Richmond Book Signing - August 3, 2012

Art Whino Book Signing and Artist Exhibit
Richmond, VA First Friday Art Walk

The first Art Whino book, "Newbrow: 50 Contemporary Artists", is finally here! The book highlights 50 of Art Whino’s artists and features over 180 pages of artwork.  During Richmond’s August First Friday we will be doing a book signing with four of the local featured artists.  Artists who will be present are Brandon Hill, James Walker, Nils Westergard and Sylvia Ortiz.  Artwork from these artists will be on exhibit and artists will be available for signing.

Brandon Hill

I’m  Brandon Hill a DC based, Charm City raised artist/designer.  If art were the movies, I’m definitely the “Spaghetti Western” a cohesive mix trying to be both throwback and avant-garde. I’m from a really strange town that can be as dangerous as it is friendly, and whose cuisine is top notch but only from the shabbiest of joints. I grew up with a hammer in my hand and that was refined upon graduating University of Maryland, College Park. Having a formal and informal education in “making things” makes me an honest fan of the creative process that goes from lose idea to product. As a result I have a very diverse skill set that produces everything from 2-D painting, wood sculpture, illustration, to apparel. 

James Walker

…..I never made a conscious decision to become an artist, it’s something I’ve always done for as long as I can remember. I take pictures and draw and paint and collage debris and objects as intuitively as possible and I’ve never specialized in anything except making the best art that I can. Real artists don’t have a choice about making art, it’s simply a matter of satisfying an insatiable urgency to create…..  

Nils Westergard 

Nils Westergard started stenciling at age 13 when a friend introduced him to the world of street art. Now 18, he is a high school senior with plans to attend VCUarts to study film in the fall. His work with stencils and sculpture focuses on the conflict and legitimacy of street art as well as the nature of authority and rebellion. Aside from painting Nils works with film, sculpture, and set design where he takes his influence from a variety of sources ranging from Carl Sagan to the Cold War. When he's not creating art Nils enjoys nature, film, friends, history and science. 

Sylvia O

New York born and raised, Artist Sylvia Ortiz attended Cooper Unions prestigious Portfolio Prep Program. Later obtaining a B.F.A. from Parsons School of Design and has been heavily active in the urban art scene since 2002 having her first solo exhibition that same year. Her work has been exhibited across the globe from New York to Germany, Paris and Japan. The Beautifully Grotesque is Her body of work where pushes and pulls the boundaries of what is considered “Beauty” and “horrid”. Sylvia O. uses bright and colorful colors to lure and seduce the viewer into delving deeper into their own identity by using the female form as an “object” as opposed to the “subject”.  In 2010 Ms. O had to put her career aside to battle Breast Cancer; which is ironic because her signature floating bubbles of breast are an iconic part of her work. She currently resides in Baltimore where she spends most of her time battling cancer and in her studio painting when she can in hopes to pave a road of consciousness that women would follow as she prepares for her artistic comeback.