• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Artists
  • About
  • Submit Art
  • Submit Video
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Cart

Surrealism Today

Contemporary surreal, visionary and pop surreal art

Submit Art
  • Home
  • Painting
  • Artists
  • Digital Art
  • Collage
  • Video and Cinema
  • Submit Art
  • Store
  • Cart

Psychological

Gadzooxtian

Last Modified November 11, 2019 Leave a Comment

Biography

Melbourne artist Xtian was conceived in East Germany but born in Hungary – that makes him one part Australian and two parts former communist.

He’s been actively collaging for two-plus decades – but is not adverse to making music or short animations. His works can best be described as questions, or “edge of comprehension”. He has exhibited and been published both locally and overseas – most recently by Oyster Moon Press’ Hydrolith 2: Surrealist Research & Investigations.

He is also one half of the now ten-year-old – and still growing! – exquisite corpse project The Infinite Collage (close to 80m long!), and is the creator of the longest-running surreal collage comic series The Micturating Angel.

Xtian is the founder of Melbourne Kollage Ultra, and a contributing member of a number of other collage groups.

Artist Statement

(Before you proceed: the images are an extract from a much larger work.)

“…too arty for comic book lovers, too comic booky for art lovers…”

Do you like comics? So do I. Marvel? Hell no! Okay, we’re gonna be friends then.

This is not an “artist statement” – that will come some other time. This is an introduction to “The Micturating Angel”. A spiel. A sales-pitch. But not an explanation – maybe an excuse? A necessary use of words to explain images that have already said all they can?

Do you like comics? I mean REAL comics, like Charles Burns’ stuff, or Druillet’s or Kago Shintaro or Nihei Tsutomu? Or “The Sandman” series by Neil Gaiman?

Right.

But what about weird stuff by the original Surrealists and the Dadas? Are you familiar with Max Ernst’s collage novels or Gilliam’s animations from Monty Python? What about free jazz, avant-garde music and the writings of William Burroughs? The (good) films of David Lynch? Those books from the 90s put out by V. Vale, the “REsearch” books? Are you familiar with the æsthetics of early industrial music culture or with the visuals of punk underground collages and photocopy art?

Am I laying this on too thick?

You wanted a statement, an introduction, so a schooling you’re gonna get, son.

Right. We’ve established the basics, so meet “The Micturating Angel”, the “Naked Lunch” of comic books! I unashamedly call it a comic, ‘graphic novels’ are for pretentious twats. But its a comic with a fatal flaw: too arty for comic book lovers, too comic booky for art lovers – where do you draw the line?

Why even draw it? (And why even draw a comic in the first place?)

I grew up in Eastern Europe, pre-Fall-of-Communism, so my background is a little different from yours. I read mostly French comics translated into Magyar, I read nonsense literature from Germany and local writers and science books (never became an astronaut though). Emigration was a grand adventure and high school was a ridiculous shock: all the beauty of learning coupled with everyone hammering a round peg into a square whole.

Squares man. They can be so beautiful when they’re not people.

Like the panels of a comic book. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In high school, I invented surrealist writing – not being aware of its well-established existence. It saved my brain for greater things. Eventually, I met some actual surrealists, some actual poets, and artists and some actual interesting life.

And here we are today – and I’d like you to meet my children – The Micturating Angels (there’s more than one).

Q: What does “micturating” mean?
A: Pissing.
Q: Wut?
A: It’s all you get.

A surreal collage art-comic series seven years in the making (and counting). Somewhere between 2ooo – 3ooo collages in total, including the guest stars, the Secret Chiefs (guys in charge of this here Cosmos). Unraveling the adventures and sanity levels of young girls against their captive, oppressive world (is this a feminist comic? I don’t know…). Young girls against crappy old men and institutions, religious zealots, ignorance vs. science, freaks!

Drawing on source materials ranging from hardware catalogues to religious imagery to medical illustrations, alchemical instructions, furniture assembly instructions, “dirty” comics, mangas, giallos, and cannibalistic self-re-absorptions, the “Necronomicon” (containing not all but most of the sigils of the “Fifty Sacred Names of Marduk”), engineer’s manuals and mathematical formulæ

– do you still like comic books?

