Search Results

If a strong portrait tells us something about the essence of a person, does a successful generative portrait tell us something about the essence of humanity? This question came to me when experiencing the fascinating beauty of Espen Kluge’s ‘Alternative’ series. Born out of the minor failure to create an interactive vector logo of his own portrait via a java script, the Norwegian visual artist and composer managed to push the potential of his experimental algorithm by feeding a curated selection of sourced photos to it. The result creates something truly unique, infusing abstract geometry with a colourful emotional warmth. I chose the piece They don’t have this for humans to talk about today, but the series comprises 100 different and delightful ‘alternative’ pieces. What’s really striking about these abstractions of the human face is how inviting they are to the viewer to marvel at their juxtaposition of colour and form. Each manages to make us imagine an own story or emotion behind the figures, which feel both out of this world and familiar. With this specific piece I was really taken by the interplay of lines and the subtle nuances that the shades of pink and purple, yellow and aquamarine, do to help shape defining features like what we can imagine as lips and eyes. I imagined a sense of longing with this figure, as it raises its head upwards, gazing at something we can only imagine or dream about. As a society, our sense of beauty when it’s objective, often plays with certain geometric configurations when it comes to the face. What I love about these portraits is that while maintaining a certain base of that, it also turns things on its head and offers us a new language on what beauty is and can be. Generative art I feel really has that potential to open us up to new ways of rethinking our old conceptions on what makes something aesthetically powerful and this exercise in ‘de’ and ‘reconstruction’ of those parameters resonated quite strongly with me. To push it broader one can also image this being how a machine could see us and how it can perhaps make us forget certain imperfections we hold onto so strongly and make us delight in both the things that make us unique and similar. "They don’t have this for humans" (2020) by Espen Kluge https://opensea.io/collection/kate-vass-galerie

Experimentation has, more often than not, played a crucial role in the life of many an artist. That the risks out way the rewards are shown here in this piece from the ongoing series ‘Without You I Am Nothing’ by visual poet Federico Bebber. The artist, whose stunning manipulated photo portraits have delighted many (among which authors like Stephen King whose cover they graced), here takes a successful foray into the world of 3D art. This work, titled What’s Wrong With Me?, feels almost liked a mixed media wire sculpture, a choice which for me only strengthens the emotional resonance of the piece. In the series we’re shown two mostly androgynous figures, lovers we can catch a glimpse of but never quite fully see. The intimacy of the imagery is thus layered with a hint of melancholy that balances them on the edge between heart-warming and heart-breaking. Capturing not the kiss, but the moment before lips can meet, feels like a fitting dramatic choice. We can almost imagine the characters stuck in a fading memory, pink tints colouring a time where their closeness might have been strongest, but the fragility of the fragmented silhouettes hinting at a point where past feelings might vanish forever. This could be the end of love, the two not wanting to let go but doomed to only have these last moments together, wondering why even a strong love sometimes isn’t meant to be (what’s wrong with me, what’s wrong with you?). The beauty of the series is that it could have very different interpretations as well and that while the artist experiments technically, the emotional gravity of the visuals stays consistent. I love how we’re here witnessing an artist finding new tools to express a creativity that’s still recognisable as his own style. I’m certainly looking forward to the next pieces in the series and hope you can be as enchanted by them as I’ve been. "What’s Wrong With Me?" (2022) by Federico Bebber https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/6594

One of the biggest challenges sculptors throughout time have faced is how to make the inanimate come to life. When successful it’s a true wonder to behold and the best digital sculptors not only are able to re-create that core of classical sculpture, but also manage to push the art form forward in a new direction with the use of cutting-edge technology. One of the leading artists in the field is Los Angeles based Raf Grassetti, whose work anyone with a heart for digital sculpture should know or discover. I wanted to highlight this piece of his ‘Fragments’ series, which is a stunning exploration of the perception of the human face and body and the stories they tell. What I find striking about the works is not only the power they have when seen in motion, but the fact that when pressing pause or taking a still, the pieces retain that strong emotional resonance, just like a ‘static’ Rodin or Vigeland would. But when we do press play, we also discover how that added layer of motion really enhances the narrative of the piece. Named Pressure, I was immediately drawn to the sculpture when I first laid eyes on it. One can perfectly imagine the moment of complete despair captured; a protagonist literary caught at their breaking point. The attention to detail is next level, from the texture of the tongue to the sculpted highlights in the bronze pupils. The work reminds us of how at moments we can be broken, but when watched till the end it also offers a glimmer of hope that whatever’s fragmented by the pressure of living, can perhaps also be healed again. We will all have a time when the cries of despair escape our hoarse throats, but we must also maintain hope that, this too, shall pass. The rest of the pieces in the series express different mindsets and feelings which I urge you to discover through Raf’s website and various social media channels. But in the meantime I hope ‘Pressure’ can be a perfect (re)introduction to the power of digital sculpture and one of its greatest talents. "Pressure" (2019) by Raf Grassetti https://opensea.io/collection/raf-grassetti

