Perdido Art Journal

Juan Francisco Casas

2009-08-21T10:26:00.001-07:00

The Spectacular ball-pen work of Juan Francisco Casas exploded all over the internet last week. It is incredibly good.

Georges de La Tour

2009-08-20T20:52:00.001-07:00

Georges de La Tour (March 13, 1593, Vic-sur-Seille – January 30, 1652, Lunéville) was a Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which became part of France the year before his death. He painted mostly religious scenes lit by candlelight, and after centuries of posthumous obscurity became one of the most highly regarded of French 17th century artists in the 20th century.

Fortune Teller

Penitent St Jerome

Magdalen of the night light

Job mocked by his wife

Check Georges de La Tour's gallery at the ARC Museum.

American Apparel Advertising Archive

2009-08-20T19:20:00.001-07:00

American Apparel has added an Ad Archive to their site which is great because their ads seriously rock! Sometimes blending the line between advertising and erotica, Ignoring all conventional notions of glamour and adopting a very simplistic approach. American Apparel Ads exist in a fine balance between the sublime and the familiar.

Also check their amazing models and recent ads section and of course don't forget the online store!

Alyssa Monks

2009-08-19T16:50:00.001-07:00

Incredible photo-realistic oil paintings by Alyssa Monks.

Smirk 48x64, oil on linen, 2009

Steamed 64x86, oil on linen, 2009

Press 50x42, oil on linen, 2008

Rain 72x48, oil on linen, 2008

Liu Bolin Hiding in the City

2009-08-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

Awesome camouflage photography by Liu Bolin from Shandong, China. How does he do it!?

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

2009-08-04T08:55:00.001-07:00

Wes Anderson, is set to release a stop motion animation of The Fantastic Mr Fox later this year. This trailer is simply hilarious!

Marilyn Minter - Green Pink Caviar

2009-08-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Introducing Green Pink Caviar, Marilyn Minter continues her interest in blurring the boundaries between fine and commercial art. Co-opting advertising genres and related spaces, she takes a new platform to direct her first video. The eight minute high definition video, Green Pink Caviar (2009) is a lush and sensual voyeuristic hallucination. Filmed with macro lenses, she captures the most minute movements of female mouths licking candy and cake decoration. Driven by her fascination with the body, Minter’s film sets the stage for chance to happen. This 60-second trailer will be screened during the midnight shows at Sunshine Cinema and a five minute version of the film will be on view at MTV’s Times Square bilboard in April as part of a three person video exhibition curated by Minter for Creative Time. Click here for a complete list of upcoming exhibitions and screenings.

"I was shooting stills of models with long tongues swirling and sucking bakery products from under a pane of glass. I wanted to make enamel paintings along the idea of 'painting with my tongue'. My makeup artist shot some short videos during the shoot just to see how it would look. The low definition videos looked so good that we made plans to do a professional high definition video. This made sense to me as I have made both billboards and produced a commercial advertising a painting show in 1989."

- Marilyn Minter

Second Watchmen Trailer

2008-11-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

Off the chain!!

Watch the first trailer here.
Check out the full collection of posters.

Giant Cube Godzilla Robot Monster

2008-11-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

New Baltimore Poster by eBoy totally rocks despite nearly half of it being dominated by a giant cube Godzilla robot monster holding a wicked blonde caecilian. I don't know how this conceptual travesty relates to the city of Baltimore but the rest of it is packed with the cool tiny characters and fun situations, all lovingly rendered in the usual style of eBBBBOOOOOOYYYYY!!

click image to see full res, you must!

See other "Pixorama" eCities.

Rudolf Kartelin Photography

2008-11-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

Terrific nude photography by Rudolf Kartelin feels like paintings.

The Cutest Thing I've Ever Seen!

2008-11-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

via The Pet Blog

Igor Siwanowich: Insect Glamour

2008-11-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

The thought of insects is generally unlikely to conjure up notions of beauty and glamour. That is until you witness the extravagant stylings captured by Igor Siwanowich's stunning photography. It's a humbling realization how much grandeur this little nuisances are blessed with.

via Dark Roasted Blend.

Masters of the Universe Sketches by Marko Djurdjevic

2008-11-10T00:54:00.000-08:00

Very cool He-Man character renditions by Marko Djurdjevic featuring a very gay Skeletor, awesome.
Marko currently works as a cover artist for Marvel Comics so one can hope this is somehow related to an upcoming comic book! check his catalogue of covers here.

more pics at Jimsmash.

Kanye West: Heartless

2008-11-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

Here's Kanye West's new video for his upcoming single "Heartless" out of his new album "808's and Heartbreak" due to drop on November the 25th.
Kanye's videos always reflect his avid interest in art, design and fashion as is the case in this impressive bit of animation!

Kanye wrote in his blog:
"I didn't leak this but at least here's a clean version!
This video was rotoscoped. We recorded real people and then had 65 animators in Honk Kong hand draw over every cell. Inspired by the movie "American Pop". Hype showed me the movie and I was sold."

Heartless from kwest on Vimeo.

Wildlife Photography: Best of 2008

2008-11-09T05:05:00.001-08:00

Winners have been announced for the 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, organized by the Natural History Museum of London and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Read extended article on National Geographic News.

jCauty&SON Splatter

2008-11-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

jCauty&SON are holding a Splatter exhibition at The Aquarium in London.

Watching this stuff satisfies at last the morbid anticipation that used to creep in my mind watching the old ultra-violent cartoons. As a kid I'd sit there hoping that fucker road-runner would actually get wasted one day!

Wall Doodles of Jon Burgerman

2008-11-08T07:03:00.001-08:00

Brrrrilliant, with a bit of ingenuity anything can pass as art, the doodles and scribbles of Jon Burgerman's “Anxiety Wall” qualify. Apparently you can buy a random one for £10? Don't let my sarcasm confuse you, i do dig this! :)

JonBurgerman.com
via OMG Posters!

