MARCEL DZAMA

Winnipeg, Manitoba | CANADA

Well established in the modern art community worldwide, Marcel Dzarma is known for small, ink and watercolor illustrations depicting simplistic scenes featuring people and animals in a variety of situations (although he does do a considerable amount of work in larger format sculpture).

"Using watercolors and inks and root beer - his secret ingredient - Dzama draws delicately shaded, finely realized figures in all sorts of trouble. His works on paper are small in scale but impressive in their range of subjects and in the finesse of the draftsmanship. This is surrealism that treads the line between humor and tragedy, and teeters between normalcy and perversion." - Brut Sauvage in a review of Marcel Dzarma's work.

WEBSITE: N/A
INQUIRIES: Dzarma has managed to become a very hot artist among Collectors, and the prices fetched for his works have risen to levels beyond the scope of this site ($2500 and below). However, some of his pieces can be found at or below $2500 if you're willing to look around. Start at David Zwirner (NY). Also try Greg Kucera Gallery.
All images Copyright Marcel Dzama.

MELODY POSTMA

Savannah, GA | USA

"Melody Postma holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Savannah College of Art and Design. She says her work is a multi-layered evolution of vivid color, playful shapes, and rich textured surfaces."

Her subjects vary from pure abstraction to references of textural fragments, nonchalant figures, landscapes, and dreams."
- From description on Bennett Gallery website

Postma's colors, cut-out figures, drawing, and shapes create an interesting combination of work that look to borrow from works by Basquiat and others. Some whimsical, some serious, her mixed-media work is fresh, interesting, and inquisitive.

WEBSITE: melodypostma.com
INQUIRIES: Postma's work can be found at the Matre Gallery at Tula Arts Center in Atlanta and Bennett Gallery in Nashville. Prices start around $800+.
All images Copyright Melody Postma.

WALLACE MERRITT

New Orleans, LA | USA

This recommendation from GALLER|b reader Lucas:

I'm a reader of GallerB and just bought a print from a New Orleans photographer, Wallace Merritt. He's a cool guy, a Katrina survivor from New Orleans, and he is now doing his black & white photography full-time and committed to staying in New Orleans.

Such is the power of his work that I saw one of his photographs hanging in a house in 1998 in New Orleans, and never forgot it. I just fulfilled a dream of mine, which is owning a print of that photo. (It's so very haunting, like all good art, I guess.) I tracked him down and just ordered it from him and he's shipping it to me in Atlanta!

He has no idea I'm writing you, but I just thought your blog would be a great way to introduce him to a Web audience, and share his artistic vision with your readers if you like it. Additionally, I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it, too!

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Many thanks to Lucas for introducing GALLER|b to an outstanding photographer, and for sharing your comments with our audience.

WEBSITE: www.wallacemerritt.com
INQUIRIES: Inquire directly at Wallace Merritt's website. Prices start around $600+.
All images Copyright Wallace Merritt Photography.

SHEPARD FAIREY

San Diego, CA | USA

Shepard Fairey's work is typically more familiar to kids skateboarding on the steps of museums, than it is to the people browsing inside. With his iconic Andre the Giant "Obey" sticker campaign, Fairey's mocking of commercialism has become omnipresent in many cities throughout the US and beyond.

But Fairey's work is far more than just the stickers and stencils he is best known for. His art is always clever, often political, and typically very divisive depending on where the observer stands on war, social acceptance, and the role of politics and big business in shaping culture . By utilizing polarizing figures such as Mao and Lenin in his work, Fairey champions individual thought over the blinding forces of oppression of the masses. Although most of his work is driven by the concepts behind the "Obey" sticker campaign, his pieces are anything but simplistic graffiti works.

In his art, Fairey covers a wide range of subjects, from politics to music. Rappers; rockers; Republicans ... they all have a place in Fairey's work, even thought they may not be treated with equal reverence and respect. Fairey's work is addicting and interesting, no matter what the subject matter, and he is in extremely high demand both as an artist, and as a progressive iconic figure of today's youth.

WEBSITE: www.obeygiant.com
INQUIRIES: Shepard Fairey's work can be found at galleries throughout the country, such as Merry Karnowsky Gallery , but the best place to go is his own website, Obey Giant. Prices start at $30+ for limted edition prints signed and numbered by the artist (a typical edition size may be of 300 - 400).
All images Copyright Shepard Fairey.

HOWARD FINSTER

Pennville, GA
December 2, 1916 - October 22, 2001

Howard Finster, a one-time Baptist minister, lawn mower, and television repair man, settled in rural Georgia and began painting out of a feeling of divine inspiration and as a way to tell stories of salvation to the masses. His art career took off in the 1980s as Folk Art gained popularity, a genre into which the art world had neatly shoe-horned Finster's style.

Finster's work is well-known in many circles from museums and galleries to small collectors throughout the world. In his lifetime, he created more than 45,000 works of art, as well as a two-and-a-half art refuge containing pieces made from found materials. Located in Pennville, GA, Finster's "Paradise Garden" attracts flocks of fans each year to admire his most interesting, permenant work.

