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Showing posts from July, 2012
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Max Tilmann MNRG, Portugal Hardcover  This man is a painter from Dusseldorf, Germany and has studied at the Art Academy there.  I see similarities to Basquiat and Keith Haring here.  The shock value of the images is horrific.  There are references to every crime known to humanity and social problem.  The way they are framed in a brutish painting style lends the subjects a sterile anonymity that frees us from the pain of witnessing, enduring. Does compassion go dry here?  I feel in the "brutal" lines the brush did not jump, deviate, or dry out with any sort of anxiety. What message is expressed in the muted variance and the calmly nuanced movement of the hand and the brush?  These minimal compositions with their simple yet conscious application guide us gently through the carnage of human interaction, inequality, and vapid reflection... He draws the subjects of senior citizens undergoing sexual slavery, dying abortions and smokestacks with the calm innocence of a Ane
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"SWAMR!" And Various Work Michael Olivo Oakland CA 2012 Self Published I've been blogging about this particular illustrator a lot recently but wanted to formally congratulate him for having a sensibility that is simultaneously refreshing, hard edged, clean-lined, and downright hilarious, even mysterious. Recently he has had a spot in the New Yorker, and also has been blogging for Beautiful Decay.  He was also featured in a  large anthology put out by Andy Burkholder in Chicago for the annual zine fest "CAKE."  .   His work reminds me of a shattered realm viewed through broken glass.  Keith Haring and Kiki Picasso collide in a realm of deadpan non-sequiturs, cryptic humor, and air-plane safety manuals. There is so much humor in the work, I find myself cracking up.  For example the small color strip "Sewer Dongs" has to be the funniest thing I've seen in 6 months.   There is little to no dialogue, but the silent Futurist Absurdi