Wreck The Tape Deck

David Maisel has dedicated two decades of his life to capturing aerial images centered on the impact of human interaction with our natural environment, which is a hell of a lot more than i’ve done. his photography appears to be a sublime abstract experience, a Rothko-esque exploration of color, line and shape, until you realize that the extended palette is the result of chemical pollutions unleashed on the landscape and the graphic elements are scars cut deep into the earth by crass mercantilism. if that’s too heavy for you, don’t worry, he relaxes with more personal projects. his Library of Dust series, for instance, explores the corrosive beauty of oxidizing canisters that are full of the unclaimed ashes of deceased mental patients from an abandoned mental asylum. fun! sure, it’s a little depressing, but it’s important work, and Maisel has an incredible eye for compositional detail with imagery that packs a helluva visual impact. pretty AND message-y… just like me.
Thursday, May 20th, the Annenberg Space for Photography is continuing it’s IRIS Nights Lecture Series with “Black Maps” – An Evening with David Maisel from 6.30 to 8pm. it’s free, so register for the night here and do it quickly because space fills up fast. more images and more information about Maisel from the Annenberg site after the jump.

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world famous bad ass and WTTD pal Mike Stilkey brings a literal approach to his art (god i’m so fucking clever), often using books, their pages and their covers as his canvases. his room-sized installations are something to behold; brick-like stacks of literature that reach from the floor to the ceiling while painted over with Stilkey’s trademark twisty-turny animal studies and gaunt-like, dark-haired figures (who you can just tell are waxing all philosophic about Dostoyevsky and shit). it’s been a couple years since Los Angeles saw a Stilkey opening, he’s been too busy jet setting, but lucky for us in the meantime he has made an amazing new limited edition print available via BLK/MRKT. (hey! Valentine’s Day is coming! maybe it’ll make a good present for that hot librarian you’ve been trying to mack on.) here’s the info direct from Stilkey himself:

“I’m excited to announce that my very first print is now available for sale through BLK/MRKT Editions! The print, “Sleeping Horse,” is a four-color screenprint on 100 percent cotton rag paper. It measures 24 by 18 inches. The print is an edition of 150 and each one is signed, numbered and stamped. They are available for purchase for $45 and will be delivered within 2 to 3 weeks.” – so get your piping hot prints here, straight out of the oven, and check out Stilkey’s own site for plenty more good. art.

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this website for Ogasa Shin is chock full of amazing. if Francis Bacon had drawn anime, i think this is what it would have looked like. i can’t read, um, Asian, and all i have to go on about this guy/girl is that his/her name is Ogasa Shin. the website hasn’t been updated in a couple years, so maybe you budding internet Encyclopedia Browns out there can help a brother out and hunt him/her down to verify a) that he/she is still alive and 2) he/she is actually named Ogasa Shin. (more images after the jump, including some NSFW and one really fucking BIG mother…)

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Wow, thanks to Peter Nidzgorski’s always great tumblog: This Isn’t Happiness for introducing me to Iain Macarthur’s work. The style of portrait sketching combined with ink and computer graphic retouching works wonderfully. The future is now kids! (oh FYI he’s 23, bright future? nahh beginner’s luck)

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Irving Penn died yesterday. he was an amazing photographer at the center of the fashion industry for decades, and his simple, graphic style contrasted beautifully with complex subject matter and theme. plus he did a lot of nudes. there is an Irving Penn retrospective right now at the Getty (1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, 90049. (310) 440-7330) through mid-January if you would like to mourn surrounded by his art. pour one out 4 tha homiez y’all, and dedicate the next time you’re vogueing to him. (more images after the jump.)

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i like it when cute things are scary and scary things are cute. so does Bobby Chiu. someone needs to hand this guy a Disney movie. more art after the jump.

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