This painting by Ryan Singer was on display in a special exhibit at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Ryan Singer is a Navajo artist who is known for mixing every day Native American scenes with elements of science fiction. He is especially fond of characters from Star Wars. If you look closely at this painting, you will see many Star Wars characters and equipment mixed in with this casual trading post scene.
You can read more about Ryan Singer here.
Last Monday I featured a painting of an Arizona landmark. This week I'm featuring another painting this time of a Phoenix landmark. I discovered this painting in the lobby of a downtown Phoenix office building hanging near the elevator bank. It's called "Tovrea Dreams" and features the well-known Phoenix landmark, Tovrea Castle. Only this depiction has taken on a surrealistic tone with the castle sitting on the back of a giant turtle.
The artist is Rafael Navarro who is originally from Mexico City. He is self-taught and finds his way through painting and sculpting. This painting was part of a show by Modified Arts called "Visions of Phoenix: Reality and Surreality." This painting fits the "surreality" description perfectly.
You can see more of Navarro's work here.
This week's featured artist is someone local. Frank Gonzales was born in Mesa Arizona and raised in Tempe Arizona and his interest in art began early in life. He was encouraged to apply for a scholarship which he received. He graduated from the Laguna College of Art & Design.
His stay in California turned into 6 years and then in New York for another 6 years before returning to his roots in Arizona.
His signature "raindrops of color" is something I recognize right away. This painting was featured in an exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden but I've seen his work in other locations as well. I did a post about that exhibit at the garden on my Phoenix Daily Photo blog.
