bad banana blog

The Boldness of Ally Burguieres

Artist Ally Burguieres isn't afraid of big, bold colors. Or taking a big, bold step. Which is what she and her four sisters are doing this summer, by opening a gallery in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Gallery Burguieres will celebrate nature, culture, and emotions through color and form, with an eye towards sustainability (the frames and furniture in the gallery are either vintage pieces or refurbished antiques). The five Burguieres sisters will be hosting a grand opening party on July 16th. If you're in the area, click here for more details.

The World of Matte Stephens

Heavily influenced by mid-century design (with a self-professed love of Charles and Ray Eames), it's easy to spot a painting by Portland, Oregon artist Matte Stephens. The muted colors. The cats in ties. The men with pipes. And the umbrellas. Lots of umbrellas. I've been a fan of Matte's blog for a few years now, and I eagerly await each new addition he makes to his stylized and whimsical world. What's more, I've enjoyed watching his work seep out into popular culture (most recently, in the background of ABC's Modern Family). Poke around on his site or his Flickr photostream. His work is also available for purchase here.

Facebook Paintings

An Irish artist currently based in Berlin, Enda O'Donoghue scours social media sites and blogs to find the perfect images for his oil on canvas paintings. What's the perfect image? To O'Donoghue, it's the throwaway digital shot that would otherwise be buried forever on hard drives, camera chips, mobile phones, or uploaded and then forgotten someplace online. Each painting starts with tracking down the owner of the digital photo and obtaining permission. Next, O'Donoghue meticulously breaks down each image and then reconstructs it, digital warts and all, on a large canvas. The end result is a series of random images connected only by O'Donoghue's process and artistic style.

Via Moco Loco.

Collaborating with Brian Andreas

 

 

This year, I had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with California-based artist Brian Andreas. Like me, Brian enjoys playing around with words and pictures. Whether it's his paintings or his sculptures or his unique combination of drawings and stories, Brian's work is eagerly sought after by collectors all over the world. Of course, I jumped at the chance to meet with Brian at his home in Santa Barbara and discuss ideas for a book. The result, Marching Bands Are Just Homeless Orchestras, is a collection of humorous quips and quirky illustrations with a somewhat twisted view on life. It's available now.

Just a small sampling of Brian's drawings from the book:

A PDF sample of the book is available here. You can purchase the book through Amazon and at storypeople.com. International shipping is available. (Be sure to check out Brian's many other books, too.) 

 

11/30/10 UPDATE: Just found out Marching Bands Are Just Homeless Orchestras has been named a 2010 Top Twitter Book, winning the Best Writer/Humor category. Thanks, TweetSmarter.

 

Crayon Portraits

Ohio artist Christian Faur creates photorealistic portraits out of thousands of tightly packed crayon tips. His website explains that "these individual 'pixels' of wax are precisely stacked into specific locations inside of wooden frames to produce a new art form that uniquely balances the qualities of both photography and sculpture." See more examples of his amazing work here.

Via Flavorwire.

Typewriter People

Oakland-based artist Jeremy Mayer disassembles typewriters and then reassembles them into full-size, anatomically correct human figures. According to his website, he does not solder, wed, or glue his assemblages together. Absolutely nothing is introduced to the assemblage that did not come from a typewriter. Check out many more images of his work on his site. Very cool stuff.

Via Chris Weige (@Reckon).

Sign Out

In his Sign Out series, Düsseldorf-based photographer Josef Schulz removes the messaging from roadside signs and forces us to confront the shape, size, and color of these ubiquitous landmarks.

Via It's Nice That.

Intentional Blindness

Striking installation by Italian sculptor Willy Verginer, entitled Cecita Voluta (Intentional Blindness in English). Cecita is also a lake in Italy. Take a look at more of Verginer's work over at his site.

Via It's Nice That.

Staple Murals

It takes Paris-based artist Baptiste Debombourg around 75 hours and approximately 35,000 staples to create one of his wall murals. That's a lot of stapling.

Via Flavorwire.

Dante Horoiwa

 

Based in São Paulo, Dante Horoiwa is a self-taught artist equally comfortable with small prints, large canvases, or huge walls (this one is in Rotterdam, The Netherlands). View more of Dante's work over at his site.