ONE YEAR RETROSPECTIVE
September 23, 2011 | ART | Posted by James Watkins |
Last September, we launched the T-SQUAT art and photography sections by flicking around a few requests to our mates asking them to submit their work. One year, hundreds of emails and a thousand cups of tea later, we now have one of the most comprehensive and striking collections of contemporary art and photography anywhere on the internet. We have featured many of the biggest names in the art world, and have provided a platform for lesser known artists to gain exposure and rub digital shoulders with their artistic heroes. Here, we present our one year retrospective: a hand picked selection of our favourites, a visual smorgasbord of styles, techniques and influences, an aesthetic buffet of inspiration, a treasure trove of ideas and a showcase of sublime expression – from some of the most talented and skilful creative practitioners in the world.
We’re proud to be able to share this collection with our readers. A huge and genuine thanks must go out to everyone who has supported and shared our content over the last year, and of course to all the artists we’ve featured in the last twelve months. Without their gifts, openness and time, we’d have nothing to show anyone except an empty white screen of pixels or a selection of shit Mac-Photo-booth images we took when we were drunk and thought we were awesome…
We now have more motivated members in our Melbourne based team than ever, working hard every day to bring the best the world has to offer. We’re really excited about where we have got to and what we have achieved in one short year, but are more excited about where we are going and are still looking to improve, refine and grow our website to reach every corner of the globe. There’s strength in numbers and we’re a welcoming bunch here, so if you’d like to write for us, swap content, submit artwork or get involved in any capacity, don’t be shy….please drop us an email.
An epic collection of imagery of this magnitude requires no words of validation. The images silently speak for themselves and deconstructing art too much dilutes what it essentially stands for. That said, I think they are deserving of some poignant words of truth and none ring truer than those of leading art critic of the Victorian era, John Ruskin, who said “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece”.
At the risk of becoming overly philosophical, this phrase provokes a certain amount of self reflection, whilst reinforcing the ideals on what at times can seem like a long and lonely creative road. We can’t all be master artists producing master pieces, but we do all have the choice to display courage and direct our energies into what we love whilst spending time furthering ourselves through expression. Below, we have over a hundred examples of the marriage between love and skill, and over a hundred interpretations of life, by those who see both the light in the darkness, and the darkness in the light.
Words: James Watkins.
GABRIEL MORENO
MARK RUSSELL – ADVENTURE ARTISTS
PIETER HUGO
RYOHEI HASE
JEFF SOTO
DAISY ROSENGRAVE
BLAISE BELL
SIPHO MABONA
RIVAL REVOLUTION / INVURT
ANDY CONLAN
KESH
KANE ALEXANDER
JORDIE HALSHALL
KRIS CORVINO
DANIEL SANNWALD
LUKE THOMPSON
JAMES WATKINS
MAX MOHR
DAVID MAURICE SMITH
RICHARD LIPP
DANIEL FOOTHEAD
SAM STRICKLAND
JAK RAPMUND
VISIBLE HUMAN PROJECT
ERIN FORSYTH
CHRIS – SIMPSONS ARTIST
RON MUECK
MEGGS
ZOE WEIR
MARCO PALMIERI
ANDREW KOLB
SPRINGER PARKER
ZACH JOHNSEN
MICA STILL
YANG YONGLIANG
ELISA MAZZONE
HAFSTEINN JULIUSSON
KENNETH MERRICK
PHILIP LEVINE
THE VOID
ROADSWORTH
ADNATE
CONRAD BIZJAK
MAURO PALMIERI
ERIK SANDBERG
HORROR SLEAZE TRASH
NICK SIMPSON-DEEKS
POLLY BORLAND
NANDA ORMOND
NOMA BAR
LEIF PODHAJSKY
RENA LITTLESON
RUSS MILLS
AARON NAGEL
STEFANO de LUIGI
BRIAN DETTMER
CHIA LAKETA
COLE RISE
BRIAN VIVEROS
NAT MA
DALE GRIMSHAW
JEREMY BLINCOE
KLAUS KAMPERT
JIM KAZANJIAN
JAMES SQUIRES
LUKE DIXON
SANDRINE BOULET
SIT
KONSTANTIN SERGEYEV
TAKAHIRO KUMIRA
TIAGO VAZ
JR
LEON WILLIAMS
BEN ASHTON-BELL
COUS COUS KID
RAQUEL APARICIO
RALPHI ILLUSTRATION
JASON DECAIRES
SARAH MACFARLANE
ANNELI OLANDER
ANTONIO GONCALVES
I KNOW CRAZY
AUSTRALIAN STREET ART
DAVE KINSEY
NATHAN TRAPNELL
NICK GENTRY
FRACTIONS OF A CITY
PALE HORSE DESIGN
ROBERT MONTGOMERY
ALEX MARKS
SLINKACHU
ADAM PATTERSON
BARON WOLMAN
DAVID NIKOLAISEN
ESOTERIC PIXELS
GARY PARKER
HENARE
RING GIRLS
EIGHTY SHADES OF GREY
ANDREW WHITE
VAGABONG
JESSICA SIM
ZENA HOLLOWAY