Surrealism Today

Contemporary surreal, visionary and pop surreal art

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Contemporary Surrealistic Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (support base). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used. Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous.

-via Wikipedia

Painting is one of the most versatile mediums in visual art. It is also a highly personal medium. Painting styles are as varied and idiosyncratic as the artists themselves.

And so it is with surrealistic painting.

Contemporary surrealistic painting ranges from the nearly photographic dreamscapes of Jacek Yerka and Mark Ryden, to the abstract surrealism of Mohammad Zaza, from scribbles on linen to highly detailed horror artists like HR Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, to visionary artists like Alex Grey and Rudolf Hausner attempting to visualize the spiritual world or religious experience.

Slobodan Lončarević

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Biography

Slobodan Lončarević was born in Podgorica, Montenegro, during the Yugoslavia union, in 1960. He lives and works in Podgorica. He is a self-taught painter, who used literature from the Belgrade Academy of Fine Arts and the exercises of Albert Durer for his art education. He studied art during a long period of early youth and was assisted by several renowned Montenegrin artists. He continues to study art, focusing on surrealistic art. He graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Montenegro in Podgorica.

Statement

I approach painting through fantastic forms in an attempt to draw out the human essence to the canvas. In the space between myself and the painting, I experience myself as a crucified man; neither on heaven nor on earth. For me, surrealism is a gentle fluid that breathes life into the limitless playground of reality.

Art Prints

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SaatchiArt
Fine Art America

Jem Ham

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Jem Ham is an Australian, self-taught artist who started painting on brick walls with water at the age of four. Fascinated by the way the watermarked the brick and the ability to bring to life something from within, his love for art was born. Since then, it has been a journey of self-discovery through art, fuelled by a passionate need to create.

His work aims to visually represent the nature and psychology of the inner sphere of the artist. It is an attempt to understand the day to day psyche through self-expression and the creation of an original visual aesthetic. The process aims to tap into the subconscious world of imagination to reveal something from within which is often vague in the mind but comes to life through the process of drawing. As the whimsical creations are evolved manifestations of the artist’s inner sphere, the freedom in which each element can be interpreted allows the viewer to also connect to a naive imagination.

The evolution of each artwork is triggered by the recognition of the whirling maelstrom of seemingly random elements within. From this heightened state of being, the pencil hits the paper, channeling this creative energy into physical form.

Drawing influences from a range of artistic styles, his art comes with a large dose of heart, a touch of the surreal and psychedelic, a hint of realism, and a dash of whimsy. In essence, his works are a soapbox for the subconscious mind, giving voice to the imaginative world within.

Visit Jem’s Portfolio at jemham.com or purchase prints at Jem Ham’s Etsy. You can also follow him on Instagram or on Facebook.

Valeriu Buev

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The paintings of Moldovan artist Valeriu Buev explore the strange and poetic tragedy of the human condition. Although Buev uses the language of surrealism and dream, his stunning images remain fully rooted both psychically and technically in material reality. Through the processes of distortion and imagination, Buev confronts the stark costs of humanity’s darker tendencies, such as war and corruption.

And yet, Buev’s work doesn’t rely upon simplistic platitudes and does not fall back on propagandistic tropes. Instead, each gorgeously painted image is wildly open to interpretation through visual metaphor and rich layers of ambiguity.

Each surrealistic image is embedded firmly in the near past or possible symbolic present.

Buev doesn’t indulge in idealism or painting surrealist images disassociated from present reality. Instead, he unflinchingly confronts the stark realities of our world and transforms each transgression into something oddly beautiful, poetic, and archetypal.

Others of Buev’s images remain just beautiful and opaque. The artist’s symbolism suggests something meaningful. Like a Rorschach test, each skillfully crafted image queues the viewer to delve into his own subconscious. Our reading may tell us more about our own current emotional landscapes than we first assume.

Follow Valeriu Buev on Facebook

Prints can be obtained from Saatchi Art and on Fine Art America:

Valeriu Buev on Fine Art America

Valeriu Buev on Saatchi Art

James McCarthy

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James McCarthy is a surrealistic landscape painter. McCarthy’s psychedelic/cosmic mindscapes wrestle with the concepts of space-time and the afterlife.

KODAK Digital Still Camera

Artist’s Statement

I’m a surrealist but I also consider myself a landscape painter.

I like to paint biomorphic forms but I’m also interested in capturing the moods of various landscapes.

I like to depict the weather and the seasons – the seasons especially because seasons note the passing of time.

Winter has a special meaning for me as well. It represents solitude and wonder.

Much of my work is inspired by ‘mindscape’ music such as New Age, psychedelic, certain classical pieces, prog rock and medieval music.

As I grow older I’ve become increasingly more intrigued by what life’s Final Door has in store for us. Is it a doorway to eternity or oblivion?

James McCarthy on DeviantArt
James McCarthy on Facebook

Konan Lim

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About Konan Lim

Konan Lim is a Dubai-based Filipino artist. Lim was born and raised in the Philippines and discovered his passion for art at a young age. During his childhood, Lim won numerous art competitions. In 2005 he received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at Western Mindanao State University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.

In 2007 he moved to Dubai to work as an Architect while still pursuing painting. From 2012 he participated in several local exhibitions to international shows. He has been commissioned in mural art events & collaborated with several artists.

Lim whimsically portrays childhood nostalgia through his representational paintings. The works play on the boundaries of playfulness and cuteness-overload but with something strange ominous permeating the atmosphere. Each work is exquisitely rendered and painterly: Lim’s craftmanship is surpassed only by his own strange imagination.

Lim’s images juxtapose conflicting emotions into a unified narrative: suggesting something strangely distorted and through-the-looking-glass about childhood memory in his compelling, surrealistic images.

konanlim.com