Secret Still

Painter Wilson McLean follows in the long line of artists who have been inspired by Jazz/Blues, my favorite of which is Ian Johnson. But McLean is coming up in a solid second place with his colorful renderings of all those musical legends that have revolutionized the original American musical styles. He plays around with some dischordant notes and abstractions, but that’s only to be expected. If you fall in love with musical experimentation, how can you not let that spill over into your other artistic endeavors? You can’t. My cooking is a testament to that.

Wilson McLean

Round 2. Fight.

The Pig Farmer

Hezarfen

House Industries

An Island

Black Fly x RISK x Smash 137

IBM: 100 x 100

Making your weekend weekendier.

Surface Detail

Stereo: Best of 2010

Amazing Fox Snow Dive

The Tree Ring - Wore It Deep

Portlandia: Put A Bird On It

Turbine-free Wind Power

Patrick Kelleher and His Cold Dead Hands - Wintertime’s Doll

Just to change things up for your Tuesday afternoon (is it Wednesday in Malaysia yet?), let’s try out an artists whose work is a little bit more unusual, more fragile, and certainly more transitory. Andy Goldsworthy uses nature as a medium, and does it so beautifully that I would go so far as to say that it is one of the sources of real wonder still creeping around in the world. This isn’t really the Christo-style, large format experiential sculpture stuff, in fact some of it is downright tiny, but it tries to do the same thing, which is to take something that is innately mysterious and beautiful (nature) and restructure it to magnify those qualities and add a man-made aesthetic. It’s a delicate act, but Goldsworthy manages to not cross the line into works that are too contrived and lose their magic. Marvel just a little bit at the world, and be happy you’re in it.

Andy Goldsworthy

As tattooing becomes more and more accepted into the mainstream, the number of people pursuing tattoo artistry also increases. More artists means better tattoos, more experimentation and more improvements in technology for the field. What I’m saying is that we’re living in the beginning of a tattoo golden age, and I plan to take advantage of it as much as possible before there is a period of heavy conservative reform, like a Neo-Victorian era. Don’t laugh it could happen. First and foremost is that I need to get tattooed by Ryan Mason. Dude is killing it up in Portland, and I need to get my foot in the door before he’s so famous I can’t get a spot without some back-alley handjobs and several bribes. The handjobs I can cry my way through, but if I give away my money, how will i afford to get tattooed? You see the conundrum. So I better hurry.

Ryan Mason

Why so angry?

Two Men

LSD Research

Holy Spirits - White Walls

Charles Bradley - The World (Is Going Up In Flames)

Le Petit Nicolas

Maybe you’re well-versed in the world of Street Art and Graffiti, can tell a Sever piece from a Revok in two fat cap lines or less, or maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about, but a thing you should know if you don’t already is that the Broken Fingaz crew is one of the all time greats. With that basic knowledge, and the fact that Unga is one of them, you can draw the conclusion that Unga’s work is tip top. You see what kind of joys the Transitive property can bring? That and using your own eyes to see for yourself.

Unga

Have I ever asked myself: What would it look like if Charley Harper made woodblock prints? No, I haven’t. And yet I have an answer to that unasked question today. The work of Ray Morimura has the same simple, solid, geometric values as Harper’s work, and adds to it the beautiful compositional ideals of the traditional Japanese woodblock print. If anyone has some insider trading tips that I can use to score enough cash to afford his work, just let me know in the comments. I’m not above hanging it on the wall of my white collar prison cell.

Ray Morimura

Ok, aspiring comic artists out there, and some established artists, too, take note of the work of Nick Edwards; this is what you should be working toward. Edwards is creating new creatures, new worlds complete with their own ecosystems and biodiversity. And every world is cleverly constructed, beautifully rendered, and primed for your imagination to run wild across its surfaces. If looking at his work doesn’t give you at least a little inspiration, then you might want to call an ambulance, because you’re probably dead. And frankly, as my sworn enemy, I’d prefer if you’d keep your damn zombie eyeballs of my web content, ya filthy brainsucker.

Nick Edwards

Back in blorp.

Above Everything Else

A Mystery: Why Can’t We Walk Straight?

Graphic Violence

Moleskine Debossing

‘Verse

The Chase Film