Then you’ll love this one! Playing with the conventions of comics to create striking visuals, adventures revealed through non-linear story-telling and complete non-sense dialogue – yes, the words are a red herring – “The Micturating Angel” is a unique comic that will never be understood by anyone – and that makes it an enduring mystery, I hope. (Aren’t questions better than answers? No, they’re not. But Bigfoot is more interesting when you DON’T know that it’s just mountain-lion footprints.)

And there it is. My seven-year Grand Opus, unlike its predecessors (all the other books I’ve made), and a never to be repeated exercise by me. And I WANT you to enjoy it! I really do, I want you to look beyond the confusion, I want you to stop trying to make sense of it and revel in what it actually IS: an ever-shifting series of nightmares laid out like the storyboard of a Hollywood blockbuster that will never be made.

Welcome aboard. I hope you like THIS comic.

– Xtian, 2019

“I LOVE your collage work! It is VERY surreal… your comics are great! … Good luck with your project!”
– Rev. Ivan Stang, Church of the Subgenius

“… a very original comic…”
– Surrealismo Internacional

Books: lulu.com/spotlight/gadzooxtian
Prints: redbubble.com/people/Gadzooxtian
Facebook: facebook.com/The-Micturating-Angel-1609957469288457
Site: gadzooxtian.com

Filed Under: Collage, Comic Tagged With: Black and White, Conceptual, Disintegration, Figurative, Illustration, Juxtaposition, Psychological, Whimsical

Genres: Low Brow and Pop Surrealism, Surrealism

Albane Simon

Last Modified October 24, 2019 Leave a Comment

About Albane Simon

Imagine a world where linear time has lost all relevance. A place where past memories and future visions dance in a familiar present gone awry, this is where nightmares collide with lucid clarity. Touching on topics diverse as ecology, science, architecture, and spirituality.
All is loneliness - Albane Simon
Chaos Machine - Albane Simon
Crimireality TV - Albane Simon
Divine messenger - Albane Simon
Flooding Brain - Albane Simon
Gaspard Born Card - Albane Simon
Gourmandise - Albane Simon
Guide du Whisky-Flammarion éditions - Albane Simon
Happy Valentine's day! - Albane Simon
Illusion Et Réalité (2010) - Albane Simon
Le Monde Perdu on canvas - Albane Simon
Low end theory flyer - Albane Simon
Luxure - Albane Simon
Meditation - Albane Simon
Plagues of Egypt - Albane Simon
Schizophrenia - Albane Simon
Seek & Find - Children’s book project - Albane Simon
Sheep under control - Albane Simon
Somewhere in Outer Space - Albane Simon
Waterland - Albane Simon

instagram.com/albanesurrealcollagist/

Filed Under: Collage Tagged With: Alegorical, Cinema, Conceptual, Disintegration, Nostalgia, Psychological, Recursive, Religion, Sci-fi, Whimsical

Genres: Visionary Art

James McCarthy

Last Modified October 13, 2019 Leave a Comment

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

Across the Event Horizon - Oil on canvas. 18x24
Along the Frozen Lake - Oil on canvas. 18x24
Cosmic Petunias - Oil on canvas. 20x30
Dawn in the Garden of Creation - Oil on canvas. 22x28
Death - Oil on canvas. 20x30
KODAK Digital Still Camera
KODAK Digital Still Camera
Echoes - Oil on canvas. 15x30
Halloween - Oil on canvas. 18x24
In the Court of the Crimson King - Oil on canvas. 20x30
Luminous Energy Harvesters II - Oil on canvas. 22x28
Nursery - Oil on canvas. 20x24
Shadow Box and Surroundings - Oil on canvas. 18x24
Stars and Snow - Oil on canvas. 15x30
Sunshower - Oil on canvas. 22x30
The Garden in the Valley of the Stars - Oil on canvas. 22x30
The Tower on the Edge of Infinity - Oil on canvas. 18x24
We Are Stardust - Oil on canvas. 22x28

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

Filed Under: Painting Tagged With: Alegorical, Juxtaposition, Landscape, Lyrical, Mysticism, Nature, Psychological, Space, Time

