3 Artists to Watch

Creating an art collection – especially one that will endure and be recognized by one’s peers in the future – isn’t as much a matter of being able to afford names like Picasso or Matisse as it is identifying up and coming artists who are onto something new and interesting and whose works will endure. After all, when Peggy Guggenheim was collecting art from the likes of Matisse, Calder and others, few people knew who those artists were.

Below we introduce you to three artists we are adding to our collection and whose works you may want to consider for yourself.

Warrior King #1

Marjorie Guyon

Guyon combines ancient imagery with contemporary sensibilities in a way we have never seen before. In her Tattoo series, Guyon’s most iconic pieces utilize imagery of Greek and Roman idols – Aphrodite, Alexander the Great, and others – combined with contemporary tattooing through a process of collaging that often involves marble dust and pigment. Her works are once visually stunning but intellectually stimulating as well. They are not typically merely meant to be enjoyed, but to be thought about as well.

In Warrior King #1, we are forced to reconcile with ancient and contemporary ideals of virtue, leadership and manliness. On the one hand we find ourselves considering the lost ideals of leaders such as Alexander the Great and wondering where we might find those today, while on the other hand being grateful that it is modern, not ancient ideals, that protect and help foster the artist’s graffiti-ing of such an ancient and noble figure.

Embrace

Andre Lanoux

Lanoux’s work is probably best described as retro-pop. It quickly brings to mind for any viewer the master of pop himself, Andy Warhol, and it is all at once fun but fascinating too. Warhol’s imagery of Chairman Mao, Marilyn Monroe and similar motifs are all very familiar to us, but whereas Warhol’s work forced us to reconcile with individuals and specific things, typically, Lanoux’s work makes us consider the times at large.

For example, in his work Waiting we see two women with dour expressions receiving perms. What is typically considered a fun activity for women to do together – going to the salon – becomes something more sinister. Are they sacrificing happiness for beauty? Is their reliance on technology for beauty akin to a reliance on the men in their lives?

Lanoux’s works can be appreciated and enjoyed simply for their color, form and beauty, but their real substance is in the ideas they convey, or at least raise.

Namaste 2

Heidi Lewis Coleman

Coleman’s work is very much inspired by Asian themes, from images of Buddha to Sanskrit and Arabic-like writing that at once contributes to great beauty and often, great symmetry.

Coleman is incredibly prolific and her works range from ones on paper, to rugs and cut wood too. Her cut wood pieces are arguably her most accomplished works. Not only are their intricacies fascinating but they are oddly interactive. You can appreciate their beauty by looking straight on, and appreciate them in an incredibly different way by looking at the shadows and images they cast with light from different angles.

All of  these artists have wonderful works for acquisition. If there is anything we can do to help you, please e-mail Art@ChiltonAndChadwick.com.