American artist Fred Tomaselli’s works frequently combine bold graphic forms or intricate patterns with detritus from popular culture, nature, and mass media. His materials include pills and drugs, butterfly wings, and, as in Study for June 2, 2018 (2018), fragments of magazines and newspapers. Tessellating images like the tiles of a mosaic, Tomaselli uses resin and other binding agents to create a flat, unified panel surface. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Study For June 2, 2018 By Fred Tomaselli→
The Monokini (1964) was Rudi Gernreich’s swimsuit of the future. The topless design was controversial, making it difficult to find a model willing to be photographed wearing it. Ultimately, only one image of the suit (taken from behind) was published, in Look magazine. At the urging of look editor, Suzanne Kirtland, a wider selection of images appeared in Women’s Wear Daily and later, in Life, where many American readers took note. Continue reading Eye On Design: Monokini Topless Swimsuit By Rudi Gernreich→
Tim Hawkinson’s body is the foundation of his art, whether a kinetic sculpture of collaged pictures of the artist’s face or intricate animal skeletons assembled out of his fingernail clippings. Fragmentation of the body is typically associated with death, though in Hawkinson’s work, the effect is perhaps more absurd than morbid. Continue reading Pink Thing of The Day: Tim Hawkinson, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes→
Beginning in the 1960s, Keith Sonnier (1941 – 2020) was one of the few artists experimenting with neon tubing as a sculptural medium. His pursuit was part of a larger interest in using everyday and industrial materials, foregoing the illusory space of painting in favor of a more literal and direct, artistic approach.
Marjorie Strider’s work draws on the vast image cache of popular culture, especially representations of women in men’s magazines and advertisements. She recasts these depictions with the subversive edge and an ironic bite, as exemplified by Girl With Radish (1963), which at first glance, looks like an image one would find in a pin up or on a billboard. Upon sustained viewing, however, the woman’s deadpan stare becomes increasingly confrontational. She looks deliberately out at the viewer, questioning the power dynamics of the conventional male gaze. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Marjorie Strider, Girl With Radish→
