The Provocative Pop Art of Ben Frost

Melbourne, Australia-based contemporary artist Ben Frost has a pop art aesthetic with a subversive, confrontational spirit. In some of his most recent work, Frost essentially uses mainly (junk) food and pharmaceutical packaging as a canvas for his bold illustrations inspired by pop culture, Roy Lichtenstein, and manga. His mashups are not random, though… Frost exhibits…

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Mirrored Mercedes Wreck

With one of his latest masterpieces, Wreck, Brooklyn-based sculptor/artist Jordan Griska beautifully juxtaposes opulence and misfortune in a truly provocative way. Painstakingly crafted from over 12,000 individual pieces of mirror-finish stainless steel over the course of almost two years, Griska’s Wreck tells the story of a (life-size) Mercedes-Benz S550 involved in a fatality wreck. We…

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The American Revolution Revolution

We have long commented on the convergence of history and art. They are intrinsically intertwined, reliant on one another in many ways. So when an artist turns the documentation and storytelling aspect of said junction on its head, we surely take notice. For his series The American Revolution Revolution, Denver-based artist Shawn Huckins masterfully juxtaposes…

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Deep Fried Gadgets

With the latest Apple releases, so too will come the flood of YouTube videos of folks “testing” the new devices in all sorts of precarious scenarios (submerging your new iPhone in a vat of soda, then freezing it for 12 hours, anyone?). New Zealand-born, Brooklyn-based photographer/artist Henry Hargreaves (whose stellar work we’ve discussed here and…

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Covered

Tattoos are often very telling. Each and every one seems to have a story behind it, and for those who are covered, it’s like a novel. British photographer Alan Powdrill brings some of these stories to light, with his latest project and exhibition, aptly titled Covered. Looking at Powdrill’s portfolio as a whole, we love…

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Illogical Compositions and Photographic Precision of Flora Borsi

With the proliferation of digital photography, pared with editing software like Photoshop, photo retouching is basically the norm these days. There has certainly been some controversy (good example here) surrounding the practice, especially when it comes to the issue of misrepresentation. Hungarian photographer/artist Flora Borsi specializes in digital manipulation, but with surprising effect that can…

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Taking a Walk with Mitch Goldstein

In keeping with our (hopefully) weeklong theme of Create Upstate 2015 (other posts here and here), we turn the spotlight on fellow Rochester-based designer (and educator/writer) Mitch Goldstein. Those behind the planning of Create Upstate clearly made a deliberate decision to have Goldstein kick off the main event. Goldstein is the perfect blend of adept designer…

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Adept Doodling by Keita Sagaki

We’ve all been there before… a dreaded lecture, and one’s mind starts to wander as pencil meets paper to create some nonsensical drawing. Doodling is a favorite pastime of bored students the world over. But when elevated to this level of artistry, we sit up and take notice. Japanese artist Keita Sagaki’s prolific body of…

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East Meets West

Chinese sculptor Li Lihong juxtaposes contemporary corporate logos with traditional Chinese imagery and ceramic techniques, with fantastic results. The series is a sculptural mashup of corporate identity and fine art, of contemporary and traditional, of East and West, of old and new. Western business has become integrated into Chinese culture, and Lihong’s work seems to…

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