In the age of Instagram, many artists are finding real traction showcasing their work digitally. Among those is emerging Los Angeles-based Chinese-American painter Fong Min Liao, whose vivid, minimalist red-and-white canvases have won her a global following of Instagram fans – 108 thousand at the time of writing. Keep reading below for her selection of artistic peers to follow for daily visual inspiration.
1. Uzo Hiramatsu
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Uzo Hiramatsu has a fondness for flowers, as is depicted in his soft and serene paintings. Living and painting in Fukuoka, Japan, Hiramatsu is also a lecturer at Fukuoka Design College and Aso Architecture & Design College. Hiramatsu states that his “paintings and objects [represent] the spirit of my Japanese.” Having an incredible appreciation for the ancient aesthetic Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, I can see how Hiramatsu’s paintings completely embody what it means to find the beauty in perfected imperfection.
2. Ethan Cook
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Based in Brooklyn, New York, Ethan Cook is not your traditional paintbrush-wielding painter. Cook instead takes pieces of commercially available dyed cotton to weave, cut, arrange and sew his colour block compositions. His contemporary use of textiles can be seen in various categories, although at the end of the day, Cook’s exploration of materials is in essence a most primitive yet modern form of expression. It’s something I can definitely relate to.
3. Inès Longevial
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Inès Longevial is a Paris-based painter creating pictures of lounging women in settings reminiscent of sun-filled Spanish afternoons. Longevial’s works bring forth a cheery warmth at first glance, yet upon closer inspection, it is easy to see the more intense emotive undertones. Longevial aims to portray women in a sensuous way, and, in a time where beauty is often portrayed as one-dimensional, I find her paintings to be refreshing.
4. Carmen D’Apollonio
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Carmen D’Apollonio is a potter based in Los Angeles. After assisting Swiss artist Urs Fischer in New York for over a decade, D’Apollonio decided to move to the West Coast in 2014 to focus on her ceramics. It proved to be a good move as she was commissioned by Céline in 2015 to design three pieces that were featured in the brand’s Autumn 2016 ad campaign. D’Apollonio continued to work with the Phoebe Philo-helmed Céline and has since expanded her fan base (myself included) who are attracted to the effortless organic character of her works.
5. Ronan Bouroullec
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Ronan Bouroullec is known mainly for the design work he’s produced with brother Erwan at their Paris-based design studio for the past two decades. However, since Bouroullec started to regularly share his abstract drawings on his Instagram account, people have taken notice. Appealing to an aesthetic gaze, Bouroullec’s marker drawings evoke a restrained fluidity that moves and folds with his precise lines. A contrast that I truly resonate with.
6. Leslie Zhang
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A native to Shanghai, Leslie Zhang is known for his stylised and emotive portraits. I was immediately enamoured by his works after stumbling upon his Instagram account one day. Zhang portrays Chinese beauty in his own way by “celebrating the little romances in daily life,” drawing upon his childhood memories of growing up in China to create striking images rife with emotion. As a Chinese-American, I appreciate Zhang’s perspective as I yearn to connect more with my Chinese roots.
7. Jennifer Guidi
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Jennifer Guidi has gained rapid traction within the art world over the past few years with her abstract works, now coveted by collectors. Guidi creates vivid paintings that are noted for her signature use of coloured sand as a medium. As part of the process, Guidi utilises a sharpened, long wooden dowel, sometimes with a paintbrush attached, to make her dotted impressions that come together to form mesmerising, almost meditative patterns. Her paintings leave you wanting to zone out the world and tune into yourself – an art form I think we should all adopt.
Editor
Gavin YeungCredit
Header image: Courtesy of Leslie Zhang