Giovanni Giacoia

                 Giovanni Giacoia  000  2013  oil on canvas  72" x 72"
                 www.giovannigiacoia.com

Giacoia is a young artist from Italy studying in New England. I came across this image and was struck by its odd sort of narrative. Abstract forms standing in for figurative elements on a stage? Just the kind of image I look for and am attracted to. It makes me think of so many things at once.

Katia Santibanez

                      Katia Santibanez  Purple Swirl  2013  acrylic on panel  16" x 12"
                      www.morganlehmangallery.com

Alan Shields

Alan Shields 1944-2005   Fast Trac Worm  1997  acrylic, thread, yarn on canvas  30" x 30"
www.vandorenwaxter.com

I have always enjoyed Shields work. His use of color and texture was unabashedly decorative but in a very experimental manner. His use of yarn, beads, threads and other collage elements were incorporated into his handmade paper and prints in the 70's and 80's and foreshadowed much of current disparate use of similar materials in art making today.

Lari Pittman

Lari Pittman  Untitled # 10 (The Buffet)  2005  cel-vinyl, acrylic, alkyd on gessoed canvas over panel 52" x 40"
www.gladstonegallery.com
Pittman is probably one of the most influential painter/educators in Los Angeles. His meticulous and highly graphic paintings have become more refined and eloquent over the years. I like the fact that he has always been an independent voice in the Southern California  art scene.

Johannes Rodenacker

Johannes Rodenacker  KJHK  2013  oil on canvas  60" x  63"
www.johannes-rodenacker.de

Giorgio Morandi

Giorgio Morandi  Natura Morta  1952  oil on canvas  21 3/8" x 23 3/8"
www.sfmoma.org

Chaz Waldren

                         Chaz Waldren  The Helmet of Salvation  16.53" x 11.41"
                         

Steve Gibson

                    Steve Gibson  Untitled (Grand Canyon)  2014  oil on linen  54" x 40"
                    www.stevegibsonart.com

William J. O'Brien

               William J. O'Brien  Untitled  colored pencil and ink on paper  84" x 60"
               www.shanecampbellgallery.com

David Humphery

David Humphrey  Black And White  2007  oil on canvas  60" x 72"
www.davidhumphreynyc.com

I was vaguely aware of Humphrey's work but more of his writing. He is the senior critic at Yale University School of Art. He is also a very good painter. He melds abstract gestural markings and illustrative imagery into mystical imaginings that keep the viewer off kilter but completely engaged.

Thomas Trosch

               
     Thomas Trosch  Interior With Pink Moon  1999  oil on wood panel  23 3/4" x 36 3/4"
     www.fredericksfreisergallery.com

Keegan McHargue

                            Keegan McHargue  Sprites  2013  oil on canvas  52" x 42"
                            www.keeganmchargue.com

I have been following Keegan McHargue for quite a few years now. His work grew out of a street art aesthetic at the start of the century and has evolved quite nicely into am more abstract narrative. I like the use of flat shapes and dissonant color he uses to set up an all together new and approachable body of work.

Timothy Hull

                          Timothy Hull  Vases in Cases  2011 gel pen on paper  11" x 8 1/2"
                          www.fitzroygallery.com

Marcel Eichner

Marcel Eichner  Sepia  2001  acrylic, gouache, ink on canvas  79" x 55"

www.cfa-berlin.com

Peter Bohnisch

Peter Bohnisch  Ohne Titel  2011  acrylic, ink and pastel on canvas  87" x 67"

www.cfa-berlin.com

Matt Rich

                                 Matt Rich  San 2  2012  gouache on paper  10" x 7" 
                                 www.mattrich.com

Terry St. John

Terry St. John    Berkeley Marina    2003  oil on canvas  12" x 10"
www.dolbychadwickgallery.com

St. John was not trained as an artist at UC Berkeley but studied with a student of Diebenkorn's after graduating from there. His work is steeped in the bay area figurative style that was so popular in the late 50's and early 60's. The specter of Diebenkorn looms over so many artists here on the west coast and else where. 

Ernie Silva

Ernie Silva  Sunset, Deer and Shadow  2001  oil on canvas with artist wood frame 33" x 29"
www.ernestsilva.org

Ernie silva took his life the other day. I was shocked and dismayed by that event. I had known him casually for many years. We would meet at museum and gallery events and exchange a few words. I enjoyed his work and tried to see all his local exhibitions . He was quiet, reserved and kind to all he came in contact with. He was recently diagnosed with a disease that would eventually make life as he knew it impossible and difficult for him and his family to cope with. He taught for 36 years at UCSD and by stories told by his students, was a respected and consummate professor. He was 66 years old.

I will miss seeing his new work and gentle smile and feeling his warm hand shake.

William Hawkins

William Hawkins 1895-1990  Conquest of the Moon # 2  1986  enamel on masonite              44 1/2" x 50 1/2"
www.fleisher-ollmangallery.com

Interesting Juxtaposition

Josh Reames  Overexposure  2013  acrylic on canvas 40" x 36"
www.luisdejesus.com

James Harvard  West Texas Night Stomp  mixed media on canvas  60" x 66"
www.artnet.com

Joan Snyder

Joan Snyder  Song Cycle 5  2012  oil, acrylic, paper macho, silk, graphite on linen
64" x 66"
www.tierneygardarin.com