ONE YEAR RETROSPECTIVE

September 23, 2011 | ART

Posted by James Watkins

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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.

JUAN FRANCISCO CASAS

FACEHUNTER

GABRIEL MORENO

MARK RUSSELL – ADVENTURE ARTISTS

ANTHONY LISTER

PIETER HUGO

RYOHEI HASE

STU GIBSON

JEFF SOTO

DAISY ROSENGRAVE

FRANCIOSE NEILLY