Announcing! The Top 10 California Artists You Need to Know in 2012

This article comes to us courtesy of California Home + Design.

We asked the top art curators in the state to help us pick the 10 California artists who are on the rise. On the panel were Franklin Sirmans (Chief Curator of Contemporary Art, LACMA), Jens Hoffmann (Director, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts), Rebecca Morse (Associate Curator, MOCA, LA), Jill Dawsey (Associate Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego), Eli Ridgway (Owner of Eli Ridgway Gallery in SF), and Craig Nelson (Director of Fine Art Painting, Academy of Art University). Now, find out who made the cut.

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Comments

[rexwillington]

01:26 PM on 07/28/2012

You should check out A. Harvey, also of California and his now famous Obama painting. He just started selling his art through the brand http://www.popharvey.com

[Peter Leary]

12:23 PM on 06/03/2012

Hadas Tal for me - not because it's figurative/traditional work but because it shows real talent and insight. The rest is ok but hardly ground-breaking. I've been more impressed at final degree shows.

[GraphicMatt]

12:00 PM on 04/26/2012

Meh. A couple of them registered as "interesting", but the rest, just a big "meh."

[markdf]

12:24 AM on 04/26/2012

I love over-intellectualized artspeak.

Matt Lipps: "Basically, every photograph is a moment in time to which we can never return,This helps me understand what it means to encounter and be with a photograph."

I know, right?! It's like they're SNAPSHOTS!

"I dislocate parts and figures from an original context, and bring them into play with parts of other photographs," he explains.

You make collages.

[jwald1]

04:07 AM on 05/21/2012

I think I could love you....

[coblstone]

08:58 PM on 04/25/2012

this los angeles artist should be here
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Imaginagerie/161188987291082

[Dewts]

08:44 PM on 04/25/2012

wow, contemporary art is embarrassingly bad. nikki pressley gets the award for most inane thing to called art ever.

[Lo Chiaro]

08:25 PM on 04/25/2012

Why people hate any artist I don't know -- especially in this day and age. You'd think artists were CEO's or executives with BP, They deserve our antipathy.

I see artists, ALL ARTISTS, as incredibly courageous individuals that are willing to strike out on their own to offer something that's thoughtful, maybe even beautiful. And yes, even including the challenging and "difficult" ones like Chris Burden or Vito Acconci -- and all the "mediocre" ones many of the commentators on this chain have seemed to identify.

Considering that less than 26% of Americans have a Passport, 3/4's of our population never gets out to interact with any other culture. This and the fact that art is the first thing that's disposable in education and in our culture, makes the US a lot more ignorant about art than informed.

Art is something that is as old a human activity, as the first hand print made on a French cave wall, 35,000 years ago. To the people who are making snarky comments, pick up a sketchbook and draw. You might actually discover something about yourself.

[jerry23]

08:44 PM on 04/25/2012

Thanks for sharing your perspective. Art keeps us Human. Art reminds us that developing ways of self expression assist is fine tuning of our understanding and tolerance of how we Evolve as a Culture. Connecting the dots to reach new perspectives, develops brain power and sharpens one's vision.

[Dewts]

08:49 PM on 04/25/2012

it's because we get offended by ridiculous or simply 'bad' art being given accolades and celebrated.

[PALEOLOGOS DRAGASH]

08:17 PM on 04/25/2012

Van Gogh and Delacroix are not losing any sleep over these.

[GraphicMatt]

11:56 AM on 04/26/2012

They are also long dead. Was there a point that you were trying to make?

[OC Surfer]

07:57 PM on 04/25/2012

There is nothing more full of truth and beauty than nature. Who are these hacks, and why is my tax money going to them? Sounds like nothing more than a high-fallutin' welfare program for leftists to me.

You want to see real art? Look inside anything that's been engineered in the last 10 years, or just look up at the sky.

[alrderblight]

08:52 PM on 04/25/2012

Where in the article does it say these artists receive money from the government? I know a few of these artists personally- they all have jobs or make money by selling their work. Incidentally, I think they would all agree with your statement "There is nothing more full of truth and beauty than nature", but that doesn't mean we should stop making things and thinking about who we are and what things mean.

[GraphicMatt]

11:58 AM on 04/26/2012

Your tax money is going to them? Why would your tax money be going to them? I didn't see anything mentioned about them getting anyone's tax money? Why are you making $#it up?

[Epilef2000]

07:27 PM on 04/25/2012

I knew those dastardly burgers would be then end of Ronald McDonald.

[EBCalford]

07:20 PM on 04/25/2012

Like Hadas Tal, the others...
What about MB Boissonnault, look her up.

[deaddo]

06:45 PM on 04/25/2012

artinfluence.etsy.com

[deaddo]

06:45 PM on 04/25/2012

art is in the toilet

[PALEOLOGOS DRAGASH]

08:18 PM on 04/25/2012

Sure is. Been there since May of 1961.

http://au-bord-du-gouffre.voila.net/merde_alors.html

[artboi]

06:39 PM on 04/25/2012

Yawn!

[David Keith]

06:21 PM on 04/25/2012

All are very dull typical post-modern choices.

Isn't it time Art moved beyond this sort of crap? Why can't we appreciate skill and craftsmanship?

[SalesmanForLife]

07:38 PM on 04/25/2012

Most of these artists and I am happy to call them that are just having a moment of attention. Longevity is not on the horizon for many of them.