You studied studio art and biology. Are these discrete interests or do they overlap?

TAR: They do overlap.  I appreciate nature, landscapes, ecosystems, and the changing elements of the living organisms around us.  Through painting I am able to record these things and somehow preserve what they once looked like.  Biology and art are both ‘living’ as over time there is degradation / growth, new discoveries / known facts, inspiration / stagnancy.

AH: How long have you been painting semi-abstract pieces? What’s been the progression of your work?

TAR: It has been 4 years since I began painting in this way.  I started off experimenting by painting large areas of layered color aiming to create a dense impression.  From there I gradually isolated colors, thinned them out, and became more ‘geometric’ to add to the depth of field.  The progression also included experimenting with crayons, paper cut-outs, photography and not wearing my glasses so that my visual perception was altered to stripped down blurry areas of color (thank you bad eye-sight).

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