Joel-Peter Witkin(Age 69)

Bio: Joel-Peter Witkin is an American artist born in New York City. He uses the art of photography to focus on the human form, fetishes, and nudity. In his work Witkin emphasizes that which is not necessarily beautiful. Witkin emphasizes the less than beautiful or even desirable aspects of human form.

Opinion: Witkin's work is interesting for the odd way in which he showcases the human form. His use of nudity in many ways escapes typical sexual connotations. His work is in deeply disturbing and troubling while at the same time original in its focus on a common subject of artwork: the human anatomy.

Sources:
http://www.edelmangallery.com/Witkin/witkin.htm

Matt Siber (Age 38)

Bio: Matt Siber is an American artist based in Chicago. His artwork is photography focused on the ideas of advertising. In his work Siber creates a contrast between the world around us and the print and advertising around us. His images are shot around the world and are especially prevalent to the modern viewer.

Opinion: Overall I like Siber's work and the ideas behind it. Siber subtlely calls his viewer to more closely examine the world around them. His photographs are also aesthetically pleasing and document modern life.

Sources:
http://siberart.com/about/

Tom Friedman (Age45)

Bio: Tom Friedman is an American artist who works in a variety of mediums from film to photography to 3d construction.
His significant artwork are in the form of photographs of 3d construction projects.

The artist describes his work as 'obsessive', 'intense'. He tries to suggest exploring the 'limits of reality' contrasted with the monotony of everyday life. In his work Friedman focuses on conveying abstract ideas and a higher commentary through his work.

Some of his works include a sculpture made out of toothpicks, his aluminum foil 'Birth' and his collection of mixed media monsters.

Opinion: Freedman's work is interesting for its focus on abstract ideas, commentary on American Society, and focus on the shared human experience. However, overall his work is not aesthetically pleasing.. One cannot help ,but admire his close attention to detail, inventive use of materials, sense of humor and use of higher ideas behind his work. In the end Friedman is not an artist to paint a flower or admire something for its sheer beauty, but rather one who would sacrifice a more pleasing and flowing aesthetic for ideas and higher themes.

Sources:
http://www.patternbreak.org/writing/friedman.html
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17291,17315,

Jonathon Gitelson (Age --)

Bio: Jonathon Gitelson is a Chicago based artist who focuses on the use of familiar objects and everyday people in his work. His work is notable for its emphasis on ideas and concepts along with its integration of multiple kinds of media. He works mainly in photography to preserve his images, but many of his works are constructions that must be photographed to be viewed. He also works with videos posters and different kind of construction and public arts pieces.

Opinion: Overall, I like Gitelson's work for its ideas. Gitelson's work quickly expresses many different ideas quickly. In this way Gitelson is a modern artist. His works are both aesthetically pleasing and challenge the thinking of the viewer. For these reasons I enjoy Gitelson's work both on the level of someone who is simply looking for a unique image and also for the many and deeper conceptual ideas of his work.

Robert Tarbell (Age --)

Bio: Rob Tarbell is an artist who currently resides in Virginia. His most recent work, Smoke Rings, has an almost craft like quality. Common images in this work include animals and people. Tarbell use smoke and paper to create unique lasting images. As blogger BMore Art writes, Tarbell's work, "intends to balance accident with control and give permanence to the ephemeral."

Personal Opinion: Overall I like Tarbell's work both for its unique use of materials and painstaking process, but also for the image created. The ghostly elephants, zebras, and horses are entertaining and haunting. Unlike the work of Matt Lively, Tarbell does not utilize specific icons or symbols, but realizes on a unique use of materials. His work is abstract bordering on non-objective. I like the aesthetic of the work, the wispy, fleeting quality of his images, but find it difficult to see a wrote or specific meaning within the works. His meaning and purposed for creating each work is more difficult to guess at and define.

Matt Lively (Age--)

Bio: Matt Lively is an artist whose abstract depictions of suburbia rely on 'icons' and symbols to subtlety create a deeper meaning within his work. Matt Lively's work is marked by its bright color palette, unique symbols (with code), and use of form without perspective or depth. The themes and setting of his works are common domestic objects and scenes (houses, dogs, trees).

Opinion: I enjoy Matt Lively's work because its use of icons to more subtlety conveys a deeper meaning within his work. I like his depiction of everyday scenes. I enjoy the bright color palette of his work and find his subject matter familiar and relatable.

Mathew Lively (Age-- )

Bio: Mathew Lively is an abstract artist whose work differs from that of Matt Lively in its journey into the abstract. Some elements found in his paintings include dolls, caricatures, and repetition of ideas and patterns.

Personal Opinion: The overwhelmingly disturbing connotations of author Mathew Lively's work are surprising and at times horrifying. I enjoy his use of patterns and repeated themes; however, his darker blue grey color palette is somewhat depressing. The choice of color and objects suggest a darker theme throughout the work.

His doll series is like a clip from a bad horror movie.

While the work of Mathew may represent an alter ego of Matt Lively or simply a reaction to the work of Matt Lively,overall, , I did not like Mathew Lively's work for the overwhelmingly negative and psychologically disturbing ideas, which it suggests.

Vik Muniz (Age:61)

Bio: Vik Muniz is known for his use of unique media. Some of his works include a peanut butter and jelly Mona Lisa and Che in syrup. Originally from Brazil, Muniz was born in 1961. He is an abstract artist who bases much of his work on popular icons of the 20th and 21st century. His work is reminiscent of Andy Warhol and the pop art movement. Muniz uses photographs to capture the ephemeral images of his artwork.

Personal Opinion: I admire Muniz for the originality of his artwork and his unique use of materials. I find 'Bloody Marilyn' aesthetically pleasing, however, this is not true for all his works. His Che in syrup seems quite repulsive because of the large blotches of syrup. In this work the viewer is called to admire the feat of this depiction rather than the art or general aesthetic of the piece. Some of his work is very similar to screen printing in the way he uses negative and positive space. Overall, I enjoy Vik Muniz's work for its 'newness' and originality, but find that the overall aesthetic leaves something to be desired.