What always amazes me in digital art is the richness in variation of mixed media formats that artists use to bring striking imagery to the world. For pioneer and dark pop surrealist John Leigh, better known as Karborn, that process of going through different physical and digital steps feels very much essential to his art. This piece, named The Alleys Of Your Mind, is a perfect example, a digital analogue hybrid of pixel painting and pointillism, listed by the artist as drawn directly onto machines. Individual frames have been decayed through analogue monitors and ruff kit, after which they were photographed and finally assembled into a 4 frame stop-motion gif animation. This inventiveness and cross medial wizardry have always been the hallmark of Karborn’s often deceptively minimal and deeply moving pieces. This one is rooted in the exploration and re-invention of legendary designer Saul Bass’s work, specifically his Psychology Series. With this piece, Bass’s graphic genius is literary given a new life and extra layered context, going further in its symbolic journey of an in depth exploration of mind and memory. With its solitary figures spread out over a glittering mindscape, we can image memories being constantly stored and rewritten in our biological hard drives, with us as lonely navigators trying to manage the vastness of our own internal worlds. We are beings made of memories after all, which form and shape us more than anything. You can explore more of Karborn’s dreamlike mixed media marvels on his various platforms, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. John was also kind enough to provide us with some behind the scenes, which are shared with this post. "The Alleys Of Your Mind" (2021) by Karborn https://dissrup.com/@karborn

Occasionally an artist is able to create a work that somehow feels both timely and timeless. For me, this is exactly what photo artist Trini Schultz was able to capture with her piece titled Camouflage. Unfortunately, as we’re all too aware of once again in Europe, the spectre of war continues to haunt humanity and what I find brilliant about this image is the equilibrium between sadness and humour it manages to strike. The process of colouring in old photographs is one that gives new life to a past era and here specifically what makes the subject even more special is that it’s the artist’s husband great uncle, an Irishman who immigrated to Canada where he joined to fight in the first world war. Trini’s series ‘Surreal Relations’, of which this piece is a part, makes the process of re-inventing old photographs very personal, populated as they are by figures of her own family history. With Camouflage, I cherish the anti-war message it’s able to strike with a playful simplicity that feels both thoughtful and profound. It more than anything underlines the plain silliness of war and makes me wish for a time in our history where we will finally just have our soldiers blend with flowery wallpaper instead of dirty trenches and bombed out ruins. I often revisit this image, every armistice day in fact, a special day for my country Belgium that reminds us of times when we faced similar destruction to what the Ukrainian people now endure. A song I recommend listening to while checking out this piece is ‘Where have all the flowers gone’, created by Pete Seeger but performed best in my humble opinion by Marlene Dietrich. One of the refrains is ‘when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn…’ let’s hope that one day we will. "Camouflage" (2017) by Trini Schultz https://www.saatchiart.com/

