Paper Cut Nut

Recently an interest has been sparked to search for paper cut artists. There are so many out there who do bloody amazing things with just paper.
In the same realm of paper cut artists are diorama artists and I am really happy to know that there are people out there who have the patience to make pieces of paper into art without paint, or other additions(ok maybe a little glue...)
Here is a great blog post on flavorwire with 10 fabulus paper cut artists: http://flavorwire.com/229698/10-amazing-cut-paper-diorama-artists#10

Also webdesignerdepot.com has a great list of "100 Extraordinary Examples of Paper Cut Art," which is where the above images came from.

The Art of Reportage

Comics from the book Clumsy By Jeffry Brown.

My first homework assignment of the week was to come to class prepared to share about a reportage artist that I admire or a sample of my own work.
Definition of Reportage:
reportage |rəˈpôrtij; ˌrepôrˈtä zh |
noun
the reporting of news, for the press and the broadcast media : extensive reportage of elections.
• factual presentation in a book or other text, esp. when this adopts a journalistic style.

I can think of plenty of artists that I admire, but ones who specifically report on an event, or events? I realized that mainly the artists that interest me are the ones that report on their own lives. If they make things about themselves, their personal lives, and feelings it tends to make me interested in them and their stories. This goes for books as well.
As a starting point I made a list of artists who I admire that fit into the Reportage category (some may argue though that my definition of Reportage is a little loose...) Also, many of these artists have been listed in previous blog entries.
Artists/Graphic Novelists:
Marjane Satrapi-Persepolis and Persepolis 2. She also has two newer books that I need to read-Plumes of Feathers and Embroideries.
Don Nace-Drawn Out -Autobiographical sketches surrounding his life.
Jeffery Brown- His work is pictured above. I recently purchased his graphic novel titled Clumsy It is a collection of sketches done at the time of a relationship that he dedicated to anyone who has loved and lost. The actual drawing style doesn't interest me, but the story is full of embarrassing moments, heartfelt times between lovers, and true reflections of relationship blisses and disapointments. It is strikingly honest. Here is a proper review of it: http://beardedmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/02/
Sonja Ahlers-Another artist I had forgotten about. I have her book Fatal Distraction which is a combination of imagery, text, poetry and self-reflections. Read an article about her here: http://www.taddlecreekmag.com/bunny-heads-and-stranger-things
Ralph Steadman-has written and illustrated various books, but is known especially for his work with Hunter S. Thompson.
Photographers
Richard Avedon-Incredible black and white photos showing American people of the mid-west(among other photos, including one of Barack Obama before he became president.)
Diane Arbus- Do I really need to explain? Known for taking photos of freaks and sideshow acts, people who count as strange.
Edward Burtynsky-Large colour photos that deal with the masses of destruction that society inflicts on the earth-mines, oil-drilling, Chinese landfills, etc...
Edward Muybridge-Does his work count as reportage? He staged most of the images in his work; early film/photography studies in movement, and the human body.
Sculptors:
Ron Mueck-He may not have occurred to me at all, but I saw a postcard of his work at the British Museum today, but sadly his exhibit occurred two years ago, so I won't get to see it. Larger than life creations of the human form.

Francesco Galle-Illustrator and Fine Artist

Reading an issue of Maison Neuve(A Canadian publication of arts, opinion and ideas) the illustration of artist Francesco Galle promted me to look up his work online. Some of his work is really nice. Naturally ink artists tend to lure me in(but not just any ink artists). At his online portfolio http://www.francescogalle.com there are two sections: one for Illustration work, and one for fine art. Several pieces that have a certain allure are his series done in ink and painted with expresso coffee-the idea of it is appealing enough, and is actually carried out in a way that has attractive lines, shapes and subtle brown blobs. Also his portrait series in his illustrations were drawings that I enjoyed looking at because of the ink lines that made up a unique portrait.
Screen shots above were taken from his website.

Nog a Dod: Prehistoric Canadian Psyckedooolia Book

I recently purchased the book Nog a Dod: Prehistoric Canadian Psyckedooolia. It is a contemporary art book made up of reproductions of extra mini art books put out by a variety of Canadian artists mainly based out of Vancouver. The book includes drawings, paintings, text-drawing-combos and parts of it that border on comic or graphic novel. All in all, I enjoy this book. Because it is made up of previously published works, there isn't a true kind of flow to it other than that it follows a somewhat doodle-based drawing order. The original works were put out over a span of 10 years up to 2005, with the peices included in the book becoming a great collaborative work full of strange characters, funny artistic interventions, and bizarre combinations of text, image and ideas. It was edited by Marc Bell, a Canadian self-publishing cartioonist who has tried to represent works that were not published previously other than in the original 5" by 4 1/4" format. This book is definatly worth the $25.oo retail price. It is entertaining to look at, to read, and just to take in the sheer oddities that more than 15 artists have contributed to.