JOEL REA’S SURREAL METAPHORIC PAINTINGS

Joel Rea was born in 1983 and graduated from Queensland College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2003. He has exhibited his work in Australia and the United States and has been acclaimed for his oil paintings in many prestigious art awards through out Australia. In 2013 he was selected for the Archibald Salon Des Refuses exhibition in Sydney, the Black Swan Award For Portraiture in Perth, the Fleurieu Landscapes Prize in Adelaide and is the winner of the 2013 ANL Maritime Art Award in Melbourne. In the Summer 2013 issue of American magazine Art Business News, Rea was featured as one of thirty artists under the age of thirty who are revolutionizing the world of fine arts. In 2014 Rea was selected as a finalist in the prestigious Sulman Prize held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and for the second year in a row was selected as a finalist in the 2014 Black Swan Portraiture Prize held in Perth.

Joel Rea’s hyperrealist paintings delve into the depths of our minds. Using the physical elements as a metaphor for human emotion and experience, Rea portrays nature as pulsating energy that is both majestic and threatening. Rea describes himself as a Contemporary Surrealist Painter, but his work is also a twist on the aesthetics of the sublime in 18th century Romantic art. In common with Romantic artists, Rea is interested in the duality of opposites where nature is a source of purity and timelessness while also a dark sentiment and force of destruction.

SOURCE:https://wowxwow.com/artist-profile/joel-rea-ap

 

 

 

MAGICAL FANTASY ART OF VIKTOR NIZOVTSEV

 

Victor Nizovtsev is a master of whimsical and narrative art. Subjects include fantasy landscapes, russian folklore, theatre and mermaids. Victor’s art can be highly symbolic with hidden clues to help decipher the images. His work can also be humbly simple with images and subjects of universal appeal.They can be equally viewed for their vibrant textured colors that fill the canvas and contrast with the translucent glazes that make the paintings dance with light and pull in those who view it.Victor breathes life into each work inviting the viewer into the painting as a separate universe, one filled with boldness, energy and rich hues.Victor Nizovtsev was born in Central Siberia, in the city of Ulan-Ude near Lake Baikal. When Victor was a little boy his family moved from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Moldova. Victor grew up in Kotovsk, a town located in the heart of the region’s wine country and 30 miles southeast of the capital of Moldova, Chisinau.At age nine he entered Kotovsk’s Art School for Children where he studied for four years.In the 9th grade, he left home to study at Ilia Repin College for Art in Chisinau. He then studied at the prestigious Vera Muhina University for Industrial Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. Upon graduation in 1993 Victor returned to Kotovsk where he began painting professionally.In 1997 Victor moved to the United States where he successfully continued pursuing his art career. In his short time in the United States Victor has enjoyed a high degree of success, exhibiting in numerous solo and group shows with collectors excited to find and acquire his unique and imaginative paintings.

SOURCE: https://youtu.be/3LcvUpP_Qk4

 

 

IMAGINARY SURREAL ART PIECES OF PAULA BELLE FLORES

Paula lives in Romania and has an affinity for old things. She’s a nature lover and enjoys mixing and matching bits and pieces. Her art is all about storytelling with a bit of surreal sometimes, a bit of vintage some other times. Her influences… life as it is or as she imagines it. She doesn’t have any particular artist or art movement that influence her. She just does whatever crosses her mind but almost always trying to tell a story.

 

SOURCE:https://www.printsonwood.com/artists/belle13

STEFAN ZSAITSITS’S SURREALISTIC CHILDREN PORTRAITS

 

The Austrian-born( 1981)and -based illustrator Stefan Zsaitsits creates highly fascinating dark pencil drawings of childlike figures in which he oftenly seems to hybridize particular thoughts and emotions directly on or with the body part which is involved, mostly the head. And even if he chooses to portray his subject in a more traditional fashion, one can always observe that sense of astonishment combined with a touch of fear. The results are surrealistic and sometimes even slightly repulsive raw images, which evoke a sense of unsettlement, clearly representing the unfiltered stream of thoughts one mostly finds within the disclosure of the world in all its beauty and hardships during childhood. And although most people lose that particular perspective on the world with the years, Zsaitsits rightfully seems to question if growing up inherently has to mean the end of sincere astonishment, despite the fact that most people choose it to be the case.

 

STEFAN ZSAITSITS’S FULL BIOGRAPHY

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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/

 

 

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.

REMEDIOS VARO’S SURREALISM

Remedios Varo Uranga, one of the world famous para-surrealist painters of the 20th Century, was born in 1908 in a small town called Angles in the province of Girona in Spain. Her unique art was a result of her upbringing and socialization in a world of art and philosophy, her life struggles as well as her amazing imagination.

Her father, Rodrigo Varo was an intellectual man who was very instrumental in mentoring Remedios from her early age to develop her artistic career. At a very tender age, Rodrigo helped her daughter develop the abilities of technical drawing. He also encouraged Remedios to become an independent thinker. He introduced Remedios to science and fiction by buying her adventure and science books. Her mother, though indirectly, contributed to the artistic development of Remedios. Her mother, Ignacia Uranga, was a devout Catholic and was determined to taking her daughter to a convent school. It was precisely because of this that Remedios developed a critical opinion of religion and opposed religious ideology. Her father encouraged Remedios’ early philosophical thinking. Remedios ended up embracing a Universalist and liberal ideals.

