One Shot Enamel Paint in Proper Purple and Kool Crimson

After ending a years-long collaboration with a fellow painter, Marilyn Minter began using enamel paint from a signage company in 1986 to distinguish her new work. “Most people use enamel paint with hard edges and graphic shapes (like Christopher Wool and Gary Hume),” Minter explained. She uses it to portray soft modulations of color. “I could never get the deep richness and glow from oil that I can get with enamel,” she added.

Enamel is translucent and dries quickly, which allows her to easily layer colors. That technique has been crucial, she explained, particularly in her recent paintings of close-ups of women’s faces behind a veil of mist. “I feel like I needed to work with enamel for years before I could get to the technical level of being able to paint the last layer of mist or steam,” Minter noted. “My team and I get better every year. I don’t think we could have done this 10 years ago; we are more like Pointillists now.”

Hassan HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artist/hassan-hajjaj"Hajjaj

Food and drink cans

Moroccan photographer Hassan Hajjaj keeps a cache of food and drink cans in his studio—the materials he uses to construct the frames that surround his dazzling, color-soaked portraits. He first began using them in 1993, likely, he said, because he grew up with these household objects. His favorites are cans of products by the brand Aicha, which is also his mother’s name.

Hassan HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artist/hassan-hajjaj"Hajjaj

Alo HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artwork/hassan-hajjaj-alo-wala" Wala, 2015

Taymour HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/taymour-grahne" HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/taymour-grahne"Grahne

Hassan HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artist/hassan-hajjaj"Hajjaj

African Boy HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artwork/hassan-hajjaj-african-boy-sittin"Sittin HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artwork/hassan-hajjaj-african-boy-sittin"’, 2015

Vigo Gallery

While he incorporates cans for their colors, shapes, graphics, and fonts, he makes a point to use products from a mix of local and international brands, sourcing them from Morocco, Dubai, and London (he grew up in the English capital, and now splits his time between there and Marrakech). “This helps my work communicate to the public as they see something they are familiar with,” Hajjaj explained.

Hayv HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artist/hayv-kahraman" HYPERLINK "https://www.artsy.net/artist/hayv-kahraman"Kahraman