Zhong Biao

 Chinese contemporary artist, Zhong Biao was in1968 in Chongqing. He graduated from the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts. He has a unique painting style, a kind of explosive, realistic pop art, bringing past, present and future together in one story.

Zhong Biao; "I like to paint people in black and white because people are temporary - they will eventually leave the world and become
the past. However, some buildings live longer than people; they continue to exist in the world. This is why I paint people in black and white and the background in colour. The contrast with colour is to highlight this dichotomy.

Sometimes, unfortunate things suddenly appear - they become the past, and then the future pushes forward. When today arrives, today becomes the past. It's a continuous process - a cycle. And everyone in the world is constituted from pieces of time. Therefore, in my paintings I can freely co-ordinate the past, present and future.

I don’t want to force my own understanding or interpretation of my paintings on the audience. The mixture of images within each of my paintings is like a combination of controversial elements in life. We don’t have to understand everything we see in each painting. Like life, we cannot understand everything that we have seen or experienced. In my paintings, Eastern and Western, historical and modern opposites coexist, reflecting the reality of today’s lifestyle.

I have only one dream: That the people I have painted will, many years from now, visit the people of the future on my behalf, taking along with them this chaotic world." (from Art Scene China)

 

Atsushi Koyama

Human forms interacting with mechanical parts on a black canvas, Atsushi Koyama produces his oil paintings while listening to electronic music. Separately, the technical diagrams and anatomical studies look very classical, but combined, in oil on canvas it takes on a completely new life. Atsushi Koyama holds a degree in 'Fine Art' and 'Mathematics', well represented in his art...

Creating on the borderline of art and science with electronic sounds filling his workspace resulted in the 'Metamachine project'. A collaboration between Atsushi Koyama, Frantic Gallery and Abonded Audio.

Chris Berens

Chris Berens at his studio.

Chris Berens is not what you call 'a traditional painter'  not in the way he works and not in the way he presents his surreal and visionary ideas. His inspiration is drawn from his inner self, and he is influenced by the old Dutch masters. Not that strange, being of Dutch descend. He evolved from using oil paints into the more liquid medium of the drawing inks. Amanda  Erlanson; "a fluid medium which allowed greater flexibility than oils, as well as spectacular distortion effects reminiscent of the view through an ancient handmade lens."
Amanda Erlanson's description is well illustrated in the video below.


Images from different years are shown in chronological order. Every work is hand painted, as some people wrongly suspected it to be photoshop manipulations.

 2006, Ik wil alleen maar zwemmen

 2008, Broadcast

 2010, Blond in the soul

 2011, How to catch a tidal wave

 2012, Sovereign still

 2013, 0basute

2015, mooncalf

Mark Hayward

Born in Portsmouth, England. Mark Hayward produces paintings and limited prints (screen prints), the soft neutral backgrounds enhances the faceless figures in the center of the image. Familiar childhood scenes and thoughts are shown, Mark displays them with a certain kind of humour, maybe even sarcasm. Little people in costumes imitating grown ups, or is it the other way round.

Gilbert Legrand

French artist Gilbert Legrand gives a new identity to everyday tools and objects. The modified and painted objects brings a smile to your face. After seeing Gilbert's fun characters, you can't but look different at your toolbox or kitchen aids. lovely and joyful.
Gilbert Legrand works as an illustrator from Toulouse, but was born in Paris.

Kim Byungkwan

  

Painter and digital artist Kim Byungkwan deconstruct iconic images of (Hollywood)stars that are imbedded in our cultural consciousness. The smeared recreated images are of a strange beauty, fascinating, and playing with one's mind . Kim wants to change the way we look at these images, rip out the familiarity,
In Kim's words; “My work is trying to destroy, tear up, and reconstruct this habitual vision so that our vision can be expended to other images.”