Blog - see all 4
July 2008 Featured Artists Yesterday
 | Megan VanGroll
Painter |
Art school?:
University of North Texas, and Lorenzo De'Medici School - Art Institute of Florence, Italy
Where do you live?:
Austin, TX
Where do you say you are from?:
Military brats never know how to answer this question! I'm going to just say Texas, but I've moved 9 times in my life.
Describe your style:
Painterly figurative realism. Indulgent swirls, blurs, and speckles of rust, stained glass crowds, contrast. Color. Color everywhere.
How do you work?:
I layer two or more photographs to create one image. I'll take the background from one, the figure from another, and possibly another figure or some other element from a third photograph. Getting everyone/thing to scale is crucial. I'm the director of my own play, my own film, and each painting is like a still. Creating a story through manipulation of the placement of the figures, their postures, expressions, gestures, fascinates me to no end and creates possibilities for so many themes of the human experience.
what/who inspires your art?:
Antiques, old photographs/nostalgia, feminism, pop culture theory, non-American vs. American culture, narcissism, modern design, farmer and flea markets, scarves/jewelry, architecture, oddities, anything random, colorful, ironic, out of place, idiosyncratic, unusual. Human psychology and sociology. The politics of the body. Travels. Amateur/artistic photography. Bokeh. Lately I've been photographing films on my own rather than gathering images from random sources, and I'm excited to see what that will yield. I. Love. Flickr.
Rant/vent/chat:
My most recent series includes my naked form eleven times. The thematic drive behind these paintings was almost as varied as the locations I showed up naked in, but at the core, this was a very non-subtle exploration of narcissism and self-exploitation and it was so much fun to do. It evolved into a social experiment of its own, and the increased exposure (pun only slightly intended) served as a major catalyst for my artistic growth. Hello world, here I am. I've gotten so much valuable feedback that I'm not sure I would have received with a less ambitious project. The academic feminist community has had a mixed but mostly positive reaction. I minored in Women's Studies, so I'm well-versed in feminist theories, to include the general rule that feminists can never agree on what's feminist or not. In these paintings, I'm purposefully teetering on this uncomfortable ledge between feminist subversion and the same deeply ingrained sexism that causes women to pose nude for non-artistic reasons. Some of the best advice I ever received on artmaking really applies here: "Good art raises questions, not provides answers." As long as my work is making people think, it's accomplishing what I intended. And my work is selling - much more than I ever expected it to. I'd say that's a pretty good sign. I just recently moved to Austin and I'm slowly getting to know this city and its artistic community, while also going through a lot of big personal changes at the moment. My brand new studio is ready and waiting, and I'm eager to get started. With my next few paintings, I want to emphasize formal elements, like developing my aesthetic style, more than I have in the past. I've got a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head and I can't wait to see what happens - but if I feature nudes in my next paintings, they won't be female. Guys, it's your turn!
 | Virginie Ropars
Sculptor, Dollmaker |
URL: http://www.myspace.com/virginieropars
Art school?:
Master degree un graphic art, advertising, France
Where do you live?:
I live in a little village in Brittany, north west of France.
Peacefully, in the green, with my boyfriend and cat .
Where do you say you are from?:
I'm from Brittany, a place filled with legends, rebellions in history,
superstitions, fairies... surrounded by violent seas.
Describe your style:
Well, hard to tell, fantastic, fantasy, Victorian, Elizabethan, art nouveau, fairytales, fetish, gothic...
All things I love, all together in a 3D vision, a piece of work made up with so many things that it will be too long to tell.
How do you work?:
All the time... alone... in my workshop, with all what I need around...
fabric, clays, metal, sewing machine, paint, brushes, hammer, pearls, silk, hair, glass beads... books and loud music, and my Blackberry cellphone.
what/who inspires your art?:
Can be everything ...
nature, paintings, illustrations, fabrics, colors, poetry, books, movies,
smells, thoughts, friends .... etc... life
Rant/vent/chat:
I wish I could do what I love as long as possible, 'til death.
 | Luccia Lignan
Painter |
Art school?:
Begins to draw and paint at the age of nine years old; She paints the portrait of her maternal
grandmother "Small Artwork on Canvas", which she still maintains, (Private Collection). She
goes to the Painter's Studio to receive Private Painting's Class and finishes her education in
The Faculty of Fine Arts of Sevilla.
Has a conceptual background in The Group Exhibition of 1994 in "The Delegation of
Córdoba" and her second in "Alfaro Gallery" of Sevilla in 1996.
Next was The Group Exhibition "Young Painting", City Council of Tarragona 1997. The
figurative painting "Future in Balance", is shown in "The Prize Maestro Mateo" -Caja Sur
1998 -Honorable Mention. She has colored silhouettes and ironic homages to Boccioni in
"The Delegation of Córdoba" of 1998 (Barroque Patio). Travels to Italy, London, and rest of
Europe. Later, the Indivudual and Group Exhibitions in The Architectes College of Sevilla in
1999, with works of Gutierrez Solana. Palais del Congre's, Aix-en-Provence (France),
International Show des Seigneurs de L'Art 99.
The spaces in Palexpo, Geneva (Switzerland), Europt 'Art 99. In the 2000, celebrates her
marriage with the Sculptor and Painter Angel Rengell. Additionally, she pays special
attention to the Nudes in her travels to the Bretagne Français 2000-2001; FIA 2000 Venezuela,
Los Angeles 2002. Expo-Arte Sevilla 2002, 2003; Art Miami 2003; Chicago (SOFA) 2004
Rennes (France), Art Miami 2005, , Antares 2006.
Exhibition Galerie Zero Arts, December-January 2006-2007, Stuttgart (Germany)
Exhibition February-March 2007 in Hamburg, Marziart International Galerie (Germany)
Form London, March 2007, London (United Kingdom)
Festival of Drawing, April-May 2007, AVA, London (United Kingdom)
Next Exhibitions in Chicago, Miami and Montréal.
Where do you live?:
London, United Kingdom
Where do you say you are from?:
Spain, (French Origin)
Describe your style:
My Style is Luccia Lignan, each one in front of my Artwork, looks for its own significance.
How do you work?:
I am working with various themes, and to me, The Human Figure is one of the most interesting subjects, with requires the greatest knowledge, comtemplation and study.-I have Always Painted Nudes, I have been educated in the Classical Art, and throught the ages, Nudes have been constant source of beauty in Artistic Representations. I just speak in my Painting in another language, this is my contribution to the 21st Century. So, I am Luccia Lignan, an Artist trying to be easy on the eye to the people of this
world, sometimes incomprehensible-, at least for a moment.
Who/what inspires your art?:
Whatinfluences me is to continue working every day.
Rant/vent/chat:
Luccia Lignan paints an "Eternal Woman", with classical echoes, but under the modern
vision of 21 st century eroticism.
--Gillian Sneed , NY Arts Magazine, Associate Editor, New York
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