MAGICAL REALISM OF JULIE HEFFERNAN

Julie Heffernan is a contemporary American painter known for her Baroque-inspired fantasy portraits and landscapes. Influenced by allegories, politics, and literature, Heffernan’s work explores a sensual fantasy realm where plants and animals coexist in harmony within a lush, plentiful atmosphere. In a reoccurring series, she paints women standing in full skirts made out of ripe fruit or blooming flowers. “When I look back on my work, I realize I was wrestling with my own psychic and physical growth,” the artist has said. “I realize now that when I was doing the flower skirts, they were about a burgeoning sexuality. […] Now I’ve shifted my work entirely to the tortured landscape. I’m looking around for new metaphors for my own present-day experience.” Heffernan notably employs an aesthetic based on the traditional oil painting techniques of Northern Renaissance artists—such as Hierronymous Bosch—while maintaining a wholly contemporary atmosphere that seems to come more from science fiction than art historical tropes. Born in 1956 in Peoria, IL, Heffernan went on to receive her BFA from the University of California Santa Cruz and an MFA from the Yale University School of Art in 1985, where she worked alongside fellow figurative painter Lisa Yuskavage. Today, Herffernan’s works are in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, among others. She lives and works in New York, NY.

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SOURCE: http://www.artnet.com/artists/julie-heffernan/

WHIMSICAL SURREAL DIJITAL ART OF JUSTIN PETERS

German self-taught Photoshop expert Justin Peters visualizes these surreal fantasies in his growing portfolio of digtial art. Inspired by Pablo Picasso’s quote, “Everything you can imagine is real,” Peters’ photo-manipulations merge unrelated, real-life images together to create magical worlds straight from the artist’s imagination.

Peters first became interested in photography in 2015, but quickly realized he didn’t want his images to depict reality. Instead, he learnt how to edit his photos on YouTube and began creating unique digital art inspired by surrealist painters.

Peters’ whimsical digital collages are made using digital stock photos. Many of the unexpected combinations include imagery from nature and science that have then been given the artist’s distinct surrealist twist. Peters reveals, “I hope that when people experience my work, they discover a new and different world, which they can dive into to prove that everything is possible when you open your mind.”

Fairy, glowing mushroom in the forest at night with copy space

Fairy, glowing mushroom in the forest at night with copy space

 

SOURCE:https://mymodernmet.com/justin-peters-digital-art/

 

FACELESS PAINTINGS OF MARK KOSTABI

Mark Kostabi is an American artist and composer best known for his paintings of faceless mannequin-like figures, often set in surrealistic landscapes or scenes from art history. His work explores a variety of themes, including suicide, love, and the role of technology in the modern world. The artist is commonly associated with his painting Use Your Illusion, which was the cover art for Guns N’ Roses’s album of the same name. Born on November 27, 1960 in Los Angeles, CA to Estonian immigrants, he studied art at California State University in Fullerton before moving to New York in 1982. During the mid-1980’s, Kostabi was an active participant in the East Village cultural scene, and became well known in the area for publishing self-interviews. Over the course of his career, the artist has cultivated a controversial media persona after claiming credit for works that were designed and executed by his assistants. Kostabi’s works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Princeton University Art Museum, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, among others. He currently divides his time between New York, NY and Rome, Italy.

SOURCE:http://www.artnet.com/artists/mark-kostabi/

INDIAN SURREALIST AARTI ZAVERI’S TIME SERIES

I introduce myself as Aarti Zaveri, an artist, born in the glorious land of Gujarat at Rajkot and am presently settled in New Delhi. Since my early days, capturing human emotions and ethos of Indian cultures, excavating aesthetic treasures hidden in every forms and feelings has been my passion. Not being an ardent follower of any particular art school of thoughts, I have nurtured my thoughts, imaginations and emotions with abundance of colors. I define myself as an “Individualistic” who is inclined to learn from nature and the surroundings. When dawn or sunset spreads scenes of multi-colored vision on the horizon of sky, my tender senses begin to work with oil and colors, transforming lines into lively creations! Enamored of the beauty for bright colors, I have successfully displayed how colors could create beauty!