Joana Vasconcelos

2008-11-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Why does this woman do this? Because it looks awesome!!

Her flash website is an absolute shocker though, proceed at own risk.

Jasper Goodall

2008-11-08T06:18:00.000-08:00

Jasper Goodall is a talented illustrator, photographer and fashion designer. Born in England in 1973, Jasper worked as freelance illustrator, for The Face, ID mag, Dazed & Confused, Arena, Elle.. And Commercial output with Nike, Gucci, Mtv, Bmw…
Read extended article and interview here.

I can't believe this Cthulhu piece! have you read the book?

Jasper's refreshingly straight forward website here.

Via TrendLand

Juan Medina

2008-11-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

Juan Medina is the latest contemporary realist painter endorsed by the Art Renewal Center. Check out his gallery at the ARC museum.

About Time
Oil on linen

Aleph
Oil on linen

Links
Oil on linen

Secret Freedom
Oil on linen

And The Winner Is...

2008-11-04T05:25:00.000-08:00

Images by Callie Shell
Also check out this amazing remix of Barack Obama's Yes We Can speech with Lee Dorsey's Yes We Can Can song. Track by Tano Sokolow, download here.

Kim Norlien

2008-10-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Spectacular super-detailed nature paintings by Kim Norlien.

Build-O-Bama

2008-10-22T04:39:00.001-07:00

I'd like to reasure you that despite every second post being about Senator Obama this Journal is still essentially about art! It's hard not to get exited about this momentous U.S. Election and the incredible volume of artwork in support of Obama's campaign.

This time we're looking at the awesome Build-O-Bama paper toy! Created by genius designer Matt Hawkins of Custom Paper Toys. Build-O-Bama is a fun simple to build papertoy version of the next president of the United States. You can build your own! Just download the template here and print, cut, fold and glue all the way to the White House!

"I've been thinking a lot about my work and while I love to make funny little characters I feel like it's my responsibility as an artist to speak my mind through my work every once in a while when I feel strongly about something. Obama is one of the first candidates to come along (ever) who has actually inspired me to create art!" - Matt Hawkins

Springfield Punx

2008-10-22T02:35:00.000-07:00

I'm spellbound by the whimsical character illustrations at Springfield Punx. The premise is simple; characters from popular fiction are rendered daily in the instantly recognizable, much loved style of The Simpsons. October is "Month of Marvel" at Springfield Punx! Make sure you add this one to your feed reader!
Here's a few favourites, sure to bring back some warm childhood memories.

I'm hanging out for a take on classic video games!

Things Are Fine: Don't Vote!

2008-10-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Awesome political art is popping up daily as we near the U.S. presidential elections on the 4th of November.

Download free posters at Thingsarefine.org

Sotheby's Masterpieces Expected to Break World Record

2008-10-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

William Bouguereau - Jeune Bergere Debout
Oil on canvas, 1887

To be sold at Sotheby's NY 10/23/2008 $1,500,000 - $2,500,000. This is one of the consummate masterpieces of Western Civilization, and a steal at 5 times this estimate.

The current world record for a single figure by William Bouguereau was just set this past April when "Dejeuner Du Matin" sold for $2,050,000. "Young Shepardess Standing"(Jeune Bergere Debout)1887 is at least twice the painting in every respect. Long before women's rights were in the front of people's thoughts, Bouguereau painted this strong spirited young peasant Girl who "Stands her ground" and who is equal to any Debutante from 19th Century high society. (Debout is a play on words for "Debut"). Bold and unafraid, she stares directly in our eyes as she fills most of the canvas with her energy and presence.

Go to the Sotheby's catalog

Source: ARC

Kevin Francis Gray

2008-10-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

Amazing ghostly sculptures by the frighteningly talented Kevin Francis Gray at the Goff & Rosenthal gallery.

Face-off (detail), 2007
Bronze, Automotive Paint, Wood Plinth

Face-off, 2007
Bronze, Automotive Paint, Wood Plinth

Ghost Boy, 2007
Fiberglass Resin, Glass Crystal Beads, Wood Pedestal

I wonder is there's a skull face under those threads, cause that'd be wicked!

Don't Get Mad, Get Registered.

2008-10-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

Thunderdog Studios made a series of fantastic posters highlighting the importance of voting. The posters illustrate the testimonials of real voters and why it’s so important to vote this year. voteforchange.com is the largest voter registration campaign in history, and since it’s launch it has already registered over 300,000 people!

Thunderdog has released 1 of 3 Limited Edition silkscreen Vote For
Change posters at the Thunderdog Web-Store.

Jason Hackenwerth's Balloon Sculptures

2008-10-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

New York artist Jason Hackenwerth’s creates massive sculptures from colorful latex balloons!
Hackenwerth's wonderful creatures look like a strange cross between sea invertebrates, bugs, and alien monsters. When put into a setting like the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (seen below), they truly come to life. Their otherworldly anatomy and bright colors make them almost believable as fierce airborne predators.

More pics a great extended article at WebUrbanist.com

Jason Hackenwerth’s Website.

Woody Allen Portrait

2008-08-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

New portrait, Woody is far and away my favourite movie director and comedian of all time. I'm also a huge fan of his New Orleans Jazz Band! Quite honestly, I worship the man! This took me forever to complete, the style is suggestive of the engraved portraits found in dollar bills.

my DeviantART gallery here!

Illustration: Mike Mitchell

2008-08-19T07:31:00.001-07:00

Mike Mitchell's website.
His Blog.

Twinkie Chan

2008-08-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

OMG! Now we've seen it all!! Super-cute-super-talented Twinkie Chan crochets hilarious wearable food items! Taking needlework to uncharted levels of absurdity with designs as lively as they are peculiar and superbly crafted.

Artist Statement:

I crochet funny, food-themed scarves out of a wide range of yarns, decorated with wool felt, buttons, and pom poms. My love for fake food is wide and deep. I used to spend all my allowance on those fake Fisher Price kitchen toys and meals with the squishy “rising” muffins and the fake steaks. I even had the whole McDonald’s kitchen set!

