Lorraine Shemesh

Lorraine Shemesh

Bubbles, 1990, oil on canvas

Spots, 2012, oil on canvas

Lorraine Shemesh is a hyper-realist painter. She lists Edward Hopper, athletic figures, dancers, Abstract Expressionism, and Neo-Impressionism as her influences.

Themes include unconventional cityscapes, figures, interiors, repetition, and water.

Her underwater scenes are super good - highly saturated colors with water distortion. Her earlier works are humorous and contemplative.

Francis Alys

Francis Alys (two dots over the y)

I was initially drawn to Francis Alys through his work with performance art, photography, and book arts.
He says the style of his painting is derived from hand-painted signs in his neighborhood in Mexico City. He sort of plays a game of Telestrations with commercial sign painters by giving them copies and then working from the reproductions.  As the process continued, it would ask questions about painting itself and relationships with painting and between painters in the modern world.

He works with narratives and introspective situations. His work with reproductions reminds me of Luc Tuymans.

http://www.francisalys.com/public/painting.html