12 votes

Favorite artists

Who are your favorite artists and what excites you about their work? Is there a general style or period you cherish or a do you enjoy a smorgasbord of eras?

I got into a discussion tonight about favorite artists with my partner and we ended up down a fascinating rabbit hole of what I found so appealing about them. Art can be such a unique, personal, and even intimate experience and I'd love to hear your own experiences.

12 comments

  1. lou
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    Greg Egan is a hard sci-fi author that goes deep into the rabbit hole of transhumanism. Clint Eastwood's exploration of classic tropes in modern cinema is outstanding. Contrapoints reinvented the...

    Greg Egan is a hard sci-fi author that goes deep into the rabbit hole of transhumanism.

    Clint Eastwood's exploration of classic tropes in modern cinema is outstanding.

    Contrapoints reinvented the art of the essay.

    Johann Sebastian Bach understood our connection with the sublime, and Debussy, with the dreaming.

    Neil Gaiman is the closest thing we have to the Grimm Brothers, and he is much better than the 19th-century duo.

    Everyone falls in love with Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn, but for different reasons.

    Kurt Cobain sang our tragedies of love and desperation, a heart beating under frozen water.

    And so much more... ;)

    EDIT: for proper artists, I must mention Magritte, which is considered a surrealist. I'd rather call him a "distortionist" since his paints are not a complete departure from reality like Dali, but rather a heavily distorted version of reality. Also, Hopper and Caravaggio, the master of light.

    5 votes
  2. mieum
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    When this thread first came up I couldn't quite articulate a response; partly because for the past few years my study of art has been "anthropological" in nature, so playing favorites felt...

    When this thread first came up I couldn't quite articulate a response; partly because for the past few years my study of art has been "anthropological" in nature, so playing favorites felt awkward. However, each week in a history class I am teaching I show slides about significant artists/artworks to give a sense of the time/place we are studying. Recently we entered the modern period of history, and I was reminded of someone whose work/persona had influenced me tremendously as a young aspiring art student.

    Marcel Duchamp! He was quite an original thinker. I mean, he basically abandoned "the arts" to become a professional chess player, which he understood and discussed as an artform itself. I have always admired how he pushed the boundaries and challenged people to consider a broader definition of art as experience---not just visual experience. Maybe this is true for all Dadaists and Surrealists etc. to some extent, but he is quite funny in a low key way among a world of artists and art critics who take themselves and Art very seriously.

    5 votes
  3. cfabbro
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    My favorites are Salvador Dalí, H.R. Giger, and a slightly more obscure German artist named Hans-Werner Sahm. Their surrealistic art is what inspired me the most back when I was an aspiring artist...

    My favorites are Salvador Dalí, H.R. Giger, and a slightly more obscure German artist named Hans-Werner Sahm.

    Their surrealistic art is what inspired me the most back when I was an aspiring artist myself. And while I don't draw much anymore, I still adore their work, and have various framed lithographs and prints of theirs hung around my house.

    Another of my favorite artists is actually a close family friend, Robert Magee, who my father has been a patron of for decades. Pretty much all he paints is horses, but he paints them, and especially their musculature, absolutely beautifully. My father has about a dozen of his limited edition lithographs, and even a few oil-on-canvas originals, as well as a coffee table book on the history of the Mounties that some of Magees artwork was featured in. And I also have a bunch of sketches that Mr. Magee did for me when I was young, which he would make for me whenever he visited us. :)

    And while he isn't necessarily my personal favorite, my parents also have a bunch of Robert Bateman prints around the house as well, which I used to love looking at when I was young (and still do). IMO Bateman is a master when it comes to painting animals of all sorts.

    3 votes
  4. [3]
    cmccabe
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    Robert Hunter. I’m not crazy about all of his works, but some of my all time favorite songs are based on the amazing combination of his lyrics and Garcia’s singing and guitar playing.

    Robert Hunter. I’m not crazy about all of his works, but some of my all time favorite songs are based on the amazing combination of his lyrics and Garcia’s singing and guitar playing.

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      mieum
      Link Parent
      Oh! I'll second this! Any particular favorites you care to share? In a somewhat related/similar vein I would mention Neal Cassidy, who was one of those rare organisms that is incapable of living...

      Oh! I'll second this! Any particular favorites you care to share? In a somewhat related/similar vein I would mention Neal Cassidy, who was one of those rare organisms that is incapable of living unartfully.

