Art Attacks Online’s Top 10 Artists of 2011
Simply put, 2011 has been a great year for art. We have seen so many killer shows and loads upon loads of incredible new paintings, sculptures, and other amazing art. Here are the top 10 artists that we featured on ArtAttacksOnline.com this year (based on page views). We want to say a GIANT thank you to everyone who has started following us this year. We would not be anywhere without you. Keep your eyes out for Art Attacks in 2012 because we have lots of big plans!! So without further ado, here are the ten most visited artists on ArtAttacksOnline.com this year.
10. JEREMY GEDDES – Melbourne based photo realistic painter, Jeremy Geddes, earned a BA and a postgrad degree at Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia. His work is true to life and depicts deep emotion in impassioned breathtaking characters, usually astronauts, which are often trapped within the edges of Jeremy’s canvas.
9. DEREK GORES – Collage artist Derek Gores takes a unparalleled approach to creating extraordinary works of art by using bits and pieces of recycled magazines, labels and found materials. Up close, the end result is chaotic, a seemingly random display of paper scraps, but from afar the viewer sees a true-to-life, aesthetically pleasing masterpiece. Derek graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence and currently works as Creative Director and Co-Founder of the EGAD! Art Lab in Melbourne, FL.
8. GREG “CRAOLA” SIMKINS – Born in Torrance, California in 1975, Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins started creating art at the age of 3 using crayons and pencils. Inspired by cartoons and books, this artistic addiction quickly led to a new medium, spray paint and starting at the age of 18, Craola was creating large scale murals which gave him confidence in his art and allowed him to learn perspective and color theories. Today Craola works mostly in Acrylics and shows his work worldwide as an accomplished painter.
7. DAVID LACHAPELLE – When Andy Warhol offers you a job, you don’t say no, just ask experienced photographer David LaChapelle. He started his first professional photography job in the 1980′s working for Warhol’s Interview Magazine and ever since has been a key component in face of modern photography. LaChapelle has since published four books and captured hundreds of portraits of the worlds most famous individuals including David Bowie, Britney Spears, Hugh Hefner, and more recently Lady Gaga.
6. KELLY MCKERNAN – Atlanta, Georgia based artist and illustrator Kelly McKernan layers her beautiful drawings with reflective personal meaning and symbolic elements which drive her enchanting female characters to connect with contrasting influences of “natural inclination and cognitive reasoning.” McKernan earned a BFA with concentration in drawing and painting from Kennesaw State University in 2009.
5. MICHAEL HUSSAR – Born in 1964 and living in Southern California, contemporary oil painter Michael Hussar creates a surreal world of ghoulish, provocative, and often somewhat objectionable portraits of pale, disfigured characters who are often in a state of extreme despondency. Michael studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.
4. SYLVIA JI – Los Angeles based painter Sylvia Ji was born in 1982 and earned her BFA in Illustration in 2005 from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Her imaginative and colorful paintings convey deep emotion embedded with spiritual significance through stunning characters whom represent the artist herself. Ji says of her work, it’s “a passionate appreciation of simple aesthetic pleasure fused with intimately complex subject matter.”
3. JASON “STUNTKID” LEVESQUE – Inspired by biology and Earth sciences, self-taught illustrator Jason Levesque aka StuntKid creates beautiful work showcasing very attractive women in adventurous, risky, and sometimes scientific situations.
2. GUSTAVO RIMADA – After living a short childhood in Torreon, Mexico, painter Gustavo Rimada moved with his family to Indio, California where he and his parents had to take on a drastic lifestyle change. Ramada’s parents, making ends meet by taking jobs as a dishwasher and housekeep, didn’t let this stop them from encouraging their son to follow his passion. Building on his creative talent, Rimada chose to go into Computer Animation after high school. This choice suddenly changed with the occurrence of 9/11. Ramada was left feeling purposeless and inadequate. Then, while on a walk, he stopped by an Army recruiting office where he enlisted to serve. After three years in the Army, Rimada started seriously painting and drawing again on anything he could get his hands on. He soon took to the profession of Tattoo Artist which allows him to pursue his passion for art as a living.
And the post on our page that received the most views this year is……
1. KRIS KUKSI – Growing up in a desolate rural area of Kansas and spending a lot of time alone due to a working class mother, two considerably older brothers, and an absent father, sculpture artist Kris Kuksi learned to escape into his own imagination. By creating intricate works using found objects that he would alter and put together he was able to form a symphony of eye popping sculptures. Today, Kuksi’s sculptures have grown into delicate pieces laced with meticulous detail touching on the rise and fall of powerful civilizations and the future of humanity.
