Favorite Artist?

[Denim Mouzon]

I personally am leaning toward Kara Walker right now...

[t3amBrian]

I've been getting into Ryohei Hase,

Cai Guo-Qiang

and Kinsey

Lately. I've been buying Art from NYC artist Michael Alan. His work is pretty stellar too and I highly recommend that anyone who has taken an art class attend one of his Draw-a-thons.

[Compound Egret]

I forgot Jim Phillips. This dude did so many epic ads and graphics for Santa Cruz back in the day....pics nicked from Skate and Annoy

[Mlle d. Sade]

Wow, Ryohei Hase looks incredible.

[Darkness Unlimited*]

Jaleesa said:

Frida Kahlo was the first one who came to mind. Somebody already tagged her in the post.

I'm getting into indie comic book artist Hellen Jo (I use her iGoogle theme too, linked her name.)

WOW! Some ov this work is being exhibited here in Portland right now!

[t3amBrian]

Yeah. The subject matter and attention to exaggerated features big and small really bring out the intensity in each painting. I wish some of this work was 3D. To be able to circle around some of these scenes would be crazy.


Mlle d. Sade said:

Wow, Ryohei Hase looks incredible.

[T.E. Smith Perkins]

Yes, Kara Walker is great also Ellen Gallagher,(mixed- media visual artist) and Lorna Simpson,(photographer) are also fantastic... If you haven't seen their work you should check them out..
Be Well-- T.E.

[T.E. Smith Perkins]

There's something about Ryohei Hase's work that reminds me of Odd Nerdrum, he's excellent and I really like Kinsey too...

t3amBrian said:

I've been getting into Ryohei Hase,

Cai Guo-Qiang

and Kinsey

Lately. I've been buying Art from NYC artist Michael Alan. His work is pretty stellar too and I highly recommend that anyone who has taken an art class attend one of his Draw-a-thons.

[Rathryn]

Writers:
Edgar Allen Poe - The Pit and the Pendulum is a firm favourite of mine
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The Call of Cthulhu, it's not so much the quality of the work, but the quantity of the overlapping work with that main pantheon of Old Ones that intrigues me.

Photographer:
Denz de Kroon - this dude is a friend of mine and lately has been working on photo's of trees, that he started messing around with in Photoshop. To use his words he uses photos not as an artform but as a medium for visual art in general.

Painters/Drawers:
Salvador Dali - I just love his wacky, messed up stuff. I think I was like 13 when I visited his museum in Figueras, Spain and I've had the time of my life there, trying to decipher everything that was on his works.
M.C. Escher - I love patterns, as they don't require me to think about it too much, which means Escher's work is quite relaxing to me.
Frank Miller - the way he was able to construct something as prototypically dark and brooding as the universes of Batman and Sin City is beyond me, but one day I hope to be able to understand it.

Musicians:
Dave Mustaine - I can't not like his guitar work, especially in such songs as 'Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?'
Freddy Mercury - the dude's voice was phenomenal
Cesar Zuijderwijk - drummer for legendary (in Holland anyway) rock-band Golden Earring, the guy's a great drummer and show-man

This is a bit more expanded than some of the other posts, but yeah I love these artists.

[Weed Demon]

nice, ever check out Kerry James Marshall

i think he is still outta chicago

[Obsidian]

Artist of the moment for me: Joel-Peter Witken

His work is macbre to the extreme but not for shock value. It presents a curiousity with life, death and the imperfect nature of human beings. His work has strong themes of sadomasochism and surrealism with a hint of the post-apocalyptic in my eyes.

WARNING: He uses corpses and people with extreme disfigurement and abnormalities in his photos, so you've been warned. It's like Body Works with the skin and thrown into an Alice in Wonderland nightmare.

You can check his stuff here:

http://www.zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/witkin2/

And here:

http://www.art-forum.org/z_Witkin/gallery.htm

[Rosenda]

Obsidian: I am HUUUUGE fan of Joel Peter-Wikin's photography work. I went to a show of his work at a MOCA event a few years after I started here. It was actually part of a small fundraiser event, and in a seperate gallery room set up in the Beverly Hills area, they cleared out a building for the night, and half of it was some great work by JPW and the other half was some AWESOME beutiful old draped gowns by fashion designer Geoffrey Beene. That's when I first saw JPW ever. Just the photographic quality of the images alone is incredibly beautiful even if the subject isn't, so sharp and clear and well - lit and bright to see.