A selection of paintings from Josh Bronaugh, a multitalented painter that paints, primarily, nudes. You can check out more of his work after the cut or at his site right here.
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I first saw some of Minneapolis-based Greg Gossel’s work at a show here in NYC in 2009 and have tried to keep him on my radar ever sense. I would have mistaken his work for that of the collective Faile had I not known any better. His art is, in short, a commentary on pop culture run amok. A majority of his pieces are in the form of massive mixed media canvas’s; however, he also does some small print work (affordably priced, they sell quick!) and some small-ish paintings. Gossel’s art pulls from the last 50 years of mainstream media and generally focuses around the groups that are easily exploited….celebrities, minorities, and groups of people based on age, sex, and gender. Intertwined with these images are brands and logos, movie poster fragments and all manner of pop, mixed up and then plastered on canvas. If you like these, you should check out his expansive site at greggossel.com and some shots from his recent show in San Francisco that wrapped up last week at WhiteWall.

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I saw the work of Milan based painter Maurizio Bongiovanni via one of the many Flickr image streams I follow and wasn’t too sure what to make of them…until I saw that they were oil paintings (at which point I was blown away.) There isn’t much info on him around the web; however, these fantastic and, somewhat, abstract paintings of various small birds that have been slightly exaggerated are truly stunning. To say the least, I’m a fan. You can check out more on his Flickr page here and below the cut.

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If you live in NYC or the surrounding area, fantastic painter Jeff Soto has an upcoming show at the Jonathan Levine Gallery from June 26 – July 24th that will showcase some of his more recent work. If you aren’t familiar with Soto, his work focuses on his expressions of profound visions of love, lust, and man’s attempts at harnessing the powers of nature. These ideas are translated onto canvas in a style that evokes imagery of skate and hip-hop culture in very specific color palettes that he religiously adheres to. Be sure to check out the show at the gallery in about a month. Also, his site (available here) has a huge backlog of his paintings, as well as information about buying prints (they sell for around $70 and are signed and numbered.) This guy is probably one of my favorite living painters.

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Marco Zamora was born and raised in Pomona California. He graduated from California Institute of the Arts in 2004, with a Bachelor of Fine art. Since, Marco has become graphic artist by day, painter by night. His work is influenced by everyday life, culture, color, L.A., skateboarding and people in awkward moments. His work has been heavily featured by Vans (the shoes company) and more of it can be seen at his site, marcozamora.com. If you live on the West Coast, Marco has work that will be featured in shows in San Diego and Portland and if you’re in Spain, he has work that’ll be in Barcelona at Sensory Overload in July. You can find the details on all that here.

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Dan Witz - Big Mosh Pit 2007 - Oil and Mixed Media On Canvas 46 in. x 70 in.

Photorealism emerged from the 1960’s and 1970’s as a movement that countered both minimalism and abstract expressionism. In a photorealist painting, the artist paints from a photograph with a level of detail so fine that they can easily be mistaken for photographs. While the movement waned in the 1980’s it’s coming back in a big way. In 2009, the ArtPrize award was awarded to Ran Ortner’s immense canvas, Open Water No. 24, beating out 9 other finalists (Ortner won after receiving a majority of the 37,264 registered votes cast). His work was the only painting out of the final 10 candidates. (You can read about that here.) With artists’ like Dan Witz (above) using the techniques in a more contemporary setting, the movement is not only coming back, but coming back in a big way.

Here are 10 photorealistic painters (and 21 photorealistic paintings) that are at the height of their game. Remember, they are all oil paintings.
ED NOTE: Each photo links directly to the artists’ website and portfolio in a new window.

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British/Russian artist working in a variety of media and genres of figurative painting including Human Figure, Portrait, Still Life and Decorative Composition.
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