Contemporary surreal, visionary and pop surreal art
James McCarthy is a surrealistic landscape painter. McCarthy’s psychedelic/cosmic mindscapes wrestle with the concepts of space-time and the afterlife.
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?
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.
I imagine a world where the visually rich language of fairy tales and nursery rhymes extends into adulthood. The traditional nature of this kind storytelling is best presented with visual aids; simple, straightforward text accompanied by fantastic illustrations. In our culture, this is a conventional part of our collective upbringing and experience. These stories often convey lessons, which are coded in familiar, symbolic language, and are likely where we first encounter metaphor and allegory.
We carry these symbolic codes into adulthood—like wolf equals bad, pig equals good. The narratives I deliver in my paintings utilize this common trove of visual references; however with more mature and timely messages.
The intertwined relationship between language and image has always guided me in constructing my artwork—using visual puns, symbolic themes and literal translations from words into paintings. Often the compositions and assemblies of characters seem to clash in a surreal incongruence, but on some level, they relate by a verbal association or some idiomatic commonality. My aim is to exploit these visual conventions and present something visually arousing with dynamic color and compelling content.
The level of “payoff” sophistication that the viewer “gets” from the paintings is relative to their own personal experience and history. There may be universal themes revealed, and there may be idiosyncratic dead ends. There is no correct reading of the images other than what the viewer extracts on their own. Even my opinion and the depth of what they mean to me may change from day to day.
Stephen Gibb lives and works in the small town of Amherstburg, in southern Ontario, Canada and maintains a second studio in Windsor. He earned a B.F.A. in visual arts from the University of Windsor and is currently represented by the St. Germain gallery in Toronto. Among the cities he has exhibited in are San Diego, Sacramento, and Hollywood— the hotbed of California’s Lowbrow and Pop Surrealism community. His work is collected around the globe and has gained widening interest since working on the album art for hip hop artist Trippie Redd.
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Anis Tabaraee (Tehran, 1989) graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2013 and an MA in illustration in 2018 from Tehran University of Art. Her art has been exhibited internationally.
I am passionate about representing and expressing the world around me. I manipulate and exaggerate the details in the forms of creatures to create new and interesting worlds. I love to convey the Eastern mythos and mood in my art. I attempt to weave the threads from the rich historical tapestry of Eastern stories into my contemporary art. Work is strongly my culture, such as the sphinxes.
I draw with a ballpoint pen. This tool delicate lines and sharp color. It also helps me to develop my inspirations more easily to be close in my style. It’s also easy to be carried to every place that I have time to draw. I can pick it and start drawing even when I sit on a chair at subway to reach my destination.
I continue to develop my ideas to one day make an illustrated book of imaginary creatures.
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