Many of the artist that have been the focus of our blog have been west coast artists. Lately, my interest has found a shift towards artists, galleries and collectives in the east coast. With the current Miami Art Basel event and some really exciting shows in New York, I decided to visit and write about some of my favorite New York artists and galleries.

A current visit to Stephen Haller Gallery in the Chelsea District proved to be a visually exiting environment where Japanese/American artist Nobu Fukui explores shapes and colors dancing in a graphically interesting, yet gridded composition. His pieces can, at once, be considered pop art as well as something different – a radical expression of childhood dreams. Fukui’s pieces pay homage to traditional Japanese Anime art as well as comic book heroes and heroines from traditionally american series.

His mixed media on canvas pieces incorporate comic book cut outs as well as small plastic balls protruding from the canvas; These balls bring the round shapes out into the third dimension and allow viewers to make a spatial connection to the works.

David Jon Kassan is a master painter. Seriously, look at his stuff. I haven’t seen work like this, well, ever. Not only are they technically masterful but they are also of an incredible scale! The degree of realism that he is able to achieve is almost better than a photograph.

The creamy hues and soft undulating forms make Kassan’s portraits hyper-realistic and bring to mind images of Michelangelo’s “David” and “Pieta”. The settings are quiet and his subjects appear lonely, frozen in pensive moments. This is when the detail in Kassan’s textures come into focus and become equally as important as the main subjects. The degree of realism in Kassan’s paintings make his viewers yearn to get closer to further investigate their origin. He doesn’t miss a detail- not a hair, vein or wrinkle. Kassan’s paintings are also dream-like and inspire the viewer to look inward.

If you get a chance I would highly recommend seeing his work in person. If not you’re in luck because he has just been featured in a recently published book on Contemporary Art titled Upset. Looking froward to getting my hands on a copy.

You can go to David’s website at www.davidkassan.com

We never cease to be amazed with Swoon whose large-scale works we most often find hiding in obscure alleyways and street-sides worldwide. The most recent series of work featuring young Mexican women are scattered all over the streets of San Francisco. One piece in particular, an instillation at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts sits as a life size shrine, commenting on the disappearance of young Mexican women ages 16-24; whose disappearances have not only been neglected, but disregarded by Mexican government officials.

A similar piece lives in the Mission district of San Francisco. Untouched and undisturbed, this piece resides majestically between 24th and Hampshire. Extremely detailed and thoughtfully placed, the carefully stenciled piece appears to be a large orb of light emanating from a young woman. The girl’s eyes are innocent and tender, nervous and unsure, looking up from her traditional quincinera attire symbolizing her recent initiation into womanhood and an age of coming.

As the piece draws you in, one recognizes the elaborately carved skulls hiding in the orb, a representation of mortality often seen in religious artwork. There are many skulls, which may comment on the vast amount of girls who have gone missing and whose families await the day they can put them to rest. Also hiding in the orb are monarch butterflies and feathers, symbols of flight. According to Mexican folklore, the butterflies are said to present themselves as family members who have passed on.

Swoon modestly states that it is her sales from private collectors that fund her public works which remain art the heart of her process. These public works are what made her popular with urban art lovers across the globe. Her mission in making art available to the public sits at the heart of the Curbs & Stoops mission and for this we are elated to share this piece with you.