Andrew Fishman's Art

andrew fishman's art and influences

Photography/Digital Work

Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney Studios, “Destino,” 1946-2006

A collaboration between Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney from 1946 that was completed only six years ago.  

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled Film Still #13,” 1978

An intriguing photograph that emulates an ambiguous scene from a class film noir.  

Frank Fournier, “The Agony of Omayra Sánchez,” 1985

A haunting photograph of a girl trapped in a mudslide who died a few hours after the photo was taken. 

Andres Serrano, “Immersion (Piss Christ),” 1987

A crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine and photographed.  

John Simon, “Every Icon,” 1997-present

A flickering 32x32 pixel icon which will, over the next several hundred trillion years, show every possible image in black and white. 

Karin Stack, “Hair Stories,” 1998

A series of photographs documenting the artist’s hair returning after being lost to chemotherapy.  

Ursus Wehrli, “Untitled Tidied,” 2006

A Keith Haring painting “tidied up.”

Christopher Jonassen, “Devour #05,” 2007

A beautiful photograph of the bottom of a well-used frying pan that resembles an alien planet. 

Caleb Charland, “Atomic Model,” 2008

A pen-light connected to a drill and photographed via long exposure so that it resembles a model of an atom. 

Golan Levin, “Double Taker (Snout),” 2008

A snout-like robot which seems to react to the viewer with astonishment. 

Ryan McGinley, “India (Coyote),” 2010

A striking photograph of a coyote on a nude woman’s shoulders.  

Anna Utopia Giordano, “La Nascita di Venere,” 2011

A classical masterpiece Photoshopped to contemporary standards of beauty.  

Todd Howard and Bethesda Game Studios, “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” 2011

An immersive and thought-provoking game with overarching political themes. 

Berndnaut Smilde, “Nimbus Cukurcuma Hamam II,” 2012

A cloud produced and photographed inside a building. 

Haley Morris-Cafiero, “Wait Watchers: Hunted”, 2013

A woman candidly capturing the strange looks others give her for being overweight. 


Graffiti/Public Art

Guerrilla Girls, “Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get Into The Met. Museum?” 1989

An advertisement pointing out the lack of female artists in a major museum. 

MOMO, “Tag Manhattan,” 2006

A two-mile long graffiti signature across Manhattan.  

Mark Jenkins, from the “Glazed Paradise” series, c. 2006

A graffiti installation of balloons attached to a (fake) man face-down in water.  

Laura Keeble, “Forgotten Something?,” 2007

A replica of the most expensive piece of art sold by a living artist…thrown in the trash.  

Golan Levin, “Double Taker (Snout),” 2008

A snout-like robot which seems to react to the viewer with astonishment. 

Néle Azevedo, “Melting Men,” 2009

1,000 men made out of ice left in the sun to melt, a reminder of the impact global warming will have on everyone.  

Sebastian Errazuriz, “American Kills,” 2009

Tally marks on the side of a building that document the number of soldiers killed in battle vs. those who commit suicide after returning home.  

Work by Female Artists

Artemisia Gentileschi, “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” 1611-1612

One of the first great female artists choosing to depict herself as the biblical Judith, and her rapist as the enemy general Judith is beheading.  

Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, “Self-Portrait,” 1790

A great female portrait painter choosing to depict herself as submissive and proper, so that she could continue her career without stirring up trouble.  

Méret Oppenheim, “Object,” 1936

The “Quintessential surrealist piece,” a teacup and spoon covered in gazelle fur.  

Frida Kahlo, “The Broken Column (Self-Portrait),” 1944

A self-portrait showing the artist as literally broken and bleeding, expressing her emotional and physical pain following a bus accident.  

Marina Abramović, “Rhythm 0,” 1974

The “grandmother of performance art” allowing viewers to do anything to her for six hours.  

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled Film Still #13,” 1978

An intriguing photograph that emulates an ambiguous scene from a class film noir.  

