Visual Artist of the Week: Niki Urban

Nike Urban

Niki Urban graduated from the College of Creative Studies in 2013. Links to more of her work can be found below. A small biopic by Shane Law Productions and Red Bull House of Art is included as well.

My work focuses primarily on the dark side of the imagination; the part of one’s mind that is often unexplored. I find sanctuary in imagery that many feel uncomfortable facing. Most of my drawings are done using fine tipped ink pens to achieve obsessive detail, and other drawings are done in charcoal, sometimes graphite. Once in a while, I enjoy painting with oils. The process of creation is the most important part for me; I become so focused that it feels like I take a step outside of time. As a whole, my body of work is a collection of haunting images with some elements of surrealism.

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Visual Artist of the Week: Michael Reedy

From the Eastern Michigan University Art Department: Michael Reedy was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He received a BFA in Drawing from North Central College, a MFA in Painting from Northern Illinois University. He began teaching at EMU in 2005.

In my most recent works I have begun to explore visual complexity and ornamentation in conjunction with my prior interests; which have long been rooted in contemporary trends in figurative and portrait based works, as well as fringe images of the body, either in medical illustration or cartoons. I believe this push towards excess propels the figures in to another space and permits the psychological possibilities or fantasies of the figures (or those embedded in the narrative) to operates outside of normal spatial conventions, and in short become uncanny. In some respects my goal has been to make each new image more beautiful and self-indulgent than the last.

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Visual Artist of the Week: Antony Micallef

Antony Micallef

This week’s Visual Artist of the Week is Antony Micallef, a British painter. View his portfolio on his website.

From his Facebook page:

Antony Micallef is widely recognized as one of the finest painters in contemporary art today. His ambitious and opulent canvases examine this generation’s complex relationship with consumerism and indulgence. Expressionist scenes of hedonistic excess, shop window seduction and international travel mix with spiritual iconography and lavish brush strokes. Described as “Caravaggio meets Manga”, this potent cocktail has unsurprisingly seen Antony become one of the most compelling living painters. He describes his work as “like watching a Disney movie which slowly turns into violent pornography,” elaborating with, “the trouble with pop imagery is that it doesn’t really go deeper than the surface, you have to drag it down and challenge it to make it interesting.”

Antony was notably trained by the notoriously austere landscape painter John Virtue. While his mentor’s influence can certainly be seen, especially in early monochrome works such as Kiss at Tower Bridge, in contrast Antony has often passionately embraced colour.

The artist’s oeuvre also takes in charcoal self-portraits – the lauded Head series – and grandiose reboots of mythological scenes such as A Study of Icarus. He even exhibited a series of large bronze nickel-plated sculptures, The Idol Kids of Today, in the colonnade that forms the entrance to London’s Royal Academy of Art. The sculptures also appeared in Lazarides’ Hell’s Half Acre exhibition.

His career landmarks include coming runner-up in the BP Portrait Prize, the wildly successful solo exhibition, Impure Idols, on Hollywood Boulevard, and inclusion in AKA Peace, a group exhibition at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts curated by Jake Chapman. He has also exhibited at Tate Britain, and in Tokyo, Athens and Bethlehem (in an exhibition curated by Banksy).

You can learn more about Antony on his following social networks:

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Visual Artist of the Week: Mask Movement

Mask Movement is a creative agency and music label based in the Ukraine that focuses on modern video art, music production, sound, and graphic design, along with uniting like-minded people and passionate content creators from all around the world. Their mission is to encourage self-expression and bring something fresh to the table. What they do is the result of years upon years of cooperation with prolific artists across different mediums.

You can learn more about Mask Movement on their following social networks and portfolio:

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