These moves exposed Remedios to various cultures and widened her world view and this was to later reflect in her art. In 1923, when she was a student at the School of arts in Madrid, Remedios made her first work of art. She painted her portrait as well as that of her family. In 1924, she joined the best school of arts in Madrid, San Fernando Fine Arts Academy, where she graduated with a drawing teacher diploma in 1930. It was in this academy that she was introduced to surrealism, a cultural movement and philosophy that encouraged capturing of the real functionality of the human thought, without controls like reason and morality. The surrealist artwork was used to express the philosophical movement.

Remedios was not only a surrealist but also an anarchist. She believed that the state was an unnecessary evil that opposed the conduct of human relations. Her philosophical thought of the state could have been a result of her experience in Europe. This philosophy was also reflected in her isolationist art style. Feminism was another school of thought that influenced the art style of Remedios. At the time when she was a surrealist painter, the male surrealist did not see their female counterparts as talented. Tis created an environment where female artists were isolated. The misconceived talents of the women were reflected in her art as images of sad women in isolated and confined places. This was her way of responding to the feminine injustices in the world of art at the time.

Her art style was unique, described by others as disturbing. She captured the feature of surprise in her art as well as unexpected juxtapositions. Her surrealist unique brand captured the captivity of a true woman of the 20th Century. She used solitary and mystical characters involved in scientific activities. This was inspired to a large extent by the scientific indulgence of her father at an early age. She used imagination and the concept of magic in her art. She used androgynous characters that mimic her physical features. Facial features such as large eyes, an aquiline nose and heart-shaped faces are common in her art and resemble her own facial features.

The art also used autobiographical characters that seemed to be held by unknown forces. This was a response to female marginalization in the art world because it exposed the superiority complex of the male surrealist artists. What is also common in her art is use of mythical creatures, alchemy, misty swirls and utopian vehicles that can go through land, air and water with sails, gears and transmissions responding to superior energy. The unusual attitude of her art reflects passive, contemplative, instability and symbolism. Those who look close enough at her work of art can capture and appreciate this amazing imagination.

SOURCE: http://totallyhistory.com/remedios-varo/

IGOR MORSKI’S SURREALIST ARTWORKS

Igor Morski (born in 1960) is an incredible surrealist artist from Poland that has the ability create intense pieces through, design, painting, and photo manipulation.
Photo artist Igor Morski has a slightly different view of the world, and he invites you to share this view with his surreal illustrations.
The Polish artist is a passionate critic of a modern society. With his thought-provoking illustration series “System Failure”, Igor analyses topics like greed and the cult of beauty, along with the crisis of economic and social values.

Igor Morski Portfolio

GIORGIO DE CHIRICO’S ART

“I paint what I see with my eyes closed.”
-Giorgio de Chirico-

Giorgio de Chirico was born to Italian parents in Volos, Greece, on July 10, 1888. In his art, he sought to evoke the hidden meanings behind everyday life, and his enigmatic scenes of empty cities, menacing statues, mysterious shadows and strange combinations of everyday objects inspired the artists of the Surrealist movement in the 1910s, De Chirico died in Rome, Italy, on November 19, 1978.
He first studied art at the Higher School of Fine Arts in Athens. After the death of his father in 1905, de Chirico’s mother moved her three children to Munich, where de Chirico completed two years of study at the Academy of Fine Arts. After leaving the Academy he continued to educate himself, taking a particular interest in the philosophical writings of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. He returned to Italy in 1908, traveling to Milan and Turin and settling in Florence.
As a young artist, de Chirico was inspired by the European Symbolist artists and their use of dream-like imagery. His earliest signature works combined a Symbolist sensibility with his love of the classical antiquities of Greece and Italy and his philosophical musings on the true nature of reality. In paintings De Chirico depicted dramatically lit city piazzas inhabited only by one or two figures, a statue or mysterious shadows.

In 1911, de Chirico traveled to Paris, France, where his brother, Andrea (also known as Alberto Savinio), was living. There, he exhibited his work and met a number of influential avant-garde artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brancusi.
Meanwhile, World War I had begun, and de Chirico and his brother were drafted into the Italian Army in 1915. In 1917, he met artist Carlo Carrà, who worked with him to define his style of “metaphysical painting,” emphasizing the hidden significance of ordinary places and objects.
De Chirico’s work was greatly admired by the newly formed Surrealist school of artists and writers, who were fascinated by dream analysis and the subconscious mind.
Though de Chirico did not identify himself as a Surrealist, he briefly collaborated with the artists of this circle, showing his work in their group exhibitions in Paris and illustrating books by Guillaume Apollinaire and Jean Cocteau. However, in the 1920s, he began working in a neo-traditional style inspired by Renaissance “old masters” like Raphael and Titian, and he turned against modern art and broke ties with the Surrealists.
De Chirico’s later career was inconsistent and occasionally controversial. He worked in a variety of formats from theater design to book illustration to sculpture, but his style was subject to unpredictable changes. His reputation was damaged when falsely dated copies of his works, by both de Chirico himself and forgers, infiltrated the art market.

SOURCE: https://www.biography.com/people/giorgio-de-chirico-9246949

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/giorgio-de-chirico

Giorgio de Chirico – La Casa Museo