This is the mysticism of Joe Roberts

San Francisco-based artist Joe Roberts will be releasing his second book, We Ate The Acid (61)A3HT3TA3), this December. The book features a foreword by journalist and documentarian Hamilton Morris (Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia on Viceland) as well as a conversation with gallerist and actor Leo Fitzpatrick (director of Marlborough Contemporary).

Roberts, who creates works which guides viewers through psychedelic scenery that tends to spiral into a cacophony of shapes, colors, pop culture figures and mystic symbolism. Existing somewhere between fear and curious euphoria, Roberts’ trips wind through various terrain and media – incorporating collage, diorama, drawing and painting evocative of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Joseph Cornell.

Roberts boasts an impressive stable of collaborations with musicians, filmmakers, and streetwear companies – most notably to date with Supreme for their Fall 2017 line, producing a line of signature t-shirts. We Ate The Acid features distorted pop culture references in increasingly phantasmagoric scenes where countless arches and pathways serve as portals to Roberts’ psyche.

The book chronicles UFOs and chemical constellations as they appear in city and nature scenes alike, while alien faces and indigenous symbolism rest at the center of geometric mandalas. Fluctuating between dark landscapes and the tunnelling, termite-like architectural surges of smiley faces, Roberts prefaces the book’s disorienting journey with an unpretentious declaration: “The way you choose to explore it is the way you choose to explore it. Make sure you take notes.”

We Ate The Acid likens an art object itself, using various paper textures bound in a “skeleton” manner exposing the worn, traveled nature of its subject matter. As part of the first edition, an undisclosed number of artist prints will be placed inside a handful of books available on the publisher’s website.

Published by Anthology Editions, We Ate the Acid is slated for release December 4th, 2018.

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Playing with paint, Carly Silverman’s Sartorialist Style

For artist Carly Silverman, taking paint off of the canvas is just as crucial as putting it on. Her artistic process involves placing strokes of paint down and then wiping them away with a cloth to blur the lines of her images and reveal the multiplicity of layers underneath. the gradual accumulation of oil paint washes creates a gauzy, dreamlike environment in which Silverman’s figures are depicted stealing a moment of self-awareness amid the endless bustle of city life.

Using a combination of figurative and abstract painting styles, Silverman captures her subjects in a fleeting moment of time. Perpetually in motion, figures seem to be transfixed by their destinations; their current settings merely passing by, a means to an end. Their blurry, washed out surroundings threatening to disappear behind them serve as a constant reminder of their outside concerns, the unshakeable need to keep moving forward and remain productive, lest they cease to exist. However, amidst the fast-paced commotion of their cosmopolitan lives, subjects are depicted as having found a moment, however briefly, to take pause and remember themselves; the loose strap on their sandal, their hair coming undone.

Silverman manages to find moments of meditation and serenity even in the hectic surroundings of metropolitan life, and brings them to life with a series of brush strokes placed on the canvas and then wiped away, just as the transitory moments captured in her compositions come and go like waves.

Deeply inspired by fashion and the aesthetics of clothing, the garments depicted in her compositions offer hints into the lives and personalities of the subjects, accounting for the absence of facial features. The faces of the women depicted are either turned away from the viewer, or blurred to the point of abstraction. Silverman intentionally omits these details from her figures so that her expressive brush strokes and dynamic configurations, and surroundings can tell the story of the scene for themselves.

The layers of paint on each canvas echo the infinite layers of culture and stimuli found on the streets of New York, which bleed into each other as they move out of one’s focus and into their peripheral vision. As Silverman’s figures are swept up in the frenzy of their ever-evolving metropolis, small gestures are able to remind them of themselves, that they are individuals as well as faces in a crowd.

Check her work at Bee in the Lion or on her website here.

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A Polish Artist’s Painting of Woman Tattooed With ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ Isn’t What It Seems to Be

What appears to be a picture of a girl showing off her Hieronymus Bosch-inspired tattoo is not a photo in any way. It’s an incredible oil painting by Polish artist Agnieszka Nienartowicz. Graduating two decades back in the Fine Arts Academy of Gdańsk, she demonstrates astonishing skill in her craft. This particular painting combines the work of Hieronymus Bosch, a forefather of this Northern Renaissance, with tattoo art for a decidedly contemporary feel.

The piece that shares a name with Bosch’s iconic The Garden of Earthly Delights was first conceived of in Nienartowicz’s expressions. Having a deep interest in man’s inner feelings and conflicts, she found that the 15th-century painting as a perfect vehicle to communicate her message. “People are full of contrasts and contradictions, they would like to do good, and instead they do wicked,” the artist shares with My Modern Met. “I was thinking about human nature, about sin and also the will of evil which are inscribed in our being, such as written within us. And I connected it using the Bosch’s triptych, which speaks of human nature. I love this painting; it is so strange, weird and beautiful at the same moment.”

