Art Hound

In her photo sculptures, Alejandra Laviada’s (via daily poetics) imaginative compositions transform household junk into beautiful forms. Now THIS is what I call eye candy.

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Are you someone’s guest this weekend? Me too! Indie art maven, The Jealous Curator, asked me over and I jumped on the chance to tell you about my latest crush, Sarah Rutherford. Sarah’s understated illustrations grace the pages of Brooklyn eatery Frankies 457‘s new cookbook. Turns out she used to work there too!

A big, big thanks to The JC for inviting me over! It’s an honor to be in such great company!

T-shirt by Alex Paik for Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and Cake Tour by Amy Kaufman.

Thanks to MLFU for giving us a sneak peek of this work by SF artist Alexandra Steele. Steele is “obsessed with ruins and disaster aftermath, essentially decrepitude and what happens with the loss of control.” In this series, Missed Connections, Steele explores the subject of human and animal nature and the relationship between domestication and our environment.

“Wild tigers are juxtaposed with Big Edie and Little Edie (the Beales) of Grey Gardens, relating their territorial instincts and untamed nature… The work demonstrates a pull between domestication and innate wildness, and the fall from riches to ruins.  The relationships of the characters to their environs evolve into an absurd situation where the Beales become as wild as their home and the white tigers transition into feral beings.”

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Ooh! Just discovered Sharon Montrose’s The Animal Print Shop (via unruly things), where you can purchase the commercial photographer’s impossibly-appealing animal series. The website says that many of the animals “were rescued by loving and dedicated people who care for them as their own.” In that case you can adopt the albino Burmese python. I call dibs on the piglet.

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Prices range from $25 for 7″ x 9″ (unlimited edition) to $2500 for 29″ x 37″ (edition of 10).

Beautiful abstract and semi-abstract work by Los Angeles painter, Brooke Reidt, via BOOOOOOOM!. The third painting down shows another side of the artist, with work that is more figurative, pattern-based and youthful. I want to say that this style was probably a precursor to her more kaleidoscopic work but can’t confirm that from her website. Isn’t it fascinating how artists evolve over time?

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I saw these mesmerizing ink and water drawings by Lorna Simpson on design*sponge. Aren’t they gorgeous? These are not your average portraits… They’re psychedelic ‘hair portraits:’ only the hair provides a glimpse into the lives of these voguish, seductive women.

I think loose watercolor (or in this case ink and water) portraits are really freakin’ cool. Storm Tharp and Manfred Naescher are two other great examples. The medium provides so much room for emotion and interpretation and these artists really take advantage of that.

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‘Way back’ is relative here. It was about five years when I discovered Stacey Durand but it feels like ages ago because it’s when I first started collecting art. In fact, the first piece of art I ever purchased was The Abbot Shoppe by Durand! At the time I was living in Boston and was amazed by how well Stacey captures the look and feel of the greater Boston area. Now New York is home but I still have the same admiration for Durand’s work.

Stacey is inspired by the many old, quirky buildings and neighborhoods around New England. But instead of painting these streetscapes as they appear, Stacey strings together buildings and scenes from around the area, weaving together her own collaged neighborhoods. Her depiction of these imagined streetscapes explores our complex relationships with, and memories of, physical locations. We experience the emotional aspect of geography which, as Durand’s work implies, cannot be fully communicated through careful documentation alone.

Artist’s statement: “Over the years I have lived in and around many of the coastal towns in New England. Like many, I have been drawn to the seacoast and the regional character of its cities and buildings. These neighborhoods are often filled with old homes that are packed together tightly, creating interesting, crowded arrangements and compositions.”

“These overlapping homes, quirky seacoast buildings, and urban landscapes have been the subjects of my most recent work as I am drawn to the layers and connections that these buildings and objects create. I work from photographs of actual buildings from my environment. I then take these buildings out of their original context and combine them with other images to create new connections among these landscapes. In doing this I create a new environment that feels strangely familiar and new at the same time.”

Durand currently has work for sale at Nahcotta’s Summer Group Show.

A round-up of awesome art in awesome spaces.

The society Inc

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Rural Theory via Pinterest

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Bolig magazine via Pinterest

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Ditte Isager via emmas design blogg

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Ditte Isager via emmas design blogg

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Ditte Isager via emmas design blogg

Marrakesh beaded dress by Lauren Moffatt via AITMA and Mati Rose McDonough’s painting Feather Power in Violet.