Cheryl Kelley is a professional photorealistic artist, known specifically for her oil paintings of cars. She was born in Texas in 1968, and went to the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston. She then continued on to the University of Houston and earned a B. A. in Fine Arts.  
       Kelley began her career as an abstract expressionist and also painted some portraits. But then she found cars, saying, "The first thing that I am drawn to is the beauty. I find myself getting lost in the reflections of beautiful cars when I stop at traffic lights'.' She paints the cars as objects of beauty and focuses strictly on their form, capturing entrancing highlights and curves. One critic said, "She brings a uniquely female perspective to these objects that are almost synonymous with youthful bad-boy hyper-masculinity." Similarly, I find myself entranced by the forms of muscle cars while flipping through books, and discovered a love for the same muse. While reading through Kelley's process, I found it interesting that she paints on aluminum, and was pleased to find that the medium fit the content. I remember considering painting on car hoods, and even painted on a trunk once, so I like the idea, and could see why that was her medium of choice. She also uses oil paint, and as I have worked with acrylic, I realize that oil would allow the user to perfect the highlights that have caused me to have to repeat color mixing more often than I would have liked. Maybe I'll use oil in the future, but if I do I think it will definitely be on metal or something that is not absorbent. 
      Kelley describes her work saying, ''These big engine cars, seemingly fueled by raw testosterone, were ironically most definitely feminine in form. As a twentieth century American icon, the muscle car is remembered for its speed and power. My paintings are about the feminine sensuality of the surfaces, the Mel Ramos-like perfection of female form''. While I was definitely attracted to the concept of painting muscle cars because of their form and the concept of the "Golden Age", I hadn't really thought about describing it as a feminine aspect of a masculine item. Most importantly however, I agree with her idea of the memory of the car, and how now buyers focus on convenience and economy rather extravagance and aesthetics. With my work, I hope to call attention to this complacency, and I think in her paintings, Kelley has done an incredible job of doing so. Although her work does not focus on the functions of the parts of the system at all, I hope to learn from her photorealistic mark making to improve mine as well, especially in my NOVA piece. Overall, it was interesting to discover more about an artist who's work focused on cars like those I had been researching like the Nova and Chevelle, especially since it's the form I'm so interested in. 
        She now lives in Northern California, where she continues to work. She shows permanent collections around the country, heavily in Texas. She also earned the 2012 Pollock Krasner Grant, which brought her to the front of the art scene. Named as one of the best photorealists by fellow artists, her work has appeared in several magazines and books. Also, she worked on several publications and reviews, and has spoken at the University of Houston.

Find out more about her work at:
https://www.cherylkelley.com/
http://www.bernarduccimeisel.com/artist/bio/index.php?aid=51

CV:
Recent Solo Shows
Although she has had solo shows since 1998, the following are from the past 10 years:2018 Bernarducci Gallery, NYC
2016 Scott Richards contemporary art, San Francisco, CA
2015 Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT
2013 Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
2013 Bernarducci Meisel, New York, NY
2012 “Detailed” Scott Richards Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
2010 Bernarducci Meisel, New York, NY
2010 New Gallery, Houston, TX

Group Shows from the past 10 years:
​2019 Bernarducci gallery, NYC
2018 Art Museum of South Texas, Luster, Corpus Christie
2018 Museum of Arts and Sciences, Luster, Daytona Beach, FL
2017 Bernarducci Gallery, NYC
2013 Route 66, Skidmore Contemporary art, Malibu, CA
2013 Photorealism Revisited, Oklahoma City Museum of Art
2012 Photorealism, The Galerie de Bellefeuile, Cananda
2012 Beyond Reality. Hyper Realism and American culture
Vero Beach Museum, Vero Beach, Florida
2011 Hunting Prize finalist gala, Houston, TX
2010 Grand Re-opening, Bernarducci Meisel, New York, NY
2010 “Four Women”, Bernarducci Meisel, New York, NY

Nils Westergard is an American street artist who paints murals and creates stencils all over the world. He is currently based in Richmond, Virginia but thinks of Amsterdam, Belgium as his second home. (see his works at http://nilswestergard.com/ or follow him on instagram @nilsrva. I had a lot of fun interviewing him and learning more about the street art world.

Ben Zank was born in the Bronx, NY and started taking pictures when he was 18 after finding a Pentax ME Super. He went to college for journalism, but ended up doing professional photography instead. Despite this, he believes that he learned a lot from his college experience, specifically about telling different sides of a story. During college, he realized he wanted to become a photographer and began making youtube videos, and since then he has refined his work. Currently, at 27 years old, he lives in New Zealand, where he focuses on posting on both his website as well as his instagram, where he has over 90 thousand followers.
 
