BEAUTY: Art--Aaron Smith

I can't believe I have never posted anything about Aaron Smith or his art... until now. He is all over the blogosphere for reasons other than his art (his tattoos, his nostalgic waxed moustache, his general masculine woofiness), but it is his images of Victorian and Edwardian gentlemen rendered in glorious, glowing gobs of paint, thickly applied with a palette knife thus looking more like cake frosting, that interest us here...

Top to bottom: 2 Beards (Czar Nicholas II and George V); Buck; Ginger; Kicker (Roger Casement); Left Handed Likely; Shirkster (Prince Albert Victor); Zhooshy (Prince Albert Victor)

And here is the man himself, along with his sexy tats and stache...down boys, he has a husband.

http://aaronsmithart.com/

BEAUTY: Art--Benjamin Cohen

Benjamin Cohen has broken with traditional portrait and figurative painting. Instead, he is trying to capture the essence or impression of a person. His work is a fine line between Abstraction and Expressionism and just enough of a form to suggest a figure.

Top to bottom: Study of Two Figures and an Interior; Study of Six Figures and an Interior; Study of a Figure and a Boat; Study of an Interior/Exterior with Beak

Watch this three minute interview with Cohen in his studio in London. He speaks quite eloquently about work that is difficult to define.
http://www.benjamincohenstudio.com/documentary/

http://www.benjamincohenstudio.com/

BEAUTY: Art--Stephen Lack

The suburbs have always creeped me out a little. It seems like they hide a side of people that is the opposite of what the suburbs often pretend to be. I am not the only one who has ever felt this. One of the greatest examples of this kind of duality is David Lynch's film "Blue Velvet." And artist Stephen Lack feels it as well. His naïve, colorful, neo-expressionist paintings of suburban neighborhoods and the people who live there show the kind of violence percolating under the surface.

Top to bottom: Suburban Asteroid; Suburban House Halifax; L.I. Oil Tanks; Our Home; Teenagers Hanging Out By The Pool; Boy Kills Friend; Suburban Hunting Party

Aside from his art and impressive residency and teaching positions at institutes the world over, Lack is best remembered as the star of David Cronenberg's 1980 film "Scanners."

http://stephenlackart.com/