THE DYNAMIC WORKS OF PHIL HALE
Phil Hale has been involved in the contemporary art scene for a few decades now. His impressive resume shows he has had his hand in many creative endeavors including illustrations in magazines, book covers, portrait commissions, and gallery shows. Even without the knowledge of his success, prestige and credibility as a leading figure in representational figurative art, one is able to understand the brilliance and genius of this man just by viewing his works. His work is careful and deliberate but manages to find its way into a realm of expressiveness typically saved for abstract artists.
There are several themes and styles Phil has explored over the course of his career, most notably a series of dark, fragmented pieces conveying devastation, impending doom, and distress. This series, Life Wants to Live, was showcased at the Jonathon Levine Gallery in New York this past February. The striking images he created with oil provide an unsettling showcasing of the unreliability of recounting events and narratives. If you look carefully, you can see the influence of photography in these fragmented pieces. There is a suggestion of a story; but his real but expressive way of applying paint allows for room for interpretation- a glimpse of a stressful scene combining figure and debris with spontaneous abstraction. This isn’t art for the weak, or those looking to be comforted.
Phil’s past work’s includes dynamic, colorful portraits and figurative work showing his talent for creating raw, real, and captivating paintings. His abilities shine through with his inclination to not only emulate the human form, but to manipulate it and make it come to life with the help of expert handling of oil paint. Movement and complexity are the themes Phil pulls off exceptionally well. His figures are rarely stagnant and always enchanting.
Beauté Aviaire A series of conceptual fine art prints, exploring the connection between the aesthetic beauty that visually lies in the delicate luxurious opulence of avian plumage and the sexual femininity of the female form. These composite images, where feather meets beauty and fashion, are constructed using the art of photographic capture, photographing models and birdlife in separate instances and in separate locations.
Imagine a “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” type situation where a young punk rock kid from Brooklyn finds himself time traveling back to 17th century Holland and stumbles into the painting studio of one of the classic Dutch Masters. Accepting this odd twist of fate, he dutifully studies the teachings and techniques of his mentor and eventually breaks out on his own, painting images of his earlier life in the future. Pure fiction perhaps, but the result is all real. Dan Witz has been painting just such work in his New York studio for decades. Masterfully composed scenes of epic mosh pits pieced together from reference photos take by the artist himself at punk-rock shows are painted with the detail and delicacy he cultivated during his studies as a classical painter.
Rino Stefano Tagliafierro is an Italian experimental animator and director based in Milan. His output includes music videos and fashion videos. In addition to collaborating with teams and video artists creating interactive video projections for exhibitions, museums and special events, he has participated in many festivals and competitions, and has received numerous international awards in recognition of his work.
Milan-based artist Thomas Cian is extraordinarily talented with a pencil, and lucky for us he has chosen to open the pages of his sketchbook to share a wide variety of drawings and experiments online.
Anastasia Kopittseva was born in Russia in 1987. She studied at the Moscow Academic Art Lyceum of the Russian Academy of Arts and in the All-Russian State University of Cinematography and the British Higher School of Art and Design.