His work has been labelled surreal, but when interviewed he says he didn't mean for it to turn out that way. Instead, he started out with more portraiture and funny pictures, and he still finds some of his pictures to be funny, but has recently accepted the label of surreal work. He has also mentioned that he is mildly colorblind, and as a result he does many of his photos in black and white. While he does take posed pictures, he often uses photoshop to touch up and re-touch up his pictures for hours. Zank has also spoken about how he finds his type of work to be based on trend, especially based on the amount of views he receives. He also understands the difference between today's social media culture and photography and believes that his pictures, or self-portraits, convey the truth about his subjects. In past interviews, he has warned new photographers not to fall susceptible to internet trends, because then their work will become saturated and they will run out of inspiration. He also advises new photographers to constantly take pictures, no matter if they turn out well or not.

Although he began with a film camera-- which brings me to my connection with his work-- he now uses a digital camera because he believes it can capture more form and composition, whereas a film camera emphasizes more people and emotion. His work is minimalist, and--as he has mentioned--surreal, and that is what attracts his main audience. His focus on identity throughout his work and linear patterns is something that interested me, especially considering my latest project that will try and take one aspect of my subjects' identity and relate it to a bigger picture. His dramatic sets and interesting compositions come from his years of experience, and although I am not looking to become a professional photographer, I think his experience of going to college in a non-art related field yet continuing with his interest is something that I can learn from. His work makes the viewer consider what his content is and how the different parts of his pictures go together, which is something I strive to do in my project as well. Overall however, I was really interested in Zank's color schemes and juxtaposition between natural and unnatural objects, and the fact that he was able to use simple sets to create discussions of identity.

Keep reading below for a list of his exhibitions and features:

Artists Hung I-chen, Guo Yi-hui, and Cheng Yu-ti formed the group 100%純污水製冰所, after their first work, "Polluted Water Popsicles" achieved so much success. They come from the National Taiwan University of the Arts, and they were nominated for the Young Pin Design Award for their popsicles.  They have not had a lot of gallery representation outside of places like the New Generation of Design Exhibition two years ago at the Taipei World Trade Center in Hong Kong, but I think that over time they will most likely accumulate more work that can be displayed. However, I know that this is political art that speaks a message that is more important than the physical piece, and that this cannot always be expected to be fit in a museum setting.
 Past works include the following------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​100%純污水製冰所xGreenpeace Hong Kong:
This collaboration sent wrapped soaps to Chinese legislative council members with 10 different scents based off of 10 different beaches in Hong Kong that also contained pollution found in water in the respective area. The group's intent was to remind the council members how big of an issue water pollution really is. The soap came with a letter asking the politicians to take action, and the creation of the soaps were also part of a city-wide engagement event.
Marine Debris Guidebook:
This book contains photos of hundreds of pieces debris collected from beaches in China, and is another call to action, but to the younger audience, in order to make trash collection more of a scavenger or treasure hunt.
The group has also had other collaborations in order to spread the prevalence of the ocean pollution issue, including phone card holders and toys.
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This group's works reminded me of what we have been learning about social practice art, and makes me think about the public engagement aspect of projects. Although I did not have an immediate message related to a global issue, I did want to incorporate my audience into one of my works through photo, and am inspired to actually do so some point next year. Overall however, this project (along with those they have been working with since then) appealed to me in craft, content and subject matter. I hope to be able to have a similar effect with my work, which I also hope to refine to this point.
Also, as most of the information on this group is in Chinese and they are very contemporary, it was difficult to find their career path, but I think something similar will and has happened with my art, which comes out of the blue and develops its content from there. I really liked their use of found objects, a medium I share, and I think I will look towards doing casting or suspended resin for one of my next projects from this inspiration.

Billy Al Bengston is an American artist. He was born in Los Angeles and attended Los Angeles City College until 1952, where he then studied under Richard Diebenkorn at the California College of Arts and Crafts until 1955. He also studied at the Otis Art Institute in 1956. His first solo exhibition was at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. He was inspired by Jasper Johns and adapted his motifs into his work. Bengston's work is directly tied to the motorcycle sub-culture and auto and surfboard decoration motifs. This work is my favorite of his and I look forward to adapting his style into some of my future works. Although I realize our marks are different, I would still like to utilize his color schemes, blending and composition in the future. Other symbols in his work include the silhouette of an iris. I would also like to use natural forms in my figures as well, and I like the way he contrasts machine with nature themes. He has exhbited in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Honolulu Museum of Art. He has received grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has permanent collections in Paris, D.C., Chicago, and New York among other places around the world. He is represented by Various Small Fires in Los Angeles. I have not seen his work before, but after a suggestion from a friend, I will definitely look for it when I visit these museums in the future.