Guerrilla Girls, “Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get Into The Met. Museum?” 1989

An advertisement pointing out the lack of female artists in a major museum. 

Tracey Emin, “My Bed,” 1998

The bed of the artist transported into a gallery after a suicidal depression.  

Karin Stack, “Hair Stories,” 1998

A series of photographs documenting the artist’s hair returning after being lost to chemotherapy.  

Shelley Jackson, “Skin,” 2003-present

A short story published on the skin of 2,095 participants, each of whom get a word tattoed on his/her skin.  

Laura Keeble, “Forgotten Something?,” 2007

A replica of the most expensive piece of art sold by a living artist…thrown in the trash.  

Anna Utopia Giordano, “La Nascita di Venere,” 2011

A classical masterpiece Photoshopped to contemporary standards of beauty.  

Ronit Wiener, “Am I Still A Woman,” 2012

A painting of a woman questioning whether her identity remains after a hysterectomy and a mastectomy. 

Haley Morris-Cafiero, “Wait Watchers: Hunted”, 2013

A woman candidly capturing the strange looks others give her for being overweight. 

Caleb Charland, “Atomic Model,” 2008 Caleb Charland’s work is interesting for the processes he uses to make them.  Using only long exposures and double exposures, he manages to create consistently interesting photographs that I enjoy not only for their visual appeal, but also because I enjoy figuring out how they’re made.  This one, for example, is made by filming a drill with a pen light via long exposure while it spins repeatedly in different directions and on different planes.   He’s made others by putting a candle on a turntable, throwing matches behind himself, hooking up a key to several electrically charged wires, and repeatedly holding mirrors up to the sun.  Most of his work deals with fire, electricity, water, and light.   Visit his website here.  

Caleb Charland, “Atomic Model,” 2008

Caleb Charland’s work is interesting for the processes he uses to make them.  Using only long exposures and double exposures, he manages to create consistently interesting photographs that I enjoy not only for their visual appeal, but also because I enjoy figuring out how they’re made.  This one, for example, is made by filming a drill with a pen light via long exposure while it spins repeatedly in different directions and on different planes.  

He’s made others by putting a candle on a turntable, throwing matches behind himself, hooking up a key to several electrically charged wires, and repeatedly holding mirrors up to the sun.  Most of his work deals with fire, electricity, water, and light.  

Visit his website here.  

Kordian Lewandowski, “Game Over,” 2010 A very cute homage to both Michelangelo and Nintendo, Lee Van Dovski has comically replaced the figures in Michelangelo’s Pietà with Princess Peach and Mario.  This sculpture (made of Styrofoam) is interesting because it seems sincere as well as satirical.  Although the subject matter is cartoonish and ridiculous, the way in which Lee Van Dovski has carved the facial expressions and pose seems genuinely empathetic.  Visit his website here. 

Kordian Lewandowski, “Game Over,” 2010

A very cute homage to both Michelangelo and Nintendo, Lee Van Dovski has comically replaced the figures in Michelangelo’s Pietà with Princess Peach and Mario.  This sculpture (made of Styrofoam) is interesting because it seems sincere as well as satirical.  Although the subject matter is cartoonish and ridiculous, the way in which Lee Van Dovski has carved the facial expressions and pose seems genuinely empathetic. 

Visit his website here. 

Andrew Fishman, “Memory,” 2011 This is a painting of a sushi dinner I had with friends in 2011.  I put a camera on the table, pointed at myself, and recorded myself for the duration of the meal.  I then took screenshots (59 total) at 30-second intervals and changed the opacity of each so that every layer was visible simultaneously.  In order to do this, I made the first image the bottom layer in Photoshop and changed the opacity to 100%, the second layer to 99%, etc. I then painted the result.  I intended this to be a statement on the fallibility of memory, how we only remember moments from any given event, and how susceptible those memories are to interference.  The yellow triangle on the left side is the straw in my drink.  Can you figure out what the rest is? 