My Grandma Wendelton first taught me to crochet in the 80s. I made lots of misshapen brown squares for a long time and called them “mini blankets.” You have to start somewhere! Grandma Wendelton’s biggest piece of advice was, “Only crochet when you have nothing better to do.” Sorry, Grandma!

Read the full interview at Scenene360.com!

Twinkie Chan's Website.
Her flickr page.

Daniel Laine's African Kings

2008-08-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Astonishing portraits of African tribal kings by Daniel Laine. Extended article with full comments for each king at Designyoutrust.com

JOSEPH LANGANFIN
Benin

ONI of IFE
Nigeria

NGIE KAMGA JOSEPH
Fon of Bandjun
Cameroun

HALIDOU SALI
Lamido of Bibemi
Cameroun

OSEADEEYO ADDO DANKWA III
King of Akropong-Akuapem
Ghana

ABUBAKAR SIDIQ
Sultan of Sokoto
Nigeria

HAPI IV
King of Bana
Cameroun

NYIMI KOK MABIINTSH III
King of Kuba
D.R. Congo

IGWE KENNETH NNAJI ONYEMAEKE ORIZU III
Obi of Nnewi
Nigeria

ISIENWENRO JAMES IYOHA INNEH
Ekegbian of Bénin
Nigeria

EL HADJ SEIDOU NJIMOLUH NJOYA
Sultan of Fumban and Mfon of the Bamun
Cameroun

AGBOLI-AGBO DEDJLANI
King of Abomey
Benin

GOODWILL ZWELETHINI
King of Zulu
South Africa

EL HADJ MAMADOU KABIR USMAN
Emir of Katsina
Nigeria

SALOMON IGBINOGHODUA
Oba Erediauwa of Bénin
Nigeria

BOUBA ABDOULAYE
Sultan of Rey-Bouba
Cameroun

ALIYU MUSTAPHA
Lamido of Adamawa
Nigeria

OBA JOSEPH ADEKOLA OGUNOYE
Olowo of Owo
Nigeria

Nicholas Morley x Ben Frost

2008-08-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

From the Sydney fashion week 2008 catwalk show of Nicholas Morley's collection based on Frost's Artwork. SO DAMN HOT!!

Ben Frost

2008-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sydney artist Ben Frost is most well known for his confronting and often controversial Pop Art paintings. Using a ‘collage’ style of unlikely juxtapositions, his dynamic paintings are complex mash-ups of popular culture that savagely critique our media and advertising obsessed society.

Ben Frost's Website.

Shepard Fairey: Duality Of Humanity II

2008-07-27T01:28:00.001-07:00

A dope new print by Shepard "Duality of Humanity II" has been announced to drop soon at the Obey online shop. As the name suggests this is the second print in a series inspired (in my opinion) by the Vietman war film "Full Metal Jacket" by Stanley Kubrick. The main character "Joker" upon being asked why he had a "peace" badge on his body armour and "Born to Kill" written on his helmet responded "I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir." Fortunately this is a stylistic and thematic return for Fairey to what he does best, and that is kick-ass anti-war propaganga!

Eugenio Recuenco: Greece

2008-07-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the sculptures of the Pathenon pediments, Eugenio Recuenco offers his interpretation of classical Greek Art. via kanYe West's Blog.

The images shown above are sections of this continuos panel, click to enlarge.

Recuenco's Website.

Safe Baby Handling Tips

2008-07-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hilarious Do and Don't Illustrations out of Safe Baby Handling Tips book by David and Kelly Sopp of Wry Baby. This book would make an awesome present for fisrt time parents! Available here.

more pics here.

Gez Fry

2008-07-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Gez Fry was born and lives in Tokyo, but has dual British and Japanese nationality. He has developed a distinctive, complex style, utilizing both computer-generated and hand-drawn techniques, while drawing on contemporary anime and traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock-print influences.

Artist's Website.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes

2008-07-14T23:01:00.000-07:00

Capcom announced Tatsunoko vs Capcom a few months back. This new addition to the Capcom vs. series is a cross-over 2D fighting game with 3D cell-shaded graphics, like its predecesors features 2 on 2 tag team gameplay! Tatsunoko is a Japanese animation company founded in 1962 by legendary anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida and brothers Kenji and Toyoharu.

Although Western audiences may not be familiar with the studio's name, Tatsunoko Productions are the creators of a long list of chilhood favourites including the likes of Speed Racer (1967), Gatchaman (1972), Macross (1982), and Samurai Pizza Cats (1990). The translated and edited versions of these massively popular series are largely credited with bringing international attention to Japanese animation.

The confirmed Tatsunoko characters include Ken Washio from the Gatchaman franchise; Tetsuya Azuma from Shinzo Ningen Casshan; Tekkaman from the original Tekkaman anime; Gold Lightan from the Golden Warrior Gold Lightan series, and Gan-chan from the Yatterman series. The confirmed Capcom characters include Alex, Chun Li, and Ryu from the Street Fighter franchise; Morrigran from the Darkstalkers series; Batsu from the Rival Schools series; and Soki from Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams.

You gotta check this promotional video, it features an extended intro and some gameplay, although the quality of the streaming is terrible the game looks pretty damn awesome!

Official Art and screenshots at The Fighters Generation
Official website (Japanese)

HELMO: Bêtes de mode

2008-07-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

HELMO is french designers Thomas Couderc & Clement Vauchez their Bêtes de mode (beasts of fashion) series is one of those genius ideas that use simple tecniques and make something incredibly stunning and memorable. The awesomeness that is Bêtes de mode requires no further introduction, simply peep the images and prepare to be spellbound!

more here.

I Met The Walrus

2008-07-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon’s every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries the terrifyingly genius pen work of James Braithwaite with masterful digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit, and timeless message.

