Mexican-born, San Francisco-based artist Ana Teresa Fernandez creates work that is thick with sensuality and cultural relevance. Her performance-based paintings are track-stopping and not to be missed.  Some of her work is on display through August 20th, 2011 at The Intersection in San Francisco. You can view more of her work here.

“Life, death, love, passion, beauty: these things don’t need words to explain.” – Bingyi //

Friends in Australia just sent over word after visiting the White Rabbit Collection, a gallery in Sydney featuring the work of contemporary Chinese artists. They were raving about the space, the work and the overall experience. Apparently, they’re not alone, as a quick google search brings high praise from a wide variety of sources.

From the site:

“The Collection started in late 2000 with a handful of pieces. Ten years on, it includes the works of more than 160 artists, in media from calligraphy and oil painting to embroidery, animation, and interactive video. Together they document a decade in which, having fast-forwarded eagerly through the history of modern Western art, Chinese artists leaped into the future with works as boldly original as they were technically masterful.”

Photos above include artists that are currently on display, as well as past exhibitors:
(clockwise from top) Shi Jindian, Zhang Chun Hong, Cong Lingqi, Bingyi, Chi Lei, Cong Lingqi, Cang Xin

French artist JR is certainly getting a lot more attention than usual. He recently received the 2011 TED Prize (click here to watch the speech). If you haven’t heard of him, you’ve probably spotted his incredible large-scale black and white portraits of ‘ordinary’ people all over the internet, or in person if you’re lucky. Because this year’s TED conference is currently being held in the Los Angeles area, JR blanketed the city with more of his gorgeous portrait murals (above).

His TED prize “wish” is to create a global art project called Inside Out that is attempting to involve the general public in the process.

INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images will be made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators for them to exhibit in their own communities.

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Underscore is a stunning Singapore-based magazine “attuned to a simple rhythm; quality of life.”  I was drawn to the Constant Issue (No. 2) and its varied content: from a “post-rock” band to Chernobyl, middle eastern fashion to the landscapes of northern China.

The intro to this issue states that the editors ascribe to three simple truths: “nothing is perfect, nothing lasts and nothing is finished”. Impermanence is a nearly impossible concept for our grasping human minds to fully understand. We’re all trying to defy the temporary nature of this life one way or another, and magazines like Underscore are thankfully cataloging and capturing some of the fleeting beauty.

“We know that nothing is more important than anything else.”

Preview it here.

Purchase it here.

It’s more than likely you’ve already spotted the innovative work of illustrator/typographer/photographer/artist Sean Freeman. He’s been published and hired by in dozens of well-respected names like VH1, Nike, Wired and The New York Times Magazine. London-based and successfully self-employed, he is “one of the most exciting and innovative illustrators to emerge from the UK in recent years,” according to Computer Arts. Using a unique blend of materials, cameras and digital techniques for each piece, his work is refreshingly tactile in a 2d world.

See more at the his studio There Is…

Most young people fail at translating their passion and angst to us “grown ups”. It’s easy to roll our eyes and dismiss their efforts. Enter, Sarah Rose Smiley. A sixteen-year-old photographer from Madison, Wisconsin,  Smiley burst through the clamor of the web and impressed this former teenager. There is certainly room for her to refine her skills as as she gets older, but I hope she manages to hold onto the clarity of her vision as time marches on. Kudos to her.

from her site:

i’m sarah rose smiley; photographer, currently 16 years young. as a child, i was always fascinated with the tales of scheherazade. this led to the title of my work – “schaharazad” – an alternate spelling for an alternate storyteller.

i have had a camera in my hand for the past 2 years- and i will never put it down. i love lace, love, bokeh, best friends, and life (in all its complicated simplicity.)

I can’t say enough about Dark Side of the Lens, shot for Relentless Energy Drink. This short film’s narration, direction, editing, and creative direction are impeccable.  It was shot on location in Ireland about renowned surf photographer Mickey Smith.  He worked with Allan Wilson from the Astray Collective to bring us this incredibly moving and hauntingly beautiful portrait of a man who lives life without hesitation.

Kudos to Relentless Energy Drink. They’re refining and developing their brand with truly beautiful and creative storytelling:  Our challenge to filmmakers around the world to explore, reveal, celebrate and define No Half Measures in film for our SHORT STORIES competition.

A quick post just to introduce you to the work of Swiss-born, Italian Egyptian photographer Romina Shama. Enjoy her beautiful, authentic, cinematic work.

“I only use lighting to recreate a window light. I believe in the feeling of light rather than its technique and I feel the same about photography.”

The photographers (row by row, left to right)

Jen Davis
Santiago Mostyn

Elizabeth Weinberg
Marvin Orellana

David Wright
Annie Ling

Samantha Contis
Bon Duke

Curan Hatleberg
Ina Jang

LaToya Ruby Frazier
Dru Donovan

iO Tillet Wright (not shown)