Friday, July 23, 2010

Don't be mad at me... or whatever, this is MY list.

This was going to be my reply to this gallery in Sarnia, Ontario that was asking who I would recommend for some shows... These are all Metro Detroiters btw. (48 of them!!!)


For some reason it was easy to come up with names when I paired them into categories in threes.



Favorite romantic artists (for the love of making, not knowing what we're doing):

Ben Teague
Dylan Spaysky
Nate Morgan

Favorite younger sculptors:

Ed Brown
Daniel Sperry
Vanessa Merrill

Favorite Abstract female painters:
Kathy Leisen
Lauren Rice
Amy Sacksteder

Favorite Artists that describe their personal connection to culture through their work:
Chido Johnson
Shiva Ahmadi
Olayami Dabls

Favorite Figurative Realists:
Richard Lewis
Kristin Beaver
Taurus Burns

Favorite Characters:
Vaughn Taormina
Jef Bourgeau
Leon Johnson

Favorite small works makers:
Gream Whyte
Laith Karmo
Sarah Berger

Favorite installation artists:

Andrew Thompson
Megan Heeres
Matt Shlian

Favorite large sculpture fiber artists:

Abigail Newbold
Rod Klingelhofer
Kate Silvio

Favorite tinkerers:
Ian Swanson
Bethany Shorb
Andy Malone

Favorite LGBTQ artists:
Isaac Richard
Ed Fraga
Gary Eleinko

Favorite artists due to their tight execution of their materials:

Corrie Baldauf
Ben Kiehl
Sharon Que

Favorite Curators (and they make great art):
Jack Summers
Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert of Design 99
Bryant Tillman

They're in a league of their own because of how awesome they are:
Nicola Kuperus
Tyree Guyton
Mike Smith

Women in East Lansing that kick ass too
Jae Won Lee
Michelle Word
Janel Schultz

I don't really know them very well, but I like how I can always tell what work is theirs:
Scott Hocking
Emily Duke
George Rahme

Over time, I'll try to populate this post with pictures and links, so if you have any favorite works by these artists, reply with the image so the rest of everyone else can see what I mean by, I love these  people's art. And everyone else just sucks, just kidding, but seriously if you think that if someone's not on this list it's because i'm a jerk, it may be, but in my defense, a lot of the people on this list I know personally which taints my view of their work being my favorite. actually I take that back, I don't know many of these people very well, but in my imaginary world, they're my best friends. ALL OF YOU LOVE ME BACK!!! YOU'RE MY BEST FRIENDS!!!!!!! see? I'm crazy, so why would you take this list seriously?


2 comments:

Cedric Tai said...

Well since it's been awhile, I think it's time to update the list!

Favorite Jewelry makers:
Elizabeth Boyd Hartmann
Tiffany Massey
Rebel Nell

Favorite paint on construction:
Gary Eleinko
Bob Bailey
Andrew Krieger

Favorite Ceramicists:
Katie Bramlage
Marie T. Hermann
Henry Crissman (I'm pretending he's only gone momentarily)

Favorite Line Drawers:
Topher Crowder
Sean Bieri
Stephen Dewyer

And I'd add Frank Pahl to favorite tinkerers.

Cedric Tai said...

Favorite women that know how to run shit and are the best hope for Detroit:
Michaela Mosher
Alissa Lamarre
A Rose Cook

Favorite women artists that do consistently strong work:
Kylie Lockwood
Tsz Yan Ng
Mary Fortuna

Favorite sculptors that are probably doing pretty well for themselves:
Ivan Ballen
Christian Tedeschi
Ben Hall

Favorite artists from around Michigan who made it big:
Judy Pfaff
Dana Schutz
Nick Cave

Favorite artists who left an impression on the world:
James Lee Byars
Mike Kelley
Ray Johnson