Ori Gersht: Blow Up

2008-07-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

Ori Gersht likes to blow shit up, check out his amazing exploding still life photography!

View more works here.

Photography: Richard Avedon

2008-07-03T01:21:00.000-07:00

Some random portraits by Richard Avedon, I was very moved by this images when i found them today and wanted to share. Original post here. By the by, the site is in russian but the link is a google translation into english, it's surprising how clearly it reads.

Björk

Self Portrait

Oil Rig Worker

Fashion shot for Christian Dior

Marella Agnelli

John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy

Audrey Kawasaki: Okimiyage

2008-07-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

Pressure Printing has just released a new print by the amazing Audrey Kawasaki titled "Okimiyage" (Japanese for "rememberance"). As always Audrey's work is breathtankingly beautiful and the quality of the print is just superb.

The 22x32cm intaglio prints are each signed and numbered (only 50 made), have been archivally mounted into a built-from-scratch soft maple frame, embossed, and individually hand colored by the artist!
Yeah, and all that lushness is going for only U$1,500! (1,600 for international orders). They are for sale here. It’ll be some lucky people indeed who get their hands on this treasure.

On related news, Audrey will have a 12 page feature in the next issue of Juxtapoz, looks like it’ll be one worth picking up!:)

Illustration: pokedstudio

2008-07-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

Fun and colorful illustration by pokedstudio, think 80's video games on mushrooms, lot's of mushrooms!

pokedstudio's website.

Egor Bashakov

2008-06-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

This stuff is sheer brilliance, the superb aesthetic sense and unique creativity of Egor Bashakov's all black and white work just blows me away!

self portrait made with 2300 individually designed badges!! this guy just kills me.

chalk crystals as street art!? WOW! i think it's also meant to glow in the dark!

Egor on Flickr.

Geninne: Bird Illustration

2008-06-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

Delightful bird illustration by Geninne, her amazing flickr stream is filled with lovely and diverse art and craft projects. Everything she does seems to be embellished with some kind of magic, no doubt the secret ingredient is LOVE!:) Her embroidery work and pictures of her beautiful home are also definitely worth a look.

Geninne on Flickr.
Geninne's Blog.
Geninne's Shop.

Retro Gaming vs Real World!

2008-06-25T04:59:00.000-07:00

Here's something cool and funny. Someone apparently thought it'd be a good idea to merge retro game sprites with photos of the real world. The results are actually quite interesting.

I don't know who is responsible for these, the source is Fubiz and it's all in french, click for more.

A while ago I posted about Dave Franzese who as far as I'm aware did it first, merging really old atari sprites with images of third world slums, his images were more subtle and conceptually richer, check him out here.

Marion Bolognesi

2008-06-25T04:42:00.000-07:00

Marion Bolognesi is a New York based Tank Theory Artist Society member, which basically means some of her work is featured in T-shirts by the above mentioned street wear company. There's a lot of trully outstanding designs coming from them in a regular basis so keep an eye on the Tank Theory Blog.

Marion's Website.
Tank Theory's Website.

Ronald Kurniawan

2008-06-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

L.A. based Ronald Kurniawan's surrialist paintings defy description, really, i'm sitting here for 15 minutes thinking what to write. vibrant unnamed colors, bizarre creatures and a fusion of completly incoherent themes like a squid thing wearing sneakers, need I say more?

Ronald's Website.

Carly Schmitt

2008-06-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

Behold the wicked psychedelic styles of Carly Schmitt!

Carly's Live Journal.

James Jean: Fables Covers

2008-06-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

James Jean is an acclaimed cover artist for DC Comics, garnering four consecutive Eisner awards, three consecutive Harvey awards, two gold medals and a silver from the Society of Illustrators of LA, and a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators of NY. He has also contributed to many national and international publications. Outside the world of comics, his clients include Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, ESPN, Atlantic Records, Target, Playboy, Knopf, Prada among others.

Fables is an 11 times Eisner Award Winner ongoing Vertigo comic book series created and written by Bill Willingham, starting in 2002. The series deals with various characters from fairy tales and folklore – referring to themselves as "Fables" – who have been forced out of their Homelands by a mysterious enemy known as the Adversary. They have traveled to our world and formed a clandestine community in New York City known as Fabletown.

James Jean was awarded Eisners for best cover artist for his work in Fables in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. You'll be hearing a lot more from this artist here, his work is truly superb.

James Jean's Webiste
James Jean's Blog
JJeanuis: The Art of James Jean is the best source for James' cover work with a huge comprehensive collection of good quality scans and even includes sketches for every cover!

Barack Obama

2008-06-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

The Amount of Art inspired by Barack Obama coming out on a daily basis is just uncanny. The support this man is getting from the American arts community is completely extraordinary. What's even more remarkable is that all the proceedings from print sales are being donated to Obama's Campaign. What can I say, He seems like an alright guy and it's nice to see artists becoming actively involved in the democratic process. Here's a few of my favourite Obama artworks.

by Ron English

by Mac

by Date Farmers

by Scott Hansen

by Antar Dayal

by Shepard Fairey

Visit the Obama'08 website to see what all the fuss is about, some of his speeches posted there are actually quite good.
Also check out the Artists for Obama Store where you can buy some of the prints shown above.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema

2008-06-20T07:24:00.001-07:00

"Lawrence Alma-Tadema was one of the most renowned painters of late nineteenth century Britain. Universally admired for his superb draftsmanship and 'real to life' depictions of Classical antiquity he was much sought after by Victorian collectors who intimately connected with his vision. He so embraced the aspirations of his day that when the idealistic illusions of his age were shattered by modernism and the Great War his art fell from favour. Now, again, as the re-evaluation of that era is well underway his reputation is rebounding. The study of the artist and his art must begin as always with their origins ..." - from Vern G. Swanson's Alma-Tadema biography.

