Andy Perez is the 2021 KY Derby Poster Artists and our guest this week. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM, or stream on Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Keith Waits talk with artists.

Andy Perez is a visual artist, Illustrator, and graphic designer. Originally from Kentuckiana, he received a BFA from The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2004. He now resides in Louisville, KY with his wife and daughter.

“My work has been featured in publications and galleries across the US. I work on a variety of projects including (but not limited to) editorial, conceptual, and advertising illustration. My work is mostly executed with collage and acrylic paint, along with other mixed media.” - Andy Perez

Painting

Vignette: Erik Orr

Josh Jenkins · August 15, 2017

Flipping Reality On Its Head

Writer William Goldman once opined that the difference between art and popular entertainment might be that entertainment comforts, but art should unsettle us; prompt us to ask questions. Erik Orr’s paintings immediately prompt us to wonder what we are looking at: is this a painting or a photograph? When you take into account that his subjects are primarily iconic figures in popular entertainment, music, culture, comics, and videogames, then Goldman’s proposition comes under challenge. The familiarity of celebrity faces may seem to offer accessible pop pleasures, but the presentation of the artist won’t quite allow us such a cushy perspective.

In his most recent artist’s statement, Orr describes his intentions: “My more recent works use techniques that blend traditional painting through a filter of digital technology, the works create optical illusions that will make you question your own eyes. At a time when we experience our world through screens of all sizes, these works flip that reality on its head and present paintings that look as if they are digital images from afar.”

*"Anthony Michael Hall" by Erik Orr, 2.5x3.5ft, acrylic on wood (2017)*

*"River Phoenix" by Erik Orr, 3x4ft, acrylic on wood (2017)*

Orr builds his portraits with organic vertical lines that suggest a photograph enlarged beyond what its quality should allow, yet such a question is made almost moot in the limitless digital resolution of the moment. His work straddles the divide between digital and analog both functionally and conceptually.

“In my current show, New Work, at Revelry Boutique Gallery I intend the work to showcase the culture that has influenced me to become the artist I am today.”

Orr resides in the Highlands of Louisville Kentucky with his wife and two young children. He is employed as a Graphic Designer at a marketing company and plans to continue to grow and show his work more frequently in the coming years.

New Work runs through September 6 at Revelry Boutique & Gallery.

Age: 37
Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia
Education: Associates Degree in Communication Design, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA); BA, Art and Visual Technology with a Minor in Art History George Mason University
Website: www.erikorr.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erik_orr/

*"B-Boy" by Erik Orr, 3x3ft, acrylic on wood (2017)*

*"Twiggy" by Erik Orr, 3x4ft, acrylic on wood (2017)*

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Painting

Vignette: Catherine Bryant

Josh Jenkins · February 15, 2017

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” — Edgar Degas

"Yellow Villa" by Catherine Bryant, 12x9in, oil on canvas, plein air (2010), $395 | BUY NOW — *"Yellow Villa" by Catherine Bryant, 12x9in, oil on canvas, plein air (2010), $395 | BUY NOW*

Catherine Bryant’s outlook on life may best be expressed in a phrase she likes, “Art is the breath of life.” After experiencing a troubled childhood, Bryant used art to change her life, or at least get moving in a better direction. Armed with a sketchbook and charcoal, she set out to find beauty and record the wonders around her. This journey took her into a world of constant growth.

Bryant is a landscape painter, but she doesn’t restrict herself to panoramic scenes of nature. In fact, her compositions tend to be more intimate glimpses of the way the trees and vegetation frames our point-of-view on the bucolic environment. “Yellow Villa” shows the expansive view that reaches off to the horizon, the diminishing fields becoming more abstract as the distance increases, but in “The Trees Speak Softly”, the viewer feels hidden in the shade, poised to eavesdrop on whatever privileged moment might be about to transpire just beyond the trees.

Another aspect of landscape compositions is the still, unmoving aspect that is so common, but in “Warm H20” Bryant captures a spontaneous moment in time, the immediacy of the interaction between horse and human palpably communicated with certainty and skill. Perhaps it is the introduction of animals, always a favorite with this artist, that represents an opportunity to inject some modicum of unpredictability into her compositions.

*"Warm H2O" by Catherine Bryant, 36x48in, oil on canvas (2015)*

After a career in advertising as a Graphic Designer and airbrush illustrator, teaching classes at Ivy Tech, Bryant created her own business, working as a muralist for 25 years. Realizing she wouldn’t always want to climb scaffolding, she started honing her skills as a fine art painter.

