Tag: surrealism

Michel Henricot

June 27th, 2009

I can’t find as much information as I’d like on Michel Henricot, so I’ll just marvel at a few of his paintings for a while.

Henricot has a talent for musculature and anatomy, veiled by translucent skin and hazy lighting. This is not the stark work of textbooks. Nor is it merely the fantastical work of a gifted surrealist.

His work dances between the technical and the mystical until vastly divergent styles can no longer be separated. Henricot’s imagination is endowed with precision of form and function.

Here is a decent size gallery. So lovely…
Roland Tamayo

May 29th, 2009

Roland Tamayo has a knack for creating marine-industrial hybrids and surreal fusions of nature, technology, man-made structures, and otherwordly atmospheres.

They are wonderful assemblages of subconscious puzzle pieces…

More on his website and blog.
Christian Rex van Minnen

April 13th, 2009

I always enjoy when a painter chooses to depict the grotesque with a Renaissance sense of realism. Christian Rex van Minnen is one such artist.

His keyhole portraits are interesting little image conglomerates inside cutout figures.

Van Minnen’s other portraits take on an abstract, surreal quality.

These impossible chimeras embody royalty, pop culture and anatomically anomalous flora and fauna fused together.

Sea creature! Sweet, ambiguous sea creature…

He also does fantastically alien, fleshy landscapes.

Don’t try too hard to understand. Just enjoy.

See more on the artist site.
New Mark Ryden Merchandise

April 10th, 2009

It’s happening…it’s really happening. Mark Ryden is coming out with his first vinyl toy, slated for a mid-summer release from Necessaries Toy Foundation.

Ryden let his son Jasper choose the design; a three-eyed, bunny-eared, amorphous totem from the painting entitled YHWH.

The original painting:

First promo shot:

Even the box is predictably phenomenal:

I wish all of Ryden’s characters would be manifested in 3-D.

Check out more pictures and info at High Fructose.

The next new item is the collectors edition Tree Show book.

This hard-bound book includes over 130 color images of paintings, drawings, studies and sculptural works as well as a wealth of Mark’s inspirational reference materials. Each signed and numbered Special Edition book comes in a handmade clamshell box covered in a fine Japanese silk. The edition also comes with a collection of “Vintage Souvenirs” including a postcard set, commemorative pin, pennant, bookmark and pencil.

Sadly, though I’m absolutely salivating over this book, I can’t spare $350.00 for it. But what a fantastic item for serious collectors.

Source
Ann Mei

March 16th, 2009

The wonderful Terra Incognita drew my attention to Russian photo artist Ann Mei.

Her ethereal worlds often involve strange apparatuses of questionable purpose. Tiny animals, string…perhaps not meant to tell a cohesive story.

Only the subject knows the truth behind the design.

Then there are the surreal scenes that beautifully defy form and function.

And one that reminds me of my mischievous childhood imagination:

See more in her deviant art gallery.
Yu Sugawara

January 29th, 2009

Yu Sugawara is a wonderful modern surrealist painter who plays with the fusion of form and meaning.

The titles are often single words that guide the mind into a context and are quite poignant in light of the image.

“Landlord:”

“Shy:”

“Writing:”

See more of his intriguing works in the galleries.
Chris Berens

January 14th, 2009

I would hardly know how to give proper samples of Chris Berens’ work that convey the scope of his talent, so I’ll focus on his most recent exhibit: Go West.

One of his darker series, Go West leaves us to wander on the gentle dividing line between waking life and sleep.

These watery, obscure dream worlds are rife with historical, cultural and artistic references…but they fade into whispers as you get drawn into the images themselves.

And I must include this little lady. I feel like I’ve been personally represented here, Pisces symbolism and all!

Pay a visit to the artist website.

Or see an absolutely stellar presentation of Go West on Erratic Phenomena.
Dave Cooper

December 29th, 2008

I’ve been a fan of Dave Cooper’s grotesque, shiny, highly unsettling fleshy images for many years.

His uniquely manic style never fails to (literally) stretch and pervert the dimensions and capabilities of human form.

Recently, Cooper did a bouncy, fantastically hideous animated video for Danko Jones. I love it!

He has also published a number of books. Among them:
Ripple: A Predilection for Tina
Overbite: Drawings and Paintings of Mostly Pillowy Girls
Underbelly: Additional Observations of Beauty/Ugliness of Mostly Pillowy Girls

The new website is under construction, but there are links to other sites…pay it a visit and enjoy the madness!
Vladimir Golub

December 4th, 2008

Lithuanian surrealist painter Vladimir Golub has a penchant for painting ladies with cumbersome objects atop their heads.

I love the nonchalance of the women supporting these cranial worlds…

He also creates structures that border on abstract…that draw in the eye and challenge the brain to make sense of the image.

And of course, the occasional Bosch-style giant fish transportation system:

I had quite a nice time browsing his site.
Sergei Aparin

November 19th, 2008

Check your notions of time, space and reality at the door, and give yourself over to the world of Sergei Aparin.

His paintings are magical, dark, chaotic, beautiful surrealism at its best.

I could study these endlessly and still find new stories…

Go get lost in the galleries.