Christin Couture "Miraculous Monster Birth"
I love a painting that makes me do a double-take. Upon first glimpse, Christin Couture's paintings look like restrained Victorian portraits, replete with mute children and shadowy rooms. Look again and you'll find far more curious goings-on, like mutant creatures and murdered corpses. Devilish fun indeed.
Meghan Boody "Night is generally my time for walking" 2006
Photographic wizardress, Meghan Boody, has a show up at Rick Wester Fine Art that looks dazzling. Called "The Lighthouse and How She Got There," each work is actually part of a disjointed narrative about young girls on the run from something as dangerous as it is ambiguous. There will also be pieces from Boody's "Glass Worlds" project on display, which contain fantastical vingettes enclosed in glass domes. Be sure to stop by the gallery between now and December 6th.
Raqib Shaw "Garden of Earthly Delights VI" 2004
Speaking of the Met, I stumbled upon an amazing little exhibition they currently have up in the Modern Art mezzanine: works of Raqib Shaw. I am very much like a crow, in that I am attracted to glittery things. So you can imagine the thalamus explosion I experienced when I encountered Shaw's sequin and crystal festooned works. The problem with sparkle is that the darn internet completely obliterates their magnificence (see Angelo Filomino, Jamie Vasta, Lori Field, Miriam Wosk, et al as examples of this.) No matter, you'll just have to pop up to the Met and see these pieces for yourself. I can certainly think of worse ways of spending one's time. ;-)
It feels as though I've been there hundreds of times since I was a child, yet still it never fails to cast its spell over me each and every time. It seems I'm forever falling in love with a new discovery, or having a happy reunion with an old favorite. Lately, Georges de La Tour's "The Penitent Magdalen" has been really knocking my socks off. It's funny, cause I remember adoring this piece as a girl, but never retaining who it was by or what it was called. Lo and behold, I keep finding myself pulled toward it on my visits this year. I know this has become my mantra but You Really Must See It In Person! It truly looks like nothing else - it's so rich and darkly charged and seemingly three dimensional, as if the candle will flicker at any moment, and MM will turn around and give a long, knowing look.
Jason Clay Lewis "Girl with Octopus" 2007-2008
I am a total sucker for shiny things, so Jason Clay Lewis's gold leaf adorned skeletal babes are rocking my world. He is a master at marrying the macabre with satire, and his work is always clever and really beautifully made.
Renaissance woman/goth-fairy Dame Darcy has a sparkling new graphic novel out called Gasoline
She also has a slew of events planned over the coming weeks, including loads of book signings on both coasts, and a solo show at Sloan Fine Art here in NYC from November 19th through December 20th. So. Excited.
Stuart Kolakovic
I've written about Stuart Kolakovic before, but couldn't resist posting this new piece by him today. I love its clever 60s spin on the dark arts. Happy Halloween everyone!
Renata Palubinskas "Girl and Devil"
I was introduced to the work of Renata Palubinskas by art empress Lori Field. Each piece feels like some dark painted parable. I love beautiful creepiness - it gets me in the mood for Halloween.
Remedios Varo "Papilla Estelar" 1958
Hard to believe, but today marks the three year anniversary of Phantasmaphile. It all started with this post in 2005, and my intent in starting the site was simply to celebrate and share all of the juicy stuff that inspires me and enriches my life. Little did I know it would lead me to making dear friends, meeting many of my art hero(ine)s, and connecting with likeminded readers and bloggers from around the globe. I chose the above image for today's post, as it is by one of my all-time favorite painters, the incomparable Remedios Varo, and also for its profound depiction of nourishment. I want to say THANK YOU for your enthusiasm, devotion, and support of Phantasmaphile - it has fed me and made my world all the more vibrant.
Nono Bandera "Rivales" 1997
Nono Bandera has got it all. Beauty, oddness, and a bit of perversion just to see if you're paying attention. It's a rare, wonderful thing to encounter art that makes you laugh and swoon at once.
Via
Ashley Brown
The confines of this site frustrate me when I encounter extravagantly detailed drawings like those of Ashley Brown. You simply must click on this piece to view it larger. I have been a bit obsessed with shamanism lately, so Brown's streaming, magical works are really hitting the spot. I just love her sparing use of neon colors, don't you?