"Spring"

"The Discourse"

"Sappho And Alcaeus"

"A Favourite Custom"

"The Women of Amphissa"

Don't miss Alma-Tadema's massive Hi-Res Gallery at the ARC Museum!

New Firefox

2008-06-20T03:51:00.000-07:00

Firefox 3 is out, i don't think i need to explain the awesomeness that is firefox, 579,137,807 people have downloaded it already in something like 2 days, you need it, get it here :)

Digital Art: Steven Stahlberg

2008-06-20T03:42:00.000-07:00

Artist's Website.

Illustration: Jason Levesque

2008-06-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

Weird and wonderful illustration work by multi-talented Jason Levesque. His diverse gallery on flickr also showcases his photography and even some mad custom toys.

Style: WTF?! Hyphy Badass!

2008-06-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this pimp?! I'm speechless! Just love this picture so much i had to post it! :D

via Style Sightings.

Jon Todd

2008-06-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

Seriously cool paintings by Canadian illustrator Jon Todd.

Concept Car: BMW GINA Light Visionary

2008-06-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

You won't read posts about cars here very often but since I saw the new BMW GINA Light Visionary concept car, i can't seem to think about anything else! This car has become the new screen saver for my mind.

Talk about thinking outside the box, how's this for a radical idea?! The GINA Light Visionary can change its shape due to its body being built from cloth!
The fabric is placed over a meshwork of metal wires that can move, controlled by eletro-hydraulic devices.
The car also functions somewhat like a living animal, it can open and shut its headlights as if with eyelids and a gaping maw reveals the motor on the front.

Unfortunately it seems very unlikely that such a car would ever find its way into commercial production, why is it that all the fun cars never really get built? :(

See more pictures and video here.

David Byrne: Playing The Building

2008-06-11T04:26:00.000-07:00

A legend tenfold in his own time, David Byrne provides yet further evidence of his creative geniality. If you know anything about Byrne, chances are you know his obsession with buildings! There are so many songs about buildings in the Talking Heads catalogue that it borderlines the ridiculous, let it suffice to say that the band's second album is called "More Songs About Buildings and Food"! This time he has taken this theme to a whole new level by literally transforming the Battery Maritime Building in NYC into a musical instrument!

Playing the building is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.

In terms of art installations, this is one of the most remarkable ideas I've ever heard of. Lovely Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing TV recently interviewed Byrne at the location where he talks about the project's background, explains how it works and then walks us through the vast 1909 municipal ferry terminal that is home to the phenomenal installation. This is a real treat, and probably as good as in can get for those of us who won't be able to experience the real thing.

Read More in David Byrne's website.

Andy Rementer

2008-06-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

Andy Rementer's style is simplistic and child-like. It brings to mind the kind of playful and lighthearted illustration often seen in children's literature and clothing. Rementer however brings this emotive style to a whole new context using it to produce very inspired and insightful social commentary and explore such subjects as the nature of modern consumerism, boredom and depression.

Artist's blog.
Weekly comic strips at Techno Tuesday.

Google: Diego Velázquez Tribute

2008-06-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

I found a nice surprise this morning when i opened my Firefox, Google is paying tribute to the great Diego Velázquez on his birthday. A modified Google logo can be seen on the homepage featuring Velázquez's magnum opus, "Las Meninas", Clicking on the logo links to a "Diego Velázquez" google search. "Las Meninas" was also featured on this blog a while ago, click here to read more.

Moonlight Stroll

2008-05-31T20:14:00.000-07:00

I just finished this piece, it's drawn with pen and colored in photoshop. Foxes that take on human form often to decieve and sometimes to help people are common in Japanese mythology.

Check out my DeviantART gallery here.

Character Art: Wen Li

2008-05-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

Amazing character/costume designs for the Anima RPG by the incredibly talented Wen-M, I've been following this guy on Deviant Art for years and he never ceases to amaze me.

Watch Wen Li on DeviantART.

Designs by Subject: Skulls!

2008-05-30T02:03:00.001-07:00

There is an undeniable aesthetic and conceptual appeal to skulls. Human skulls in particular have been the subject of so much art and design that they have sadly become a massive cliché. Nonetheless, every now and then I come across awesome skull designs and am amazed by how creative rendition can make something completely extraordinary out of something so common.

Here's a small collection of cool skull designs, some I've found recently and some are old favourites, enjoy!

Wicked Skull by Luca Ionescu, i don't even know how to describe what this looks like.

Damien Hirst’s “For the Love of God,” a skull facsimile studded entirely with diamonds, was purchased by an unnamed investment group for approximately $100 million USD.

I'm in love with this ceramic skull ring by Mixko. I try to resist wearing skulls but damn! this is one awesome and unique item!

"Rebel Ink" by Usugrow

Tory Treseder and Jeff Stockwell sporting t-shirts from the latest Casualty Classics collection, hot indeed.

Cheap Monday's Skull by Karl Grandin

Appetite for Destruction, love the album and often wear the t-shirt! :)

Old Skull and Bones Third Reich cap badge. Mitchell and Webb make fun of the idea of using skulls as military insignia, watch here!

Arnie sporting a skull and bones belt buckle, a well recognized symbol of freemasonry, very interesting!

Queensland Coat of Arms

2008-05-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today I came across this beautiful monochromatic rendition of the Queensland State Coat of Arms and decided to do some research on the topic. It turns out there is an entire act regulating the representation and usage of state emblems!

Here are some interesting facts:

The Queensland Coat of Arms, the oldest State Arms in Australia, was granted to the Colony of Queensland by Queen Victoria in 1893.
They were the first Arms assigned to a British colony since Charles II granted Jamaica its Arms in 1661.
The Coat of Arms is a heraldic device, symbolizing the Queen's constitutional authority in the State.
In line with economic trends in the nineteenth century, primary industries take pride of place on the Arms. Rural activities are represented by a sheaf of wheat, the heads of a bull and a ram, and by two stalks of sugar cane.
The importance of mining is indicated by a column of gold rising from a heap of quartz.
The State motto, Audax at Fidelis, means "Bold but Faithful."
The Coat of Arms was given a more modern rendering when the supporters, the red deer and the brolga, were assigned in 1977, the Queen's Silver Jubilee year.
The brolga is one of Queensland's most distinctive native birds. The red deer was introduced from the royal herds near London.
While the Queensland Government has a corporate logo, the Coat of Arms remains in use for formal, ceremonial, ministerial and parliamentary use. The Coat of Arms is not available for commercial use.