My portraits of Param Veer Chakra Awardees conspicuously adorn the corridors of the South Block, Ministry of Defense. My other numerous figurative sketches and paintings that have been made over the years have also the recently concluded a series on Masks, that exhibit my love towards oil, colors and strokes in the multimedia and visual art world. As an Artist & Painter, I am poignantly obsessed with colors and paintings. My fantasies and imaginations have always been to depict emerging human emotions, state of emancipation from fear, failures and voids. It has always been my endeavor to portray aspects of human life where love, joy, freedom and ecstasy triumph over harsh circumstances of life. My works speak to rebel against sorrow and depression. My recent work “Pehchaan” on retrospection, depicted through “Mask” is trying to convey that; everyone carries a great light within, a treasure and one needs to introspect and discover their own center. My masks are not telling you to renounce your materialistic wishes, but to renounce the greed, selfishness, jealousy etc. that the mind beholds. It is blocking your way in reaching within yourselves, as I call it the “Center”. Rejoice in the state of not knowing and great wisdom will be released, the peace within you will be awakened. Only that will give you the taste of eternity. I adore bright colors. I strongly believe that bright colours nurse the power to fight away monotony, desolations and despairs of life. My love towards oil, colours and strokes always inspire in me a horizon of visions for creativity and head me towards perfection!

SOURCE:http://galleryragini.com/aarti-zaveri/

 

 

DIDIER LOURENCO’S PAINTINGS

Didier Lourenco was born in 1968 in Premia del Mar, Barcelona. At the age of 19 he began to work in his father’s print studio, where he learned the art of lithography. He began to paint on paper and canvas, taking over a small corner of the studio.

In 1988 he had his first solo exhibition at Vilassar de Dalt, and printed his first lithographic edition. He dedicated himself solely to painting in the corner of his father’s studio, where he had created his own mini-studio. The corner was open to various visiting artists. Not only was the gaze of the artists directed towards Lourenco’s works, but Lourenco’s gaze was directed at the works of these visiting artists. This would be his education in the world of painting.

In 1995, Lourenco left his corner in his father’s studio and moved into his own studio in Premia del Mar, Barcelona. His solo shows continued, and in-between the studio and the shows, he traveled with his friends and painters Moscardo and Praga to the north of Italy. His days are full of travel and exhibitions. His solo and collective shows continue, and he travels to Paris, Lisbon and New York, where he continually gains inspiration for more of his glorious oil paintings.

SOURCE:https://www.globalgallery.com/knowledgecenter/artist_biography/didier+lourenco

DUY HUYNH SURREALISM

The Vietnamese born artist Duy Huyn creates poetic and contemplative acrylic paintings, drawing inspiration from a variety of storytellers in formats that range from music and movies to ancient folklore and comic book adventures. While much of his work is deeply personal, his clever and often times humorous use of symbolism and wordplay invites the viewer to create their own storyline.

Themes of geographical and cultural displacement are prevalent in Duy’s artwork. Ethereal characters maintain a serene, precarious balance, often in a surreal or dreamlike setting. With his figures, Duy explores motion along with emotion in order to portray not just the beauty of the human form, but also the triumph of the human spirit.

Duy’s interest in art began shortly after his arrival to the States in the early eighties. With difficulties adapting to new surroundings and language, he took refuge in the art of comics, cartoons, and graffiti. His first art commission came in the third grade when a classmate hired him to draw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Payment came in the form of 2 dollars and chocolate milk for the week. More importantly, Duy learned it was possible to make a connection through the use of a visual language. This simple experience serves as a reminder for him even today to always enjoy and maintain his childhood love.

SOURCE: https://www.larkandkey.com/artist-spotlight-duy-huynh/

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RENE MAGRITTE’S SURREALISM

Rene Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, in 1898, the eldest son of Leopold Magritte, who was a tailor and textile merchant, and Regina (nee Bertinchamps), a milliner until her marriage. Little is known about Magritte’s early life. He began lessons in drawing in 1910. On 12 March 1912, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Sambre. This was not her first attempt; she had made many over a number of years, driving her husband Leopold to lock her into her bedroom. One day she escaped, and was missing for days. She was later discovered a mile or so down the nearby river, dead. According to a legend, 13-year-old Magritte was present when her body was retrieved from the water, but recent research has discredited this story, which may have originated with the family nurse. Supposedly, when his mother was found, her dress was covering her face, an image that has been suggested as the source of several oil paintings Magritte painted in 1927-1928 of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including Les Amants.

Magritte’s earliest oil paintings, which date from about 1915, were Impressionistic in style. From 1916 to 1918 he studied at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, under Constant Montald, but found the instruction uninspiring. The oil paintings he produced during the years 1918-1924 were influenced by Futurism and by the offshoot of Cubism practiced by Metzinger. Most of his works of this period are female nudes.

