Shani Peters

As I was researching an artist I came across Shani Peters. I've seen one of her installation pieces at MOCAD and I was very intrigued. It just happens that her father, Dr.Peters is one of the professors that opened my eyes to the current social injustices we encounter today. In Shani's Installastion titled Re-Program she uses two iconic black families, The Huxtables and the Evans as a surrogate to talk about common social and economic issues that are common in most black families. 

RePROGRAM episodes 1-10 from Shani Peters on Vimeo.

Maxime Delvaux and Kevin Laloux-Enya Moran

"354 is a photographer’s collective, with two photographers, both working in advertising and in architecture. We became partners in 2009 to develop projects together and to broaden our visions about photography. We now work with many different architecture offices and advertising agencies. Our studio is located right in the center of Brussels."  http://354.be/about

The two artists that I have been looking at are Maxime Delvaux and Kevin Laloux. They created this series called Box. Each scene is made from cardboard boxes and dollhouse miniature furniture. These images are very surreal and a bit disturbing. You get a sense that these are perfect homes, but in each image there is a imperfect thing, like a fire or a car crashed through the wall. What is so great about these images is that the figures in the images seem almost to not be phased by what is happening. these images are showing the imperfections of life and that is what I want to create with my work. Each one tells its own story without telling you the whole story. 

 

Rodney Smith

Rodney Smith is a photographer who appreciates the subtleties in film and looking at things from a classic photographers point of view. He calls himself a traditionalist and someone who places people inside of landscapes. He never uses special effects.

There is something about his work difficult to discuss using words. However, the word "timeless" keeps coming up and again for me. There is detail and simplicity in his process. I really enjoy looking at his work for the photography aspect on its own. His composition and perspective on life is amazing. It's clever. It's different.

http://www.rodneysmith.com/portfolio

Jacinda Russell

i came a cross a new artist over the last couple of weeks that has sparked a interest in that she has done some work with obsession and the obsessions that people have. She is currently an assistant professor at Muncie Indiana. She got her BFA in Boise, at Boise State University and her MFA at University of Arizona in Photography. She likes to transform objects into self portraits, the objects take on a representation of the people and the places.

http://jacindarussellart.blogspot.com/2011/03/tales-of-obsession-from-cigarette-pack.html

http://jacindarussell.com/home.html

Tryee Guyton

http://www.heidelberg.org

http://wdet.org/shows/craig-fahle-show/episode/heidelberg-project-founder-honored-through-jazz/

http://www.tyreeguyton.com

He feel he is a artist that is striving to be a part of the solution yet some think he is a creator of a eye sore and have resorted to burning down his work. A man that draws attention to some of the blite in Detroit area and uses found items to make a point with his crations has lately been in the new again as his creations now for the second time in a month have been burned to the ground. A project that has been there for well over 27 years and has inspired many other artist, and has been a backdrop for countless photos is now under fire as arson burn it to the ground.

He studied art at Marygrove College and at Wayne state University he told a teaching position there in 2007 he has had his work displayed in Australia and and at other  international  areas he also has been represented by the Detroit Art Institute. His grandfather was a recognize internationally as a artist. 

Enrico Natali

http://www.enriconatali.com/index.html


I recently went to a book signing for Enrico Natali's 1968. Natali documented the shift from industrial Era of Detroit before the rise of racial tension. His style feels very similar to Gordon Parks and naturally I was drown to this.
When he spoke he talked about reality only existing to the individual through perception. Enrico also said that he wasn't searching for anything and he didn't plan this, it just happened. This work is exactly the kind of sentiments that I'm looking for in my future work ironically starting in Detroit.
In Natlis new work he walking around with a DSLR snapping at random and later cropping in. He believes that the universe will work in disfavor and that exciting and intriguing to me because I believe the same.

http://www.kwangholee.com

"The Threads that Bind us includes a series of original works in which "woven material" is clearly of fundamental importance, turning out to be crucial for instilling identity and character on certain objects and for evoking a vision of how the practice of weaving fibres opens up to meaningful interpretations. A thread, which is a flexible, non-extendable structure, is what allows operations like sewing, embroidery and weaving to be carried out, age-old creative practices which, even though they have very definite and unmistakable roots in craft tradition, turn out to still be valid realms of exploration for assessing new or innovative solutions. As well as reviving an old-fashioned and universally practised craft, the use of threads and yarns for the modern-day manufacturing of objects is also a very up-to-date and original means of expression, giving new meaning to key terms like "knot" and "stitch" and metaphorically evoking the concepts of "weave" and "web". The designers have been selected by the curators and invited to take part in the Exhibition through the design and implementation of an unpublished work. "

this is part of his Prophets & Penitents series

He was born in 1981 in Seoul Korea.  He majored in Metal Art & Design at Hongik University, and graduated in February 2007. He currently lives and works in Seoul. He started working this way because of his grandfather who liked to collect things and turn them into tool or peace of functioning things and he kept them around the house. Kwangho remembers walking over all his grandfathers inventions in the home he grew up in and the stuff he collected.