Cool Hunting

Painter Ann Toebbe
Ann Toebbe's paintings of domestic scenes and assorted interiors are quite inspirational, giving the feeling of living in a geometric, melancholy collage. The Chicago-based artist's work shares some of the color, shapes and flatness of Christoph Ruckhäberle, but she leaves out the people and weirdness. In each piece, intricate patterns and simple forms clutter the plane, which make up a uniquely one-dimensional composition....

Asgar/Gabriel: Bucolica Obscura
Since 2005, the young Vienna-based artists Daryoush Asgar and Elisabeth Gabriel of Asgar/Gabriel, have been collaborating on a radically contemporary form of figurative painting. Drawing upon historical movements such as baroque, pop art, and abstract expressionism, while referencing contemporary developments in graffiti and photo-realism, the duo create intricately layered canvases in which linear narrative falls prey to the chaos of our image saturated times....

Buff Monster: The Sweetest Thing
L.A.-based artist Buff Monster is doing what he does best (bubbly, mostly pink creatures and shapes) for his latest show, "The Sweetest Thing," opening next week at Culver City's Corey Helford Gallery. Influences like "heavy metal, porn, Japanese kawai culture, and ice cream" are evident in his creepy-cute compositions which often feature a character, the "Happy Squirter," made of breast-shaped parts with cherries frequently...

David Ryan
I first fell for David Ryan's work after seeing a couple of small pieces in Mark Moore's booth at Scope New York last year. Now Ryan is back with a solo show in his signature style at Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica. (Click images for detail.) Ryan creates his very sculptural paintings by intricately stacking together brightly-painted pieces of MDF (medium-density fibreboard). I...