Today I bring you the evocative assemblages of Edward Keinholz, most of which contain a dash of sharp satire and/or criticisms of modern life (works range from the 1960’s-1980’s).
Although he obtained no formal training, Keinholz grew up on a farm where he learned carpentry, drafting and mechanical skills.
His roster of formal jobs is as eclectic as his artistic endeavors: orderly in a psychiatric hospital, manager of a dance band, used car salesman, caterer, decorator and vacuum cleaner salesman.
Aris Kolokontes has a gallery of wonderful monster sculptures and busts. Look at the texture he achieves here!
They appear…lifelike.
Today’s one of a kind, bug-eyed art dolls come from Mealy Monster Land.
Caption for this guy, anyone?
Amazing…
For the Halloween lovers there are many pumpkin heads.
And some frazzled snowmen to keep the yuletide…interesting.
Here’s something sweet (in the SWS way) for Mother’s Day. Cristina Burns makes eye catching assemblages, populated with plenty of skulls, flowers and candy.
I love her “still life” setups…in the past I’ve decorated my house for parties like this:
Bones, brains, sugar, pills, kitschy creatures…
Where are the florists that sell arrangements like this?
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
Pumpkinrot recently featured the work of Matthew J. Levin.
My favorite piece in his portfolio:
His strange creatures twist and turn at unnatural angles…
Most of them seem as if they were caught in the middle of movements.
Monsters await you.
Five years ago I saw Mark Ryden’s Gay 90’s exhibit in NY (wow…has it been five years already?). It was an incredible show filled with Ryden’s trademark wide eyes, kitschy color schemes, symbolism and American icons of bygone days.
The Gay 90’s West just opened in LA, featuring a gigantic new piece:
Ryden states:
One of the main pieces in this show is a large automaton diorama, titled Memory Lane [see video, above]. It is an eight-by-four-foot enclosure housed in a circus wagon-like structure. It is a bustling city street scene full of a combination of altered found objects (toys and dolls), sculpted, and painted elements. In an overarching way, it combines all of the themes and ideas I have been working with.
See an interview with Ryden about this show here.
I’ve been following Emi Slade’s work for a while, but was freshly impressed by this taxidermy project (featured at La Luz de Jesus in the 3rd Biennial Taxidermy Show).
It’s all in the teeth.
Double your taxidermy pleasure:
She takes artistic liberties with existing creatures…
…or invents her own.
I had stashed away this Alchemical palmistry hand on a private wish list for a year or two (then I received it over the holidays from a loved one with an uncanny knack for independently finding my coveted items, sans clues).
The one above is my favorite. This one
There are also other versions of this item available.
And these…
Many artistic representations exist as well.
I confess, I’ve never looked into palmistry. Someone told me as a child that all the tiny X’s on my hand meant a life of extreme tragedy (which, sadly, was pretty spot on in some ways). Never really wanted to see what the rest of my palm said after hearing that lovely assessment.
Do you read palms, or have you had yours read? What’s your take on the subject?
Meredith Dittmar creates amazing 3-dimensional sculptures, showing oddly mechanized creatures and interwoven nature themes.
A couple of them, like this one below, remind me of ancient alchemical art.
Click images to enlarge.
From the artist bio:
Dittmar’s human-animal-plant-energy amalgams contain threads of common elements and colors to express deep levels of union across themes of biology, technology, and consciousness . Her characters are frequently involved in quiet expressive moments, or lounge facing their audience so they can share their inner space. Dittmar believes it is this space we recognize in ourselves, and through convening in that space, the interconnectedness of all things is revealed.
Born near Boston Mass, she grew up in a world of pet pigs, horses, hay-forts and spy games . Follow this with an education in computer science, a career in interactive design, a compulsive need to create, and a drive to Seek and you get the major elements of her person and work.
I wish these pieces contained a listing of size and materials used. I want to get a sense of what they would look like in person.
SheWalksSoftly 