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I discovered this image via the wonderful ThisIsColossal blog last week. The photograph is by Ross Gilmore who’s really rather good although from those images I had a look at this definitely stood out. Those of you who know me well will understand that as it definitely appeals to by love of all things uncanny and grotesque.
You can check out more of Gilmore’s work right here.
Tags: Art, Artists, Inspiration, Photography
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I’ve just stumbled upon these lovely illustrations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland which were apparently created by Salvador Dali in 1969.
This particular edition of the book is now, quite understandably, a collector’s item however, the William Bennett Gallery has digitised the images and uploaded them on to their website. Being a fan of both the book and Dali’s work I think these really are quite a delicious collection of images.
Tags: Art, Artists, Drawing, illustration
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I love the look of these drawings by Jake and Dinos Chapman. They’re part of a series etchings currently on display at the V&A Museum of Childhood until the 8 January 2012.
’19 of the 21 images are based loosely on join-the-dots drawings from children’s picture books, which were copied through photo-etching onto copper plates. The resulting images include improvised monstrous creatures and fantastic landscapes, which deviate wildly from the prescribed dot-to-dot formation.’
Apparently the exhibition opened all the way back in September; it seems it slipped completely under my radar until now. This is definitely going to warrant a visit though as I’m a great fan of the Chapman brothers’ work. I actually wrote a large chunk of my Master’s Dissertation about them.
The Magic Worlds exhibition, which looks at fantasy, illusion, and enchantment, also looks fascinating.
*My Giant Colouring Book 9, 2004 © Jake and Dinos Chapman and The Paragon Press, London
Tags: Artists, Drawing, Grotesque, Inspiration
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These maps by Paula Scher were brought to my attention by @stevewilde on Twitter last night. The detail is lost somewhat in images of this scale but the maps are more or less solely constructed from words. I’m particularly interested in them from the point of view of the map drawings I’ve been working on recently (examples here & here).
Like Scher I’ve been using words to create my map drawings. However, I’ve used words to create an additional responsive layer to the maps rather than to construct the map. My very first attempt at my map drawings was undertaken with a much thicker pen which obscured a lot more of the map beneath. I’m interested to have seen how Scher has created her works as I’m starting to consider ways in which I might develop my own body of work.
Tags: Art, Artists, Maps, Painting
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I do love these photographs by Jonathan May. The masks certainly give these images a slightly creepy carnivalesque feel.
I’m still keen on the idea of making my own masks despite having been sidetracked by my hobby horse. I’ve come across some wonderful masks lately, including those at the Devil’s Museum, that has rekindled my interest. Though I need to finish the other projects I’m working on first.
Tags: Art, Artists, Grotesque, Inspiration, Photography
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Lidy Jacobs is the Dutch creator of these plush sculptures. It seems I’m not the only one fascinated by sexualised human-animal hybrid creatures
Despite my fondness for making plush toys and dolls I can’t believe that it hadn’t even crossed my mind to make a plush Unicorn sculpture. I’d be slightly wary making one now having seen these sculptures by Jacobs. I’ll have to give it some serious consideration though since there a lot of links between the materials/form and my current interests.
Tags: Art, Artists, Fine Art, Sculpture, Textiles
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Ben Lloyd: Don't You Worry About a Thing
I do love a good installation created from multiple like objects. This one is created by taking numerous pre-owned, cuddled, and loved soft toys and dunking them in building plaster. It’s rather effective seeing the crusty toys discarded across the gallery floor knowing that someone’s childhood memories are preserved within the brittle plaster shells. Although that sounds like a lovely memorial the work somehow seems tinged with sadness.
The work is by Ben Lloyd and is on display as part of an exhibition by former MA Fine Art students at the Old Library in Cardiff until the end of the month so pop in and have a look if you’re in town.
You can find out more about Ben Lloyd’s work here: www.benlloyd.co.uk
Tags: Artists, Inspiration, Installation, Sculpture
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I just stumbled across this lovely sculpture by the Austrian artist collective Gelitin. It’s constructed from fabric stuffed with hay and was apparently installed on the hillside in Italy pictured in 2005.
The group write of the piece “The things one finds wandering in a landscape: familiar things and utterly unknown, like a flower one has never seen before, or, as Columbus discovered, an inexplicable continent;
and then, behind a hill, as if knitted by giant grandmothers, lies this vast rabbit, to make you feel as small as a daisy“. I would love to stumble across this giant rabbit whilst wandering through the hills.
I’ve been taken with the idea of creating an installation that intervenes in the landscape for quite some time having found previous inspiration in the work of Rune Gunneriuessen and the DOMA Collective. I’ve a few ideas bubbling under but I’ve yet to find the right means by which to really take these works further but I’ve no doubt my time will come.
In the meantime I hope you enjoy these pictures of Gelitin pink bunny. Their website is really worth five minutes of your time too as they have initiated some wonderful projects: www.gelitin.net.
*all pictures via www.gelitin.net
Tags: Art, Artists, Inspiration, Installation, Sculpture, Textiles
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These wonderful creations are the work of Cuban artist Enrique Gomez de Molina.
They explore some similar themes to those I started to examine through my Bestial Drawings although these works take things to another level completely. It’s creative taxidermy at it’s best.
Men have dreamt up mythical beings for centuries but de Molina has created his very own menagerie of fantastical creatures some of which are absolutely beautiful, and some which appear to be terrifying.
De Molina says, understandably, that ‘the impossibility of my creatures brings me both joy and sadness at the same time.‘
Tags: Art, Artists, Grotesque, Inspiration, Sculpture
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I stumbled across these sculptures by Korean artist Choi Xooang this week. I haven’t been able to find out a huge amount about the artist but this body of work really grabbed by attention.
I understand that these works are created from polymer clay which are then hand painted. There’s a clear grotesque quality to the sculptures which manifests itself through the figures lack of features, whether that be a missing mouth, arms or head.
A number of blogs speculate that Xooang’s work deals with the human condition. It would appear that these sculptures are intended to draw our attention to the mutations that these figures display such as the oversized hands, or extra large ears. These malformations are highlighted by their having being painted in such meticulous detail.
Tags: Artists, Fine Art, Grotesque, Sculpture
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