      3 votes
      1. cmccabe
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        Link Parent
        It’s really hard to pick out just a handful, but scratching my head for a bit, here are a few: Sugaree, Brown Eyed Women, Deal, It Must Have Been the Roses, He’s Gone, Bertha, Cumberland Blues,...

        It’s really hard to pick out just a handful, but scratching my head for a bit, here are a few: Sugaree, Brown Eyed Women, Deal, It Must Have Been the Roses, He’s Gone, Bertha, Cumberland Blues, Dire Wolf, Loser. And that’s just a few. He was really prolific!

        2 votes
  5. [3]
    rosco
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    Thank you all for sharing!!! I was thinking of traditional, physical medium artists but I love the way the question was interpreted! I'll weigh in with my own as well. Barry McGee was a huge...

    Thank you all for sharing!!! I was thinking of traditional, physical medium artists but I love the way the question was interpreted!

    I'll weigh in with my own as well.

    Barry McGee was a huge influence on me when I was growing up. He's one of the folks who helped bring street art into the galleries. I shared his work with my partner and she said she had a really hard time looking at it because it all made her uncomfortable, but I absolutely love the expression, wear, and sense of tiredness all his illustrations have. There is something really comforting about how off, unhappy, and tired his creations seem. They have a sense of realness that I think some others lack. He has such a strong aesthetic and I found myself copying it when I was younger in my own doodles and attempts at art. I feel similarly about his wife's work, Margaret Kilgallen. She has an amazing style and gorgeous aesthetic.

    I was introduced to Barry McGee through Ed Templeton. I skated when I was younger and found myself following Ed from Toy Machine into his art as I aged. Like Barry and Margaret, Ed has a kind of a darker tone to his work and focuses on the beauty in traditionally ugly things. I'm not as excited by Ed's work as I am the other artists, but he does a really good job highlighting them. When I was in my early 20s I actually wrote Ed a letter saying I was going to be in France and was hoping to see some of his artwork. He was kind enough to write back and even though there were no shows for him, he gave a long list of places to check out. That alone was enough to make him one of my favorite artists. I also want to highlight Beautiful Losers, it's worth a watch. You'll see a theme, but I also love Michael Sieben. Again, taking traditionally "pretty" things and making them a little uglier. Sign me up.

    For non-traditional mediums I really like Greyson Perry's tapestries. They are weird and fun and well just different from anything else I'd ever seen.

    Locally, I'm all about Wyatt Heresy. He creates some really fun, bold pieces. While I'm on the bold train, I'll end with David Hockney. If you haven't seen his work it's incredible. Bold colors, abstract landscapes, distilled fun. I'm only posting one image as it's easy to get into his work.

    Last plug is for Booooooom. I've been browsing their highlighted artists since about 2010 and I can't say enough about their curation. Really fun and broad slice for folks of all tastes.

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      lou
      Link Parent
      In my language, the word "artist" has a broader meaning by default! So I really thought I was properly answering the prompt :P I will add a note with "proper" artists!!!

      In my language, the word "artist" has a broader meaning by default!

      So I really thought I was properly answering the prompt :P

      I will add a note with "proper" artists!!!

      2 votes
      1. rosco
        Link Parent
        No no, I believe you are completely correct and prefer the answers this way!

        No no, I believe you are completely correct and prefer the answers this way!

        3 votes
  6. mycketforvirrad
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    The photographs of Nan Goldin always make me stop in my tracks. An authentic window into subcultures that I'd never truly see in my own life without her eye. Lucky for me she has an amazing...

    The photographs of Nan Goldin always make me stop in my tracks. An authentic window into subcultures that I'd never truly see in my own life without her eye.

    Lucky for me she has an amazing looking exhibition on here in Stockholm this winter that I'm itching to go see! Note that link is very much NSFW.

    2 votes
  7. [2]
    Wulfsta
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    My favorite (when it comes to paint) is Ivan Albright. Unfortunately, photos of his works are unimpressive, and really only truly stunning in person. The description of The Door does it some...

    My favorite (when it comes to paint) is Ivan Albright. Unfortunately, photos of his works are unimpressive, and really only truly stunning in person. The description of The Door does it some justice, but it truly is otherworldly to stand in front of.

    2 votes
    1. rosco
      Link Parent
      Wow, going to have to find a reason to get out to Chicago now!

      Wow, going to have to find a reason to get out to Chicago now!

      3 votes