Sculptor Brian Griffiths creates small and monumental works that are steeped in myth and legend and act as portals to the past. Constructed primarily of found objects from antique and second-hand stores, Griffiths uses the inherent history of the objects and exploits it to offer an implied history of his own. Ideas of voyage, adventure and exotic lands are all referenced through the structures and materials employed, causing an epic story to set sail, driven by Griffiths’ imagination. A graduate of Goldsmiths College in London, the artist has exhibited worldwide with recent shows at the Edward Mitterand Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland (2006), Vilma Gold in London (2005) and in the Groninger Museum in Groninger, The Netherlands (2004). This fall, Griffiths will present “The Furnace,” commissioned by A Foundation and exhibited in London.

The Seattle-based duo Lead Pencil Studio is comprised of artists Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo. The two artists investigate elements of architecture, often rebuilding the framework of physical structures to reveal a mere trace of the original. Last year, with the help of the Creative Capital Foundation, Han and Mihalyo assembled a full-scale replica of the Maryhill Museum of Art titled “Maryhill Double ” that was built completely of scaffolding and located one mile south of the Columbia River Gorge on the border of Oregon and Washington. Currently on view in Seattle’s premiere contemporary art space, Lawrimore Project, is Lead Pencil Studio’s “Drawing Space,” a multi-room installation that extends the gallery’s pre-existing architecture while also inventing new structures within the space. The duo is exhibiting in the San Francisco Exploratorium through June and will be presenting new works with the Boise Art Museum in Idaho in 2008.

Brooklyn-based artist Shinique Smith recently presented an exhibition titled “Open Strings” with the Skestos Gabriele Gallery in Chicago. The artist produces her works through the collection and accumulation of objects, which are often autobiographical and taken from several decades and generations of use. Smith binds many of these found objects in a ritualistic process that reconnects the meaning and physical qualities of each piece. Through cross-relating her materials, Smith is able to investigate identity and personal history through painting, drawing and sculpture, while formally referencing the energy found in much of abstract expressionism and traditional graffiti. Smith received her BFA and MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and attended Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Recent exhibitions include, works with Franklin Artworks in Minneapolis, Minn., and “No Dust No Stain,” which was curated by Sara Reisman, and exhibited with Cuchifritos Gallery in New York. In ’06-’07, Smith was included in “Altered, Stitched, and Gathered,” an exhibition with PS1 in New York City that explored familiar objects and social practices through a variety of artists working with a deliberate methodology.

Artist Karl Haendel renders a variety of loosely associated imagery through seductively photo realistic graphite drawings. Haendel has become known presenting his works in a non-linear fashion, and for creating a wide range of meticulous rendered images. His unique salon-style presentation offers the opportunity to re-contextualize each image as they are read in proximity to the artist’s other images. The result creates infinitely new relationships between the drawings. Some of the works are stacked against the wall only partly exposed, while others are placed in such proximity that the frames touch.

Haendel was born in New York and received a degree in art semiotics and art history from Brown University (1998). The artist attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program before receiving his MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (2003). Currently, Haendel is presenting his third solo exhibition with Anna Helwing Gallery in Los Angeles.

Artist, filmmaker, photographer and writer Larry Clark is perhaps best known for his feature-length films graphically depicting subculture youth engaging in the extremities of drugs, sex and violence. His ground-breaking film “Kids,” released in 1995, cast several teenage skateboarders that Clark befriended in New York City’s Washington Square Park. The controversial film was given a rating of NC-17 and was celebrated at both the Cannes Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. “Kids” was followed by three more feature films, one of which was banned from distribution in some areas. In addition to filmmaking, Clark is also an acclaimed photographer in the contemporary arts world, with works in several major museums. In 2006, Clark presented two self-titled exhibitions with Le Case d’Arte in Milan, Italy, and with Spruth Magers Lee in London. In 2005, the artist received the International Photography Lucie Award for Achievement in documentary photography.

The sculptures and videos of Los Angeles-based artist D’nell Larson are concerned with the dynamics of love, romantic relationships and longing. Larson often challenges feminine and masculine connotations with her material choices, which include sequins, candy, feathers, fabric and crystals. The artist also furthers this investigation by using iconic love-related imagery, such as arrows, swans and sweetheart candies. Last year, Larson presented a video with Body Builder and Sportsman Gallery in Chicago titled “Close Your Eyes and Think of Me,” which depicts the artist’s parents in their basement rehearsing love songs in a make-shift music studio. Larson received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1996), and she attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1993). Recent solo exhibitions include “Haze,” curated by Peter Doroshenko, shown with the Arco Project in Madrid, Spain, and “Straight to You” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Chicago.

“Zoopsia” is the title of a new series of work commissioned for display at the Getty Museum by acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist Tim Hawkinson. The term “Zoopsia” refers to the visual hallucination of animals that often occur in delirium tremens. Hawkinson, a previous DailyServing feature, has created several new works using common household materials that illustrate imaginative zoological forms. “Octopus,” shown above, is a photo-collage constructed out of images of the artist’s hands, lips and mouth. In addition, the artist’s “Uberorgan” will make its West Coast debut in the Museum Entrance Hall. “Zoopsia” was reviewed in this month’s Modern Painters.Hawkinson was recently featured in a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in February 2005 and is currently represented by Ace Gallery in Los Angeles.