Genres: Psychedelic Art, Visionary Art

Konan Lim

Last Modified October 6, 2019 Leave a Comment

Painting by Konan Lim

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

Filed Under: Painting Tagged With: Alegorical, Animals, Anxiety, Figurative, Juxtaposition, Painterly, Psychological, Victorian, Whimsical

Genres: Lowbrow Art (Pop Surrealism)

“The Surrealists” Film on Kickstarter

Last Modified October 3, 2019

Surrealism: a 20th 21st-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind…

One hundred years ago, with their world on the brink of chaos, a pack of misfits called “The Surrealists” banded together to make art that would reject logic and reason, with a goal of saving humanity by highlighting the absurdity of life. They were sort of like an artsy Garageband, improv troupe, and fight club all wrapped into one.

In this series, we are rebooting this idea by dropping Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo and friends into 2019, arming them with today’s technology and social media, and letting them go bananas! We will watch these creators launch a surrealist revolution from their clubhouse, engaging in bizarre video art projects and hedonist behavior, achieving fame and infamy, and struggling to preserve their ideals while becoming drunk with fame and fortune. Or to put it more plainly: it’s Moulin Rouge meets Silicon Valley! Or Girls with Dali and Frida!

We will also refer to, and periodically see, elements of this bizarro 21st century that parallel the history of the 1900s. Imagine Hitler is on Twitter, Charlie Chaplin’s doing rom coms, Louis Armstrong is dropping music vids, and Sigmund Freud is giving Ted Talks. These glimpses of that world will be provided by what the main characters see on their tablets, phones, and laptops, and well as cameos by secondary characters coming in and out of their scene.

By melding these centuries together we will be able to use these iconic figures from history to comment on and better understand the times we live in and the cyclical patterns of humanity that never seem to change. We will deal with timely issues like art’s ability to effect change, the difference between how we present ourselves and actually live, and how the temptations of fame and fortune can change one’s ideals. All the while we will be telling the very real story of how the surrealist movement started, progressed, and disbanded while giving viewers the joy of seeing what these brilliant artists would do with modern technology and social media.

Back this Project on Kickstarter

The Surrealists is a short film about Salvador Dalí and the birth of the Surrealist movement…if it happened today.

About

One hundred years ago, a rogue Freudian psychologist named André Breton and his wild posse of artists that included Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Man Ray and others, launched a “revolution of the mind” called “Surrealism.” This revolution, which started as an exercise in exploring the unconscious mind, became a cultural phenomenon, thanks to a young entrepreneur named Peggy Guggenheim.

Why Make This Film Now?

The story of these artists reacting to a world that no longer makes sense feels as fresh today as it ever has. That is why I am making a film that will tell the story of the surrealist movement if it were to happen today, with these famous artists as millennial creators on social media, reacting to a chaotic world. I have pitched this story to several networks and studios they thought it was “too out there” for viewers. I think they are wrong and I want you to help me prove them so. A donation, however small, to “The Surrealists” is a vote for celebrating these great artists and telling their fascinating story in a very modern way, while drawing important parallels between our world and theirs.

Back this Project on Kickstarter

About The Film Maker

Trevor Williams is a filmmaker who specializes in delivering unique, slick, and funny content for TV and Web. His directing, editing and writing credits include Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, The New Yorker, and IFC, as well as commercial clients such as UPS, Samsung, and Hi-Chews. He has won several awards for his web-series and short films. Trevor first cut his teeth in showbiz as a comedian and commercial actor before becoming an in-house director of scores of video at UCB Comedy. In 2013, he co-founded Pig Apple, a production company that specializes in live-action, animation, and kickstarted short films such as “The Jane” and “The Surrealists”!

Back this Project on Kickstarter

Filed Under: Video and Cinema Tagged With: Pop Culture, Psychological, Whimsical

Genres: Surrealism

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 11
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

surrealistic distored figures

Surrealism Today is a blog covering contemporary and digital surrealism, visionary and fantastic art in an increasingly eclectic art world. More about Surrealism Today.