In 1922 Magritte married Georgette Berger, whom he had met as a child in 1913. From December 1920 until September 1921, Magritte served in the Belgian infantry in the Flemish town of Beverlo near Leopoldsburg. In 1922-1923, he worked as a draughtsman in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926, when a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal oil painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu), and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. Critics heaped abuse on the exhibition. Depressed by the failure, he moved to Paris where he became friends with Andre Breton, and became involved in the surrealist group.

Galerie la Centaure closed at the end of 1929, ending Magritte’s contract income. Having made little impact in Paris, Magritte returned to Brussels in 1930 and resumed working in advertising. He and his brother, Paul, formed an agency which earned him a living wage.

Surrealist patron Edward James allowed Magritte, in the early stages of his career, to stay rent free in his London home and paint. James is featured in two of Magritte’s pieces, Le Principe du Plaisir (The Pleasure Principle) and La Reproduction Interdite, an oil painting also known as not to be reproduced.

Magritte wished to cultivate an approach that avoided the stylistic distractions of most modern painting. While some French Surrealists experimented with new techniques, Magritte settled on a deadpan, illustrative technique that clearly articulated the content of his pictures. Repetition was an important strategy for Magritte, informing not only his handling of motifs within individual pictures, but also encouraging him to produce multiple copies of some of his greatest works.

Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on 15 August 1967 in his own bed, and was interred in Schaerbeek Cemetery, Evere, Brussels.

ALEXANDRA DILLON’S SURREALIST PORTRAITS ON FOUND OBJECTS

Alexandra Dillon is a Los Angeles-based surrealist who paints on found objects.

Her portraits on worn paintbrushes are especially charming. Rather than start with a fixed idea for her imaginary people, she just begins to paint. “They show up and tell me who they are” she says. Working on each piece over the course of several days, she finds the emotion and personality of her characters. The results are beautiful and engaging faces, often reminiscent of Roman-Egyptian mummy portraits or Baroque painting. “I’m influenced by the art of every era”, she says.

Her work on other found objects, such as axes, cleavers and locks, is more provocative. “The portraits on tools are complex.” she says. “They’re about inner motivations, personal relationships and powerful emotions. They are intended to make you think.”

Her current works on found objects and paintbrushes has gone viral on Instagram and earned her an international reputation for edgy surrealism and inventive work on found objects.

GUSTAV KLIMT’S ALL ART IS EROTIC

Gustav Klimt was born in 1963 and died in 1918 in Austria.

His father worked as a gold engraver, but was not very successful in his trade; for this reason, the family did not live a great life, and Klimt was raised in poverty stricken areas, with very little as a young child. In 1876, when he was 14 years old, Klimt enrolled in the Vienna Public Arts Schools; he was noticed right away for the talent and the art forms he created. Because of this, he received his first commission to create art for public viewing, while he was studying.

During the 1880s, Gustav Klimt, his brother Ernst, and Franz Matsch, begin a productive cooperation. They begin to do work in theaters, in churches, and public work in museums; many of the pieces which they created, were ordered by patrons who frequented the locations which they created works for. During this time, Gustav Klimt also created a piece for the Burg Theater, as well as the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which is located in Vienna. The Allegories collection that he submits, is seen as a creative, and timeless piece; because of the work, he is commissioned to do a second piece for the museum. In this second collection, the style which includes gold paint, abstract space in the art, and exotic symbolism of the female figure, is a prominent style, which he sticks with for future pieces that he creates.

Many of Klimt’s women were painted in evocative and erotic positions that emphasised sensuality and sex. They brazenly confronted the viewer with their gaze as well as their nudity. They were controversial images but appealed to a new sensibility, a celebration of sexuality that was only just emerging in a city and a society that was the playground of another famous Austrian, Sigmund Freud. In the same year, Freud published Three Essays On The Theory Of Sexuality a book that was to profoundly challenge attitudes to sex. Like Freud, Klimt wanted to put sexuality in the public sphere. Up until about 1914, many of the pieces that he created, took on this sexual under pining, and were not widely accepted, in part due to their graphic nature, and in part because of the time period that he lived in and worked in.

It was criticized due to the erotic and exotic nature. Although symbolism was used in his art forms, it was not at all subtle, and it went far beyond what the imagination during the time frame accepted. Although his work was not widely accepted during his time, some of the pieces that Gustav Klimt did create during his career, are today seen as some of the most important and influential pieces to come out of Austria.

SOURCE: https://www.gustav-klimt.com/