James Maybe

Hi, my name is James and I’m a colorholic. Show me the right paintings and my jaw goes slack and my mind zones out like a druggie rediscovering the pleasures of smack after 10 years of abstinence. OK, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. But there must be something about the experience of viewing an exquisitely colored work of art that allows it to cross my blood brain barrier before I’m able to intellectualize it.

Shown above is Born by Colin Johnson.

Japanese artist Manabu Ikeda creates extraordinary lush, detailed illustrations. His world is ours, but overloaded with growth and decay and warped until landscapes and objects melt into a giant Katamari-like forms. Shown above: Regeneration.

By Joe Vaux.

Daniel Peacock is another artist whose works can resemble twisted versions of Dr. Seuss illustrations.  At times his paintings look highly simplistic takes on a single subject, without depth or complexity. But look closer, give it a bit more time, and you will notice some wonderful details. In Belly Bitter, shown above, notice all the points of repetition and symmetry. See how the composition draws your eye up and to the right, then down and left, then back around again.

I failed to include in my big Super Mario Bros Artwork Roundup Peacock’s own take on Mario, headed off to work, lunch bag in hand.

“Recently we learned of a malicious desecration of a photo of the Governor and baby Trig that has become an iconic representation of a mother’s love for a special needs child.”

- Sarah Palin spokesperson Meghan Stapelton, on a Photoshopped image of her boss.

It’s been a year since Sarah Palin was a candidate for vice president of The United States, and even her abrupt resignation is now old news. So as usual I’m well behind the curve with my posts, but so are many of the artists featured here; even now more “desecrations” of Palin are being produced. After the jump I’ve posted a full bounty of Palin-inspired artwork, along with some thoughts on why she makes such an enduring (endearing?) target…

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By Travis Lampe.

by Andy Kehoe.

Ben Tolman creates richly detailed black-and-white images of human figures, often with an internal view. Click here for a detail view.

From an upcoming show by Nicoletta Ceccoli at Roq La Rue Gallery.

by Chip 7

Illustrator Mário Fonseca starts with a photograph, then builds up an illustration layer by layer, starting with traditional art tools, then moving to the computer. The results are extrodinary compositions of line and color, techno-realistic versions of Mike Giant’s illustrated women.  See the extended for another example of Mário’s work.

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Art has been about re-mixes for centuries. Retelling of famous stories, painting and repainting what is essentially the same bouquet of flowers or bountiful still life of food, the same battles, over and over. Another trick is to take an icon from one context and put it into another. Paint a sculpture, sculpt a painting, create an opera from a talk show.

Read on for more…

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