Featured Artists You Should Get to KnowJunko Mizuno, Grapheart, Friends With you, Martin Hsu

  • Posted on: December 04, 2012 @ 9:54AM
  • Published in: Hype
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The artists we choose each week is based on a combination of general awesomeness and new work or shows they might be releasing around the time we publish these articles. This week there were a variety of reasons that caused a delay in publishing this, so some of the awesomeness we're talking about has probably already happened. However, that shouldn't stop you from checking out all the amazing work these artists produce.

Featured for Designer Toys: Junko Mizuno

I was thinking lately about the difference between art that's sexual and art that is sexy. It's a subtle difference but I think that it speaks volumes about the artist if they can make the leap from their art being just explicit in some way, to their work really provoking or arousing the viewer. I don't just want nudity, I want art that turns me on - and for that I look no further than Junko Mizuno. Junko's characters are weird… in the best possible way. Big toes, big hair, big eyes, and lots and lots of boobs. Her work is loaded with detail, both subtle and not-so-much, and the technical perfection of her pieces makes me want to stare at them forever. I'm a huge fan of her paintings, but this week we're calling her out specifically for her contribution to the world of toys. a few weeks back Kidrobot released her latest piece through Kidrobot Black, Kuro Megami, a seductive goddess in a limited edition of just 200 pieces - and carrying a hefty price tag of $400. It's gorgeous and I urge you all to check it out (and buy it if you can afford to) at kidrobot.com. You can also keep up to date on her many creative doings on her blog mizuno-junko.com.

Featured for Custom Toys: Grapheart

Grapheart's customizing prowess is not reserved merely for toys, as evidenced by the gorgeous customized guitar comission on his blog, nor is his toy prowess limited to vinyl, as you can see from this awesome fabric Pantone Monster standing 39" tall (just about a meter, if you convert to his native French) and looking bright and oddly delicious. That being said, his custom toys are definitely what drew me in. He has an absolutely incredible illustration style that works perfectly on vinyl. His untitled Chaos Kong for the Chaos Kong Expo at Artoyz Gallery is only the latest piece in a long line of gorgeously customized toys. Follow his doings on his blog (with a little help from google translate) at grapheart.blogspot.com.

Featured for Art Prints: Friends With You

Warning: I actually have a somewhat negative critique at the end of this, so let me preface it with all the things I love about Friends With You. Friends With You is the creative collaborative of Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III. They are not the first to venture into the post-pop style, but they certainly found their own unique voice creating a substantial body of work from paintings and prints to massive installations. Their message of "Magic, Luck, and Friendship," their heavily saturated colors and their various grinning blobs are the trademarks of a brand that's powerful and just fun to look at. Among their recent work is an awesome gold porcelain Little Buddy, produced by Case Studyo in a limited edition of just 25 pieces and is still available through casestudyo.com. I absolutely love it. Their "I am Malfi" and "I am Malfi II" prints, on the other hand, were released a couple of weeks back with Poster Child Prints are as big as they are underwhelming. That's ok, boys and girls, it only makes me appreciate the awesomeness of The Guide in my living room that much more. Check out more of their work on their recently redesign site at friendswithyou.com.

Featured for Original Art: Martin Hsu

It's a treat to write about Martin Hsu in the Original Art category. His incredible talent has reached into toys and prints that I am so fond of, but his paintings are my favorite. He kept in good company at his most recent show "Unspoken Messages"  with Jeremiah Ketner at OhNo!Doom. The show in Chicago is still on display until tomorrow. Aside from enjoying this show immensely, I also learned something. Martin Hsu paints mostly with Cel Vinyl, a medium I've never tried and always associated with cartoons (because it's used to paint animation cels) and highly saturated graphics. However in this series of paintings depicting vicious animals, the neutral pallet and and fluid almost watercolor-like motion in his brushstrokes create a very placid vision that's not-at-all cartoony. So there you have it, if you're an artist you should try cel vinyl. I dare you to be half as good as Martin Hsu. Keep up to date with Martin on his site martinhsu.com.

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