JUXTAPOZ REVIEW 18th November 2017

Juxtapoz Issue 202 November 2017

Content

This magazine explores the world of contemporary art, and can inspire and open their readers eyes, as to what is going on in the world around them, it can even make them more aware of what is happening in their chosen field of work, i.e. illustration, fine art, animation etc, that they may not have already known about. The contributing writers do this by visiting shows and galleries around the world, and create articles for their readers so that they will feel inspired to go themselves, or find out more about the artists, the articles include information about the exhibits, and the writers thoughts and opinions of the work and the experience. The magazine also includes lots of interviews from a diverse range of artists, from fashion designers, to painters, to illustrators and so many more. Most of the artists within this specific article, I did not know previously, but the publication allowed me to see the artists work and do more searching for myself, as I did enjoy the work created by a couple of artists, and some of the exhibitions that were advertised did look interesting, so I did want to research the shows in more depth.  

Featured Artists
Carrying on from the advertisement for the exhibition I had seen, although it was not an article or review, the imagery the artists had created, intrigued me enough that I did not need any more information, I just wanted to search for the artists work myself. The advertisement was for a show named Human (Nature) by ICY and SOT, and it featured a crushed plastic bottle, which contained a whale. Personally I felt the theme was instantly readable, the litter and pollution of our planet, is affecting these animals, so something does need to be done in order to prevent any harm to these animals. As this message was so powerful with such minimalism, I wanted to look at more of Icy and Sot's work, so that I could see what else they have created, as I do not live in an area close enough to visit their exhibition myself, so instead I just looked for their website, which is https://icyandsot.com/home/.  On this website I found more of their work, and found out that each of their designs has similar motives behind them, the two brothers create public art as they want to bring awareness of specific subjects and areas, which are usually less of a passerby's concern. In general, they want to be able to visualise a world of peace, one without war, violence and overall, a world of freedom. I will be following ICY and SOT's work, as I do want to see what else they can create with their specific motives.

Moving on to the artists Juxtapoz had interviewed, there were only a few that had caught my eye and had appealed to me personally. This was the artists Saner and Toyin Ojih Odutola. With Saner, other than loving his style and the story within his designs, I felt the timing was perfect, as I had wanted to create characters with masks in my previous project, although I did not end up using masks in my own design, it is still something I want to do in the future, so now that I have discovered Saner, who creates beautiful characters which wear traditional Mexican/Aztec masks, I now have the best source of inspiration when it comes to creating my own work in the future.
After reading his interview, I respect him as a person as well as an artist. He has created his career from dedicating his life to his craft, and he loves every minute of it. From the interview, I got the feeling that he is a very spiritual person, and that he experiences life for all its worth. Even though he loves traveling around the world, he still knows Mexico (his home) is where his heart is. Even though there is a lot of doom and gloom in his area, he chooses to see past it because he knows its not worth thinking about it for too long, especially when there is so much more that you can celebrate. The way he discussed his home in his interview, it sounds as if he lives in a close knit community, so if he ever left and moved to another place, he'd feel as if he were letting them down, as he does not live in a place that holds a lot of opportunities, so he is always working hard with the community, so that some day more opportunities will be offered.

Toyin Ojih Odutola was quite different, at first glance, I didn't really like her work because its not the typical style I appeal to, this was until I flipped across and found the pieces on the right. I feel I like them because she has used monotones which are easier on my eye, in comparison to her other work. Although these are her older pieces, and she has developed her process and style since, I believe these were the most readable designs and it almost helped me understand the techniques, which she had applied in her work following. As she has used organic shapes to form her conceptual portraits, and to form the specific emotions portrayed by her muses, it gives her work more sense of movement than a typical portrait would. I feel she has kept and developed this technique since 2015, the movement and shapes in her more recent pieces, are more hidden but still very visible, instead of using block shapes, she now uses an almost lighter touch, still forming the shapes, however she solely builds them with lighter hatching lines. This makes the muses within her designs more dynamic as each piece will be different from another, as she can not use the same shapes to form her portrait, even if she does use the same person.
Even though I don't typically find myself drawn to this style of work, there are still aspects which I do find appealing, for instance I do enjoy the contrast within some of her pieces. In her design which has been shown on the front cover of the magazine, I did like how she had contrasted the dark skin of her models, with the colourful clothing in which they are wearing. As she does put so much detail into the skin of her conceptual portraits, I did enjoy the fact she hadn't forgotten about the clothing, the items are very detailed however not so much that it differs your attention away from the muses.

Amongst this magazine there was an artist who has created work, which made me very uncomfortable, this was the work of Christian Rex Van Minnen. To me his paintings look like a mixture of Pareidolia, a thing in your mind that forms faces from specific patterns you might see, and something I would find in the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley is concept that something looks so realistic that you start to feel uncomfortable, an example of this would be humanoid robots. From this explanation, when I look at this artists work, I do feel uncomfortable because his work looks so realistic, and I can make out faces when they are not so visible, but I know they are only paintings (only after reading so) so it makes everything so much more unnerving.
But this is something that I like about the artists work, as it does have the power to get a response from its audience, and it does some what intrigue you to find out more about the artist, and the meanings behind his pieces. I still can not believe my eyes that these designs are oil paintings, I don't believe I've ever seen a painting so detailed and it amazes me every time I look more closely.

Opinion on the Publication
Although not many artists had appealed to me in this specific magazine, I would like to buy another, so that I could possibly discover more artists and their work. I did enjoy the interviews, because although the writers were discussing the artists work, I felt like they were genuinely interested in finding out more about the actual person behind the designs. It has given me more inspiration and motivation, as I'm not just aspiring to create the work the magazine has presented, but I also want to pursue a career or lifestyle like these artists. It shows me that there is a possibility of turning my hobby into a career, just as these artists have done themselves.