Heraldic Description:

For arms, per fesse the Chief Or, the Base per pale Sable and Gules, in Chief a Bull’s head caboshed in profile muzzled a Merino Ram’s head respecting each other proper, the dexter Base charged with a Garb also Or and the sinister Base on a Mount a Pile of Quartz issuant therefrom a Gold Pyramid in front of the Mount a Spade surmounted by a Pick saltirewise all proper.

And for the crest, on a wreath of the Colours, a Mount thereon a Maltese Cross Azure surmounted with a Royal Crown between 2 sugar-canes all proper.

And for the Supporters, on the dexter side a Red Deer and on the sinister side a Brolga wings elevated and addorsed both proper, below on a scroll this motto, ‘Audax at Fidelis’.

Learm more about Queensland emblems here.
Dowload the Emblems of Queensland Act 2005 in pdf.

William Noguera: Artist on Death Row

2008-05-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Every day for hours on end, William Noguera huddles over paper propped on his steel bed, stippling thousands on thousands of dots that form the images in his fine photo-realist ink drawings.

Anna May Wong, 2006

"I have a sense of urgency when I work, a drive that's inside me. Because I don't know how much time I have," said Noguera, who's been on Death Row at San Quentin State Prison since 1988. "When the rhythm and flow are going, there's no stopping me. I go for two to three days."

Convicted of murdering his girlfriend's mother in 1983 when he was 18, Noguera has had a quarter century to contemplate his life and develop the remarkable technique that lets him express himself in dreamlike montages whose style he calls "hyperrealistic, neo-cubism." There's an intensity to these subtly shaded black-and-white pictures, a batch of which are on view at the Braunstein/Quay Gallery in San Francisco. (Read more)

Domestic Policy, 2006

Via SFGate and Juxtapoz.

Comics: Tom the Dancing Bug

2008-05-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

"Tom the Dancing Bug" is the weekly comic strip by Ruben Bolling, appearing in fine newspapers and websites around the world. People love the strip because of its insightful and hilarious social and political satire. Search engines love the strip because this paragraph contains the words mp3, iphone, webkinz, videos, american idol, ashton kutcher, grand theft auto. (from gocomics.com)

lol this guys is hilarious! Click on samples for full resolution.

eBoy: Christian Aid TV Commercial

2008-05-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

eBoy did this brilliant TV spot for British Charity Christian Aid, one of the biggest international development agencies in the world. They work in over 60 countries around the world to help the world's poorest communities.

Christian Aid TV commercial from cow6oy on Vimeo.

Karl Grandin: Cheap Monday

2008-05-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

Cheap Monday from Sweden make awesome clothes for very reasonable prices. I'm particularly fond of their jeans which are very well cut and come in a huge range of very trendy styles. Today I came by the designer who does the graphics for all their lables via Changethethought™.

Karl Grandin is based in Stockholm and has also worked for the likes of MTV and Amnesty International.

I remember there being some controversy about the skull logo featuring an inverted cross on its forehead, well it makes a satanic statement, you see? another early design was an inverted pentagram made up of safety pins.

Joshua Middleton Covers

2008-05-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

New Mutants #3

New Mutants #6

Green Arrow

American Virgin #5

Joshua Middleton Online

Photography: Pieter Hugo

2008-05-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely different I give you Pieter Hugo!

Umoru Murtala with School Boy, Asaba, Nigeria 2007

Mummy Ahmadu and a snake charmer with a rock python,
Abuja, Nigeria 2005

Abdullahi Mohammed with Gumu, Ogere-Remo, Nigeria 2007

James White

2008-05-20T00:03:00.001-07:00

What can one say about James White? The instantaneous appeal and aesthetic sophistication of his work really speak for themselves. His wonderful use of light, vibrant colors and unique balance of futuristic and vintage sensibilities yield a highly memorable and unmistakable style.

James' blog, Signalnoise, is regularly updated with great vintage sources of inspiration as well as work of his own.

DJ Shepard Fairey @ The Crosby

2008-05-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

DJ Shepard Fairey will be spinning records on Friday, May 23rd at The Crosby in Santa Ana.
Fairey, who is also known as DJ Diabetic, is famous for being a genius and has designed this dope poster for the event.

The crosby is a new restaurant/bookshop/nightspot located in the heart of downtown OC. It's also where the Franco Shade crew shot the add for their upcoming summer line featuring pro rollerblader Rachard Johnson.

Rollerblading legend and Franco Shade creative maveric Arlo Eisenberg (right) and owner Phil Nisco hanging out at the Crosby.

Ryan McGinley

2008-05-19T03:53:00.000-07:00

Ryan McGinley's most prominent artistic achievement is simply to prove beyond the shadow of doubt, that life is beautiful. His intensely decadent candid photography is a dazzling mix of beautiful nubile naked bodies muddled in motion blur and highly anecdotal storytelling. Prepare to be transported and overwhelmed with wonder and lust with each picture in his extensive online gallery.

