FreshBump

Jessica Kirkpatrick’s studio is not currently based anywhere but will probably end up on the outskirts of some non-major-art-center city by next year. She has just finished her MFA at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland, and is currently teaching in Scotland as well. Her work deals with questions reality and artifice, opposition, the landscape and the female nude. (more…)

A graduate of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2004, Ann-Marie James lives and works in London. James’ interdisciplinary practice encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, video and text, and she has exhibited in the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Venezuela and the United States, including a residency at Lantana Projects in Memphis, Tennessee in 2006. Recent group exhibitions include The Group Show, at 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, New York; Changing The Nature, curated by Purge Projects at Vulpes Vulpes, London; The Westminster Open 2009 and The Drawing Salon at The Mews Project Space, London. Recent solo exhibitions include Danse Macabre at First Floor Projects, London and Pareidolia at Edel Assanti Project Space, London. (more…)

Born in Iran, raised in Belgium and educated in Montreal, Payam Montazami has been combining the Surrealist expression of the unconscious with culturally relevant subject matter for over 10 years. Through painting and sculpture, Payam’s work aims to challenge and probe the audience just as much as the audience does his works. On the surface, one is drawn in by the distorted beauty and underlying humor of Payam’s pieces, and this often leads to a deeper emotional connection with the work. Through use of unusual materials and color, Payam aims to accentuate and contrast the unnatural creatures that inhabit his otherworldly landscapes. Payam’s series entitled “Slices of the Perverse” is no exception, and represents a collection of mixed media works dealing with the consequences of cosmetic surgery married with genetic engineering.

Payam’s work uses traditional forms of art media such as paint and physical materials, bolstered by his years of experience experimenting with electronic and digital arts. His minimalist interactive installations have been unleashed for public consumption on numerous occasions, most recently with inclusion at the Montreal S.A.T. Interactive Arts Exhibits. Payam’s pieces have been nominated for various “best of show” awards, based on the strong innovation, inventiveness and entertainment value of his work. He currently resides in Montreal where he continues to produce unique pieces as well as supporting his website, which is aimed at helping young undiscovered artists in his community. Payam holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal. (more…)

Chris Classen is a resident of Los Angeles, California; he holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska, and a Masters of Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_Arc). On the surface, his work seems to be High Minimalist painting, and there is no denying its quiet, contemplative, and steely presence. However, unlike Minimalism’s absence of the artist’s hand, or even Pop art’s rejection of painting itself, his work relies heavily on rigorous hand-work, and brushed paint. This is less a contradiction and more an essay in the evolution of austerity in modern art. (more…)