Great artists are often able to create some of their best work within the confines of employment or commissions and the portfolio of 3D expert Lee Griggs is a perfect example of this. As an in-house artist at Autodesk, Lee has mastered the ‘Arnold Renderer’, used in various 3D applications, to perfection and his experiments often either are delightfully absurd or surprisingly emotional. This piece, featured in his series on Volume Displacement is an example of that and just the power that beautifully rendered 3D art can exude. The piece feels almost like a liquid painting, but with the added third dimension making the combination feel both more life-like and surreal. As often the case with Lee’s work we find a character portrait, displaying what can be imagined as the ghost of a moment, the feelings of its protagonist briefly captured before the painterly pond ripples and the image fades away. It exemplifies the strength of what can be achieved in 3D art in thinning that barrier between photo-realism and complete dreamlike imagination. A link with traditional techniques of acrylic fluid or pour art can be made, but while these are often more abstract in result, here it hits a perfect sweet spot with a more figurative feel. To me this piece and the series underlines the fragility and fleetingness of memories and life itself. The texture and life-like detail of the processes used by Lee really manages to pack an emotional punch that brings me to often revisit any new experiments he sets out to capture. What’s great as well is that the artist in his role as Autodesk representative offers tutorials and helps teach other artists how to achieve similar technical proficiencies. Please check out his web and social media pages to discover more of his work and techniques. "Volume Displacement 2" (2018) by Lee Griggs https://leegriggs.com/

The art of illustration is one quite dear to me and for this week’s curator’s corner I wanted to share an image that like no other has stolen my heart. It’s Indonesian creator, Dionisius Mehaga Bangun Djayasaputra (abbreviated to Dion MBD), shines in creating seemingly light-hearted images that carry a strong emotional load. It’s no wonder that he labels himself as an emotive illustrator and this image for me perfectly captures that sentiment. Created as a student project and labelled by instructors as ‘too sophisticated’ it’s one that resonated strongly with me and many others who have loved and reshared the image online (showing that sophistication is never a bad thing). I see it every day as it’s the background image on my cell phone, which I think shows my personal affection for the piece. For me it permeates both hopefulness and sadness, a sense of longing and melancholy that’s better felt than described. The layered feel of the imagery, where we see a painting of a painting and where we see an artist creating a companion to fill either a deeply missed or a desired loved one, is an optical illusion I find more than successful. And more than anything this work inspires imagination, it urges the start of a thought process, where we can all imagine a narration that could be behind the poetic imagery. And that’s a gift that great illustration can do like no other. I hope this piece can move you like it did me and I urge you to discover more of Dion’s work through his various channels. "Ringling College - Beyond" (2019) by Dionisius Mehaga Bangun Djayasaputra https://www.dionmbd.com/

Something quite unique to digital art is the sometimes almost symbiotic relationship between the generative artist and their AI partner(s). While we’re often confronted in popular culture with situations where the human/machine connection is destructive for one or both, it gives me hope me to find that this certainly does not need to be the case in art. A shining example is the work of Finnish creator Jenni Pasanen. Her painterly forays into GAN (Generative Adversial Networks) and AI-art exemplify how the vision of an artist can be pushed in a unique direction by a strong partnership with new technology. I’ve chosen to highlight this piece of her mask obscura series, called Noon. The artist underlines that her goal is not letting human emotion limit the imagination of a piece and the dreamy and poetically intriguing reality she creates underlines the success she is able to achieve in perfecting her methods. The power of this piece is strengthened by its the feeling of motion and movement, even though a moment is captured it still feels as if the masked protagonist is still swaying in its ethereal dance. There’s something almost ritualistic to this piece, capturing a mythology we might not quite be ready to grasp but are entranced by even more. Do androids really dream of electric sheep? Perhaps Jenni’s work will help lift the veil on the answer and even if it doesn’t, the process will be a delight to witness. "Mask Obscura – Noon" (2022) by Jenni Pasanen https://www.jennipasanen.com/

As a digital museum what better exhibit to present to you than these wonderful Cartoon Fossils, created by the master of pop culture decay, Filip Hodas. This Czech based 3D artist brings flair and humor to the eventual demise of our cultural icons as evidenced in this series and his ‘Pop Culture Dystopia’ works. One can image strolling the halls of a dusty museum of natural history and stumbling on the unusual sight of the skeletal remains of children’s television icons. The level of detail and humorous descriptions accompanying the ‘Anas Scroogius’ or the ‘Homunculous Caeruleum’ make these pieces really stand out. It shows how the right textures and lighting can really give digital pieces a perfect, lifelike quality, something this artist certainly excels at. They also pose interesting questions on how the future will look at our current icons and how our pop culture will or won’t stand the test of time. It’s always a good sign for me when I can’t wait what an artist will think of next, a feeling that definitely plays when it comes to Filip’s creations. Be sure to check out more of his work on his social media pages and website and be enchanted by the special way in which the artist looks at the future past. Also be sure to join me this Wednesday at 8:30 CET for a new ‘MoCDA session’ on twitter, where another 3D wizard and past featured CC artist, Jean-Michel Bihorel, will be our guest for a new chat on the relation between traditional art practices and modern digital art. "Anas Scroogius - USA, 1947" (2020) by Slevin Aaron https://www.instagram.com/hoodass/

