☛ Billy Shire Fine Arts: Tim Biskup “Ether”, exhibition (may 26 – July 7, 2007). LEFT: “Injected”, 2007, cel vinyl acrylic on wooden panel, 24″ x 18″; RIGHT: “Inverse”, 2007, cel vinyl acrylic on canvas, 72″ x 48″
About Tim Biskup:

Tim Biskup (b. Santa Monica, CA. 1967- ) is a Southern California fine artist whose work has been shown worldwide, including galleries and museums in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Kyoto, Barcelona, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Melbourne.
Long recognized for his complex color and design theories and a decidedly populist aesthetic, Biskup has amassed a cadre of loyal fans and collectors. Recent years have seen the artist tend towards more complex, personal and conceptual work while maintaining a commitment to visual experimentation. (Bio)

More resources on Tim Biskup:

• His official website: not much artwork (8) but links, bio and contact info.
• His active blog.
• “7 Things You Should Know About TIM BISKUP” a 2006 interview with Mark Frauenfelder over at Helio Mag.
• “The Artist in You” solo exhibition over at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery (held from May 16, 2008 to June 14, 2008).
• Even more interesting: Tim Biskup produced a limited edition book for “The Artist in You” exhibition:
  

  In conjunction with The Artist In You, Biskup will also release a limited edition book by the same title, in which he verbally explores the ideas presented visually in his new collection of work.

  In the book , Biskup discusses his intentions as well as his ideas, artistic process and source of inspiration:

  This project was intended as a personal reaction to and an analysis of separations within the fine art community.

  He quotes Lotringer, Benjamin Constant, Baudrillard and Warhol. The complete book is available online (PDF).

• The Iguapop Gallery (Barcelona) where Tim held his latest (2009) solo show titled “The Mystic Chords Of Memory” as a PDF catalog of available works. Many good size (but lo-res) pictures of his paintings in there (all related to this exhibition).

The funky-jazzy patterns featured on many of Biskup’s painting (including the two above) looks vaguely familiar to me. I read somewhere that Tim was inspired by Jim Flora’s work (1914-1988). I found the following quote from Tim Biskup on the official Jim Flora website:

“This is going to change the way that I draw,” I said out loud in a record store. I was holding an LP called Shorty Courts The Count. The cover seemed to be moving. The balance of the shapes and colors was so perfect. After a few minutes, my eye made it to the bottom right corner. It said, simply, “Flora.” With a bit of searching, I found it was Jim Flora. I’ve been a huge fan ever since, and my drawings were forever changed for the better. (Quotes)

Bellow is the actual LP cover that Tim is talking about (found on Flora’s official website). The Accidental Mysteries blog as a lenghty post about “The Nutty Art of Jim Flora”.