Illustration: Matt Verges

2008-05-19T03:24:00.000-07:00

Thaw

Moby Dick

Gorilla

Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Matt Verges on DeviantART

Animation: Blu's MUTO

2008-05-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

You have to see this to believe it. Italian Street artist Blu is famous for his massive murals often depicting bizarre creatures covering very large spaces like the sides of buildings. His work is always striking but his new animation MUTO painted entirely in public spaces in Buenos Aires and Baden, is something altogether beyond belief. Blu's creatures come to life in a way that is both captivating and seriously disturbing. The clip goes for 6 and a half minutes, drop whatever you're doing and hit play, prepare to be blown away.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Nikola Tamindzic's Home of The Vain

2008-05-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

Nikola Tamindzic, Born in 1973 and based in New York City, established his reputation shooting nightlife reportage for Gawker. The photo galleries fused Gawker's irreverent editorial vision with Tamindzic's photographic talents to present the faces of the time in a less mediated way. Today, he lives and takes pictures in the Lower East Side, and his distinctive style has breathed much needed life into the somewhat jaded genre of nightlife photography.

Using his nightlife past as a springboard, Tamindzic's current work revolves around the portrait. His approach creates scenes which reflect a fascination with the theatrical, the extreme, and that which is differently beautiful; if art ultimately deals with our individual relationships to each other and to the world, the fundamentals of how we see each other, and how our bodies coexist with one another and the objects around us, then this is perfectly embodied in Nikola Tamindzic's portraiture, where the degree of intimacy established between the author and the subject - and the tensions such intimacy provokes - might be considered to be the true subject of his work. -(Nada Shiori, fall 2007)

The Home of the Vain is updated daily with Tamindzic's latest work, drawn from professional assignments as much as personal projects. Enjoy!

Illustration: Dave is Drawing

2008-05-13T01:49:00.000-07:00

Dave is Drawing some outlandish shit. He's come up with some of the most ridiculous ideas i've never heard of, like his series "Reinterpreting lesbian pornography as a clash between super-powered titans", and "The Third World" where 8-bit sprites from vintage atari games invade slums all over the "third-world". He also claims to be a recipient of the Nobel Peace Price for Illustration and an Inductee into the Rock n Roll Hall of fame. The veracity of this claims however, is highly doubtful.

Website.
Flickr.

Gianluca Fallone

2008-05-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Gianluca Fallone, awesome freelance illustrator from Argentina. He makes great use of neon like highlights to create this edgy futuristic pieces, don't miss the rest of it in his website and Flickr stream.

Human After All

At The Drive-in

Musica de Radio

Cosmonaut

Gianluca's site.

Fashion Photography: Hel Looks

2008-05-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

Hel Looks is selected street fashion from Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The pictures are taken in the streets and clubs of Helsinki from July 2005 onwards.

The site is a hobby project of Liisa Jokinen and Sampo Karjalainen. The project is a tribute to Fruits and Street magazines, the pioneers of street fashion photography.

Milo Manetas: Digital Jackson Pollock

2008-05-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Greek-born, London-based artist, Milo Manetas has created this delicious digital convas upon which you can paint in the style of Jackson Pollock. Pouring paint all over by hovering your mouse about the screen. The pouring effect is very realistic, the sensitivity to speed is spot on and you really get a feel for what it'd be like to paint a real Pollock. I had lots of fun playing around with this. Only problem is that the more you pour, the more paint vectors suck up your memory resources so the application runs too slow before you can really cover the whole canvas. Never the less this is definitely woth a try.

Jackson Pollock by Milo Manetas

More Cans Festival

2008-05-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Banksy's Homeless Venus

Pictures from the show:
At Flickr
At Notcot
At the Pinewood Design Blog

News of the show:
At The International Herald Tribune

Video of the setup:
At Youtube

via Changethethought

Richard Wilkinson

2008-05-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Behold the breathtaking simplicity of Richard Wilkinson's illustration, his equaly crisp website presents an extensive collection of his beautiful work. A good deal of it seems to deal with medical conditions and their treatments, don't miss it!

Eye Surgery

Dyslexia

Wining Bale

Exercise & Weight

Back Pain

Andy Gilmore

2008-05-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

Andy Gilmore Design

London's Cans Festival

2008-05-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

So the Cans Festival went down in London last weekend. A street stencil art jam featurig many of the world's leading street artists including the likes of Ron English, Blek Le Rat, Bsas Stencil and the uncanny Banksy who also took part in organizing the event. Supertouch, despite being inexplicably hostile towards the concept in this previous post, has posted an extensive photo gallery documenting a great deal of the show.

Richard Avedon: The Beatles

2008-05-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Richard Avedon (1923 – 2004) was an American photographer. Avedon was able to take his early success in fashion photography and expand it into the realm of fine art.

Avedon also created two famous sets of portraits of The Beatles. The first, taken in mid to late 1967, became one of the first major rock poster series, and consisted of five striking psychedelic portraits of the group — four heavily solarised individual colour portraits (solarisation of prints by his assistant, Gideon Lewin, retouching by Bob Bishop) and a black-and-white group portrait taken with a Rolleiflex camera and a normal Planar lens. The next year he photographed the much more restrained portraits that were included with The White Album in 1968.

You can actually buy these original posters at Rock Explosion but be warned, the prices are rather high.

Nick Dewar

2008-04-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

Enter the strange world of Nick Dewar; the Southern California based artist creates ingeniusly amusing and often surrealistic illustrations in a simple style driven by graceful linework and flat solid color fills. Nick's work is higly conceptual, and most remarcable for his sharp wit and sense of humor.

His website has a brilliant feature outlining his creative process in a fair amount of detail, don't miss it!

Alex Trochut

2008-04-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

Alex Trochut is a graphic designer from Barcelona, his type design is particularly sharp and wonderful i think. His work shows a love of detail and lovely intricacies that separate him from the rest.

See Alex's amazing portfolio here.

Fashion Photography: Paolo Roversi

2008-04-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Paolo Roversi is Italian-born but lives and works in Paris. He began his career by assisting the fashion photographer Laurence Sackman and has since worked consistently in fashion, both editorial and advertising. From the early 1980s Roversi has used large-format Polaroid film for most of his photographs, both colour and black-and-white. His use of the Polaroid, and his preference for the studio, has resulted in portraits that are both tender and respectful. Informed by a wide knowledge of the history of photography, they are sometimes closer to work of the nineteenth century than contemporary fashion.

