up-and-coming artist :: jordan tiberio

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many times, students come to the high school with natural abilities as artists and designers. their 8 years of art training by our awesome art staff gives them all the tools to see the world in their own unique way. its then our job to take those raw materials and help form and guide them into artists' whose voices are unique and personal (lots of times we're just along for the ride).

jordan tiberio is one of many students who display this personal vision.
jordan is currently a junior who spends many many hours outside of school working on developing her eye as a photographer (she also spends many hours during school here honing her drawing skills).

she has recently won 4 regional gold keys (3 photo, 1 drawing) from the scholastic art & writing awards, along with 1 national gold key (photo)!
i am amazed by her vision as an artist already, and am excited to see where all this work and thought takes her from here!

if you want to see more of her work, visit her flikr.

barnstormers video.

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the barnstormers are a crew of artists mainly from nyc and japan, who, in 1999, joined together to paint old tobacco barns in rural cameron, north carolina. subsequently they have become an energetic creative force that continues to contribute to contemporary art worldwide.
this video is a time lapse image of them painting and repainting a barn in the southeastern center for contemporary art in winston-salem north carolina, in ocbtober 2004.
you can see more here.

The Barnstormers - 360 from David Ellis on Vimeo.

erik otto :: sf dump residency

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first let me say i am in awe of erik otto's paintings. the way he uses paint and texture is something i truly relate to and feel akin to... its dirty and beautiful all at once.

he is at the end of a 4 month residency at san francisco recycling and disposal, collecting material and working on new paintings for his most recent show.

you should all check out the videos of erik working on this body of work. you can view the videos here. ((if you are not familiar with how flikr works, to proceed to the next video in the series, select the furthest thumbnail in the top right portion of the screen.)) its nice to see these videos because it shows how important the process of making art is. its not always as direct as: get canvas. sketch. paint. hang and admire.

if you ever get the chance, check out some of erik's work in person. ((or at least check out his website.))


ROC pendant

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i have been waiting for a while now to see lia beauchemin... not only because she is one of my awesome former students, but because she had a necklace for me. on wednesday, she brought me her new creation - my very own ROC logo pendant. so stoked.
you should get one too.

thanks lia. i show it to everyone.

"the rochester city symbol imprinted on this pendant has rich historical significance. around 1832, rochesterville, as it was originally called, became known as the flour city for the numerous and booming flour mills that sprang up along the genesee river. as the city grew and the expansion out west caused a slowing in the flour industry, rochester became known for the seed companies it was home to - several of which were the largest in the world. so by 1850, rochester was known officially as the "flower city." the symbol is meant to represent both of these formerly booming industries - it is both the lilac flower, which grows prominently in the area and is also a waterwheel which represents continual progress and vitality."

artist of the week :: jillian erhardt

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not many things give me more pride than seeing my 'kids' go out into the big bad art world and start to make a difference... and make art that builds off of (and far surpasses) what they ever did in my classroom.
one such artist is jillian erhardt.
she recently set up a website, and its deserving of a look. she is using her talent for the greater good - as part of a social design design collective at MICA. they are working on helping to educate the public about good hygiene, std's, as well as a variety of other community-based projects. its pretty awesome...
so, check out her work below, and if you are so inclined, you can see more at www.jillianerhardt.com





so... hopefully there are other alumns out there reading this - if you have a newly created site, or a new body of work to share with the world... shoot me an email, or better yet, bring it along to the reunion on wednesday. i would love to get you all up on my site!

david choong lee :: interview

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saw this on upper playground's youtube channel. if you liked david choong lee's work, or if you like painting in general, you should watch it. he's pretty funny, and his artwork is amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBHUaOEknOk

"ever since I started combining some mixed media or street art — the ‘there’s no mistake’ kind of idea — it makes me much more free."
-david choong lee

artist of the week :: kent williams

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from his website :: "primarily a figurative painter, williams' work explores, in both bold and subtle ways, and often through a suggestion of narrative and woven symbolism, the thread of life that ties us together as human beings. embracing our virtues while not shying away from our faults, he shows us portraits of ourselves, intense and penetrating."

jeremy fish studio visit

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i was searching the web for info on this week's artist of the week - david choong lee, and in my lengthy web-travels, came across this jeremy fish studio visit on fecalface.com. terrible website name, great website.
they often have studio visits with contemporary urban artists, showing images of their workspaces, the artwork (sometimes in progress), and video interviews. its pretty awesome. i particularly love looking at the studios themselves - it gives you a glipse not only into their mind, but it lets you put together how they do what they do.

here are some pictures of jeremy fish's studio:




artist of the week :: david choong lee

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David Choong Lee was born in 1966 in Seoul, Korea. David arrived in San Francisco from Seoul, Korea in 1993 with little money and speaking very little English but found a way to study art. While studying he lived downtown where he was surrounded by homeless people who became the focus for his painting for many years). They became his friends, helped him with his English and in turn he used his formal drawing skills to capture very moving portraits. He found that he was very interested in the art of young people after his graduation from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, in 1997.
After seven years of focusing on the figure, he began to explore different concepts, such as mixed media, sculpture and graphic design. He's been influenced by such diverse sources as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Sukdo, and underground music DJ scenes. He ended up creating his own artistic style that is a combination of graffiti, collage, portrait, and classical realistic skill with bold graphic elements. As you can see by the release of his products, he has combined many different forces to create his own, distinctive style.

see more of david's work on his photostream or his website

thanks to matt lucci for the heads up on this week's artist.

new show at the memorial art gallery

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there is a new painting exhibit at rochester's memorial art gallery - finally, something worth getting really excited about!

the show is called paint made flesh, and it brings together 34 powerful american and european works, all created since the 1950s, that explore the biological, psychological or spiritual volatility of the human figure. the works, by such painters as georg baselitz, hyman bloom, willem de kooning, eric fischl, lucien freud, alice neel, pablo picasso, jenny saville and julian schnabel, employ a wide range of painterly effects to suggest the carnal properties of human flesh, as well as its metaphorical significance. MAG is one of only two tour stops for this show.

AP drawing students - we'll be taking a field trip there on december 11th. thanks go out to the arts in education committee, and our PTSA for giving us the money to make it happen.

a love letter to you from stephen powers.

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artist steve powers, along with the philadelphia mural arts project, has been working on text-based murals along the elevated train line to and from the city of philadelphia, as well as along some of its more run-down areas. the project is called a love letter to you, and it was a collaboration between powers and the community in which the murals are painted - including ideas and stories from the residents themselves.

i am impressed by the sentiment of the murals, along with the great effect that such bright bold colors have against the worn down textures of the buildings.

check out more examples of the murals here

thanks to amy bonner for the heads up on this great project.