Visualized! #2: Artists to know.
In case you missed it, back on June 5 I posted the first of what I figured would be a new ongoing series of posts called 'Visualized!', where we highlight a few artists we really enjoy at the moment. Continuing that here with round 2...enjoy.
Mark Wilson — Sometimes you discover an artist (or a song or a book or a movie etc etc) and think 'ah yeah this is cool, surprised I haven't seen it before, must be pretty new', which I did when I first discovered Mark Wilson's work, only to find out he's 74 years old and one of the true pioneers of digital art. I found this old interview with him that is totally worth a read, but found this answer in particular pretty great: "When I started using computers in 1980, very few artists were using them. To me, these machines were totally cool and exciting. Back then, there was little software of interest to an artist like myself. To make art with computers, you had to invent new working procedures. I bought a personal computer and learned to write my own software. I was trying to find a unique way of using the computer and software to create geometric images." Hope I'm not too ignorant here for not being aware before, but - I'm a fan. Only wish I'd discovered his beautiful, complex work sooner.
Pat Perry — I'm a little biased on this one, as Pat is a friend I first met when I was living in Michigan who I really took a liking to immediately. I'd even go so far as to say I had the pleasure of being an early mentor to Pat as he was getting his start, but since then – and we've lost touch a bit and maybe he doesn't know this – but he's turned the tables and really inspired me in more recent years. His work is so full of detail and more importantly, purpose. Everything he creates is so thoughtful and often politically driven, yet always fun and full of discovery. His website bio describes him as "an artist from Michigan who writes and makes pictures through careful and cautious observation. He often works itinerantly, and lives in Detroit." Careful and cautious observation. I love that. Need more of that mindset from artists in 2017.
Michael Benson — Feeling inspired by the eclipse the other day so sharing Michael Benson's work makes a lot of sense...but...I'm just going to let Michael's own bio do all the talking and let you just click the link. "Benson takes raw data from planetary science archives and processes it, creating large-format landscapes. He edits, composites, mosaics, and then finally optimizes these images, producing seamless photographs of landscapes currently beyond direct human experience." Fuck. So cool.
GMUNK (Photography) — Bradley Munkowitz, more commonly known as GMUNK, is one of the most sought-after visual effects/design/motion graphics directors in the world. He really is a legend in the graphic & motion design community (and one of the nicest dudes I've ever met). But - this is more about his recently launched photography portfolio. Seems unfair right? He really is a true polymath. Using a custom modified Full-Spectrum FujiFilm X-T1 IR, infrared filters, and vintage Nikon lenses, his work really transcends what you're 'used to' seeing with photography, even of the most heavily edited variety, and shows this wild, infrared world that's really quite beautiful.