RAYMOND PETTIBONNo title (I hit my), 2003Ink on paper38.1 x 48.9 cm

This art work applied monochromatic colour, black and white takes most of the place with some red popping out catching the viewer’s eyes, some texts included in the painting. The art work used only ink, leaving it a filmy texture, very little colour overlay on each other. It used a lot of negative space between five figures, black and white standing out, taking most of the space and makes them main subject. The work was made in 2003, Raymond Pettibon was intentionally putting his rough drawing with some erudite literature, the artist usually prefers random juxtapositions in his drawing unless there’s an overriding theme. Pettibon’s art is a reflect of the ever-changing wave of generation, mocking the at the cultural signifiers.

John Walsh

Not stranded, (2019)Oil on unstretched canvas 1550 x 2600 mm

Not stranded depicting a group of whales in an inhabited port, the artwork was painted in blue, a nice transport from light to dark, the picture is balance and harmony with the artist’s use of colour, he used foreground and background to create the sense of depth, place the main subject in the middle of the canvas to set a focus point. “Not stranded” is the core of a series of work, titled “Mercurial”, the word is from the Latin “mercuriālis”, which is associated with the roman god Mercury, a guide to the underworld. The ethereal ecosystem of Walsh’s painting is flowing between myth and reality, in which creatures appear from familiar but uncertain landscapes and constantly deformed. This is a combination of Maori cosmology and European counterparts to express ongoing negotiations of culture and environment.

Peter Doig

Red Boat (Imaginary Boys), 2004

Oil and metallic silver paint on canvas

199 x 186.4 cm

“Red boat” gives a unsettling feeling, the art work creates an melting illusion, Peter Doig did it on purpose of light application of paint and let it drip in a modernist way. In this painting, the world was divided into three part and active by three colours, from the top, the sky was painted in a light bluish grey against the gorgeous tones and harmony colours of the tropical landscape and water, bright orange and some pink jumping out from transparent emeralds. On the foreground, a red boat with some white figures, black shadow with no reflection. The mysterious paintings of Peter Doig are know for their symbolic depiction and fantastic character. His works often draws from his childhood memories in Canada, film and movies and his own imaginations.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser

1.Woman with Balloons, 1950

Watercolour and charcoal on primed wrapping paper Reverse: charcoal drawing

400mm x 300 mm

This is a mix media work using watercolour and charcoal, the artist used bright red and yellow as contrast colour to the deep dull green in the background. There are lots of straight lines drew in the painting, leading viewer’s eyes to the woman sitting in the chair. The work used some rough brushstroke which created a loss sense of style. The artist Hundertwasser was famous for his unique and visionary paintings that reflect his philosophy of a compatible interaction between human beings and nature. He is well-known for being an autonomous and independent artist, and for the lack of affiliation of his ideas with any ”ism”.

https://kidzfeed.com/hundertwasser-facts-for-kids/

2. Die Sonnenblumen und die Stadt-The Sunflower and the Town, 1949

Watercolour and charcoal on two pieces of irregularly torn, overlapping wrapping paper

70 x 50 cm

This work brings out the artist’s symbolic style of interaction between human civilization and nature, this work is separated with light and dark but also interact with each other. The painting was cover by straight lines forming a net and a pattern. The shapes Hundertwasser used was irregular, almost like a child’s hand drawing. Some colours are showing across two areas, making some connection.

Frances Hodgkins

Dordrecht, 1908

Watercolour

680 x 455 mm

In this post-impressionism style painting, Hodgkins introduced children into the foreground, compare to the architecture in the background and add an interest into the painting, the view’s focus point collects more on the little girl. It presented the sensuous use of colour under Hodgkins’s hand with complementary contras between blue, red and orange, it brings both warm and cold feelings to the painting. The artist completed “Dordrecht” in a day with extremely cold and bleak weather which forced her to paint indoors, over a window. The weather leaves an effect of grey and wetness that the painter added to the painting.

Wasily Kandinsky

Improvisation. Dreamy., 1913

Oil on canvas

130.7 × 130.7 cm

The work is a combination of palette of colours and black lines, everything in this painting is random and making conflict but not creating any violation. Artist used a lot of contrasting colours, blue and red, green and yellow, causing a strong visual conflict. Some of the black lines leaves space for colour but most of them are overlapping, not forming any shape or pattern. In this era of Kandinsky, his works with large format and expressive colour groups, his connection with classic music plays an important role in this period of time, Kandinsky sometimes uses musical terms to identify his work, he refers to his most spontaneous works as ’improvisation’ and describe more elaborate ones as ‘composing’.

Kristina Alisauskaite

Don't ask II, 2011

Oil on canvas

30 x 25 in

A face less figure with black dress and hair band, hair was painted white almost invisible. Cold tone of the background created an uncomfortable emptiness. Alisauskaite’s paintings are laconicism, she uses the ultimate effect of minimalistic, empty space filled large parts in this painting. Her minimalist paintings depict the frozen moments of reality, an critic of materialism and consumerism.

