get to know the creators
Scott
Cousins
Born in New Haven, CT, in 1957, Scott has pursued his creative interests with an astonishing intensity. “I've been an artist since my earliest memory,” he says. “Both of my parents encouraged me. I came to live in New York City on my own when I was 15, aiming to be a New York artist, and I’ve been here ever since.”
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Scott proudly describes himself as “a full time painter.”
In the pursuit of artistic skills and knowledge, he studied at Bard College at Simon's Rock, New York University, the School of American Ballet, the Fashion Institute of Technology, as well as the School of Visual Arts and The Art Students Leaque.
This combination of educational experiences has given Scott a phenomenal understanding of the discipline and techniques required to produce the works of art that express his dynamic imagination. This means that a trip to an art supply store can involve hours of searching for the precise colors, paper or linen required to execute his creative visions. His knowledge of techniques and materials results in art that is meticulous in execution.
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In 2013, he was awarded a prestigious Pollock~Krasner Foundation grant for painting, which enabled him to devote himself full time to his artistic pursuits.
“I've been awarded several grants in the arts,” he adds. “That support has enabled me to see a future for my work and continue to look forward.”
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Scott has also welcomed the opportunity to join in gallery and alternative space exhibitions when possible: “That's always exciting,” he says. “I enjoy being a showman throwing a grand bash at openings!”
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Although Scott has held a number of solo shows in alternative gallery spaces in Soho, much of his reputation as an artist has rested on his ability to communicate with a wide array of buyers. He will often provide collectors with detailed advice on positioning and preserving his work in a given space.
Scott’s paintings can now be found in private collections across the US.
James McDonough
There is something of the hipster in James McDonough, but you might never have spotted it while he was growing up.
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Born in North Carolina, McDonough was part of a military family. He lived is his childhood on Army bases in the United States and in Germany. He attended college at North Carolina State University, before deciding his main career path would be in the visual arts.
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Later he moved to New York City to further pursue his interests. He attended the Art Students League of New York City from 2005 through 2009 studying under with Frank O’Cain and serving as his classroom assistant.
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In more recent years McDonough has participated in several group art shows, most recently at The Gallery of Frames for You (136 West 72nd Street in Manhattan) in October, 2019.
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His artworks reflect a deep understanding of organic and biomorphic forms, which are represented by the strong lines which help populate his paintings and drawings.
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Like many artists, McDonough has a day job. But that necessity compliments his artistic career, as he designs and creates custom frames for clients at a major art supplier in the Noho district of New York City.
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McDonough now works out of his studio in Long Island City New York with his sports fan boyfriend George and mischievous cat named Vader.
Louise
Kruger
Born in Los Angeles in 1924, Louise Kruger was inspired to become an artist in her late teens when she attended Scripps University. She soon migrated east to study in New York City, and had her first one-person show in 1949.
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Initially known as a printmaker, she soon switched her attention to sculpture. Her success was due to her remarkable and original use of materials ranging from wood to bronze to fiberglass. The serene confidence of her art was – and remains -- astonishing.
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It is no surprise that her work caught the attention of influential institutions and collectors, including the Rockefeller Brothers , the Hirshhorn Collection, the Museum of Modern Art.
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Her sculptures gained a global reputation, with exhibitions in the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, the Library of Congress, Philadelphia’s Institute of Fine Arts, the Kunsthaus in Zurich, Norway’s Kiksgalleriet, and the Chicago Art Institute.
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Kruger paid little attention to fame. She preferred to concentrate on projects that posed a creative challenge. Rather than socialize, she could often be seen in her studio or garden, working furiously with a mallet and chisel to construct her dazzling wood sculptures, some of which stood over 7 feet tall.
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For her entire life (she passed away in 2013), she took delight in acquiring new skills or testing out new materials. In the 1940s she apprenticed to a sea captain to learn wood joinery; in the 1950s, she went to Italy to learn about the “lost wax” bronze casting techniques still practiced in Florence; in the late 1960s, she journeyed to the then newly independent Ghana, to learn the techniques local tribes employed to do “sand cast” bronzes.
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Kruger had an inherent understanding of the potential of the materials she deployed, and a love of depicting life which swirled around her. It is no surprise that, when she was in her 70s, Gold’s Gym in downtown Manhattan was happy to welcome her to sketch the weight lifters and boxers grunting and groaning while Kruger patiently drew the muscular forms in motion.
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It is no wonder that fellow sculptor William King referred to her as “an extraordinary being.”
artists
Tai Lin
Born in Taiwan, Tai Lin became aware of his interest in art at a very young age. By the time Tai Lin graduated from Taiwan’s Cheng-Chi University with a BA , he was determined to pursue his studies in New York City, which then as now is the center of the art world.
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He enrolled in the National Academy School of Fine Arts in New York, where he studied oil painting, getting his graduation certificate in 2008.
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But the artworks for which he is best known are charcoal and pastel images which meticulously record the sensuality of the male form. Above all, his artistic eye is concerned with the play of light on muscle.
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Starting in 2008, he regularly exhibited his works in group shows at the Leslie Lohman project space, culminating in a solo exhibition of his work in 2018. He has also participated in a series of group shows in Sidetraks, Gallery des Artistes, and Up Art Incubator, establishing his presence in the art scene of Delaware Valley centered on New Hope, PA.
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In 2019, he moved into new territory with work on exhibit at the Spiva Art Center in Joplin, MI. Tai Lin has also been gaining more recognition in print, being hailed by Schiffer in its recent report of the “100 Artists of the Male Figure”.
Followers of his career note that Tai Lin has also been able to inject gentle humor into his art, with witty depictions of saints and Star Wars characters in several of his more recent works, two of which are in the selection put in the virtual exhibit provided by Martin Art NY.
JAM
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JAM is a New York based photographer of urban life and structures.
Born in New York City, he first honed his craft as a journalist, following graduation from the School of Visual Arts and Fordham University, with a combined major in communications and fine arts.
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In a career spanning four decades, he has carried out assignments on four continents. His photographic work has graced the pages of leading magazines and newspapers, including New Times, Outside, Bicycling Magazine, Aramco World, Euromoney, The New York Times, Financial Times, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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The current exhibit of his artworks on the Martin Art NY site marks his first participation in a virtual gallery space.
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