David LaChapelle

David LaChapelle is an American photographer. Popularized in the 1980's, he was discovered by Andy Warhol and was hired to take pictures for his magazine, Interview. His work appeared on the covers of many major magazines, including The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone. LaChapelle is also well known for his social messages, most famously when he photographed a gay couple kissing at the height of the "Don't ask, don't tell" debates in America, barring openly gay or lesbian people from military service. He has also photographed many, many, many celebrities as a part of his work, including Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tupac, Brittany Spears, Cher, Drew Barrymore, and so many others. His work often references older art pieces with a modern-day twist and is known for vibrant colors and a "pop" type feel.

Composite Creatures

Composite creatures are mythological creatures in art that are composed of several animals body parts. The most common composite creature is a chimera, a female fire- breathing monster composed of a lion, goat, and serpent. Another popular composite creature is the sphynx, which is seen in a lot of Egyptian history. Composite creatures usually symbolize divinity, but now have various meanings in modern art.

Post Modernism

Postmodernist Art

Postmodernist art is a wide variety of art that began in the 1970's and on. Postmodernist art rejected the aesthetics of modern art, which came before postmodernism. Different forms include conceptual art, performance art, installations, and others. Popular postmodernism artists include Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, and David Salle. Postmodernism is a reaction against modernism, defying the modernism standards of a utopian vision of life.

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Although wildly popular today and considered one of the greatest Dutch painters of his time, Van Gogh was unknown and very poor during his life. He lived and painted in the late 1850's in the Netherlands. He was a post-impressionist painter who greatly influenced 20th century art. He struggled with mental illness, but some say that made his art even better. Van Gogh killed himself in 1890 at age 37. 

KEITH HARING

Keith Haring was an American artist and activist. He began his artworks on the streets in New York, getting noticed in the subways or the city. Unfortunately, he was also noticed by officials and was arrested on multiple occasions for vandalism. As he became more popular, his works were put into various clubs and restaurants before being displayed in museums so and exhibits around the world. He collaborated with many artists, such as Andy Worhol and Grace Jones. His art has a street-art energy behind it, but he is most popularly known for his figure drawings of characters without details. His pieces brought awareness of AIDS and he was diagnosed with this in 1988 and died 2 years later. Although he was only 31 when he passed, his art was very influential and still is today.

Something that pisses me off

SHARK HUNTING

Sharks, aside from being incredible animals, are a vital part of the ocean's ecosystem. Many species of sharks are at the top of the food chain, and therefore control how all other animals exist in the ocean. Sharks prevent their prey from over-grazing and balance the entire ecosystem. Sharks are being hunted and killed faster than they can recover their population for reasons as trivial as a shark tooth necklace or shark fin soup. The practice of shark hunting is a gross misuse of the power people have over animals and really, really pisses me off. 

To portray this in an art piece, I have an image in my head of a gleaming and majestic great white swimming alone in water tainted with blood and surrounded by fishhooks with the bottom of a boat at the type. And maybe a net in the water. I would do this with either oil pastel or watercolor pencils. 

Synthetic Cubism

Synthetic Cubism

Synthetic Cubism is a later and more modernized form of cubism. It is made up of simple shapes and bright color with a lot of textures and collages. This type of art flattens the image in three dimensional abstract art. It is used with famous painters such as Picasso and Gris. 

"Crying Woman" by Pablo Picasso

"Still Life with Guitar" Juan Gris

"The Builder" Fernand Leger