Alternative Artifacts is artist Jeff Bartels’ latest series of hyperreal oil paintings which feature strange antiques that never existed. The bizarre objects stretch and bend the truth about our past in order to bring a focus on the deceptions going on in our world today.
The old and worn out objects have a surreal quality that are meticulously painted which causes the viewer to question the authenticity of what they are seeing. The antiques appear to be absurd but they are presented with such precise detail that their stories can almost be believed.
This blurring of lines between what is real and what is not reflects our present day where governments gaslight their own people, propaganda outlets pose as news organizations and social media networks spread conspiracy theories. These are the objects that never happened from a past that only exists in the Post Truth era.