I finally finished my home project. It turned out to be a real rollercoaster because I couldn't decide the best medium to portray my message. Finally, after switching from embroidery to painting on fabric to this, I chose to paint on glass using thin layers of watered down acrylic. I'm really proud of my final outcome (even though these pictures aren't of the final setup) and I don't think my message in any other medium would have been as strong. To reflect on my thought process as I was creating this piece: once I saw tissue slides under the microscope in my anatomy class, I knew I wanted to make something that could encompass even a fraction of what I experienced. The detail and scale of those tiny slides amazed me and caused me to consider them as tiny worlds on their own. This led to my final concept of embroidering (but later painting) pictures of the slides on larger bases and portraying them as planets. With the help of my 6th grade telescope, I received a very positive response from the class during my critique. Overall, I was very proud of my work and look forward to continue my running theme of parts of systems.
P.s. Unfortunately I did not apply anything to protect the paint on the glass, so it has been and will continue to scratch off easily. Hopefully I'll get access to resin or something in the future in which I can cover it.

Conor Harrington started off by tagging and doing graffiti when he was younger. He was born in Ireland but now works in London, England. After attending the Limerick School of Art and Design, he graduated with a Bachelor’s in the Fine Arts. His past exhibitions include Weekend Warriors in 2008, Whole Lotta trouble for a Little Win in 2013, and Eat and Delete in New York in 2014. He has also participated in several group exhibitions including the Art Truancy exhibit celebrating 20 years of Juxtapoz magazine in New York in 2014. His works can be found on his website, www.conorharrington.com.
Harrington’s use of color and message is something I want to work to be as I continue this year in Art 4. Personally, I would like to improve my color matching and blending skills, and the way he shows off each color individually without making them run together too much is a good example to start with. Most all of Harrington’s works are large scale, another preference of mine, and the fact that he is able to capture his subject with even more detail is what makes me like this piece the most.
Harrington also paints murals and invites the public to help him spread and interpret his message. He relates his work to historical American conflicts, also a concept I find very interesting given my cultural background. His work is not all extremely lifelike, and it seems to add to his style. The overlapping of images, of colors and of brushstrokes reminds me of our abstract period in Art 3, and caught my eye as I found this piece featured in High Fructose magazine. Harrington captures movement, and the scale and subject of his works allow the audience to have an emotional response. His work in this style is also very recent, as it is currently on display. When I make a two dimensional piece— most likely a painting— this year, I will look to Harrington’s work for inspiration.

In this project, Troy Duff and Robert Hendrick cut graffiti writing from boxcars that are becoming scrap metal. Some graffiti artists, whose work is being incorporated into the project, have mixed feelings about their work being saved by being detached from the boxcars. They claim that when removed from the context, their work is not as powerful. Graffiti artists usually create their biggest works on cars that go across the country, so as to not be easily caught and also so as to have their work displayed on a larger scale. Graffiti is traditionally condemned in society, and in the past, there were efforts by police and local governments to remove or paint over all graffiti in certain areas. However, these efforts have been dialed down nowadays due to excessive costs and nonstop creations by graffiti writers. Instead, now most graffiti writers/artists avoid cars with holes in them and avoid covering important identification markings, to the point where officials do not care too much about removing the works. Under the Project Boxcar, the artists try to preserve the physical graffiti rather than simply using photography. Troy Duff is a graffiti artist himself, who displays his more contemporary (not boxcar) pieces along the other salvaged art, and Robert Hendrick refers to himself as a 'railroader'.
The second link below has a large collection of pictures of graffitied railroad cars from around the world, which I found while searching for a topic for this post. For the most part, I have been focusing on street graffiti for my head and heart project, but forgot about the pieces I see on my way to Richmond. The Project Boxcar also ties into my head and heart project, as it consists of graffitied train parts.

Cy Twombly lived in Rome but was born in Lexington VA. He used Italian history and postwar issues and graffiti as inspiration for his works. In his later works, some below, he focuses on the process of writing rather than the graffiti he sees around him. His art really reminds me of what I want to incorporate into my sculpture project with graffiti and drips and layers. While I do not really like his drawings where he writes Greek god names on a huge piece of paper, I like the immensity and scale of his projects. It’s the same as I’ve been trying to achieve with my home project, but on a slightly smaller piece of paper and with sculpture. Twombly’s use of color and contrast and repetition create movement and evoke emotion in the viewer, possibly that of forgetting and rebuilding that postwar society felt. The first time I saw act Twombly’s work, I was not immediately captured by it, and I even thought that it wasn't good, but after checking out a library book with his later paintings, I saw more value in his work. 

