Frida Kahlo. Kara Walker. Annie Lebievtoz. Yoko Ono. Audrey Kawasaki. Female artists run the world, because like all women, everything comes from them. In celebration of women around the world, and in conjunction with our recent Girls, Girls, Girls issue we took the opportunity to speak with some of our favorite artists, male or female, about the artists that inspired them.

Camille rose Garcia us one of my favorite female artists because I like her illustrative style and can relate to the content of her work. She is the same age as me and grew up very close to where I did in a suburb not too far from Disneyland. I admire her evolving career from illustration to fine art and mixing the two genres.

First off, I respect the fact that Camille has been a prolific illustrator and artist for many years and I admire artists who commit to their work and style from an early age. I can relate to her dismal subject matter with narratives played out by adorable, dark animals and creatures. She explores the element of fantasy, with sticky sweet characters that embody dark vs. light, and I enjoy the balance and tension between good and evil. I am also drawn to her use of black organic shapes that are contrasted by cheery colors in a palette of my favorite colors – pinks and turquoises. I find connection with these qualities because they are some of the same traits found in my own work, but she explores different narratives and has a style of her own. She has created very interesting cartoon-like characters from elongated dark princesses to evil sea creatures and I love how she unveils the sad truths when the bubble of idealism is popped.

There are a lot of great female artists that I’m a fan of, from the famous French Rococo painter, Vigée Le Brun, who was the portrait painter for Marie Antionette, to the down and dirty twenty-something year old Aurel Schmidt, who lives and works in Brooklyn. There is also Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois, Annette Messager and the list goes on. I find inspiration from artwork that explores dualities, whether it is beauty/ugliness, pleasure/pain, feminine/masculine, naughty/nice or life/death.

- Ann-Marie Manker

I was trying to decide between Barbara Kruger and Lorna Simpson; Kruger won, and I’ll tell you why. Barbara Kruger is very graphic in every sense of the word. I really enjoy Kruger’s work because it is visually appealing and provides an ironic, witty and caustic commentary about popular culture that still resonates with contemporary society.

 

- Nikita Gale

Audrey Kawasaki is definitely my favorite female artist. And I love her painting technique.

- Corinne Stevie

Last week, Irrational Exuberance opened at The Invisible Dog in New York City. The work in the group exhibition dealt with seemingly rational systems of mass belief or delusion, and their relationship to values, whether economic or moral. The show is curated by Bradley Bailey and features work by Paloma Crousillat, Tate Foley, Nikita Gale, Danny Ghitis, James Gillispie, Ani Katz, Sam Keller, Ely Kim, Conrad Kofron, The Ladies’ Auxiliary, Alma Leiva, Azusa Murakami, David Needleman, Johanna Povirk-Znoy, Jay Peter Salvas, Holly Streekstra, Gabriela Vainsencher, and Anusha Venkataraman. The opening also attracted singer and pseudo New York socialite Solange Knowles.

Take a closer look at images from the opening night provided by RecessionArtshows.com.

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Traveling exhibition Esoteric Lore continues when it’s next stop at the Auburn Ave Research Library in Atlanta, Ga opens tonight. Esoteric Lore: Visual Storytelling is a growing collective of eight female artists sharing empowering artwork that engages and responds to one sided and often times negative representations of black women in mainstream media. The collective features an array of talented painters, photographers, videographers and musicians including Corinne Stevie Francilus, Taryn Lee Crenshaw, Iman Person, Nikita Gale, Michelyah, Elizah Turner, Crystal E. Monds, and Faatimah Stevens.

By manipulating objects such as vinyl records, mirrors, wood, canvas, paper, and plastic these women are sculpting eclectic interpretations of process art. According to the artists, “focusing on the end result, we see the value in capturing the method of production. We define process art as the relationship between the creator and the created.”

“Through our representations of process art, we allow time to be an integral factor in the creation of a piece. Time is life’s greatest artist and we aim to pay homage to it. It is through this element that we implicate the necessity of human connections to Mother Nature. We are apart of her, as she is apart of us, as we are apart of one another. Relationship to what is natural is necessarily one of our reoccurring themes. The building of this collective itself is a perfect example of the natures of relationships sustained through art,” they later added.

Esoteric Lore opens tonight, March 11 at The Auburn Ave Research in Atlanta, GA. The exhibition will run through April 30. Take a closer look at images from the show below.

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If you don’t know anything about Nikita Gale you may want to read up. This Atlanta based artist/photographer is really pushing the boundaries of conceptual art with her latest works. We posted these lovely images of Basquiat and Andy Warhol she created here. Popular Culture and society still take a visually lashing here and as long as it’s this clever. I’m all for it.

Nikita Gale will be exhibiting work alongside Corinne Stevie, Taryn Crenshaw and more, March 11 at The Auburn Ave Research Library in Atlanta with the women’s collective known as Esoteric Lore. Click here for more information.

Atlanta based conceptual artist Niktia Gale posted these images of new work she created for the Postcard Pinup Show at MINT Gallery it opened Dec 3 on her Tumblr. I’m loving these. They’re the definition of clever.

This past Saturday, Nov 6, Atlanta based artist Nikita Gale opened her debut solo exhibition BOOLESH1T at Mint Gallery in Atlanta. Sometimes shocking and always precise and thought provoking, BOOLESH1T is a fitting swan song for the gallery which will move to a new location after Nikita’s show closes later this month.