Bosch’s characters, expertly painted oil from the young artist, show the fall of man, contrasting with the delicate beauty of this young woman portrayed. Nienartowicz’s work follows a future trend toward figurative painting in contemporary art. And though treading toward hyperrealism, there’s still a painterly touch clear from the canvas. By combining new and old, she strives to achieve the perfection of the Old Masters, while continuing their adept heritage into the 21st century.

Just what gratification does Nienartowicz derive from blending contemporary and historical elements in her paintings? “I handle each component like any other item, however on the flip side, the historical elements bring a story and an emotional load together. At precisely the same time, by adding them in my paintings, I give them the new context, significance, and a new lifestyle.

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Agnieszka Nienartowicz reveals a young girl adorned with a rear tattoo inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s iconic 15th-century painting.

 

h/t mymodernmet

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Artist Marija Tiurina Brings Fruits to Life in His Watercolour Paintings

Marija Tiurina is a London-based illustrator & concept artist, she takes fresh fruits and vegetables and turns them into unique watercolor characters, we must say, they look absolutely magnificent!

She states what inspired her the most was the mind-blowing selection of fruits and vegetables in a greengrocer in London: “I have been picking green foods that I found intriguing and inspiring and creating characters based on those. Easy!”

Check out these gorgeous illustrations below!

h/t boredpanda

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Traditional Chinese Paintings On Sculptures Of Human Body Parts By Peng Wei

Beijing-based artist Peng Wei areas traditional Chinese painting on rice paper to make modern sculptures of individual legs, shoes, and torsos. These paper-cast works exhibit scenes of the natural and domestic, such as lush gardens, animals, and interiors of Chinese houses. Peng has been disturbed by the adoption of Western styles of clothing by Chinese ladies. By painting classical Chinese themes on Western sneakers and other fashion-related items, Peng intends to deny the decrease of China‘s cultural heritage to rapid globalization.

Peg was born in Chengdu in 1974 and graduated in the Eastern artwork department of Nankai University with a BA in Literature and an MA in Philosophy. Her works have been collected from the National Art Museum of China, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Guangdong Art Museum, and a Lot More global collections. You can view more of Peng’s paintings and sculptures on Artsy.

h/t Lustik

New Vintage Surreal Paintings by Paco Pomet

Artist Paco Pomet proceeds to channel old classic photographs and historical signs in his delightfully surreal oil paintings. While all of his paintings capture his unmistakable wit, many of the works appear to straddle a fine line between comedy and horror. Employing a monochrome base, Pomet selectively adds color to emphasize the focal point of the story and to heighten the vintage, hand-colored photo aesthetic, while playing elements of scale, and modern technology icons.

Pomet lives and operates in Grenada, Spain, and is represented by galleries in Spain, the US, and Denmark. He shares snapshots of work and life on Instagram.

h/tt thisiscolossal

This Japanese Artist Creates Extremely Hyper Realistic Drawings with a Pencil

It might not surprise you those amazing things can be achieved with pencils and paper, but artist Kohei Ohmori’s breathtakingly lifelike drawings are bound to leave you amazed.

The Okayama-based prodigy spends over 200 hours on each project, and his attention to detail is evident. As a result of ultra-thin lines carefully-placed shading, the designs of Ohmori, and also a remarkably steady hand seem as though they’re going to jump off the page. They are so immaculate, in actuality, that his Twitter crowd is currently calling him a ‘genius’ and ‘mad’ within the quantity of dedication he puts to his portraits. His most recent effort, which has yet to be finished, depicts a nut and bolt, while his ‘signature bit’ is regarded as a stunning headshot of British model Sophia Blackbrough.

Scroll down to see Ohmori’s portfolio on your own, and if you still want evidence of what can be accomplished with a pen.

More info: Twitter, Instagram

 

 

This is 22-year-old Japanese artist Kohei Ohmori hard at work on a few of his intricate pencil drawings

 

He has become a hit with his astonishingly lifelike portraits, which each take more than 200 hours to complete

 

 

Equipped with a box of ultra-sharp Mitsubishi pencils, any page becomes a blank canvas for Ohmori’s artwork

Artist Meticulously Creates Pen and Ink Drawings of Dreamy Landscapes

British artist Olivia Kemp hand-draws incredibly comprehensive, large-scale works depicting European villages and woods, reimagined into mysterious landscapes.

She explains,”I draw to make sense of landscape but also to build and remodel it.” Having completed residencies in Norway, Guernsey, and Scotland, Kemp says, “I build worlds and imaginary places that grow out of a need to interpret the sites I have known, enlarging and developing them across a page.” The impressive artworks include details like the creatures and plants that inhabit these worlds.

Using pen and ink, each art can take weeks to complete. Kemp admits that while she is working on them, she can fall allowing the drawing to develop. Human-made structures are integrated into the landscapes villages wrap around historic buildings, and tall trees are dotted among hillsides. Kemp tells: “It’s the best feeling when a drawing begins to find its feet.” When she stands back to see the outcome, she amazed.

Check out more of Kemp’s completed works on her website, as well as detailed works-in-progress at her Instagram.