Posts Tagged ‘Craig Alan’

Craig Alan – Together They Stand

Posted on: July 26th, 2022 by Art Leaders No Comments

Populus by Craig Alan

Exhibition on view at Art Leaders Gallery August 1st – 31st, 2022

Published on July 26th, 2022

In recent uneasy times, many of us have seen how much we need one another. Isolation during the pandemic reminded us just how important it is to spend time with friends and loved ones. One person alone may be able to climb a mountain, but a large group of people can move that same mountain, or in Craig Alan’s case, create that mountain. Craig Alan’s Populus series is a visual reminder that humans can create something powerful together.

Inspiration

While he was visiting his hometown, Craig Alan found inspiration for what would become his most popular series of work. The series is composed of tiny figures, grouped together to create larger compositions of human figures, popular icons, and even abstract shapes. This series drew inspiration from a balcony overlooking Orange Beach, Alabama where people enjoying a wedding party seemed to form the shape of an eye where they stood. Furthermore, Craig explains, “Inspiration begins with a ‘What if…’ as I consider alternate imagery, surfaces, effects, results, etc. It comes from the past in conjunction with now. Like a bolt of lightning.”

Since the epiphany, his Populus series is now home to dozens of celebrities and icons of all ages. These icons include celebrities such as, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Freddie Mercury, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, James Bond and James Dean. He also pays homage to master artists such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Van Gough.

Craig states, “Art needs to be responsible to its purpose; to inspire and enhance.” To beginning artists he says encouragingly, “be yourself and do what YOU want to do, not what someone else advises or suggests,” and in the words of his Pepaw, “Don’t ever quit!”

From the Ground Up

Craig Alan has become publicly recognized as an innovator in the visual arts industry through the years. For example, he has presence in many galleries across the U.S., England, Germany and Canada. He has done work for commercials, advertisements, and even large-scale murals.

Alan’s most recent mural “From the Ground Up” is Atlanta, Georgia’s newest public art piece. The mural spans six stories tall and is a depiction of the city’s rise from the ashes of the Civil War to become a world known city. “From the Ground Up” embodies Atlanta’s rebuilding amidst the nation’s current civil unrest and its fight to unite against the coronavirus pandemic.

“From the Ground Up’ is also available in a limited edition print! Click here to view the artwork.

Click here to view “From the Ground Up” on YouTube.

View the Craig Alan Populus collection here.

Follow Art Leaders Gallery on Instagram for more updates on Craig Alan’s work!

Craig Alan’s Populus: People Making People

Posted on: February 21st, 2019 by Art Leaders No Comments

Craig Alan’s Populus: People Making People

: Cat Eyes – Audrey Hepburn by Craig Alan

: Dream Big by Craig Alan

: Dream Big by Craig Alan

Despite the title’s multiple meanings, I am of course referring to Craig Alan’s ‘Populus’ figurative artwork series at Art Leaders Gallery. His artwork has captured the attention of many in the past decade. Check out this News Article of his latest public art piece in Atlanta, Georgia!

Each painting reads as a portrait from a distance– often a celebrity or known public figure. When you approach the work and look closely, you start to understand that each line and detail making up the portrait is an individual of their very own. Above all, the figures that make up these portraits are always unique. They interact in a world within the depiction of another a human being! In other words, he makes people made from people!

Alan’s Inspiration

: Hot Feet by Craig Alan.

Craig Alan’s inspiration behind the series began after he started taking photographs from his mother’s condo balcony. He captured the ever-changing crowds from a distance. As a result, a pattern began to form of a human eye in the lens of his camera. “This started my creative wheels turning,” Craig explains. Everything after that I suppose is history!

Craig Alan's Populus Series Hope Around The Corner featuring mini figures gathering around the letters HOPE available at Art Leaders Gallery

Hope Around the Corner by Craig Alan

Craig Alan believes that individuals need to work together for the greater good of the community. Therefore, his pieces have a general sense of community, positivity, and hope. He believes we are all small pieces of one large puzzle. Consequently, he wants viewers to be able to see themselves in each one of his pieces. As a result, his artwork is customizable with unique figures of your choice.

Populus Process

Craig Alan adding custom details to a piece of artwork from his Populus series.

Craig Alan hand painting ‘The Crossover’ details.

Firstly, Craig Alan meticulously makes stencils for each one of the tiny figures that makes up each of his larger images. Secondly, he then uses these stencils to spray paint each figure individually onto the canvas to create a larger image. After that, each figure is hand painted to include their unique qualities.

Watch this video for an in depth look at Craig Alan’s Populus Process.

Craig has been expanding his figurative artwork series, which is gaining more and more recognition. In addition to public art, he offers originals, commissioned mixed media work, and has recently released a new limited-edition line on canvas! Craig now works in three different artwork classifications; Original, Mixed Media, and Limited Edition. His new limited-edition works are a signed & numbered edition of 75 giclée’s on canvas. His mixed media on wood is his most popular genre of work. They are available for commissions and are customizable in size, color, and details. Clients have asked him to add in their names, certain figures, their own portrait, etc. His original paintings are where the limits are fairly endless. Collectors can commission a Craig Alan original of their own face in the Populus style if desired.

Stay tuned and let Art Leaders Gallery be your go-to resource for all things new with Craig Alan!

Published February 21st, 2019

Pop Art! – In the Art World

Posted on: June 26th, 2018 by Art Leaders No Comments

Pop Art

You can’t not know what Pop Art is. I mean –you can, but if you saw pop art you’d definitely recognize it. And that’s very much the intention of the movement –to be popular. Not to become popular, but to already exist as something popular. How can this be? Pop Art as a movement creates a mirror for popular culture –it’s things like Campbell soup cans, Wonder Woman, and large balloon animals. Artists have faced critiques of originality from the movement’s inception; however, one look at these artworks and you won’t be able to deny their creativity.

Pop art arose in the 1950s as a reactionary art movement to abstract expressionism. Abstract Expressionism concerned itself with the subconscious or the spiritual; it was spontaneous, and had great emotional intensity. The point was to avoid the artistic censorship that occurred after World War II (and all the political propaganda “art” that came with it) by creating art with abstract or neutral subject matter –think Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.

Pop Artists entered the art scene in an attempt to lighten the mood from the intensity of this genre by reverting to the everyday realities of popular culture. They focused on the banal, kitschy, even the cheap elements of society –employed in an almost satirical or ironic reaction to the art of the times. Things you’d normally see in comic books, advertisements, and every day mundane (albeit cultural) objects appeared in designs whose creators called them “art”. And by the 1960’s, “Pop Art”, was ready to change the world. Artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol controlled the art scene. But it wasn’t just an art-movement, it was a lifestyle.

The Pop Art Resurgence

In the 1980s Pop art had a resurgence known as “Neo-Pop”. Like the movement in the 60’s it was irreverent and witty. The Pop look never really went away and can be seen today in street graffiti, comic books, photo montage, and large-scale sculpture. The movement remains relevant today because people are drawn to the objectivity of these artworks. Pop culture motifs give viewers a feeling of belonging –the artwork has an immediate personal draw.

Were they trying to make a socio-political statement? A critique of society? Or were they finding real beauty in Campbell’s Soup cans? Maybe they just saw everyday objects artistically?

Images by: https://www.themodern.org/blog/Contemporary-Pop-Art/343 & https://mymodernmet.com/what-is-contemporary-art-definition/

Published June 26th, 2018