Andrew Fishman, “Memory,” 2011

This is a painting of a sushi dinner I had with friends in 2011.  I put a camera on the table, pointed at myself, and recorded myself for the duration of the meal.  I then took screenshots (59 total) at 30-second intervals and changed the opacity of each so that every layer was visible simultaneously.  In order to do this, I made the first image the bottom layer in Photoshop and changed the opacity to 100%, the second layer to 99%, etc. I then painted the result. 

I intended this to be a statement on the fallibility of memory, how we only remember moments from any given event, and how susceptible those memories are to interference.  The yellow triangle on the left side is the straw in my drink.  Can you figure out what the rest is? 

Ryan McGinley, “India (Coyote),” 2010 This is part of a larger series of portraits of animals with nude people.  (He views the animals as the subjects of the photos.)  He works with professional animal trainers to create mostly humorous photographs (including a shocked-looking marmoset hanging from a model’s penis).   This one breaks from the usual humor to create a striking photograph of a coyote on a woman’s shoulders.  Their faces clearly parallel one another (particularly their expression and eyes), while the scratches on her torso and legs tell a story of struggle and rivalry.  This woman is the coyote’s equal, in dignity, pose, and spirit.   Visit his website here.  

Ryan McGinley, “India (Coyote),” 2010

This is part of a larger series of portraits of animals with nude people.  (He views the animals as the subjects of the photos.)  He works with professional animal trainers to create mostly humorous photographs (including a shocked-looking marmoset hanging from a model’s penis).  

This one breaks from the usual humor to create a striking photograph of a coyote on a woman’s shoulders.  Their faces clearly parallel one another (particularly their expression and eyes), while the scratches on her torso and legs tell a story of struggle and rivalry.  This woman is the coyote’s equal, in dignity, pose, and spirit.  

Visit his website here.  

Karin Stack, “Hair Stories,” 1998 This is a beautiful series of pictures, not only aesthetically, but also for its content.  Artist Karin Stack was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 and lost all of her hair in the treatment.  When she finished chemotherapy, she decided to chronicle her hair growing back as her life returned to normal.  This is a wonderfully uplifting series, that reminds us to have hope and celebrates recovery (with a sense of humor) after a harrowing experience.  Visit her website here. 

Karin Stack, “Hair Stories,” 1998

This is a beautiful series of pictures, not only aesthetically, but also for its content.  Artist Karin Stack was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 and lost all of her hair in the treatment.  When she finished chemotherapy, she decided to chronicle her hair growing back as her life returned to normal. 

This is a wonderfully uplifting series, that reminds us to have hope and celebrates recovery (with a sense of humor) after a harrowing experience. 

Visit her website here. 

Andrew Fishman’s work

Andrew Fishman, “The Last Supper,” 2009

Leonardo’s “Last Supper,” redone in cut paper and split into a triptych. 

“Leading the People,” 2010

An allegorical drawing of the graffiti artist as a cultural leader. 

“Self Portrait with Photoshop,” 2010

A self-portrait Photoshopped to an absurd degree, removing the nostrils and pupils as well. 

“Take a Five Minute Break,” 2010

A five minute video of silence to either annoy or relax the viewer. 

“Self Portrait as T-shirt,” 2011

A satirical self-portrait, depicting myself as one of the black t-shirts I often wear.

“The State of the Arts,” 2011

A reproduction of the Mona Lisa hidden behind a slashed canvas.  People who don’t take the time to examine the piece miss the Mona Lisa entirely.  

“The Baptism,” 2012

A series of fifty screenshots of movies that feature water imagery as a symbolic baptism of the main character.

“Life (Blood, Milk, Water),” 2012

A triptych of digital scans, one of a drop of blood, another of a drop of milk, and a third of a drop of water, representing the elements of life. 

Andrew Fishman, “The Zax Project,” 2012-2013

One hundred Dr. Seuss books sent to every U.S. Senator to try to get them to see the value of compromise.