Memories, 2018

Oil on canvas

52 x 38 x 4 cm

The figure’s face is smudged, only left some blurry details to show it is a woman wearing some makeup. I like how the artist apply the medium with thick brush strokes.

Phillp Guston

Cherries III, 1976

Oil on canvas

165.1 x 294.6 cm

The artist painted it in one-point perspective, the picture is separate in to red/pink and blue with a clear horizontal line, giving people a sense of calm and tranquility space. dividing it into two triangles, red taking 1/3 of the space placing on the top with wide blue underneath and created a sense of depth. The used colours are lifeless in the painting, turbid, which presents a frustrating mood to the viewers. Placing the “cherries” in the middle, confirmed the focus point. Philip Guston is a representative of post-expressionism in the 1960s, in his late

paintings he conveys the violence of the word through cartoon like images, they are the cruel allegory of modern life. The pile of cherry is equivalent to combinations of limbs and they are symbol of Guston’s painting from this period with meanings in both sexual and spiritual. Cherries are monumental surrogates for the human figure, violently beleaguered by nails that suggest both martyrdom and sexual frustration. This symbolism somes from Renaissance painting, in which cherries represent the sweetness of virtue and the blood of Christ.

https://honolulumuseum.org/art/5422-cherries-iiia_z

Brett Amory

Waiting 79, 2011

Oil on wood panel

121.92 x 180.34 cm

This painting is focus on a single man under the street light, the building behind the figure faded into the darkness, there is a great contrast between light and dark. Amory hide some

part from the building under some translucent paint layer to create a ripple effect. The artist used a soft colour palette no particular jumping out from the art work. By applying loose brushworks to blur the recorded landscape, the people depicted in the painting tend to look more dispersed and isolated individuals. Brett Amory began documenting lone individuals on the streets in San Francisco, they became a parable of loneliness.

“Waiting” depicting anonymous commuters he encountered in urban settings, it was lauded for its psychological depth and representations of alienation in contemporary society. These paintings are based on photographs taken by the artist, who explained he was drawn to subjects who appeared out of place, alienated, or awkward.

https://www.artsy.net/artist/brett-amory

Elizabeth Peyton

Practice (Yuzuru Hanyu), 2018

Oil on board

12 1/6 x 9 inches

I like the way the artist using straight lines in her painting, using one stroke to describe shadows, outlines. Her fresh, light and delicate translucent brushworks and the use of soft colour makes her work unique and fascinating. The common technique used by Peyton is oil paint but there are also watercolours, pencils and etching. Her most recognizable feature is the matt glaze of dripping paint; some areas of the canvas are left blank.

Alice Neel

Hartley, 1965

Oil on Canvas

127 x 91cm

Neel painted some of her most impactful paintings around the people close to her, this is a portrait of her son Hartley. As in many of her portraits, the perimeter of the painting is not complete. This focuses out attention on the central details of the painting such as the rendering shadows on his shirt and pants, giving them a near-realistic quality. Neel used some bold, dark outline on his body and face, her portraits stand out for their vivid colour and dynamic brushstrokes. Most of her subjects have the same long fingers but her works has a wonderful inconsistency: sometimes she draws a strong and dull picture with the use of flat and unmixed colour, the particular care with the feature of the sitter’s face and hands that convey a deeper psychology.

Andrew Salgado

The Bacchanal, 2012

Oil on Canvas

120 x 100 cm

Salgado’s paintings are large portraits that combine abstract and symbolic elements. Salgado uses the intrinsic materiality and performance potential of oil paint to create both fragile and powerful feeling.” My paintings present a perspective of a brutalized male body in heightened, melodramatic states. I am interested in depicting banal subjects as elevated and allegorical, in which representations refer to their own physicality and – through the gestural application of paint – the nature of painting.” (Salgado) He uses short wide brushes that leaves block od pigments.

Lucian Freud

Reflection (Self-Portrait), 1985

Oil on Canvas

55.9 x 53.3 cm

Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was one of the greatest realist painters of the 20th century. Renowned for his portrayal of the human form, Freud is best known for his intimate, honest, often visceral portraits. This painting applied the technique of sweeping, expressive brushstrokes, breathtaking compositional mastery is evident in the matrix of strokes lavished on the face and the careful balance of light and shadow. Witness, for example, how the deep shadow under the chin and dark square in the upper corner seem to anchor the forms in space.

“Strong composition on solid design and rough touches of light and half-light areas – that is, darkness. With the really strong light coming out of the body-animal. And the mean tones, the deep darkness, coming from the face – mask. A strange, emphatic, palpitating mask that captures three elements with earthen colors – stubbornness, wonder and fear. And a naughty fourth: to beat the crap out of the one that represents and the one who is representing.”

https://www.kalliergeia.com/en/lucian-freud-reflection-self-portrait-1985/

Freud gave up his structure and refined techniques, instead he used discernible strokes and a muted palette. He fouses the audience on the theme rather than the emotional associations that are attracted by certain colours.