As our news and social media channels are flooded with the worst side of humanity, sometimes art can provide that brief escape from carnage in the hope of better days. That’s why this week I wanted to share with you the work of Slevin Aaron, a Polish based self-dubbed ‘emotion photographer’. And the description is apt, as his work definitely makes you feel something. Flowers play a strong role in the world of his imagination and this piece in particular was one that immediately left its mark on me. The patterned wallpaper and the rose dress only seem to strengthen the powerful impression the flowery head of the portrayed character leaves behind. The juxtaposition of human and flower is one often explored in art and this image by Slevin perfectly underlines why we continue to be so affected by the right combination of skin and petals. As a curator I often try to pair poems with art and as I leave you to discover this and more of Slevin’s wonderful imagery, I wanted to share Bo Burnham’s poem ‘Flowers’ with you as well, which I felt a great and timely companion piece. ‘On the third of June, at a minute past two, where once was a person, a flower now grew. Five daisies arranged on a large outdoor stage in front of a ten-acre pasture of sage. In a changing room, a lily poses. At the DMV, rows of roses. The world was much crueler an hour ago. I'm glad someone decided to give flowers a go.’ "Flowers" (2017) by Slevin Aaron https://slevinaaron.weebly.com/

Sometimes the art that moves me the most are those works that ‘wake me up’ when first viewing them, not out of but into whatever nightmarish vision the artist wanted me to experience. One of these works is fallimento (or ‘fail’) by 3D maestro Simone Vezzani. I felt this work very topical for our current times, when we see another unjust war unfold on the world stage. The macabre beauty of the piles of lifeless bodies almost feels like a hellish vision of the price we pay when humanity satisfies it’s most violent and sinister urges and we indeed fail in every meaning of the word. And what strikes me, is that it’s important for us to see images like this, where we’re confronted with the worst of what we can be and not forget that this darkness and death is also part of us, whether we like it or not. Or we can look at it from a totally different angle, where these cadavers can be viewed at as failed experiments by the artist to create his perfect CG body, and we now witness firsthand the cost of the creative process. Interpretations aside, the work of Simone, where digital sculpture is explored both in flesh and stone, where paintings reach out to touch us before we can touch them, is a fascinating delight. I urge you all to visit his various social media platforms to discover a unique mix of the morbid and the classical and to join us for the inaugural edition of ‘The MoCDA sessions’ this Wednesday, where Simone will be our guest at 8.30PM CET to talk about our theme for the month of March, ‘the relation between traditional artistic practices and the modern digital art form. "Fallimento" by Simone Vezzani https://www.simonevezzani.xyz/

Satirical humour and collage art often find themselves natural partners, something that’s keenly underlined in the work of the self-thought marvel that is Cult Class, the pseudonym of American artist Caitlyn Grabenstein. Alien manned spaceships, flower heads, mass destruction, lonely ghosts and insta-Jezus are just a few of the iconic figures you can see pop up in her work. This piece, called Scrolling these days, for me felt like an exploration of internet rage. Short fuses and hot tempers seem to become almost synonymous with online communication, where vitriol and hatred often outweigh rationality and sensibility. It often feels like everyone is angry about something on the internet and the barriers to unleashing that rage tend to be non-existent. This work for me captures that spirit perfectly, one can almost imagine the explosion of fire that an off-hand comment or a news item has unleashed in the central figure, a spark that feels ready to ignite a ‘flame’ war. Caitlyn’s retro style, mixing current imagery with photographic elements from the past, only seems to enhance the absurdity of some of our modern problems. If you enjoy this work, please head over to ‘Cult Class’s’ channels and dive into her often madcap explorations of our pop culture, where although the world might look like it’s ending, the ride towards our doom at least feels like a fun one. "Scrolling these days" (2021) by Cult Class https://cultclassart.com/