The Brilliance!

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We’re really internet and we’re really back. A website about things Benjamin , Chuck , Virgil , and various friends & guests think are interesting. Little-to-no specific focus, a bit odd, speling errors, and incredibly culturally relevant.

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Get inspired…

I get asked all the time - who are the artists that inspire me and my work? Who do I look to for influence, ideas, and inspiration? There are plenty of amazing artists out there, but definitely a few lately who I’ve been admiring and really trying to wrap my head around… I want to touch on two artists in particular who, lately, I have been thoroughly immersed in. First off - Ernesto Caivano. Wow. What can I say? Sometimes I see an artist’s work and it makes such an impact on me that I rethink the way I do things and the way I approach what I create. The best link online is to Ernesto’s portfolio page on the Richard Heller Gallery site. Let me just say that his piece “An Offering for Courtship, 2004”, and the other pieces in that series, are easily in my top favorite pieces of art of all-time. No question…simplistic beauty and a brilliant use of negative space, Ernesto’s linework and stark black on white/off-white feels so crisp when you look at it. Pieces like “Pursuit in the Shadows, 2004” are so organic and natural feeling - I love looking at work like his - so far from digital… Alright - anyways…onto the next… A legend and a classic - Ed Ruscha. Looking at Ruscha’s monograph by Richard Marshall, I get so caught up in his work…you know that feeling when you find an artist or musician so intriguing you just seem to get lost in their imaginations instead of your own? I don’t know how to word that really…but that’s how I feel when I look at his paintings. Sounding all artsy fartsy…sorry about that. Anyways - why he chose the words and phrases he chose for certain works - that’s what I’d like to sit down and talk to him about someday. On the other hand, I don’t want to know, because there’s a mystery to looking at a painting of a mountain with the words “CLARENCE JONES 1906-1987 REALLY KNEW HOW TO SHARPEN KNIVES”. Something funny about it too…Anyways, check Ed Ruscha Catalogue for a great selection of his work. He was once called “one of the four most influential artists to have emerged in the 1960’s, along with Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, and Bruce Nauman.” Check these two artists out though - especially if you’re ever in a creative rut. Nothing like being thoroughly refreshed by another person’s work to get inspired.