Sponsored by:

David Lynch Teaches Creativity and Film

Learn Photoshop

“The Surrealists” The Movie:

On Kickstarter

Reader Submissions

Submit Art

Cart

Featured Artist in Shop

Products

  • Bond by Anis Tabaraee $82.00 – $99.50
  • Wounded by Anis Tabaraee $66.00 – $99.50
  • Together by Anis Tabaraee $66.00 – $95.50
  • Dream by Anis Tabaraee $66.00 – $80.50
  • Dialog by Anis Tabaraee $68.00 – $96.00

“Dream” by Pop

Floral Pizza

Giraffe Party

Surreal Artists UNITE!!!

Popular Posts

17 Mind-Blowing Surreal Artists you Need to Follow on Instagram
Jean Giraud (Moebius)
Miles Johnston
Zdzislaw Beksinski surreal landscapes and abstract surrealism
Kyle Thompson Surreal Photography
Luciano Sanchez
Toshiko Okanoue

Featured Art for Sale (support this site)

boy with wolve heads emerging from his hoodie

woman on waves looking at Earth in Space

Visitor Poll:

- Step 1 of 2
A visitor poll.
Submit Art

Sponsored by:

Werner Herzog Masterclass
Neil Gaiman Masterclass
  • Karen Lynch - Sky Garden
  • Karen Lynch - Outdoor Living
  • Karen Lynch – Prick
  • Karen Lynch- Yeehah
  • Karen Lynch – Urban+Transportation
  • Karen Lynch - Final Couple
  • God I've Missed You - by Frank Moth
  • Karen Lynch - Cosmic Waters
  • Karen Lynch – Cross+the+Ocean
  • Karen Lynch – Descending+in+Pink
  • Karen Lynch - Edge of the World
  • Karen Lynch – balcony-of-dreams
  • Roots - by Frank Moth
  • Karen Lynch - Comet
  • Karen Lynch – Wings
  • Karen Lynch – Blushing+Romance
  • Karen Lynch - Psychedelic Beach
  • Karen Lynch – Sea+Change
  • Karen Lynch - Heaven's End
  • Karen Lynch – Cotton+Candy+Sky
  • Monochrome Savior - by Frank Moth
  • Karen Lynch – Let’s+take+a+trip+to+the+other+side
  • Karen Lynch - Depths of Blue
  • Karen Lynch - Hotel Postcard
  • Karen Lynch - Desert Eclipse
  • Karen Lynch - Moon Ritual
  • Patience
  • Karen Lynch – Baroque+Beach
  • Karen Lynch - Flamingo Playground
  • Karen Lynch - Desert Jewels
  • Karen Lynch - Kiss The Sky
  • Karen Lynch - Natural Wonders
  • Karen Lynch - King Park
  • Karen Lynch – serenade-to-saturn
  • Karen Lynch – Monday
  • Karen Lynch - Saturn Spa
  • Karen Lynch - Living Universe
  • Karen Lynch - The Big Picture
  • Karen Lynch - Cosmic Panorama
  • Karen Lynch - Moon Bathing
  • Epiphany
  • Karen Lynch – Sands+of+Jupiter
  • Karen Lynch - Moon Dream
  • Karen Lynch – odyssey
  • Karen Lynch - Love Times Infinity
  • Karen Lynch – Summer+Skies
  • Karen Lynch – The+Bridge
  • Karen Lynch – Kaleidoscope+Dreamers
  • Wirelessly Connected to Eternity - by Frank Moth
  • Karen Lynch - Vanished+Empires
  • They Have Always Been Here - by Frank Moth
  • Karen Lynch – Shasta+Sunset
  • Karen Lynch - Day Trip

Surreal Prints for Sale

Footer

About

Surrealism Today was established by artists, for artists as a contemporary art publication, uncovering the greatest surrealist artists working today. Our mission is promote surrealistic art of all kinds: whether painting, collage, pop-surrealism and lowbrow, visionary, mystical, occult or fantastic art.

Submit Art

The Dispatch

Surreal Art direct to your inbox

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosures
  • Sitemap

Website Copyright © 2019 Surrealism Today.
All images Copyright the Artist.
Site Handcrafted by Studio Issa.