Joe Becker
Joe Becker cites Baroque and Rococo painting as primary influences on his work, but the specters of more recent artists — Francis Bacon and Ivan Albright most prominently — also peer out from his grotesque images. Becker levels less-than-subtle indictments of man’s gluttony, violence, cruelty, and selfishness through his paintings, and while rarely using contemporary imagery, his commentary applies particularly to the current state of our civilization and the persistent human sense of entitlement. The wrath behind the snarling mouths and beneath the rot, decay, blood, and viscera of Becker’s pieces is almost tangible.

Tagged: Francis Bacon, Ivan Albright, Joe Becker
RELATED
Toronto-based painter Andre Ethier combines traditional painting techniques with flowing, textured brushwork to lend his psychedelic paintings a brooding moodiness that is reminiscent of the work of Ivan Albright as well as that of the Surrealists. Unlike other artists working with similar themes, Ethier’s images are more somber than they are giddily hallucinatory, and the horror he portrays is more nuanced, with vague references to ancient mythology and pop culture Read more
Also by GERRY MAK
Bill Fick’s linocuts, silkscreens, and tempera painting
Chapel Hill-based printmaker Bill Fick makes awesomely grotesque faces and creatures with linocuts, silkscreens, and tempera paint. They have a vintage feel to them, as if the rotted remains ’50s advertising images have risen from the dead. Read more
Sarah Appleboum makes a neon felt and yarn explosion in your face and everywhere, the epicenter of which is in San Francisco. While you’re unconscious from the impact, you will dream of rainbow yetis, shamans, and soft revolvers.
Anointed Best New Band of 2009 by Baltimore’s City Paper, Sick Weapons embody basically what’s so great about this town — trash, and good times. They spit out sloppy, warbling, ear-piercing punk that’s more giddy than it is snarling, with frontwoman Ellie Beziat channeling Poly Styrene without being overly conscious of it. With songs like If You Love Me Take Me to the Hospital, The Prettiest Racist in Town, and Orgy on the China Train, it’s apparent these guys have their heads in a lot of unseemly places, but not up their own butts.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Riikka Sormunen’s paintings are stylised depictions of fantasy worlds. She also paints novelty figurines to immerse in these beautiful environments, where darkness seeps in, lending them unusual and thought-provoking qualities.
Yann Gross’ photos of tattooed bikers, cowboys, drag races, and Confederate-flag-adorned trailer homes are unnerving documents of the American experience. But his subjects aren’t American, they’re residents of the Rhone Valley in Gross’ native Switzerland. Judging from his photos, Europeans don’t necessarily look down their noses at the U S of A. Some of them actually celebrate it, blemishes and all.
This odd, atmospheric animation by web artists Aaron Russ Clinger and Miltos Manetas is simple but effective, a finely rendered piece of interactive art. There are some pretty crazy things you can make the floating man do if you play around with this long enough.
Peter Morén, one third of the Swedish group — Peter, Bjorn and John — that gave us some of 2006’s catchiest moments with their collection of eminently whistlable tunes, has a wonderful debut solo album out called The Last Tycoon. Read more
Disregard the buzz that surrounds those other cupcake shops in New York City. Cheeks Bakery in Williamsburg houses the best cupcakes that I’ve eaten. The clean and understated decor extends to the menu, where being fancy doesn’t rule on the cupcake shelves. Cheeks offers, simply, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with either vanilla or chocolate cream. But if you do want more, Cheeks has that as well, a limited selection of pies and cakes.
The very talented Jess Snow, the first video artist to be featured by Female Persuasion — the original site for provocative and political female artists — has created this ethereal short video for Lost At E Minor. We feel it. We love it. [see also the promo video Lifelongfriendshipsociety created for us]
These Stephanie Simek designed rabbit’s foot-like charms made from pussy willow buds dangle from the ears by strands of thin chains like silent wind chimes. The earrings are approximately 3 inches long plus ear wire and available for US$125.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Trip out with Sparrow Vs Sparrow’s retro illustrations, I love their aesthetic, color use and sense of humor. Read more
Diane Koss’ recycled bottle monsters
Check out Diane Koss’ amazing handmade stuffed monsters if you’re looking for a last-minute gift. Her mostly cycloptic creatures are fashioned from felt made from one hundred percent recycled plastic bottles. Read more
Kate Banazi’s silkscreen artwork
A three-lettered ‘wow’ explodes in my mind whenever I look at the work of Sydney-based silkscreen artist Kate Banazi. Her latest work is fantastically dynamic, stylistic and abstract, making clever use of colour-bomb palettes. Read more
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more
Very Cheap Bag totes are eco-friendly and made from 100 percent unbleached cotton. They’re sturdy, yet lightweight. We love them, and think you will too. So we have them for sale in our online store for less than nine dollars. Read more
We’ve just updated the Lost At E Minor iPhone app in the iTunes store with some new features. It’s a daily snapshot of the latest content from the site. You can download it now. Win? Well, it’s free. So you win, we win. Snap!
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.