Each of Finster's pieces are a combination of sacred and cultural icons that are frequently mixed with messages reflecting his religious past. In fact, Finster's entire art career began with divine inspiration to use art to further religious messages. Whether directly or not, these messages are found throughout his work, even including album covers for the Talking Heads and R.E.M. (when asked why he designed the covers even though he does not like rock and roll, Finster replied that "I had twenty six million verses go out and reach the world").

Most of his pieces are composed of paint on wood or found objects. Although influenced by divinity, the art does not feel "religious" in an overbearing way. Colorful and often whimsical, Finster's work remains wildly popular today.

WEBSITE: www.finster.com
INQUIRIES: There are a lot of brick-and-mortar galleries and websites who sell Finster's work, because he produced it so prolifically. Some online resources are Anton Haardt Gallery, David Leonardis Gallery, and Garde-Rail Gallery. Prices start around $350+.
All images Copyright Howard Finster.

PETE KELLY

Cheshire, England

Pete Kelly's photographic work might make you think he stepped out from behind an old camera of the early 1900s. In fact, he is a contemporary photographer who works with mainly with digital equipment. Yep. The new stuff.

Kelly uses a wide variety of tools, including his computer, to achieve what he wants out of each shot. The results are timeless, almost hypnotic stills. Looking at his black and white work, it's easy to feel you're a part of some important moment in time. Just what moment in time I'm not too sure, but that's unimportant.

Describing his art to Aspen International Art, Kelly says, "My approach to photography is very similar to a painter, I want to interpret more than is actually there, the image capture is just the beginning of the creative process for me."

Most of his photographs are issued in editions of 25 (signed and unsigned) and are output onto cotton canvas with ultrachrome pigmented inks. Kelly has been featured in many galleries throughout the world and his work is a part of the permanent collection of Dow & Jones, Sloan-Kettering, and the Williamsburg Art and Historical Society (Brooklyn). Although black and white photos are shown here, he also shoots in color.

WEBSITE: Unavailable
INQUIRIES: Collection photography is much easier to find than original paintings. Look online or at galleries such as Robin Rice Gallery. Prices for an individual photo range from $400 and go up to several thousand.
All images Copyright Pete Kelly.

AMY RUPPEL

Portland, OR

Amy Ruppel was suggested by GALLER|b visitor Holly of holly's plate (she just happens to also be my significant other). Ruppel's work is gaining quite a bit of noteriety through the blogosphere, and has also shown in galleries concentrated in the Pacific northwest U.S.

Her work has a gentle and inviting tone, and a lot of it is on a small scale, which works well with the subject matter and colors. If you dig a little deeper, you'll find out that Ruppel is a very talented graphic designer. Her background in commercial design can be seen in some of her pieces where sketches creep into the overall painting (I like this style), but her work doesn't give any hints that she's having to force herself from her graphic design background.

She uses an interesting assortment of materials, including paper, oils, wood (panel and box), and a beeswax/resin mixture. Find a nice small space and her work will brighten it, for sure.

WEBSITE: www.amyruppel.com
INQUIRIES: Start with her website. Her original work ranges from $100 to $450 and beyond. Interestingly, she also offers up new work periodically on her site, which she makes for available for sale. The next one is September 13th at 10am (PT).
All images Copyright Amy Ruppel.

SHAG [Josh Agle]

Los Angeles, USA

Over the past six months, it seems there are a mass of websites, articles, and magazines that can't get enough of the work of American contemporary artist Shag.

Shag, whose name is a combination of two letters from Agle's first and last names, is a highly popular and wildly creative artist who's style is often duplicated by others. A cross between lounge-lizard and tiki tacky, Shag's work is decadence at its finest, always integrating scenes of people enjoying life.

Although his original paintings are out of the scope of this site from a cost perspective, signed and numbered serigraphs of Shag's paintings are available for even a couple hundred dollars.

His subject matter, colors, and the comic/fun feel of everything he creates blends to leave behind unforgettable works that are easily recognizable and appreciated. You'll want to fill up a high-ball, put on some Dean Martin and start throwing around retro-hipster lingo.

WEBSITE: www.shag.com
INQUIRIES: Several websites on the Internet, but try Shagmart or Modern Gallery Palm Springs. Signed & numbered serigraphs starting around $200+.
All images Copyright SHAG.

RODNEY WHITE

New York, USA

On Rodney White's web site, he refers often to dreams and aged materials. His work is a colorful combination of both. Make sense? Maybe not in writing, but his work is something different.

Using bright colors, non-traditional surfaces (he creates most of his "canvases" out of wood panels, doors, etc), and a commercial style, White's paintings are a cross between pop-art, folk art, and written word. Each piece is as vibrant in color as it is in the message it delivers.

The aging that White applies to his paintings is a combination of arbitrary rips, tears, rubs, and planned creativity. The effect takes the sharpness off of clean edges without losing any power in his message. The end result is something easy to digest, deep enough to interpret, and complex enough to keep you interested.

As good as his paintings are, Rodney is a really nice guy, and extraordinarily creative. The purchase of one of Rodney's paintings kick started this site, so I hope anyone else interested gets a chance to talk to him as well.

WEBSITE: www.rodney-white.com
INQUIRIES: Start by contacting him through his website. Rodney's work ranges in price from the low hundreds well into the thousands for the moment.
All images Copyright Rodney White.