Vandalized Beauty

At 20 years old, Pedro Matos is giving new life to the term 'street art'. Hailing from Portugal, Pedro grew up in the graffiti clad, skateboarding scene and is a self taught artist. What's truly remarkable and fresh is his undeniable photo realistic illustrative skills.

I love how his "grungy" backgrounds acts as a contrast to the very detailed, refined faces of real people. The backgrounds seem to fit in perfectly with each subjects persona and even add a sense of emotion to each. 

The Power of Your Senses

Ernesto Neto is a Brazilian artist that creates room sized installations for you to interact with. He creates organic shapes by using light, stretchable fabrics along with delicious smelling spices to awaken all of your senses... he wants the viewer to actually feel his art. He is one of Brazil's absolute leaders in the contemporary art scene.





He describes his works as an exploration and a representation of the body’s landscape from within. It is important to Neto that the viewer should actively interact with and physically experience his work by feeling, smelling, and touching it. His work truly does make you feel alive.

Cheryl Molnar

Cheryl Molnar has lived in New York for most of her life. Born and bred on Long Island, she was taught from an early age the meaning of the "American Dream". Like most parents during that time, their definition of responsible was someone who owns a home, is settled down, is married with children, has a steady job with health insurance and everything that comes with it. 

Being from Long Island, the epitome of success came in the form of a ranch house in the center of suburban Long Island with the likes of Levittown where it was possible for young families to purchase new homes for nothing in order to lead to 'mass migration'. Playing with these themes, Cheryl took her thoughts to paper and creates the most unique, playful collages dealing with visuals I am more than familiar with. 

Falling Cities

As much as i hate to think about this subject, I have lots of respect for Amy Casey and the way she deals with the dark side of her mind. Amy is an artist who beautifully interprets her deepest thoughts, which happen to be a certain recurring dream for the past eight years about the world coming to an end… 

Animals stampeding and buildings falling into dust around her, she wakes up in a panic and with a heavy sense of inevitability. Her paintings reflect her view of the nervous state of affairs the world seems to be in.

Patrice - Ain't Got No (I Got Life) [HD] + lyrics

El Guincho - Palmitos Park

Anamorphosis

Anamorphosis is a technique used by Felice Varini, also known as Multi-Surface Perspective Images. Its the process of creating a whole image or symbol that becomes clear and cohesive from a certain viewing perspective, and a jumbled mess of fragments from any other vantage point. Varini is the master at this, and has accumulated an extensive collection of work starting from the late 1970's. He has done pieces in small areas to cityscapes. He challenges us to look at the space around us differently.






Varini's website features photos of alternative views of his works, so you can see how they actually look, in situ, but that sort of spoils the fun of looking at them from the intended POV. If you want to explore more of his work, click here

Bird's Eye

I love the work done by German photographer Stephan Zirwes. Part of their beauty is that they are shot directly downward. The other part is the subjects of the photos. Stephan shoots football fields, airfields, industrial complexes, construction zones, leisure areas, and competitions in progress. Take a break from the everyday — and see the world from 10,000 feet.

www.stephanzirwes.com

SYNESTHESIA

Surreal masterpiece by Terri Timely. 

The Other World

New York based mysticism photographer Alison Scarpulla just might be the perfect artist for that other side of us who believes that this world is more than what it seems. She manages to depict a place in time that let's our imaginations run wild while being partly creeped out, in a good way. By using under exposed images, double exposures and finding the perfect light, her cosmic psychedelic imagery lends well to it's old-timey, painterly vibe that allows us all to look into the "otherworld".

Maya Hayuk

Here is one of those artists where I would love to give her a blank wall in my apartment and tell her to go to town. I am completely in love with everything she creates. The colors, the mood, the style all brings a sense of excitement to anything she does. Hayuk's paintings, prints, drawings and photographs range from mockeries of idealized social rituals such as hot tubbing or undressing, to transcendent portrayals of geometries giving way to nature. “My biggest influence is love,” Hayuk says. She was raised by Ukrainian immigrant parents in a Wonderbread suburb of Baltimore, converting to punk rock at an early age. 

More @ www.mayahayuk.com

Blissful

Every now and then, there comes along an album that is so ridiculously good that you just want to play it over and over so that it doesn't get out of your head. Such was my experience with the Morning Benders album Big Echo. The album's leading track "excuses" is a retro step back in time and its genius how the instrumentation builds up throughout the song. And because that can't be enough, the whole thing is actually a big tribute to the one and only Phil Spector.

In honor of a pre-murderous Phil Spector, The Morning Benders perform their song "Excuses" with a choir of their friends. It's just that their friends all happen to be a who's who of the San Fran music scene. Together they call themselves the' Big Echo Orchestra'. Basically your ears will be in heaven for the next six minutes. Enjoy! 

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses"

Lifetime of a Bubble

\

Sol Lewitt

Sol Lewitt is a modernist, minimalist and conceptual artist. He was one of the first artists to formally define Conceptual Art as a phenomenon. He has often said that beauty was not the point of his art, but I think his art defines the word. 







Best known for his wall art, he remained constant in his themes throughout his career: geometric and repetitive shapes, timeless childlike constructs on paper or in “structures”.