Since his childhood, Nicola‘s main fascination had been and remained with the baroque works of the old masters. In addition to the professors at the Accademia di Bologna, which he would attend for five years, they were the ones to teach him the finer secrets of sculpture and painting.

While Samorì‘s painting skills could easily compete with those of the old masters, it was the unique artistic violence he applied to his work, which was to earn him a spot at the Venice Biennale, as well as recognition and exhibitions all over Europe. Samorì overpaints, draws or scrapes what appears to you as a perfect baroque painting. He goes further and uses a scalpel to peel away layers of paint, granting you access to what lays beneath, offering …

Berlin based street artist Evol is best known for his recreation of streets and buildings on cardboard or electronic switch-boxes. He uses spray paint to recreate the “Plattenbau” aesthetic of urban Germany. Despite being a street artist most of his work today is done indoors and for the gallery market, following the likes of Banksy and the other household names of former street art you’ve all become very familiar with.

His latest project took him outdoors… not back to the street but to the countryside where he created an urban city within, or shall we say underneath, the endless meadows that are part of the MS Dockville festival outside of Hamburg. While Evol usually works …

The artwork by Maxime Ansiau is probably best described as a fusion of traditional craft and contemporary wit. Ansiau creates traditional blue and white delftware with a twist… that would look good on anybodies wall!

Maxime was born in Paris and lives and works now in Rotterdam, NL. These and other works were recently included in the ”Found Footage” exhibition at Galerie Iris Cornelis, Rotterdam.…

One of my favorite Art Chicago discoveries must be the work of Claudia Alvarez, a multi-disciplinary artists creating sculptures, installations and paintings. Alvarez’s prime focus is the investigation of childhood themes. “I utilize characteristics of children to embody psychological and sociological structures of human behaviour” she says. “I am interested in investigating the sociology of human relationships and the psychological elements they tend to instigate.”

Her work has a strikingly beautiful melancholy, exploring emotions such as anger, fear, joy, or pain… expressing them through the eyes or shall we say shape of children… Children who often more openly reveal what adults attempt to hide.

The current series of work, titled “American Heroes”, addresses core …

Due to it’s stronger regional «character», compared to previous years, when «Whitecube» or «Haunch of Venison» would give Art Chicago back some of its old time international glory, a lot of regional galleries and artists were showcasing their work in this years edition.

Among my favorites must have been current Chicago resident Jason Salavon. Salavon, who also teaches at the Art Institute, is mostly known for his work where he uses custom computer software to manipulate existing media, combines the result with an averaging process and creates visual amalgamations*.

In Chicago the Portrait series, of what he calls «likely to be the final installment of a broader series begun in 1997», was on display. …