For me, the shows highlights were the 3D and the “Ad Tension” series. For the latter, the artist juxtaposed shocking 4×6 images on advertising from the 70′s. There you have an image of an atom bottom going off on an ad for The Blotch Remover. Awesome stuff. If you didn’t understand what Nikita was saying you got it then. Later in the night, singer/songwriter Bosco performed a sweet but short set of new material that reminds me of a neat mixture of Scanners and Johnny Cash.

BOOLESH1T was an invested exploration of the evolution of the relationship between humanity and technology. We are our technology these days and as Nikita points out that’s a problem. While Bosco performed I couldn’t help but notice the lights from the iPhones and Blackberries and the faces plunged downward engulfed in Twittering, Texting, Facebooking and God only knows what else. Guess we’ll never learn.

Nikita Gale’s BOOLESH1T is on view until Nov 27 at The Mint Gallery. Click Here to view more photos from the opening.

On Left: 3D anaglyph, 2010 by Nikita Gale l On Right: Preview of an image from "Ad Tension" by Nikita Gale

Nikita Gale is not about that bullshit. The Yale graduate plans to unveil her new series of work in a solo show entitled BOOLESH1T next month at the Mint Gallery in Atlanta, GA. Nikita has slowly been releasing images and sneak peeks at works both in progress and finished that are set to be featured in the show.

There are images of friends with parts of their face replaced with images of the insides of computers. There are commentaries on advertising and it’s effect on American society. In “THE BOOLESH1T MANIFESTO (III)” she experiments with text and actual human blood. My favorite image so far is a 3D anaglyph of a fetus in the womb with iPhone headphones. Nikita has something to say about our society. Whether you agree or disagree this show is worth a glance or two. Take a closer look at some of the images from BOOLESH1T below. BOOLESH1T opens Nov 6, at Mint Gallery in Atlanta. The opening features a performance by Atlanta based singer/songwriter BOSCO.

"THE BOOLESH1T MANIFESTO (III)," 2010 by Nikita Gale

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On August 12, Art Nouveau & GreatEclectic presented the closing reception & artist talk for Super Pop! a group exhibition inspired by Art Nouveau’s eponymous Summer Issue. The artist talk featured Paper Frank, Sean Fahie, Nikita Gale, Faatimah Stevens, Corinne Stevie & Art Nouveau Editor Kendrick Daye talking about the work created for the show. Take a closer look at photos from the show and these awesome videos shot by Benjamin Carson.

In part one, we take a closer look at the entire Super Pop! exhibition that includes work by John Morse, Nikita Gale and more. Later in the video we hear from some of the artists from the show. Sean Fahie describes his series entitled The Death of Pop. Nikita Gale speaks about her thought-provoking pieces centered around the phrase “Andy Is Dead.” Paper Frank also speaks about his anime inspired pieces. In part two we hear from Faatimah Stevens, Corinne Stevie and Art Nouveau Editor Kendrick Daye.

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Last Thursday, Aug 5, Art Nouveau and GreatEclectic celebrated the release of it’s Summer Issue with the opening of the eponymous group exhibition at Wm Turner Gallery. The 15 person show attracted close to 300 art lovers from across Atlanta. Jeffrey Pena from CurbsandStoops came down all the way from New York City to show work in the show. Take a closer look at images from the opening reception below. And if you want to view all images from the opening reception shot by GreatEclectic click here.

This week is the last week to enjoy Super Pop! if you haven’t already seen it. And If you want more Super Pop! join us this Thursday, Aug 12 for the closing reception and artist talk featuring John Morse, Corinne Stevie, Baracahn, Paper Frank, Nikita Gale, Sean Fahie, Faatimah Stevens & Chris Pop. 7 PM-10 PM.

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"Janelle Monae" by Corinne Stevie

Art Nouveau Magazine & GreatEclectic’s group exhibition Super Pop! opens this Thursday at Wm Turner Gallery in Atlanta. If you’re as anxious as we are to see the entire exhibition take a look at this preview of the work. All the artists included created work that was their personal interpretation of what Pop is, isn’t and has the potential to be.

A handful of the artists (Corinne Stevie, Barachan, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and more) created eye popping iconography of pop icons, musicians and stars like Lil’ Wayne, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Jones and more that celebrates the idea of pop. Other artists (Nikita Gale, Sean Fahie, The Super Pop Collective and more) explored the negative effects pop culture can have on humanity with thought provoking sculpture, paintings and more. All work will be on sale at affordable prices during the entire run of the show.

"90 Minutes" by Nikita Gale

Take a closer look at some of the work from “Super Pop!” below. “Super Pop!” opens this Thursday, Aug 5, from 7 -10 PM at Wm Turner Gallery in Atlanta, GA. Click here to RSVP on Twitter. See you Thursday! And if you’re not in Atlanta or can’t make it, we’ll be Ustreaming the entire show online. Follow Art Nouveau Magazine for updates.

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It’s getting closer and closer to the opening reception for Art Nouveau and GreatEclectic’s group show Super Pop!. The closer to August 5th, we’ll be revealing more and more glimpses of what’s in store for viewers. Take a look at this commercial which profiles most of the artists involved and shows small previews of some of the work included in the show.

Super Pop! will open with a reception August 5th from 7 pm-10 pm. All art work will be on sale in addition to copies of Art Nouveau’s eponymous Summer issue. Super Pop! runs until August 12th. Click here to RSVP for the event.