Winner of Next Star Artist 2008 – nextstarartist.com
It is with great pleasure that I can announce the winner of the Next Star Artist competition (http://www.nextstarartist.com) for 2008 as being Herb Williams !!!
Thanks to everyone who entered the competition and to all the fantastic judges
Next Star Artist competition judges:
Rebecca Wilson: Saatchi Gallery – http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
Amy Stein: Artist – http://www.amysteinphoto.com
Adam Simon: Fine Art Adoption Network – http://www.fineartadoption.net/
David Cohen: Artworld Digest Magazine – http://www.artworldigest.com
Shelley Esaak: About Network (Art History) – http://arthistory.about.com
Jon Feinstein: Humble Arts Foundation – http://www.humbleartsfoundation.org
Sandra Pattin: Florence Biennale – http://www.florencebiennale.org
Jay FC: Galleri HK – http://www.galleri.hk/
Paul Drake: Artist – http://www.artists.co.nz/drake/
Amani Olu: Humble Arts Foundation – http://www.humbleartsfoundation.org
Jodi Melfi: Absolute Arts – http://www.absolutearts.com
Morgan Croney: Artcards.cc – http://www.artcards.cc
Martin Hosking: Red Bubble: http://www.redbubble.com
Sixtine Crutchfield: Art Culture Studio: http://www.artculturestudio.com
Dion: Art News Blog – http://www.artnewsblog.com
Herb Williams Bio (http://www.herbwilliamsart.com):
I am interested in iconic objects that society perceives to fit one role, and then reintroducing them in different subtexts. There are several questions that arise when an object(such as a crayon) that is so often associated with childhood is used to address issues dealing with more adult matters. The sculptures are childlike in their curious approach to the object as icon, but intriguing and satisfying to me in the use of pure color as form. Larger room installations also add the element of playing to the olfactory sense. I hope that this body of work is my most successful in adding to the greater visual dialogue of original art. My intent is to continue to seriously create art that looks at itself unseriously.
Some of my influences are H.C. Westermann, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine, Cai Guo-Qiang, Sandy Skoglund, Liza Lu, David Mach, Charles Ray, Magritte, Duchamp, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Robert Rauschenburg, Banksy, and Ai Weiwei.
I am the only individual in the world with an account with Crayola. I get these colors individually packed 3000 to a case. I cut down the sticks to the length I need by hand with either double guillotine cigar cutters or large breed dog nail clippers. I then bond the paper, not the wax, to a form I have carved or cast, completely enveloping the form. Lately I have been casting the completed crayon sculptures in a silicone jacket mold with a two-part epoxy resin and then painting the resin sculpture to look like the original, for a small edition. The sculptures beg to be touched, so when they are cast it makes the handling of them that much easier. (from http://www.herbwilliamsart.com)
image: Herb Williams in his studio
**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications