‘Metamorphosis 2′
— No dream unturned
“Heavy Head” by Frank Kortan
I really do have to get out more. I have this tendency to think of surrealism in the past tense, at full boil in the 1930s, simmering on into the ’70s, and finally going cold with Dali’s death in 1989. In fact, of course, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of artists still exploring the subconscious and coming back with extraordinary new artefacts.
Beinart, which last appeared at Dali House in July 2007, has released “Metamorphosis 2″, its second coffee-table collection of surreal, fantastic and visionary art, on sale here for $50.
This is “Monkey and Eagle” by Tiffany Bozic, who offers “largely autobiographical” transformations of living organisms she’s seen in remote regions and at the California Academy of Sciences.
Among the works by 50 artists, there’s a tendency to anthromorphism, lots of geek portraits, plenty of baroque details, the inescapable appeal of classicism. The overall impression is much more Bosch than Dali.
It doesn’t always work — there’s a great many monsters, ample blood, too many cats, and some of the pieces are a little too cartoonish. But looks at the marvels on this page. I have to thank Beinart’s Meg Woodsworth once again for bringing the book to my attention.
The book bends in the direction of HR Giger, the Swiss heavyweight of “fantastic realism”, who’s been exhibiting since 1966 and became famous when his “biomechanical dreamscapes” became posters and album covers. That gives him a deserved edge over the mostly younger other artists featured.
Above, “The Spell I”, and below, “Landscape XVIII”.
Frank Kortan, whose homage to Dali is at the top of this post, devotes himself to “supporting people’s fantasies”.
Among his strutting support efforts is “The Lady with a Chameleon and Bottle of Soda”.
“I view life as a vast mystery,” says Joep Hommerson, another artist drawn to the dance of birth, death and decay, placing the mundane in “alien, celestial” settings with the guidance of the Golden Ratio. The work below his “Untitled”.
Travis Louie admits to being a sci-fi nut since childhood, a connoisseur of comic books and and horror films.
Fortunately his grandfather also dragged him into museums and bought him his own art supplies.
His portrait of some forgotten ancestor is also “Untitled”.
“Legrand’s Tour la Mer” by Briton Mike Worrall shows the influence of Paul Delvaux. A fan of Max Ernst as well, he says Roman Polanski told him one of his paintings had inspired him to do his cinematic version of “Macbeth”.
And below, “Endless Story”, by Pavel Zacek, whose features medical illustrations on his website alongside his paintings. He’s a consultant cardiac surgeon and a photographer too.