"The Trees Speak Softly" by Catherine Bryant, 8x10in, oil on canvas (plein air), $395 | BUY NOW — *"The Trees Speak Softly" by Catherine Bryant, 8x10in, oil on canvas (plein air), $395 | BUY NOW*

Now, during the summer months, one can find the artist outdoors throughout the state of Kentucky and southern Indiana, painting “plein air” (painting outdoors). She finds “plein air” painting to be the best method for sharpening her quick decision making skills; an invaluable exercise for simplifying composition, value assessment and color acuity, all the while completing a painting in a matter of a couple of hours. These lessons carry over back in the studio during the winter months.

Ms. Bryant teaches her passion for painting at Preston Arts Center on Bardstown Road, and in her private studio.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BA, University of Louisville
Gallery Representative: Jane Morgan Gallery; Edenside Gallery; Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft, and Hoosier Salon (Louisville) Broad Ripple Gallery (Indianapolis)
Website: http://www.catherinebryantart.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catherinebryantstudio/

"1st Notes of Spring" by Catherine Bryant, 30x24in, oil on canvas, $2950 | BUY NOW — *"1st Notes of Spring" by Catherine Bryant, 30x24in, oil on canvas, $2950 | BUY NOW*

"Sweet Dreams Dear Light," by Catherine Bryant, 11x14in, oil on canvas, plein air (2016), $495 | BUY NOW — *"Sweet Dreams Dear Light," by Catherine Bryant, 11x14in, oil on canvas, plein air (2016), $495 | BUY NOW*

"Dance of the Texasbonnets and Indian Paintbrush" by Catherine Bryant, 48x36in, encaustic & oil on canvas (2016), $3500 | BUY NOW — *"Dance of the Texasbonnets and Indian Paintbrush" by Catherine Bryant, 48x36in, encaustic & oil on canvas (2016), $3500 | BUY NOW*

Mixed Media, Sculpture

Vignette: Jonny Gilroy

Josh Jenkins · November 15, 2016

“Embody” by Jonny Gilroy, steel, twine, root, acrylic, $420  | BUY NOW — *“Embody” by Jonny Gilroy, steel, twine, root, acrylic, $420 | BUY NOW*

Jonny Gilroy is an artist working in a variety of disciplines. He spent a few years in Raleigh, NC as a graphic designer for trade show displays. In his last year he was working in design/production of marketing materials for breweries throughout the southeast. He creates graphics using Wide-Format Inkjet Printing, ICC Color Profiling, Dye-Sublimation Fabric Graphics, Graphic Design, and Photography.

In abstract paintings of vivid colors, Gilroy creates compositions of fluid energy suggestive of human biology. The lines and striations mimic electrocardiograms as well as the organic structure within our bodies, connecting a visual pulse with our own biorhythms. Although grounded in Abstract Expressionism, a movement known for intellectual rigor, Gilroy’s work has a an accessible, almost kitschy quality that makes them paintings with a palpable sense of fun.

Gilroy also works in three-dimensions, and his sculptures often render line and kinetic energy in a similar fashion, but there is also a representational side to Gilroy’s work involving birds and the forest, and that also finds it way into sculptural work that draws parallels with the abstract pieces.

“Reinvent” by Jonny Gilroy, steel, twine, acrylic, shipping tube, stick, tape, $550 | BUY NOW — *“Reinvent” by Jonny Gilroy, steel, twine, acrylic, shipping tube, stick, tape, $550 | BUY NOW*

"Inspiration comes from recognizing the sense of feeling and acting upon the energy it creates. I like to describe that energy in the form of art that emits from a feeling. I feel colors, lines and shapes. These forms arise from different life experiences. I put them together into art to make sense of that experience."

Gilroy has exhibited extensively in the northeast, and has recently relocated to Lexington, Kentucky

Age: 30
Hometown: Olean, New York
Education: BA, State University of New York at Genseo
Website:

“Unravel” by Jonny Gilroy, black walnut, steel, acrylic, $350 | BUY NOW — *“Unravel” by Jonny Gilroy, black walnut, steel, acrylic, $350 | BUY NOW*

“Refraction” by Jonny Gilroy, black walnut, acrylic, dowels, $520 | BUY NOW — *“Refraction” by Jonny Gilroy, black walnut, acrylic, dowels, $520 | BUY NOW*

“Resonate” by Jonny Gilroy, black walnut, tape, wire, steel, acrylic, $280 | BUY NOW — *“Resonate” by Jonny Gilroy, black walnut, tape, wire, steel, acrylic, $280 | BUY NOW*

“Attach” by Jonny Gilroy, birch board, driftwood, twine, acrylic, burlap, $380 | BUY NOW — *“Attach” by Jonny Gilroy, birch board, driftwood, twine, acrylic, burlap, $380 | BUY NOW*

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Interested in advertising on Artebella? Click here for more information. — *Interested in advertising on Artebella?* *Click here* *for more information.*

graphic designer

Artebella On The Radio: April 15

Vignette: Erik Orr

Vignette: Catherine Bryant

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” — Edgar Degas

Vignette: Jonny Gilroy