Paolo Roversi's website.

André the Giant Has a Posse

2008-04-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

Shepard Fairey created the "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign in 1989 in Charleston, South Carolina. Distributed largely by skaters, the Andre stickers began showing up in nearly every big city across the U.S.A. At the time Fairey declared the campaign to be "an experiment in phenomenology." Over time the artwork has been reused in a number of ways and has become a world-wide movement. Simultaneously, Fairey's work has evolved stylistically and semantically into the OBEY Giant campaign.

"André the Giant has a Posse" sticker on a stop sign

Fairey and campaign co-creators, Michael Meinhart, Blaize Blouin, Alfred Hawkins, and Mike Mongo Nicholl created paper and vinyl stickers and posters with an image of the wrestler André the Giant and the text "ANDRE THE GIANT HAS A POSSE 7' 4", 520lb", as an in-joke directed at hip hop and skater subculture, and then began clandestinely (and somewhat fanatically) propagating and posting them in Providence, Rhode Island and the Eastern United States.
By the early 1990s, tens of thousands of paper and then vinyl stickers were photocopied and hand-silkscreened and put in visible places throughout the world, primarily in culturally influential urban settings in the United States, such as Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco, but also in places which travellers often visited such as Greece, London, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, and the Caribbean Islands. In effect, Fairey and associates were creating a 'posse' of a wide audience of those who were in on the joke and willing to spread the message, and those who were not but found the original image compelling.

Threat of a lawsuit from Titan Sports, Inc. in 1998 spurred Fairey to stop using the trademarked name André the Giant, and to create a more iconic image of the wrestler's face, now most often with the equally iconic branding OBEY. The "OBEY" slogan was not only a parody of propaganda, but also a direct homage to the "OBEY" signs found in the 1988 cult classic film, They Live, starring Roddy Piper.

Shepard Fairey in an Elizabeth Daniels portrait

OBEY sticker with Make Art Not War poster in NYC 2004

Over time, Fairey's artistic imagery has evolved into a sometimes subtle, sometimes not, parody of a range of iconic styles, mostly a juxtaposition of popular political propagandas and multi-national commercialism. It usually bears the text OBEY Giant. In addition to countless small stickers, OBEY Giant has been spread by stencil, murals, and large wheatpaste posters, covering public spaces from abandoned building faces and street sign backs, to commercial spaces such as billboards and bus stop posters.

Jan Kallwejt

2008-04-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

Jan Kallwejt is an illustrator and graphic designer currently based in Warsaw, he runs a one-man studio focusing on illustration, apparel design and personal projects.

Jan's website.

The Art of Maths: Mathematica

2008-04-21T03:50:00.000-07:00

Mathematica is a computer program used mainly in scientific, engineering and mathematical fields. It was originally conceived by Stephen Wolfram and developed by a team of mathematicians and programmers that he assembled and led.

It provides cross-platform support for tasks such as symbolic or numerical calculations, arbitrary precision arithmetic, data processing, and plotting. Mathematica has a programming language which supports functional and procedural programming styles.

Mathematica's sophisticated graphical capabilities can be used to generate a unique and mesmerizing new kind of imagery. Residing in the strange middle ground between the artificial and the natural. Mathematica represents a new intersection of two worlds usually separate: mathematics and the visual arts.

Works by Michael Trott:

Dodecahedron Cage

Infinite Windings

Lissajous Box

Mathematica's Graphics Gallery.

Chris Jordan: Running the Numbers

2008-04-21T02:28:00.000-07:00

Chris Jordan's art is completely mental! The Washington based artist uses hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of tiny digital images, mostly of garbage, to produce enormous visual representations of America's social and environmental issues.

Jordan's latest series of montages is entitled "Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait". This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 410,000 paper cups used every fifteen minutes.

Skull With Cigarette [72x98"]

Depicts 200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of Americans who die from cigarette smoking every six months.

Cans Seurat [60x92"]

Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.

I encourage you to visit the artist's website and explore the rest of this series, each piece is a visual examination of the vast and bizarre measures of an increasingly enormous and incomprehensible society.

Banksy's Biggest Piece To Date

2008-04-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Somehow, against all odds, Banksy just keeps going bigger and never gets caught. His newest piece which debuted this week in London. The three-storey commentary on London’s Closed Caption TV surveillance network was erected adjacent to one of the cameras in question, and still he roams free…

One nation under CCTV: CCTV (pictured top right) failed to catch Banksy

From the Daily Mail:

Banksy pulled off an audacious stunt to produce what is believed to be his biggest work yet in central London.

The secretive graffiti artist managed to erect three storeys of scaffolding behind a security fence despite being watched by a CCTV camera.

Then, during darkness and hidden behind a sheet of polythene, he painted this comment on 'Big Brother' society.

Read more.

Obey: Penguin Books Designs

2008-04-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Shepard was recently asked to illustrate the cover of two literary classics by George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. The re-issues are to hit the stands in early July so keep an eye out for them. For information on the release and re-issue, please visit www.us.penguingroup.com. Here is a preview of the covers.

Obey Giant.

Billboards: Peter Fuss

2008-04-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

LOL this guys is genius!

http://www.peterfuss.com/

Erwin Olaf - Royal Blood

2008-04-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Erwin Olaf brings his incisive wit and vision to create a satirical portrait of our contemporary consumer society. Visually sophisticated and conceptually provocative, his images challenge global trends towards youth-obsessed sexuality, hypocrisy, violence, hyper-consumerism and social control.

His series 'Royal Blood' depicts various historic royal figures as rendered by the gruesome circumstances of their violent deaths. The victims appear mutilated and covered in gore while they stare at the viewer with sinister yet clinical indifference.

Sissi

Julius Caesar

Jacky O

Erwin's website is extremely comprehensive and elegant. Check out the rest of this series and his entire body of work presented in high resolution.