Mia "Two Virgins"
I simply adore the wide-eyed, rose-toned lasses in Mia's vibrant, fanciful paintings. You can see her work in Andrew Michael Ford's lovely group show of up-and-coming lady pop surrealists. Called "In the Language of Angels," it will be at Ad Hoc Art from October 24th through November 23rd. Tasty.
Roz Foster "Intergalactic Wings & Helmet - A New Kind of Immortal" 2008
I can't get enough of Roz Foster's work. She creates advertisements for otherworldly products like glo-pipes, omnivident monocles, and intergalactic wing and helmet sets. Hmmm, the holidays are just around the corner - maybe I'll put some of these on my wishlist.
Tadanori Yokoo
I have loved Tadanori Yokoo's
Madeline von Foerster "Redwood Cabinet" 2008
Phantasmaphile friend Madeline von Foerster has a brand new show opening at the Berlin branch of Strychnin, from November 7th - December 6th. Entitled "Waldkammer" (or "Forest Cabinet") these paintings are as politically charged as they are expertly painted. Each piece is an imagined curiosity cabinet, with various species and natural wonders being depicted as precious treasures which may all too soon become rare, if not - heaven forbid - entirely extinct. The wooden, female forms strike me as new variations on the goddess. Call her what you will - Mother Nature, Gaia, Mary, Isis, Venus, Ishtar, etc - she is shown here as a guardian of the outdoors and its myriad inhabitants.
Lyndon Wade "Marina the Mermaid"
I just came across the madcap photography of Lyndon Wade, and rushed right over here to share with you all. I love his sleek and sassy interpretations of circus sideshow acts, and his impeccable digital technique. Do click on the above image to enjoy the lighting and detail more fully.
Lois Guarino
I came across Lois Guarino's monograph, Wonders, Miracles, and Magic, at the Omega bookshop this weekend, and was floored by the images I found therein. Guarino is a photographer who then digitally enhances her shots to depict various forms of divination and dreams. I love the subtle details she adds to each piece: look closely at the above pendulum picture for example, and you'll see two faces ghosted within the bottom half of the circle. Powerful and beautifully executed.
Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
It was brought to my attention that I have been remiss in posting about the visionary photography dream team, Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. What better time to correct this than now, when they have not one but two substantial shows on. "Counterpoint" opens today at the Jack Shainman gallery here in NYC, and will be up through November 8th. This is a collection of recent work, and looks to be my favorite period of theirs to date, full as it is with bees and candles and odd floating figures. "Restoration," a mid-career retrospective will be up at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City from October 11th through February 8th, 2009.
(Thank you, Samantha!)
Anthony Goicolea "Matrimony" 2006
It took me ages to decide which of Anthony Goicolea's magnificent drawings to showcase here. He uses his divine gift for color and composition to tell unsettling tales about the beauty and pain of childhood. One is unsure exactly what is going on in each piece, which makes the viewing experience all the richer and more compelling.
Christopher Reiger
My pal Jessica Palmer's post last night on her wonderful blog, Bioephemera, reminded me that I've been meaning to write about an artist for whom we share mutual affection. I'm crazy about Christopher Reiger's technicolor nature paintings, but it's his smaller, more surreal ink drawings which made me first fall for his work. There is a delicacy and whimsy to them that hits me just so.
Elizabeth Haidle "Crustaceofleur"
Who doesn't love a fauna-floral hybrid? Elizabeth Haidle is a master of this burgeoning art subject, who, alongside such talents as Amy Ross and Amy Walsh, embellishes nature with a mad scientist flair. Perhaps someday soon, geneticists will create these beings in real life. Until then, we have gorgeous works like this one to set our imaginations whirring.
Andy Kehoe " The Flood Brings Curious Encounters" 2008
This painting by Andy Kehoe makes me think of Falkor, the luck dragon from one of my favorite movies, The NeverEnding Story. You can see more of Kehoe's friendly monsters and forest encounters at his upcoming show "The Wonder" at Black Maria Gallery from October 25th - November 15th.
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