When asked to describe himself in three words, British photographer Miles Aldridge replied:”Colorful, sunny and dark.” It is these very words that arguably best describe his work as well. Realistic, yet characterized by the use of bright, neon colors, Aldridge’s photos possess a surreal quality that hints at some of life’s darker and often erotic dimensions. While his work until 2004 mainly featured in the world’s leading glossies, it has since increasingly been exposed in art galleries and books.

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One of the founding fathers and leading figures of the Pop Art movement, Roy Lichtenstein is mainly known for his paintings of enlarged comic book scenes. Yet he did many other things as well, including sculptures such as “The Head,” which was unveiled at the 1992 Olympic Games and still adorns the city of Barcelona. while he regards Picasso as his main inspiration, he never dared comparing his work to that of the Spanish master.

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Once upon a beautiful day in 1976, Pierre Commoy met Gilles Blanchard. And the rest, as they say, is history. Pierre was an aspiring photographer, Gilles an upcoming painter. Together they became known as “Pierre et Gilles.” Inseparable both as lovers and artists, they have since created a modern day iconography of Saints, Stars, Sailors and Sinners. A fusion of painting and photography, their work is inspired by everything from French pop, Bollywood and Lourdes to Communism, Gay eroticism and Buddhist monks.

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Jeff koons was asked to exhibit at the Versailles Palace last year. he could not have been offered a better venue for his first european retrospective: the ultimate baroque french palace for america’s king of kitsch. Visitors were able to admire fifteen of koons’ trademark works, including sculptures of a giant red lobster and Michael Jackson hugging his pet chimp bubbles, amidst the usual curly-curvy furniture and portraits of Louis XiV and Marie antoinette.

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Guy Bourdin was a complex and disturbed man. While he created timeless beauty, the leading French photographer was in fact obsessed with death, and always had a difficult relationship with women. Abandoned as a child by his mother, he often maltreated his models, while at least two of his former lovers committed suicide.

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Stepping into the world of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is like walking into a giant toy store. His sculpted and painted figures, with their rounded features and mushroom and flower companions, look like cartoon characters that ran off the pages of the latest manga adventure series. It is for that reason many people wonder if his work can be considered art. Murakami himself could not care less about how is work is perceived and defined. If there is one person in the world working hard to extinguish the distinctions between what is art and non-art, high art and low art, it is him.

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Traveling around the globe and leaving behind a trail of thought-provoking images, Banksy is without a doubt the world’s most famous graffiti artist. Having worked the streets for years, Banksy has also produced works on canvas worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the fanciest of galleries. And yet, apart from a small circle of close friends, no one knows who Banksy really is.

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Although she has lived in a mental institution since 1975, Yayoi Kusama is still regarded as Japan’s greatest living artist today. With solo exhibitions in major museums in France and the United States, Kusama has become a well-respected artist worldwide. Playful and childlike as her works may seem, they are the result of a journey that led the now 89-year-old to the edge of insanity and even suicide.

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