When I began learning art history, I had heard of Damien Hirst but recently I found his instagram and now after getting a chance to look through all of his artworks on his website I'm finding a new favorite artist. Hirst has created so many works it's hard to look through all of them in one sitting. Scrolling through his website, there are obvious theme changes as he changes medium and style. For instance, in the butterfly paintings his titles all relate to love, in his crystal skulls he titles them "For Heaven's Sake" and "For the Love of God", and his Formaldehyde sculptures all seem to be dealing with existentialism. He has created so much. And in so many different styles, that it's no wonder it is so hard to be original nowadays. His most recent collection of "veil" paintings consist of different colored spots, but in my opinion they do not compare to the depth and complexity of his past pieces. Of all his different collections, my favorites seem to be those belonging to mental escapology, the Last Supper, Trinity Cabinets, his Installations and his Formaldehyde art. But my favorite part of Hirst's work is by far the titles. Paired with the subjects he presents, the titles offer a humorous side to otherwise serious concepts. 
Hirst has work exhibited around the world, and the Asthmatic Escaped II is even on exhibit in the Hirschhorn. His "after beautiful" paintings remind me of Francis Bacon, of which I watched a documentary and then was reminded of who Damien Hirst was. It makes sense that the painting/drawing styles would be the same seeing as how they were friends and Hirst took his inspiration from Bacon. The piece below is one of the many that I found interesting on his website. After learning of Bacon, the connection between this piece and Bacon's "Painting 1946" is clear.
Seeing as how we are studying art history and will begin our sculpture unit in class soon, Hirst is a good source of inspiration. As I have written above, my reaction is rather to Hirst's work as a whole for now, and I would like to continue looking to his art in the future.

​http://damienhirst.com/

After seeing their work for the first time on the DC Trip at the Hirschhorn, I ​immediately was inspired by the Kabakovs' ideas. After further research, I found their art to be like today's trend of Conceptual Realism in art/ photography. The piece below, "How to Meet an Angel" was my favorite and most memorable of the pieces at the Hirschhorn simply because it reminded me of some short stories I used to read when I was younger. Also, it reminded me of the story of Icarus, but I think that there was another piece in the exhibit directly related to the story. These artists and their sculptures tie in to our upcoming sculpture unit in class, and I think their style suits mine, as I made a lot of wooden models as a kid. I was meticulous in my details for models, so I should be able to further improve my sculpture quality.
While watching the video above, I saw other medium that I had not seen before used by the artists (I had only been exposed to their models). Of the other things I was exposed to, my favorites were the paintings with dots/ paint splotches overlaid on top, particularly the paint splotches, as they reminded me of my abstract expressionist piece. I think when I paint with acrylic I would like to experiment with this as well as continuing to experiment with paint pours.

Okuda San Miguel is famous worldwide for his murals and sculptures and for being a part of the street art scene. His most recent work is a mural in Tahiti. My favorite of his pieces are the churches, but I also like his embroidery and murals. While his style in itself is not copied or a trend, street art and reimagining old buildings/things through art is. The boxy, colorful designs suit the subjects of his art as well as what he paints on. The link below talks about his motifs and process as well as his work on a 19th century French church--aka my favorite piece.
https://www.designboom.com/art/okuda-san-miguel-chateau-de-la-valette-skulls-07-11-2017/

James Jean Prada Collection: 2018 is something especially important to me. I follow James Jean on Instagram and I really like how his work is almost liquid. He mainly makes prints-- and is popular for them-- but when I saw that he designed a Prada line, I realized that if you become famous for one thing you can still branch off. While I didn't like all of the clothes in the fashion show because they had weird cuts, the accessories were my favorites. He had so many shoes and purses and things and they were all decorated with his art! Since Prada is a world-known brand, his work on fashion could become trendy. Today, personalized clothing such as jackets with patches or embroidery are popular, so his line being as unique as it is continues this. The way his art has fine lines and pastel colors makes me want to make my art look cleaner too. Although, I realize he uses computer programs, making it easier to make those lines. His bunnies and floral backgrounds are motifs he uses often, and make me look out for repeating patterns in other works. Reflecting on this post later, the floral backgrounds make me think of arabesques, which we are learning about now in Global. However, Muslims are not allowed to draw/make art with living things, so the bunnies would not fit in that idea.